Feb 02 2009
Bead Types
Beads come in a dizzying array of sizes and styles from seed beads to wooden, bone, horn, fire polished, crystal, natural stone and various types of plastic. All of this can be quite daunting to an new beader.
Lets look at a few of these. Acrylic beads come in nearly any shape and size that glass beads come in, but for large banners or wall hangings may be more suitable because of their light weight. They come in sizes usually starting at 3mm and go up from there. They are relative inexpensive and usually have fairly large holes making them perfect for beaders of any age.
Seed bead are another very confusing category. The most popular size is 11 used in most peyote and/or brick stitch applications. But the confusion doesn’t end there. There are the traditional “donut” shaped seed beads used in most Native American beadwork, and there are the cylinder shaped seed beads like To Ho’s and Delicas, that are more suitable for tapestries and some types of jewelry because they fit together more perfectly. They also come in larger sizes, 8 and 6, with the 6 being the largest.
Fire polished beads are usually faceted, and like the acrylics, start at size 3mm and go up. The beads are shaped then put in an oven to heat almost to the melting point so that they become very smooth, making them easy to work with and insuring they don’t snag your bead thread.
Crystal beads such as Swarovsky and Celestial beads are made with lead crystal and have a much brighter appearance than fire polished beads.
Wood and horn beads come in many different sizes and shapes and are suitable for stringing and for embellishing.
Natural stone beads are a joy to work with and come in so many different sizes and shapes it’s impossible to even start to cover anything but the basic round and oval.
Take time to browse the bead section of your local WalMart or craft store before deciding what type of beading would be most suitable for you if you’re a new beader. If you don’t have a local source there are lots of online bead stores.
For nearly any kind of beads visit http://www.rings-things.com/index.html
Fire Mountain Gems has almost any type of beads you could want and I really like their Ornella seed beads.
For the full line of Delicas (over 800 colors) visit Joan Painter at http://painterartbeads.com/
