Buying Beading Supplies Online, 6 Factors for Great Purchases

Buying beading supplies online can be a great experience or a complete let down. It all depends on how much knowledge you have of what it is you're buying. When you purchase at your local bead store you can see and touch the beads, get an idea of the quality for the price as well as knowing exactly what size you're buying.

When you go online for your bead supplies it helps to keep a few things in mind. Keeping these 6 factors in mind should help you make better online bead purchases.

1. Selection -- Some sites specialize in only one type of beads, like crystals or gemstones, while others have so many choices you may get confused. Does the website you're considering buying from have a large selection of the type of bead you are looking for?

2. Quality -- When buying beads online you don't have the tactile to see and feel exactly what you're getting. In a craft or beading store you can examine the beads to determine the quality and feel confident about what you've chosen.. Not so easy when you buy beads online. Here you will have to look carefully at the photos of the beads (and some sites let you enlarge the image for a better view) and rely on the reviews of other buyers as to the quality.

3. Price -- Some beads are easy to price compare. If you want to buy Swarovski Crystallized Elements they are uniform in color and size so it's easy to find the online bead store with the best price (don't forget to factor in shipping cost). For other types of beads, it's not as easy to be sure you're getting the right price. But you can still compare based on the description of the item. I recently purchased mixed gemstone donuts from 2 different sites -- the quality from each was comparable, but the price was higher on one -- and not only did the higher priced supplier have a higher shipping cost, they also charged a handling fee. When you know the type and size of the bead you want to buy online, price comparing is much easier.

4. Shipping -- does the website offer free or reduced shipping? If it's free, will it take forever to get to you? If you're paying for it, when can you expect it? Is there free shipping after reaching a certain purchase amount? Be aware that some sites also charge a handling fee -- that plus paying shipping has just increased your cost per bead.

5. Coupon -- is there a discount coupon code available or a free shipping code? A Google search for the name of the website and the words "coupon code" will help you find these. Be careful not to sign up for anything, though. Some good coupon code sites do not require sign-up. The codes are submitted by other customers who have discovered them and are sharing. Not all, but a good number of sites selling quality beading supplies at good prices will send you coupon codes by email after your first purchase.

6. Size -- the sizing of beads is tricky for those of us in the U.S because beads are sized according to the metric system and we learned to size things in inches. You need to know that 4mm is a pretty small bead and that 30mm is fairly large. And it's not just beads sized this way. Many of the findings you use when beading are sized in millimeters like wire and jump rings. Find a good online bead size chart (Google "bead size chart" and images) before buying beads and beading supplies online.

I didn't know how important these factors were when I made my first online bead purchase. It was from a well-known auction site and the photo of the beads showed some interesting shapes and sizes. I ordered them, paid a huge shipping fee and they took forever to get to me because they were from China. When they arrived I was very disappointed - there were some nice beads, but most of the package was filled with white bugle and seed beads. I'm still trying to figure out how to use them! I learned a valuable lesson from that purchase and developed these 6 factors to look for. I hope they help you in your online bead supplies purchases.

Diane Phillips loves buying beads and bead making supplies and designing and creating bead and wire jewelry. In addition to making and selling her own designs, she also conducts jewelry making workshops. You can get more tips and information by visiting her beading blog at wheretobuybeadsupplies.com.

Visit the blog and let Diane know what information will be most helpful for your beading! When you fill in the subscribe box you'll get a handy bead size chart and be notified when new blog posts are added.

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Choosing Rubber Stamps for Your Stationary Kit

Stationary can be as plain or as over the top as you want it to be. Whether you are using the stationary for office needs or a more personal use such as writing letters to your family, creating your own stationary is an easy way to get the exact results that you want. Are you tired of your old, plain stationary that has little to no personality? Rubber stamps can help! With a little creativity, you can have top notch stationary for all your writing needs.

Where to buy them

Rubber stamps are widely available so you won't have to go to great lengths to find what you are looking for. A small collection of rubber stamps can provide endless opportunities for you to create truly unique stationary. Rubber stamps can be found at your local craft store. The price of the stamps will depend largely upon the size and intricacy of the design. If you can't find what you are looking for in your local craft store, the internet also has a wide variety of stamps. In fact, you are more likely to find exactly what you are looking for by using trusted websites that offer these kinds of stamps. Some websites even offer personalized stamps with the name of your business or logo.

When choosing stamps for your stationary needs, it is recommended that you start small. While stamping techniques are generally simple processes it can take some practice perfecting the technique. Start out small and build your collection once you have mastered the process. Of course, the depth of your stamping collection will depend largely upon your stationary needs. What are you trying to create? Will the stamps be used for personal or business ventures? Either way, starting out with a small collections will help you can a handle on stamping and lead you in the right direction as what to purchase in the future.

If you have never taken advantage of rubber stamping and what it can do for your stationary needs, it is highly recommended that you do so. The sky is the limit as to the many stamps available to help make each project one of a kind. Allow rubber stamps to help you in both your business and your personal needs. It is a hobby that you are sure to enjoy and once that will bring both rewards to you personally and in your business.

Start your Rubber Stamp collection today when you visit londonrubberstamps.co.uk today. Providing quality reviews, articles and writings on sewing, brother sewing machines, adjustable beds and other sewing and related crafts information online.

Soy Candles, What's All the Hubbub?

Soy candles are superior to paraffin in literally every way - they're better quality, more cost-effective for the buyer, far better for your health and are available from morally sound sources. A soy candle will burn up slower while keeping a stronger "Room Note" while having a larger range of scent in comparison with paraffin. Soy candles won't give off carcinogenic toxins like their paraffin counter part and the soy beans utilized tend to be produced in the U.S.A., the place they are also prepared into soy wax.

Ever purchase a cheap paraffin candle that generates hardly any fragrance and lasts for all of an hour? A soy candle is going to typically cost about the same as a paraffin however last around 4x as long while burning. Any scent therein will even fill more space within a home, doing a superior job with penetrating other smells in the air while setting a positive mood.

According to a recent study at South Carolina State University, paraffin-based candles were found to emit harmful chemical substances, effectively polluting in house air with molecules like benzene and toluene. Soy candles were also researched within this study and were found not to release any poisonous substances while burning. Toxins within paraffin soot (what's produced by way of a lit paraffin candle) is carcinogenic, which means cancer-causing. These types of substances have been linked to the onset of asthma and cancer of the lung. Therefore if having additional burn time for every dollar isn't enough to cause you to change to soy candles, maybe keeping your lungs in good health is!

Aside from health and cost related reasons for using soy candles, there are the actual ethics of the subject. Paraffin-based organizations are frequently large international conglomerates with business practices which are easy to trace back to exploitation of workers, etc., whereas soy candles can be followed to soy farmers - that are in the United States in most cases. Promoting domestic farming is not just good for our in-house financial system; it's good for the earth. Distribution of resources around the world increases the product's carbon footprint. By operating as locally as you can, that foot print can be reduced.

Paraffin wax is a petroleum-based product as well, meaning originating directly from oil - a limited resource. Soy candle wax, on the other hand is vegetable based and therefore both renewable as well as remarkably eco-friendly. A person doesn't have to be especially well-read to comprehend a lot of the issues surrounding the practices within the oil industry, with environmental, lawful and economic complications abound.

So no matter if you think with your reasoning, pocket book, heart or all of the above - soy candles emerge the obvious choice when looking for a superior product. When looking for an addition to the home that may be virtually setting the mood inside a given space, and for a lot of us utilized quite frequently, finding the most cost-effective and responsible product we can is essential. Supporting businesses that are doing their best to act responsibly as well as put out responsible products is extremely important in today's day and age. As the saying goes, you vote with your dollar, and while placing extensive thought in to something as inactive as a candle may seem trivial - it isn't.

Enlighten Natural Candles (enlightennaturalcandles.com) is an amazing company for a person looking for paraffin alternatives. They give 25% of all their revenue to charity and tote an amazing selection of all-natural soy candles.

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FAQ For New Quilters Part 2

I love the look of Appliqué but I don't really have the time to do it by hand. Are there any other options?

There is. A type of product called fusible appliqué is a thin interfacing that causes fabrics to adhere to each other when heat is applied. By placing this interfacing between your appliqué and the fabric of your quilt, you will get a study bond. Edges can then be finished off with a tight zig-zag, satin or blanket stitch. There are several good brands of this product available at sewing and fabric stores.

I was reading a quilting blog and they talked about a 'Design Wall', what is that?

The purpose of a design wall is to give quilters a place to arrange and rearrange the separate pieces of a quilt, before deciding how to sew them together. There are commercial design walls that you can buy, or you can hang a piece of flannel or batting on the wall. The fibers in these fabrics will hold most materials in place.

Do I really need to buy a rotary cutter or can I just use a good sharp pair of scissors when cutting out my fabric pieces?

You can always use a sharp pair of scissors, but a rotary cutter will save you tons of time, especially when cutting multiple shapes like squares and triangles. However, for rotary cutters to be most effective you also need some type of cutting mat with a graphed out surface and a clear acrylic ruler marked with dark grid lines. Rotary cutters offer much better controlled cutting and a smoother finished edge then scissors.

I saw some really cute stencils in the quilting store. How do I use them?

Quilting stencils are a fun and easy way to decorate a solid topped quilt. Like a conventional stencil, a quilting stencil is made of plastic and is used to outline a pattern repeatedly over the quilt top. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from very simple to quite elaborate. Use a piece of chalk, soap or washable fabric pen to mark your fabric, and then quilt along the lines.

Tip: If you are using a washable fabric pen, be sure to test it on a scrap of fabric first, and leave as light a mark as possible.

What's the deal with pre-washing quilting fabric? Some people say you should pre-wash and others say it isn't necessary.

Although it's true that pre-washing isn't always necessary, depending on the type of fabric you're using, it is still a good idea. True, it's best to make sure your cotton fabrics won't shrink after you've finished your quilting project or that the dyes won't run onto each other the first time it gets wet. But the most important reason you want to pre-wash your fabric is for your own health.

Many fabrics are made out of the US where they use chemicals which are illegal here. Formaldehyde is one of those chemicals, and its fumes can be released into the air while you are working on or pressing your material. Extended exposure to formaldehyde can produce allergies and in extreme cases, permanent respiratory problems.

I always recommend that people pre-wash their fabrics as soon as they bring them home, even if they plan on storing them. It only takes a short amount of time to save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.

Deanne Blackhurst is a freelance writer for Sew to Speak, your one-stop online sewing and fabric store. Visit us at Sew to Speak and take a look at the huge selection of fabric, patterns and notions we carry.

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