Mmmmm . . . Beads.

I’ve run across so many great bead resources lately, I thought I’d collect them all in a post and share the bounty.

First, Mandi’s excellent Bead Circle site, which has beading forums and a great blog. Mandi interviews beadwork designers about their work, and shares her projects, and organizes the occasional swap. (You may also remember Mandi for her excellent beaded pens.)

Next, on the Bead Circle blog, I discovered Bead Pattern Central. This one offers tutorials for sale for some truly impressive bead projects, including jewelry, loomed pieces, and cute Christmas ornaments. They also have a whole slew of free tutorials for beading techniques.

And then there’s Beadage, which offers free tutorials, a beading glossary, and a teriffic collection of reviews of bead books. There’s even a page about the metaphysical properties of various gemstone beads, and a stunning gallery of beadwork, submitted by a wide variety of beaders.

Andi was kind enough to send me a link to the Beads of Clay group, which makes beautiful things. Their Flickr group is so inspiring.

And lastly, if you’ve never heard of them, Fire Mountain Gems is an insanely-great online bead store. And don’t miss their EncycloBEADia. Doesn’t it somehow make you feel better just saying “encycloBEADia” out loud?

OOh! And then there’s this book, as found via Thimble.