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Bead, Beaded
A bead is a small, decorative object that is pierced for threading or stringing. As an alternative to piercing, plastic beads may be Moulded Onto a Thread during manufacturing; these MOT beads are often used for the throw necklaces worn at Mardi Gras. more...
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Beads range in size from under a millimeter to over a centimeter or sometimes several centimeters in diameter. Glass, plastic, and stone are probably the most common materials, but beads are also made from bone, horn, ivory, metal, shell, pearl, coral, gemstones, polymer clay, metal clay, resin, synthetic minerals, wood, ceramic, fiber, paper, and seeds. A pair of beads made from Nassarius shells that are approximately 100,000 years old are thought to be the first known examples of jewelery.
Beadwork is the craft of making things with beads. Beads can be woven together with specialized thread, strung onto thread or wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g. fabric, clay).
Types of decorative beads include:
Chevron beads;
Cloisonné beads;
Dichroic beads;
Ethnic beads;
Faux natural beads;
Fire-polished beads;
Furnace glass beads;
Fused glass beads;
Lampwork beads;
Lead crystal beads;
Millefiori beads;
Pressed glass beads;
Seed beads;
Shell beads;
Trade beads or Slave beads;
Seed beads
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Seed Beads are uniformly shaped, spheroidal beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres. "Seed Bead" is a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving. They may be used for simple stringing, or as spacers between other beads in jewelry. Larger seed beads are used in various fiber crafts for embellishment, or crochet with fiber or wire. Seed beads are commonly made in Japan and the Czech Republic.
Units of measure
The most popular seed bead size is 11/0 ("eleven-aught"), but sizes range from 24/0 (believed to be the smallest) to 6/0 or 5/0 (the largest). The term "aught" refers to how many beads can fit into a standard unit. The origin of the name is debatable.
Other types of beads
Chevron beads
Chevron Beads are special glass beads, originally made for the slave trade in Africa by glassmakers in Italy. They are composed of many consecutive layers of colored glass. The initial core is formed in a star-shaped mold, and can have anywhere between five and fifteen points. The next layer of glass conforms to that star shape. Several layers of glass can be applied, either star-shaped or smooth. After all layers have been applied, the glass is drawn out to the desired thickness and when cooled, cut into short segments showing the resulting star pattern at their ends. The ends can be ground to display the chevron pattern. Chevron beads are traditionally composed of red, blue, and white layers, but modern chevrons can be found in any color combination.
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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