The Beading Beat

Welcome to the first ever Beading Beat. Every Friday I'll discuss various beady topics like tips and tricks, some of my favorite beading products, and more. Some weeks it will be a quick discussion, some weeks it will be longer. But every week it will be fun and full of beady goodness.

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This week I'm going to be talking about one of my favorite things. An item that has truly changed my life when it comes to bead work. What am I talking about?

My magnification lamp.

I have been beading for well over 20 years and it's only been the last year or so that I started using one of these. If you use one already, I'm sure your shaking your head in disappointment. I own a wide variety of beading lights, but I've never actually used a magnifying lamp.

This thing has changed my life. It makes beading so much easier. I love it and I can't imagine beading without it now.

To be honest I bought it to help my husband sort Lego bricks. He buys big lots of used Lego and then we need to figure out what they are. So I need a bright light and a magnifying glass to do that. But after I got it, I thought, why not use this bad boy for beads.

I did have a little bit of learning curve to get use to beading with it. I wasn't use to see my beads to big, but I think I had it down the first time I used it. It took me maybe 30 minute to get use to it. Now I can't imagine trying to look at those tiny beads without it.

I have the TomShine Magnifying Glass Lamp. I got it from Amazon an I think it was under $30. On of my favorite things about it is that it plugs in using a USB cord, so I can plug it into the wall or I can use these battery packs to power it. Having it run on batteries is great because I can use it anywhere. And the battery packs are inexpensive and can be recharged (no wasteful batteries). I think I got both of these at Target for around $10 (the one can also be charged using solar energy).

My only complaints with this exact model is the lid won't stay open when you are using it. It just falls down. I've gotten around this by just taking the cover off when in use and putting it back on when I'm done. The other annoying thing is it did not come in with the USB power adapter, but not much comes with one now a days, so I guess I should have expected that. The only other thing I can see being a problem is the clip on it is VERY strong. Which is good because you know it won't fall down, but it could be difficult for some to use it.

Other than those few things, I love it. I recommend anyone that does beadwork get some sort of magnifying lamp and reduce that strain on your eyes. And get your self one of these portable ones so you can take it with you where ever you go.

Do you use a magnifying lamp? Which one do you use? Do you like it? Leave a comment below and let me know what you use to bead.

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Looking for beady tutorials?
​Even Count Flat Peyote Stitch - Click Here
Ladder Stitch - Click Here
Brick Stitch - Click Here
How to Read a Peyote Stitch Word Chart - Click Here
Square Stitch - Coming Soon
Two Drop Even Count Flat Peyote Stitch - Coming Soon
Odd Count Flat Peyote Stitch - Coming Soon
And many more!

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Other Helpful Goodies

​Want to know how I keep track of where I am in a pattern? Click here to read about my method for staying on track.

What are my favorite beads to use for peyote? I love me some Delica cylinder beads. There are a number of awesome choices HERE.

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