I'm often asked for beading tips and I'm going to do my best to collect some sage advice and place on this page. Meanwhile, here are a few helpful hints.
There are lots of great sites online that I've found helpful. A beginning beading tutorial with info about thread, needles, etc. is: http://www.guidetobeadwork.com/book/index.htmlAnother really great site is: http://jewelrymaking.about.com/cs/beginners/
This site has a great tutorial for adding clasps: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9555/
Along with these sites, there are lots of great books out there. I have some on my website that you can buy through Amazon.com: http://209.239.56.130/jewelry/Books/bookstore.htm#BEADING_BOOKS
There are three great magazines out there you can subscribe to that are helpful:
Bead & Button http://www.beadandbutton.com/
BeadWork http://www.interweave.com/bead/beadwork.cfm
Jewelry Crafts http://www.interweave.com/bead/beadwork.cfm
Also check out our Links page. More Beading Tips & Hints Soon!
What is Sterling Silver?
"Pure silver, like pure gold, is 99.99 silver. Like gold
too, it
is too soft in itself to be worked unless it is alloyed with
another metal, usually copper."
"The term "sterling" goes back to England's King John in the
fourteenth century, who imported Germans to refine silver to a
certain standard for use as coins The Germans came from the east and were called
"Easterlings." As a result, the money came to be called easterling,
which was later shortened to esterling, and then finally to sterling. In fact,
King John ordered that all silver had to be of "esterling"
composition, thus establishing the term sterling as a standard for silver, which
eventually found popular acceptance all over the world."
"In a minor surprise, the Thames and Hudson Illustrated Dictionary of
Jewelry reports that while in Great Britain, sterling silver has a fineness of
.925 parts silver and .075 parts copper, in the USA it is .921 parts
silver."
(Info from http://www.exoticindia.com)