There are so many tools around that make life easier. I'd love to share a few of my favorites. These are things that I wouldn't want to live without. Most can be found online or at your local art store! One of my favorite new beading tools for making a wire loop is something called wire looping pliers or coupling pliers. I'm constantly amazed at how few people know of this tool...even bead store owners! When learning the basics of jewelry making, one of the things that drove me nuts was trying to make that perfect wire loop. You're supposed to make a bend in one direction in the wire using one type of pliers then re-grasp the wire in another place with a different type of pliers, wrapping the wire around the cone shape. With the Wire Looping Pliers, you can forget the above. One side is concave, the other side is rounded...the two fit together like a puzzle piece. You simply squeeze your wire with these pliers and presto, an automatic bend....you grasp the lower portion of wire and pull down and grasp the top part of the wire and begin looping around the round part of the pliers. Perfect loop every time! Do you see that the cone or round side of the pliers have different gradations? This way, you can make specific sized loops that are exactly the same every time. I'd never do wire work/beading without them.
Another AWESOME tool is the Fiskars hand drill. I first saw this in use while taking a class from Keith Lo Bue. Up to that point, whenever I needed to do any drilling, I would use my dremel, which can be time consuming....locating an empty outlet, fighting the cord, etc. (don't get me wrong, I LOVE my dremel when I have a million scrabble tiles that need holes...very quick. The Fiskars drill is perfect when you need to make one or two holes...it's easy for traveling (artfest or classes). The Fiskars hand drill is a total dream and like the pliers, very inexpensive. I have used this drill to make holes in metal, wood, walnuts, coins, scrabble tiles and even to drill holes in the wall needed to fit screw anchors for hanging shelves. It uses the average drill bits and comes with some of its own. I recommend buying some small bits if you want to use this for jewelry making, etc.
You'll not be sorry for getting some Irwin Quick Grips either. 
I bought a package of 2 at Lowes before the LoBue class per his recommendation, and use them anytime I drill. They're tiny, easy to use and perfect for small projects! Let me know if you have any favorite gadgets! oxox
oh mama, I've been saving up some amazon gift certificates and went on this HUGE FUN and FREEE spending spree. How could I not share the goods with you....or at least make you just a teensy bit green with envy??
