Jillybeads in the UK, Parawire in New Jersey, and Shipwreck in Washington State supply beads and other items to beaded flower artists, jewelry artists and other artists the world over. This is a brief overview of these suppliers and their wares.

Jillybeads is a supplier of all kinds of items for those making beaded flowers, bead jewelry, other bead items and various crafts. They have an excellent selection of different types of beads. Some of these are charm, lampwork, Swarovski, Giverny, textile, pearly and monochrome. They also carry some intriguing metalwork beads.

Artists who make beaded flowers will love their selection of seed beads. Jillybeads offers Miyuki and Toho beads, from Japan. Japanese seed beads are known to be extremely high quality. They are very consistent in size and shape, and the hole is quite large, allowing for the creation of both French and Victorian seed bead flowers.

Jillybeads' selection of Swarovski beads is comprehensive. Shoppers will find pendants, bicones, crystal pearls, hearts and a wide range of rounds, plus pendants, stones and ceramic beads. There is a good selection of kits as well, for making rings, bracelets, earrings and even tiny Christmas trees.

There's a full selection of bales, spacers, findings and other great items to help the artist get really creative.

Parawire, or Paramount Wire Co. is of course a manufacturer of wire for all kinds of arts, crafts and other purposes. On their homepage you can find a special link for Beaded Flowers. Parawire has worked closely with many flower beaders to develop special wires just for them. There's also a special link for Jewelry Wire.

Parawire's products come in small or large spools in plenty of different colors and gauges. The wires are very high-quality and are a pleasure to work with.

On their site you can find wires that are cotton coated or painted, galvanized, brass, aluminum or bronze. There are even "chain mail" wires available. Parawire can supply you with stemwires, pliers and cutters too.

Parawire's staff are friendly and helpful, and their service and shipping time are excellent.

An excellent source for bulk beads is Shipwreck Beads. Shipwreck offers discounts on larger bead orders, which is great for the beader who makes large flowers that consume thousands of beads. Shipwreck has kits, charms, beading tools, wires and findings. They state that they're America's largest distributor of Preciosa Ornella Traditional Czech Glass Beads.

They have some really unusual lamp pendants, too. If you often work with lamp beads, try one of Shipwreck's lampwork grab-bags.

Their selection of Czech seed beads is beyond compare. They offer over 2,700 colors and many different sizes. The beads come threaded on hanks, so if you're a beader who prefers to string your beads from the hank, you'll love Shipwreck's beads.

Shipwreck also offers pewter charms, kits for earring and small ornaments, gemstone beads for when you want to make a special project.

Shipwreck is a delight to work with. They're very personable and their service is lightning-fast, even coast-to-coast. Their rates are very competitive.