Susie,
LOL, sounds like my attempts with wire, lots of tangled messes!
Thank you for the pointer about practicing...I probably gave up much too easily.  I should try again, because I REALLY want to master beaded trees.  They look soooooooo gorgeous!
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

When working with wire I have found practice,practice. I had a tangled mess when I first started making flowers. LOL But just kept on trying.

LOL, and thank you for using my kitty's nickname for me...you're always welcome to do so! 

Thanks!  I tried beaded flowers once, but didn't think mine looked that great.  They looked sort of spindly.  Plus the wire didn't cooperate.  I ended up using wire that was a bit too thin, but it was much softer than what the instructions said to use.
I love how the yellows, orange, red & brown make the tree look so autumnal!  The colors look realistic, too...no tree in reality is just one shade.
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

Rowr,
On this tree I used 28 guage wire for the orange leaves, then I mount them on 16 guage wire.  The orange beads were a mixture of orange,red,yellow,brown then a lighter yellow.
I don't know if you have ever done flowers but I started out with a book of minature flowers by Helen McCall. I figured if I could do minatures the rest would be easier. LOL

Susie,
P.S. I'm sorry the software is so difficult to figure out...believe me, it's NOT you!  I have trouble with it all the time.  Soon we'll be overhauling our software and will ultimately have something that's MUCH easier to navigate. 
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

Susie,
Thank you so much!  I'd love to make a beautiful beaded tree...and I would appreciate any help!  What kind of wire do you recommend?
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=

I am sorry I have been slow to reply. Just now figured out how to. As for the beaded tree I  have made several flowers and figured why not a tree. LOL Small statement big project. They are really not hard to make just a lot of repatition. I you decide to try one I will be more than glad to help you anyway I can.  Susie

This is GORGEOUS!  Thank you so much for posting...I've always wanted to make beaded trees!  How did you learn to make something so beautiful?
Melanie  (known to the cat as "Rowr" or "Rowr Rowr") =^.^=