Resin items would be one of the ways, but "beads" can be made from polymer clay, air-dry clays, metal, metal clays, wood, tumbled stones and semi-precious stones, ivory, rolled-up triangular cutouts from magazine pages, or just about *anything else you can imagine, make or find.*

Just re resin pieces, no, it’s not like baking. It does involve heat but the resin creates heat itself from the chemical reaction that takes place when the two parts are mixed together (which also makes the resin hard). This usually takes about 24 hrs.

You can find lots of info, lessons, and examples of using resin to make small items for jewelry (beads, whatever) on the first two-thirds of this page at my site, if you’re interested:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/other_materials.htm

Note that there are two main types of clear "craft" resins, and you’d be using them for different types of finished items (polyester resins, epoxy resins, and one "tweaked" epoxy called Easy Cast that’s kind of a hybrid but has some problems in some uses… also, 2-part epoxy *glues* can also be used for small items; Devcon’s 2-Ton one cures especially clear).

You can find summaries of some of that info in these responses I’ve written before too:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqRoGzjtN95Is41Kmm_SHHfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20091011042033AAytK0x
http://www.google.com/search?q=YahooAnswers+"Diane+B."+resin+epoxy+polyester

(One of those answers should also include a link to the very looong thread at the craftster.org forums where most of the resin discussions are:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=10667.0 )

P.S. If you’re looking for beads you can make (in just about any way you can imagine) then BAKE, you’re probably thinking of using "polymer clay."
In that case, check out all the info, lessons, examples, etc. at the rest of my polymer clay "encyclopedia" site from the Table of Contents page:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
….scroll all the way down, then go to any of the pages you see using its name in the alphabetical navigation bar (perhaps beginning with the Beads or Jewelry or Pendants pages)

HTH,

Diane B.
References :