Beading Arts

September cabochon, finished I used square stitch to make my September piece for  the  Bead Journal Project .   Square stitch was actually my favorite for a very long time, and was the first beadweaving stitch I felt I had really mastered.  I know that most people start with peyote, but not me!  I moved into beadweaving from a sort of cross stitch bead embroidery phase, so square suited me better because it conformed to the type of patterns I already had. The central bead cabochon came from The Best Beads . Bored By Back Stitch  will teach you how to create twelve different bead embroidery motifs, using nine different beadweaving stitches.  Learn how beadweaving stitches can be morphed into beautiful bead embroidered motifs, created to surround and enhance your cabochons or accent beads. The specific motifs you will learn are designs that use embroidered forms of basic peyote, Cellini spiral peyote, brick, Russian spiral, herringbone, chevron chain, right ang

It's all the fault of because of my fantastic friend Sarah Sequins that I had to  got to make another bead embroidery piece that incorporated sequins!  I'm not really as comfortable with sequins as perhaps I should be, considering that they're not really very different from beads, but there it is...I have a hard time thinking about how to use them creatively.  Believe me, if you want to see the creative use of sequins, check out Sarah's blog at the link above! Anyway, here's what I came up with: I incorporated sequins into the African Helix beadweaving stitch that I adapted for bead embroidery.  There are additional sequins under each of the translucent pink accent beads and in the notches around the outer rim.  Ok, not the best, but probably also not the worst I could have done! Here are the basic steps.  You can find step by step directions for the African Helix bead embroidery stitch and for finishing off and adding a square stitch bail to a pendant in

Art Bead Scene Check out this funky free project from Gaea, using tons of beautiful art beads! The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Take a look at what some of the members of the Inspired by Reading book club made for the September selection, "Dogeaters" by Jessica Hagedorn. Resin Crafts Blog I craftastrophy in mold making turns into a super bangle project after a day of experimentation. A Bead A Day Have you thought about or begun making holiday gift projects? Lisa's sharing her sparkly inspiration for gift giving this year. Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean reviews the marvelously innovative new book, Explorations in Beadweaving, by Kelly Angeley. Get ready to get your socks knocked off! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

This week, I'll show you how I finished up the bead embroidered top of my new necklace and we'll get started on assembling it.  Last week, we left off with the central motif and three motifs on each side finished.  I explained that I chose to use the same stitch pattern on mirror motifs, but varied the colors and beads slightly so that it wouldn't look too symmetrical. There were two more sets of motifs to stitch, and I chose Russian spirals and peyote for these.  Part of the reason for these choices is that I wanted motifs that looked good even in smaller scale since I'm now nearing the top of the necklace on each side. Two Russian spiral motifs Two peyote stitch motifs A final step before cutting out the top is to go back and add any additional back stitch and bead stacks to join the motif, filling in any spaces that seem too empty or unbalanced. After cutting out the top, I cut out a matching piece for the backing.   You can find d

Silver Clay with Style: 22 Unique & Stylish Silver Clay Jewellery Projects to Make, Wear & Enjoy! by Natalia Colman Beading: A beginner's guide to beading techniques by Diana Vowles Bead Weaving on a Loom: Techniques and Patterns for Making Beautiful Bracelets, Necklaces, and Other Accessories  by Carol C. Porter and Fran Ortmeyer Charms by Sophie Robertson Explorations in Beadweaving: Techniques for an Improvisational Approach by Kelly Angeley Bead Bracelets: 15 beautiful jewelry designs by Susan Beal Beadweaving Mastery: More Than 15 Beading Projects for Jewelry and Accessories by Heather Laithwaite The Beader's Workbook: More Than 50 Beading Projects for Jewelry and Accessories by Kathleen Barry 200 Tips for Jewelry Making: Tips,Techniques and Trade Secrets by Xuella Arnold and Sara Withers Silver Soldering Simplified: A New Jewelry Technique You Can Do at Home by Scott David Plumlee The Everything Guide to Selling Arts & Crafts

What a brilliant idea!   101 Bracelets, Necklaces, and Earrings , a special edition by Beadwork , has all the projects arranged by color!  Over all, you can think of this as a color issue. Now that's not to say that you must make the pieces in the colors shown, but the volume is definitely geared towards beginners, who sometimes want to be able to make exact copies of certain projects before venturing off into substituting I don't think you'll be disappointed if you are a beginner: there's a wide range of styles and materials contained here.  Resource information is included and projects are all intended to take only a couple of hours tops to complete! You can pick up your own copy on the newsstands until mid-October. Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

The major design elements of my new necklace were overlapped bead embroidery motifs that I developed from popular bead weaving stitches.  In choosing what motifs to place where, I had to take into account that some patterns were dependent upon a specific bead count, while others could be a bit more flexible.  In several cases, I knew that my motifs would not wrap completely around the focal bead, either because there wouldn't be enough room with the overlapping, or just because I didn't want them to. So bead count helped to determine placement of the motifs, but the complexity of the pattern was equally as important.  The more embellishment possibilites in the pattern, the more likely it would be to appear closer to the middle.  I also needed to choose motifs for near the back of the necklace that would look good being stitched on a smaller scale. Although I don't always do this, this time I decided to force the spacing to stay as planned by stitching down all of

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Andrew shares some upcoming classes at Allegory Gallery, including a Weekend Intensive taught by him and Lynne Suprock! Resin Crafts Blog The Lanvin inspired name plate necklace is easy to make with Resin Clay. Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!  Jean is a member of a group of designers for the great store and online presence Baubles & Beads. This week was the first reveal for the designers. Stop by and see what Jean made, enter a giveaway, and scoop up a great coupon code good through Sept. at Baubles & Beads ! Yay! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

In part one of this series, I talked about (at great length!) how the decisions were made to start this necklace: theme, techniques, and color scheme.  Today I want to show you how I got from the basic idea to the planned design.  It all started with a small circle... Maybe another time... Since I already decided that the necklace was going to be made from overlapping bead embroidered motifs (see Bored By Back Stitch ), it seemed reasonable to start the design process with plain circles that could represent them.  The only downside to this plan is that I know the circles will become smaller as they near the top of the necklace on each side, but I also know how to compensate for that as I stitch, so I decided to just ignore it for now.  I tried about a dozen different designs, just snapping a picture of each and moving on quickly to the next.  Lucky for you, I'm only going to show you two, one that lost and one that I chose. The winner I traced the circles onto o

Issue 18 of Perlen Poesie , Europe's premier beading magazine, is now available! This issue has 16 jewelry projects focusing on the typical colors of the 50s along with fresh ideas for making them modern.  Also included are tips on how to use hidden magnetic clasps, and two fabulous designer profiles. Even better news for English speakers, Perlen Poesie is now available in both German and English!! There is also a review of my e-book, Bored By Back Stitch , and one reader of Perlen Poesie will win a free download copy! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2013 I always look forward to seeing what the new color trends are each season, but that doesn't mean that I necessarily use them in my designs!  How about you?  Do you look to see what the latest fashion, accessory, and color trends are, or do you prefer to do your own thing? I've said it before, I pay attention to general sizes and shapes for clothing and accessories, and to color only if I happen to like it ;-) For those who care, here are some great reports: Pantone Fashion Color Report for Fall 2013   The current colors - a palette of many moods Pantone Fashion Color Report for Men Only slightly different from the women's palette Gemstones that match the Pantone palette By the fabulous Tammy Jones Color schemes from the Pantone palette Some really fun "palettes within the palette"! Fall 2013 Fashion picks Hot picks for Fall by College Fashion Glamour Fashion Dos and Don'ts A fun slideshow! T

My current bead embroidery project is giving me a chance to focus on my decision-making process in several new ways, at least new to me!  I thought that some of you might like to see "behind the scenes", and learn what goes into making a large bead embroidered necklace. Free-form St Petersburg Chain stitch, embroidered form I knew to begin with that this piece was going to use some free-form versions of the bead embroidery motifs that I've spent months developing from bead weaving stitches.  These are the motifs that are featured in Bored By Back Stitch , my most recent e-book.  For the book, I stitched each motif as a separate entity, but now I wanted to see how they could be used together in a piece.  To stay true to the spirit of the book, I decided to create the majority of the design by using the motifs, and use back stitch and bead stacks only to fill in the gaps. Ok, so the techniques have been decided, but what will the necklace be about?  I like to ha

Art Bead Scene Revisit a 'best of' post with Sparrow Salvage - an ever-popular topic: how to take great jewellery photos! Charlene Sevier Ever start a piece of jewelry and then struggle to finish it? That's what happened to Charlene. There is a happy ending! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! A beautiful art book concerning Blythe dolls (wearing jewelry of course!) has been written by Jean with her co authors and 40 world wide contributors. Preview the book, Big Eyed Love, and read more about it on Jean's blog! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Congratulations to Lin Cazares !  She is the winner of the giveaway package of tagua nut beads from Ecuadorian Hands !