Beading Arts

I told you last month that I was not able to finish the piece that I started for February, so it became my challenge piece for February AND March.  I'd rather do it right than do it fast and sloppy :-) The real challenge was that I wanted to mix together as many of the stitches that I developed for Bored By Back Stitch as possible, without making it look like I was trying too hard.  My decision was to go for symmetry in the middle component, and then to stitch six more that would match each other for size, but would vary in shape, texture, and color.  My three main colors, which you can see a bit better in the detail shots below, are turquoise, purple, and copper.  Each of the smaller components features two of these colors, always with turquoise. I'm pleased, but not thrilled.  I want to make another piece similar to this and see if I can work up some different ways to combine the stitches.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm already gettin...

Mixed Media Artist The weaving technique that Cyndi used in an art quilt was successful enough for her to try it again...and see if she can get it right this time! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Review by jean and GIVEAWAY as well of the stunning book, 1000 BEADS, Kristina Logan, Juror ! see Jean's blog! Eggs in Nest Beaded Charm Bracelet   Three blue-speckled eggs nestled in a wire-wrapped charm make a great focal charm. This bracelet features three nests. Click for directions. There are matching earrings as well. Carmi's Art/Life World I wanted to share this special blog hop I coordinated with 12 different designers. All their projects are so unique and different! They received Neo Chain from Dazzle-it come to play with. Resin Crafts Blog This is part one of a three part post which focuses on containing resin in a flat wire wall. Crochet Kit Giveaway Enter to win an super, uber ad-or-able Wizard of Oz crochet kit! The Writing and Ar...

 Ana, who writes AC Beads, has just won a copy of the new book  Mastering Herringbone Stitch ,  Congratulations Ana! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Need some more inspiration?  Any of these books will be welcome additions to your library! Classic Style, Fresh Look by Irina Miech Making Elegant Jewelry   by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Simply Stylish Crystal Jewelry by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Multistrand Jewelry by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Project Necklaces by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Necklaceology  by Candie Cooper ( review ) Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry  by Lorelei Eurto and Erin Siegel ( review ) The Venetian Glass Bead  by Kathy Fox ( review ) Jewelry Designs from Nature  by Heather Powers ( review ) Create Jewelry - Glass  by Marlene Blessing and Jamie Hogsett ( review ) Designing Jewelry with Semiprecious Beads  by Kim Gover ( review ) Jewelry & Beading Designs for Dummies  by Heather Dismore and Tammy Powley ( review ) Ancient Modern Polymer Clay and Wire Jewelry  by Ronna Sarvas Weltman ( review ) Beading In No Time ...

Small Beads Big Jewelry: 30 Unique Pieces to Make by Jean Power Precious Friendship Bracelets by Di Kim (Mar 6, 2014 Create Three Dimensional Jewelry: Combine Stitching, Embellishing, Layering, and Riveting by Heather DeSimone Twist, Turn & Tie 50 Japanese Kumihimo Braids: A Beginner's Guide to Making Braids for Beautiful Cord Jewelry by Beth Kemp Enameling Made Easy: Torch-Firing Workshop for Beginners & Beyond by Anat Silvera BoHo Chic Jewelry: 25 Timeless Designs Using Soldering, Beading, Wire Wrapping and More by Laura Beth Love How to Make 100 Ribbon Embellishments: Trims, rosettes, sculptures, and baubles for fashion, decor, and crafts  by Elaine Schmidt Stylish Leather Jewelry: Modern Designs for Earrings, Bracelets, Necklaces, and More by Mylene Hillam Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

One of the first beading techniques that most people learn is how to string.  After moving on to bead weaving, bead embroidery, and mixed media techniques, some of us forget about that thrill that we got when we first learned how to string a pleasing necklace..  We forget how exciting it was to learn how to finish off a piece with a polished-looking closure.   Never forget the basics! Making your beading designs unique  - part one Making your beading designs unique  - part two Making your beading designs unique  - part three Another kazuri bead necklace An easy seashell necklace Chandelier-style optical lens pendant Interchangeable Kazuri bead necklaces Sandcast beads Boho necklace Cherry Donut Pink yarrow, Flame, and Greenery pendant necklace Peace on Earth necklace Waves beaded necklace Ametrine & vintage buttons necklace Faerie Bells, revisited Aegean Seas Mental Gears Multi-strand necklace Knotting a continuou...

I'm not a real afficionado of chain maille, but once in awhile it's really fun to dabble in, especially when you can whip up a fast and easy (and super-cute) pair of earrings in almost no time!  I'm not sure exactly what you would call this pattern of linking your jump rings: it is either a simple 1 x 1 chain with extra loops added to every other link, or it's a 3 x 1 chain without the second attachment for the outer rings of each 3. Does anyone know if this pattern has an official name? Anyway, it's easy to do, as I said, and you can be wearing new earrings in an hour. Materials and Tools Pair of silver earring wires 26 Twisted jump rings (20 gauge, 8 mm) 14 drops or charms 2 pair of chain nose pliers 1. For each earring, pick up a drop on 6 jump rings, and close the rings. 2. Starting with 1 open jump ring with an ear wire on it, pick up 3 closed jump rigns, the outer ones with crops and the middle one plain. 3. Use an open jump ring to ...

Ok, big disclaimer...I have a piece in this book, so of course it's going to be hard for me to be objective about it!  So what? 1000 Beads , compiled by juror Kristina Logan for Lark Books , is full of the inspirational work that you've come to expect from this series.  Traditional and alternative materials are both represented here: glass, porcelain, polymer clay, fibers, seed beads, colored pencils, bone, metals, stones, fabric, wood, leather, and in my case, antique plumbing fixtures. Last year, a few months before the call went out from Lark, I had made a series of beads that I called Not Found in Nature , which were built on old plumbing parts that I found in the attic and basement of our Victorian home.  If you visit the link, it will show you three beads from the series, but I'm not going to tell you which one was accepted :-)

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean writes about the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by Lori Anderson and what she received from her super wonderful partner Jen Purple--wow!!! Mixed Media Artist Here's a quick, easy, and useful project you can do with your scrap papers...scrap magnets! Get Hopping! The Crafty Princess participated in a fun Dazzle-It blog hop. See what she cooked up with the jewelry supplies they sent her. A Creative Dream June is celebrating the arrival of spring by giving away a bouquet of flowers! Preserving Memories: Creating "This is Cartegena" Digital Scrapbook Paper The instant Eileen saw this graffitied wall in the old city of Cartagena, she said to her husband, "I could make a scrapbook paper of that!" Then she snapped away. Felt Peep Bunnies Cherie shares some Peep bunnies she made out of felt. Carmi's Art/Life Blog With my collection of vintage linens finally sorted and displayed I made ...

Here are some artists who will make you drool.  No, really!  Put a cover on your keyboard before you start clicking... Lorena Angulo  ( update ) Joan Rhodes   Judy Grun Vie Blakey Linda Kaye-Moses  Andrew Thornton Sherry Eckert JJ Singh  Maureen and Rebecca Worth   ( update ) Melissa Lee  Dale Wayne Avril Scott Delia Marsellos-Traister Jennifer Vestal    ( update ) Cheri Platter Joseph Rissin Shahasp Valentine Michelle Loon  Lis-el Crowley Carol Gregory Kristi Bowman-Gruel Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Mastering Herringbone Stitch By Melinda Barta Interweave/F+W Media; $18.49 Did you know that herringbone stitch is the second most popular beadweaving technique?  I didn't either, but according to Melinda Barta , editor of Beadwork Magazine , and author of the new Interweave book Mastering Herringbone Stitch , it is!  After looking through this volume, I can see why. Melinda has included a really introductory section in case you are brand new to beadweaving.  The meat of the books is arranged by increasing complexity, first covering flat herringbone, and then moving on through circular, tubular, and spiral variations.  The projects are wonderful, from the simplest beginner flat band bracelet to the most complicated twisting delight.  Seven beadweaving superstars join Melinda in contributing projects.  And you'll really like this...the project resources are listed in the back.  Yay! My favorite project is Jill Wiseman's "Rolling in the ...

Metal Clay 101 for Beaders  by Kristal Wick How to make focals and findings that will integrate with your current beading style. Irina's Metal Clay Collection for Beaders  by Irina Miech Irina's favorite projects in metal clay. Metal Clay and Color  compiled by Mary Wohlgemuth The missing element for metal clay...up till now! The Absolute Beginners Guide to Making Metal Clay Jewelry   by Cindy Thomas Pankopf My new favorite beginner's guide.  Love it.   Metal Clay Origami Jewelry: 25 Contemporary Projects   by Sarah Jayne Cole Not for beginners!  The next new big thing? Metal Clay Fusion  by Gordon Uyehara The most gorgeous advanced work you'll ever see. Silver and Bronze Clay   by Hadar Jacobson A wonderfully inspiring book from one of the pioneers of BronzClay work Sculptural Metal Clay Jewelry  by Kate McKinnon  An amazing book by a master jeweler Bronze Metal Clay  by Yvonne Padilla A tech...

The earring blanks that I received from  Fire Mountain Gems  have a channel around the outside, and there are two small holes at each end of the channel.  These holes, along with the super-fine wire I received allowed me to anchor the wrapping wire at each end.  Not exactly what the blanks were designed for, but they worked perfectly.  I made these fuzzy beaded tooty-frooty earrings in less than an hour! Materials and Tools   Channel hoop earring blanks Decorative yarn, ribbon, or fibers MicroWrap steel wire Delica seed beads Rubberized faceted glass accent beads Wire cutters 4 alligator clips 1. Wrap the earring blanks with fibers and hold at the ends with alligator clips.  A dab of glue is fine, but unnecessary. 2. Cut about 12" of wire and thread one end through the 2 holes at one end of an earring blank.  Wrap several times around the top of the blank and the fibers to secure, wrapping over top of the short e...

My friend Carolyn Turner Pappe recently shared with me about her international bead embroidery group, which started in 2011 on Etsy, the Etsy Bead Embroidery Guild .  If you are involved with Etsy, the easiest way for you to find them and see what they're doing is to type "EBEG team" into the search bar, and the results will pull all of the work from the team members' separate shops.  You can also find them through the "Community" search, typing "Bead Embroidery Guild" into the "teams" search. Carolyn writes: Our current goal is to create a website which is in the beginning stages, and we also have a blog  and a facebook page .  We want to keep our group small and somewhat exclusive, with a cap of 50 members.  Right now we stand at 43. We have beading challenges all the time and great participation.  The pictures above are from some recent challenges.  At the top of the post is a selection from the Red Carpet BeadFest Challeng...

Patch It Up Fabric hoarders and scrappers will find this new book from Lark interesting: Pretty Little Patchwork. Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean reviewed Melinda Barta's book, Mastering Herringbone Stitch, The Complete Guide, and is hosting a Giveaway of this really great book this week on her blog! Yay! Mixed Media Artist Cyndi shows you how to finish up a quilt with a nice wrap and tuck edging! Card Making Tutorial: "Just a Note" This "Just a Note" card is made using a base of 12 x 12 cardstock. Since one sheet yields two cards, you might as well make two at once and always have a spare on hand. Resin Crafts Blog A special post about using original ephemera in high end bezels. A Bead A Day Lisa's sharing memories of her last day at Beadland Headquarters in Florida a.k.a. Cousin Corporation. Art Bead Scene Check out Heather's fun tutorial using Aria Design Studio's beautiful hand-dyed Shibori ribbon!...

If you already have a kiln for working with glass, or you have a torch, you might want to add metal clay to your techniques list at some point.  Metal clay is now available in several base metal forms, which are much much more affordable than the original fine silver and gold. Beading Arts tutorials: General instructions for working with CopprClay Forming, firing, and finishing CopprClay How to make silver clay leaves  Some simple CopprClay pendants   Making a CopprClay disc necklace - part one Making a CopprClay disc necklace - part two Making a CopprClay ammonite pendant - part one Making a CopprClay ammonite pendant - part two Simple molded piece from CopprClay Making small cameos with CopprClay CopprClay experiments Firing CopprClay Finishing CopprClay Tutorials by others: Copper Firing Guide  - by the incredible Wanaree 3 easy ways to patina metal  - with easy to find solutions! How to use heat to patina brass  - get a great fire-darkened ...

Congratulations to Kay, who writes' Kay's Kreationz !  She just won a copy of  Lisa Bluhm's  book  Simple Soldered Jewelry & Accessories .