Beading Arts

Finding Style: How to Use Today’s Versatile Jewelry-Making Components by Irina Miech The Complete Photo Guide to Jewelry Making, 2nd Edition: 15 New Projects, New Gallery - More than 700 Large Color ... by Tammy Powley The Visual Language of Wabanaki Art (American Heritage) by Jeanne Morningstar Kent Unique by Design: Contemporary Jewelry in the Donna Schneier Collection (Metropolitan Museum of Art) by Suzanne Ramljak Sea Glass Jewelry: Create Beautiful and Unique Designs from Beach-Found Treasures by Lindsay Furber and Mary Beth Beuke The Knotting & Braiding Bible: The Complete Guide to Creative Knotting Including Kumihimo, Macrame and Plaiting ... by Dorothy Wood Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

I didn't really ever plan to write up a tutorial on this piece, but since it was featured in Chapter two of Bored By Back Stitch (page 32), I've gotten too many requests to ignore. I know it's not technically a quilt, but that's what I'm going to call it since traditional quilts were the inspiration.  Please don't yell at me about it! 1. Cut a piece of fabric just slightly larger than your final desired measurement to account for shrinkage while beading.  Cut and iron a lightweight fusible interfacing to the back. 2. I started by measuring off the central square and stitching its outline in, of all things, BACK STITCH!  See, I don't hate back stitch...I just want variety. 3. Next I added back stitched lines off to each side of the central square.  These were filled first... 4. ...one by bead embroidered herringbone stitch, which was then topped off by another back stitch line. 5. ...and the other side by bead embroidered

Charlene Sevier Book Review: The Complete Photo Guide to Making Jewelry (2nd Edition) Origami-Inspired Calling Card Holder Suits Gift or Credit Cards This origami-inspired card holder had two large pockets on the inside and 2 "secret" pockets on the outside. It holds about 20 cards and fastens with an elastic ponytail holder. Resin Crafts What could be cooler than miniature people at the beach? Art Bead Scene Check out Ema's new favourite tool - her wood-forming block for making curved metal components! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

I want to make a non-wearable piece, just a pretty bead and embroidery picture, and I'm having trouble deciding which fabric should be the background.  I started out with a whole bunch of fabrics and narrowed down over a few hours. The two contenders are both pieces of muslin that I free-style marbled years and years ago.  As you can see, the one above is subtle and doesn't interfere with the focal pieces. BUT, the other has more of the colors of the flowers in it, and seems to be a slightly better match, although it is a busier pattern.  Which would you choose? Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Cerulean Shoals - a metal mesh ribbon cuff I am very very excited about this new piece that I did for the Bead Journal Project this month!  I have been looking for other textiles that would give an organic look to my work like pleated shibori silk ribbon does, and I stumbled upon metal mesh ribbon.  Not that the two look alike, that's not what I mean.  I was looking for that organic quality that the silk has, and the metal mesh ribbon seemed to be a distinct possibility.  You can stretch it and bend it, pinch it and fold it, stick stuff inside it, and best of all...you can easily stitch through it.  So here is my first attempt, in all it's turquoise-y glory! There are step-by-step instructions for this piece in Chapter 3 of my e-book Bored By Back Stitch ! January February March April May June Copyright 2014 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distrib

Carmi's Art/Life World It is wonderful to see how a bit of fabric ribbon and a button can be featured into a new beaded cuff. Resin Crafts Blog There are inexpensive bamboo tiles that can easily be turned into wearable jewels with some simple resin application techniques. Mixed Media Artist Cyndi is head-over-heels in love with a new book on reclaiming and upcycling textiles! Crafty Cupcake "Recipe" Calls for Styrofoam and Glue Not only are they cute, these cupcakes are fun to make. They’re guaranteed to be sugar-free, gluten-free, calorie-free and cute as the dickens. Back to Amigurumi Crafty Princess is loving amigurumi again with this new project that was a tad challenging.

I received a wonderful package of buttons and beads from Bead & Button Company , UK.  They are a leading shopping site in Great Britain, located in North Lancashire. The soft colors of these buttons and the seed beads reminded me of a special piece of pleated silk shibori ribbon that I've been hording...time to break it out, I guess!  In a few weeks, I expect to have a project to show you.

When I found these pretty gold-plated filigree rounds, I knew that they were destined to become the delicate supports for a pearl necklace. I chose rose hued fresh water pearls, but you could substitute whatever color you wanted, or use completely different beads instead! Materials & Tools   22 mm gold-plated filigree rounds, 9 Fresh water pearl, 35 2mm gold-plated rounds, 56 2” gold-plated head pins, 19 24” of 24 gauge gold colored wire, cut into 3” pieces 12” gold-plated stringing wire, .015” diameter 4 gold-plated crimp beads Gold-plated chain, 3 - 4” Gold hook Wire cutters Round nose pliers Flat nose pliers 1. Slide a pearl and a 2 mm gold-plated round onto 18 head pins. Create a wrapped loop with each so that there are 2 dangles hanging from the bottom of each of 9 filigree rounds. 2. Connect the filigree rounds together as follows: Turn a small wrapped loop around the upper side hole of one filigree round using a 3” piece of

Crafting Discount Alert! Get 25% off a cool Hobby Holster with this discount code good until the end of the month Mixed Media Artist Are you interested in wearable art? Cyndi has gathered a number of her tutorials that will move you beyond just jewelry! Art Bead Scene Check out Kylie Parry's beautiful post on summer inspiration! How to Make a Page Map Card Unique to You Page maps, layouts, or sketches - whatever you call them - are a great way to: 1. Learn basic design principles; 2. Come up with a quick design on the spur of the moment; and 3. Observe how other artists interpret the sketch - honestly, no two are ever alike. Creative collaboration helps raise awareness and funds for a worthy cause. Andrew participated in the Beads of Courage Design Challenge. Check out pictures from the Bead&Button Show and see images of his finished piece. Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media ,

If you treat your jewelry making as a business, then you know that there is never really any time of the year that is "time off".  I've gathered up a few posts that I think are especially helpful, so maybe you'll sneak in some business strategizing at the beach! BloggingPro Is it still worth starting an online publication today? MakeZine 10 Things you're doing wrong with your craft photography and how to fix them Designing an MBA How to improve the SEO for your online store in less than 5 minutes Jewelry Making Journal Tips I wish I'd known Luann Udell The Numbers Game Beading Daily Set your jewelry business up for success Professional Artist Month 10 Tips for improving your art sales Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Have you ever had what you consider an epic fail with a project?  I did recently!  And I thought I'd share it with you and how I plan to correct it :-) I know it doesn't look too terribly bad up there, and all it needs is an ear wire to finish it off, but for soooo many reasons, I have no intention of adding one!  I never even made the mate.  In fact, as soon as this posts, I'll be taking it apart. So what went wrong?  It started with my choice of metal mesh.  I used a very common wire mesh that is available through craft stores for modeling.  It is meant to create an armature that you can cover with plaster cloth or polymer clay, or something similar.  The edges are rough when it is cut into shapes, and I quickly decided that I really didn't want it hanging near my neck!   The second issue is how rough the individual internal wires are.  I am really afraid that after a short while, my thread would end up cut through. What I really wanted to do when all t

Cuteness Alert What is cuter than a matching bunny and baby afghan? The Inspired by Reading Book Club reads about botany and booze! "The Drunken Botanist" by Amy Stewart is an intoxicating exploration of the botanical histories of some of our favorite beverages. See how this book inspired a group of artists and jewelry-makers! Would it be Pretentious to call this my Studio? I ask because it's really starting to feel like one. And I remodeled it on less than $15! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

BeadStyle Magazine has come up with a very clever compendium for the year and has published it as Stylish Jewelry Made Simple .  If you are a relative newcomer to jewelry making, or if you've decided that you want to move forward and add some new basic skills to your stringing projects, this book is a great start.  In it you will find wirework, chain, and stitching added to stringing in 45 fun and stylish projects. This is a Kalmbach book, so the basic techniques are always included (in this case, in the back, along with a glossary), and projects that use more tricky techniques are always well illustrated and photographed for you with beautiful clear closeups.  And I haven't even told you the best part yet...the projects are arranged by COLOR: reds, greens, blues, pinks, neutrals, metals, and mixed.  Not that you can't take a blue project and turn it into a yellow one, but this organization does make for really fun browsing! One of my favorite projects is S