Beading Arts

Dark Lady An antique purse that was well beyond repair provided the steel-cut beads and the chain used for the closure of this recycled bead embroidered necklace. All of the black beads, from the fringe to the smallest glass charlottes are recycled antiques as well. The steel buttons have been attached in such a way that their shanks have been preserved.   Copyright 2021 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

Antique key and lampwork glass necklace I found another necklace that I made many years ago, and was thrilled to see how well it went with the Spring/Summer palette from Pantone.  What *really* thrills me about it, though, is that these are colors I already like and have in my wardrobe!  After several seasons of being kind of disappointed except by maybe one or two colors, I'm a very happy girl. The tutorial is in two parts.  The first part shows you how to make the lampwork glass rings that are actually torched using the key as a mandrel.  If you don't do lampwork, you could use metal rings instead, easily available online.  I'm sure you can find some that will fit over the teeth of your key, whether it's real or a reproduction key .  The wiring will keep it from slipping off even if it's a bit too big! This post contains affiliate links: Beadaholique Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistri...

I have made several pieces of jewelry over the years that prominently feature zippers, but the more recent wave of zipper jewelry and ornaments completely takes my breath away.  Here are a lot of links to tutorials, and lots of pictures for inspiration on my Zipper craft Pinterest board. 

  Antique optical lens, crystals, garnet, pearls, rhodonite, and Bali silver $70 I made this piece in 2006, when I first began to need a pair of drug store readers, but couldn't bring myself (yet) to admit it!  Now I use them all the time and no longer need this pretty piece, so it is the next item up looking for a new home. This is what I wrote at the time: I do not need glasses...yet!  But there are times when the print is just too small.  This handy magnifier is actually a powerful antique optical test lens, dangling from a gorgeous strand of purple, pink, garnet, and black.  The lens is French, from a test set made in the late 1800s.  Isn't that the coolest thing?  The lens "strength" is etched on the glass.  The necklace is a 24 inch long continuous strand to slip over your head.  Keep this one handy!  It is a one-of-a-kind original.

Dutch spiral I have needed to update my earrings tutorial page for awhile now!  Here they all are in one place, and you can find this post easily through the Tutorials tab at the top of the blog page. Dutch spiral Single earring for summer Simple and fast Right angle weave Blue hearts and wire Leftover beads Chain and pearl Chainmaille Hanukkah  Shank buttons and beads Hammered wire and beads Chain drop with pearls Simple polymer clay beads Chainmaille and beads Pompoms Simple lampwork beads Pink bubbles Leaves

Motorcycle spark plug, wire $50 Your necklace will be made in this style, or in any of the styles you see on this page ,  and will be ready to ship within one week.  The spark plug is authentic, used, and thoroughly cleaned up!  The chain is appropriate...industrial style ball chain with the traditional clasp, whatever length you'd like.  Most people want it between 20 to 24 inches.  Your choice!  Make sure you give me your email address if you're interested, so we can discuss which style you would like!

If you missed it, I shared my beaded spark plugs last week.  But that's not the only thing I've been doing with them. Ta dah!  A wonderful friend gave me a bunch of spark plugs used in Harley Davidson bikes, and the girlie beaded designs just seemed so...wrong...  But wrapping them in copper, colored copper, and galvanized steel just seemed so right! Do you want to learn how to make any of these?  Leave me a comment or email me directly, beadingarts at gmail dot com. Wired spark plugs for sale Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

RAW + Peyote beaded spark plug Where to even begin?  Ok, we'll have to start with my recent obsession with the shape of spark plugs and my love of old grungy things.   Once these grungy things are cleaned up (with the help of a stiff brass brush and some Dawn dish detergent), they are all set to become eye-catching jewelry.  Here are beaded examples of the results from my 6 months (and counting) obsession.  If you are familiar with the stitches, you can probably easily figure out how to stitch these yourself.  If you want tutorials, let me know which ones interest you the most.  Leave a comment, or email me directly at beadingarts at gmail dot com. Next week I'll show you examples of the wired spark plugs I'm doing now.  Harley Davidson spark plugs, baby! Albion stitch Cellini spiral stitch Peyote stitched cube Peyote stitch Wired spark plugs for sale Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprint...

Last week I showed you a fun and easy way to give new life to a boring bangle bracelet .  Today, I want to show you an alternative way to wrap it, which is especially helpful if you don't have enough cup chain, or if you want to add different beads to the mix! Here's what you'll need: Plastic bangle bracelet 6-8" cup chain, 5mm Assorted beads, any material 9' wire, 24 g Basic tools: Wire cutters Chain nose pliers Measuring tape 1. Cut short lengths of cup chain and choose the beads you want to use. 2. Leave a short tail of wire to start, as shown in the tutorial last week , and wrap the wire three times to get started and three times between each "stone".  Wrap twice after the cup chain and pick up some beads with the wire.  Wrap backwards between each bead, as shown, and then cross wire forwards to start the next wrap. 3. Wrap over the tail and tuck the other end underneath a wire as best you can.  Squeeze gently with cha...

I have bags and bags full of cast off jewelry from flea markets, yard sales, and generous friends.  Recently, I was looking at a bag full of plastic bangles (the hard plastic kind), and I thought about using cup chain on it in a similar way to the Shamballa bracelets I was making last year. Super easy, super quick, super cute!  And all you need is the following: Plastic bangle bracelet 9-10" cup chain, 5mm 10' wire, 24 g Basic tools : Wire cutters Chain nose pliers Measuring tape 1. Leave a short tail as shown and wrap three times between each "stone". 2. Wrap over the tail and tuck the other end underneath a wire as best you can.  Squeeze gently with chain nose pliers to secure. Another reclaimed bangle bracelet This post contains affiliate links Copyright 2016 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provide...

Working on right now...a beaded and embroidered landscape quilt This post could also be titled "What's up for 2016"!  Each year I like to take some time over the week between Christmas and New Year's in order to take stock, reassess, and ask myself where I want to go this next year.  You could call them New Year's resolutions for my online world if you'd like :-) Also working on...beaded spark plugs! This year was no different.  If anything, there will actually be more changes made than usual, but most of them probably won't affect you as much as they will me.  After careful (and sometimes tearful) consideration, I've decided to pull the plug on my regular websites (Mazel Tov! Jewelry, Wildest Dreams Designs, and Why Not Art?).  Visitors to those sites will be funneled to either Beading Arts or Mixed Media Artist , my blogs.  The second part of this process will be figuring out how to fold the sales portion of my business into these blogs ...