Beading Arts

You know there have been some years that I actually skipped Polymer Clay month, right?  Please don't hate me...you know that it's just not my strong suit. But other years, thanks to the encouragement of talented friends who are also polymer clay artists, I got inspired to pick up my polymer tools (very very basic) and make some new projects for you.  Here is a collection of those projects from over the years! Resin-polymer clay bezel Polymer clay and nail polish head pins Patterned polymer clay cabochons Jelly roll polymer clay cabochons Beaded polymer clay pendant Polymer clay frame necklace Silver leaf polymer clay cabochons Simple polymer clay earrings Passion flower necklace Polymer clay swirl necklace A textured polymer clay pendant A polymer clay frame pendant Making an assemblage style necklace Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

This bead embroidered pendant started off its life as part of a different project.  I originally intended it for the centerpiece of a bracelet made from antique hinges .  When it turned out to be too big, and not really suited style-wise in any case, I let it sit on the table until I decided what to use it for instead.   1. I started with cabochons that I made from bottle caps and  Bezel Effects paints , topped with resin. 2. Create a peyote bezel around the cap on some beading foundation material using size 11/0 seed beads , drawing it in over the top with size 15/0 seed beads . 3. I chose a bead embroidered form of Russian spiral to surround the cap. 4.  For a little extra embellishment, I stitched back up into the bezel and added some 4mm round glass beads .  Clip the foundation fabric, back it with another piece, and clip the backing to match. 5.  After adding edging brick stitch around the outside to attach th...

What do you think of it?  Personally, I love this color, especially when mixed with analogous colors and darker/brighter shades of itself. Image - FashionTrendsetter

God Gives Us Each Gifts Cherie makes a print about the spiritual gifts God gives each of us. Mixed Media Artist Cyndi has a review of a new book on working more paint into your mixed media work...everything you need to know! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean writes the story of the very first piece of jewelry she made for 2014..."The Viola Pendant", and tells how it came to be designed and named. Eileen - The Artful Crafter Are you looking for copyright free images for your artwork? You ought to know the ins and outs of vintage image copyrights. Usage restrictions may depend on where you find the images. The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Using a lap grinder, Andrew facets polymer clay to create really cool, geometric beads. Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday season and were able to relax a little bit and spend some time with your family.  Personally, I have been doing a lot of soul-searching recently, and that always leads to changes in my life.  I made this digital piece shown above several years ago to help remind me of what's important to me.  But sometimes life (in general) and work (in specific) have a way of overshadowing everything else.  It's important to me that the work I share with you here is authentic, is as well-made as possible, and stirs my soul on some level.  With that in mind, there will be changes here at Beading Arts this year. And that's a good thing! Photo copyright 2014 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. Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade b...

    Tomato Basil Soup  Mike and I have just begun our annual Mostly Vegetable Soups spree, which starts up again just after the New Year gluttony ends.  We fill ourselves up with healthy healthy soups and stews.  These comfort foods give us the boost we need to resist some of the worst abuses, and they also help to get us back on track in the New Year.  This has been our pattern for years now, and I'm happy to say that even if we pack on a few pounds during the week leading up to Christmas and the week in between it and January 1, we always manage to get them right back off before another two weeks have passed. No, we're not special (as in "well isn't that  special ?")...we just choose our gluttony wisely! Well, I've put together an e-booklet with 13 of our favorites.  While I can't make any health or nutrition or even diet claims for these soups (I am not a registered anything), I can tell you that they work for us.  ...

Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

I'm taking a week off to spend with these people...can you blame me?  :-)  Be good while I'm gone, and get all your New Year's art resolutions in order! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Congratulations to Barbara, who won the three strands of large glass pearls for herself and her daughter!  Yay Barbara!!

Single St Petersburg Chain, in progress So last month, I showed you the Double St Petersburg Chain Stitch in its embroidered form.  I was really happy with it, and decided to see if I could come up with a way to add the Single St Petersburg Chain Stitch to embroidered pieces as well for the last month of the 2013   Bead Journal Project .  By adding a bezel to the central cabochon and keeping the stitch fairly small and tight, it ended up being a very cool type of fringe.  Since the pieces were small, I ended up making two of them with month: 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 lea...

A Bead A Day Have lots of beads, but no new ideas? How about making a sparkly beaded pendant and finish it with a simple ribbon? Resin Crafts Blog Pop by to see the famous "A Christmas Story" leg lamp turned into a pendant made of resin! About.com Make some adorable wine charms that you can also add to your Christmas tree. Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Do you remember the old TV ad, "Time to make the donuts"? Jean had that running through her head when she wrote this piece on making the jewelry and photographing it !

I know, I know!  You don't have to make excuses to me...I'm in exactly the same boat, because every single year I promise myself that THIS YEAR will be different and I'll start early to make my gifts, but do I listen to myself???  Nooooooooooo! So here are the fastest and easiest project tutorials that I've posted over the years.  Each one will take you under 20 minutes if you've got all the right materials and tools handy.  If not...well, I can't help you there! The world's easiest earrings Large bead necklace with pendant A sparkling pin Kidney wire earrings Wire-wrapped beach rock The simplest pendant necklace Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

The Jewelry Maker's Design Book: An Alchemy of Objects: Techniques and Design Notes for One-of-a-kind Jewelry ... by Deryn Mentock How to Make 100 Bead Embroidery Motifs: Inspiration and Instructions for Plant, Animal, Abstract, and Icon Designs ... by Genevieve Crabe Bead Embroidery (Essential Stitch Guide) by Shelley Cox Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Many of you probably know Sara Oehler, aka SoftFlexGirl.  But did you know she's a whiz at making Christmas ornaments and decorations from beads and craft wire?   These are all fast and easy, for when you're running out of time... Beaded holiday ornament using bead wire Craft wire Christmas tree Beaded ornament cover Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Snowflake ornament wire forms are a lot of fun to bead up and hang on a tree at Christmas time, but they’re also fun to bead up and wear! To make a snowflake pendant rather than an ornament, I chose the smallest size forms available, but you can easily use the larger ones and clip off the excess length with wire cutters. This pendant looks equally good hanging from a matching beaded necklace or from a plain silver chain. Try different color combinations too: who says that snowflakes have to be blue and white? The step by step photos that I've included use a different color combination, mostly so that the beads would show up better in the photographs, but wouldn't it be fun to have snowflake pendants in lots of different colors? Materials & Tools 4 ½ inch snowflake wire forms 28 gauge silver-toned craft wire, about 3 ft 6 each of 6 different beads, graduating from 2mm to 12 mm (36 beads total) Size 11/0 seed beads in matching colors 6 silver-toned m...

Resin Crafts Blog If you want to know how you can wear a beautiful paper package...come see the Mariage Frere Tea necklace! Carmi's Art/Life World Organizing a blog hop is a big job. When you have fabulous results like this one...you are excited to share! Come see the Dazzle-it Tassels blog hop for inspiration! Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean explores what's new at one of her fave sites, Beaducation! About.com Jewelry Making Are you ready for Santa? Get ready with these cute holiday earrings. Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , handmade beaded jewelry , wearable art , beads , jewelry , necklace , mixed media , beading

Last year I shared a list of books with you that I still think is pretty stellar (as in, "I worked really hard on it!").  I would still recommend all of last year's picks if you don't already have the ones you want, so what I'm going to do this year is just list out the books that are new this year in the various categories that everyone seems to like! My top pick for everyone: Suzanne Golden Presents: Interviews with 36 Artists Who Innovate with Beads For Beginners: Do you know someone who wants to get started with beading and jewelry making? These are all good books which teach the basics of their various media.   I Can Right Angle Weave  by  Mabeline Gidez   I Can Herringbone   by Melissa Grakowsky   Simply Stylish Crystal Jewelry  by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine   Project: Earrings  by Kalmbach Press Multistrand Jewelry   by the Editors of BeadStyle magazine Bewitching Bead & Wire Jewelry ...

May I just say...this book is awesome!  If you've gotten bored with adding the same old links over and over again to all of your jewelry projects, you're going to be amazed and thrilled with Cindy Wimmer's new book, The Missing Link .  Published by Interweave/F+W Media , and listing for $22.95, this is the book that both non-wireworkers and beginner wireworkers have been waiting for.  The focus is on the 30 original and beautiful links that you'll learn how to make in ascending order of difficulty.  And then the fun really begins!  But first, the basics... The first section of the book contains the necessary and important information needed on types of wire.  Since people are using many more metals these days, both for cost-cutting and for looks, it's important to know the properties of the metals that you may not have used before.  Cindy has information on metals, wire gauges, shapes, and hardness.  Then she follows with the low down o...

Diane Fitzgerald has been very prolific this year, and each volume has been better than the last!  My previous favorite is Shaped Beadwork , so I was thrilled to receive the new Shaped Beadwork and Beyond , published by Lark Books .   Forty new projects, not to mention variations too numerous to even count. Diane again focuses on three-dimensional geometric peyote stitched shapes, taking basic shapes introduced in book one in lots of exciting new directions.  No matter how complex the projects seem, they are made up from component parts that are clearly illustrated and explained. Look at that gorgeous star on the front cover...wouldn't you LOVE to have some of those on your Christmas tree this year?  There's still time... After a chapter on the basics, Diane covers triangles, teardrops, beaded beads, bezels, pointed ovals, and concludes with a chapter full of miscellaneous three-dimensional projects for good measure! Technorati Tags: bead embroidery , h...

Congratulations to Alicia !  She is the winner of the box of acrylic display pieces from Achieve Display !!