Beading Arts

Available!  Leave me a comment SOLD!! I just can't get enough of these metal clay focals that my friend Jennifer West makes!  You can find beauties of your own by visiting Off the Grid Designs , or find Jennifer on facebook...she frequently sells through online trunk sales there. Anyway, I had exactly ONE of these cute little mother-of-pearl leaves left from another project, and when my client said she liked earthy green tones, it just seemed perfect.  She is also petite, so I had to restrain myself from over-embellishing :-) If you'd like to make one of these bead embroidered pieces, instruction can be found in Every Bead Has a Story , where the first chapter is free to download. Copyright 2019 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.

Available! Leave me a comment I'm still obsessed with raku and metal together.  This time, the raku focal takes center stage, another beauty that I bought from Amy Mealey of Xaz Bead Company .  Amy does trunk shows online, which you can learn about at the link.  For the beadwork, I tried to pick up the flash colors in the raku piece.  It's hard to get photographs that do justice to these colors, as they shift so much depending upon the angle and the light.  The bezel top is finished in a twisted seed bead pattern.  The edges are all finished with edging brick stitch, stack stitches on the upper 3/4s, and strands of seed beads and two raku beads, leading to a sweet little ant charm made by my hero, Jennifer West . Step-by-step instructions for putting together a bead embroidered piece, including back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  Chapter two has ins...

Blossoms of the Moonlit Waves This is one of my favorite necklaces EV-AH, and I got to rock it out for Mother's Day!  It took a monstrously long time to make it, mostly because I wasn't sure what components I was going to need.  It was one of the bead embroidered necklace projects that moved me in the direction of working with components rather than as a solid collar style in the first place.  My e-book Some Assembly Required follows that journey, featuring another piece. If you've never tried making a large necklace without a solid foundation and a plan first, maybe it's time! The original tutorial for Blossoms of the Moonlit Waves is at the link.

Available!  Leave me a comment My newest bead embroidered pendant is heading for the gallery next month if it doesn't find its new home before then!  The centerpiece is a lovely porcelain dragon by Sheri Mallery , and the dangle is a white copper metal clay piece by Jennifer West . I wanted to mimic the look of dragon scales, both on the surface and in the edging.  I used a bead embroidered form of the chevron stitch to stitch around the cabochon.  This form of chevron is taught in my e-book, Bored By Back Stitch .  The edging was stitched off of the usual brick edging stitch border.  I'm extremely pleased with how the colors and shapes worked out. In Bored By Back Stitch , the first chapter contains step-by-step instructions on how to create twelve different bead embroidery motifs, using nine different beadweaving stitches, created to surround and enhance your cabochons or accent beads, and to fill any open spaces in your bead embroidery desig...

Available!  Leave me a comment These focals are some more work by the fabulous Yvonne Irvin-Faus . You can find her work featured on online trunk shows, and she also has a couple of Etsy shops.  I love working with her fun, bright colors...they make me happy! I was asked what the little bead on the back is for.  I guess I should explain...it doesn't have to be there, but I thought it was cute!  See the herringbone loop at the top? It starts from the edging beads and loops around to the front. There is a hole in the focal near the top, and I stitched through it and through the backing to anchor it with the little bead, then back through to the front to take another pass through the loop and end the thread. Copyright 2019 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.

Available!  Leave me a comment Don't ask how many times I had to do and redo the peacock feather fringe on this piece!  Actually, it wasn't really too bad, but I did have to change the spacing to make it cluster the way I wanted.  I'm very happy about the setting that the peacock focal now lives in.  Dorothy Supri of Skyline Beads made him.  Dorothy has trunk shows on facebook if you are interested in her work.  This pendant will be available for sale.  Before it heads off to the gallery, leave me a comment here and I'll get right back to you.  Your comment won't be visible since all comments are moderated, so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! Step-by-step instructions for putting together a bead embroidered piece, including back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  Chapter two has instructions for stitching a peyote sti...

(Edit 4/26/19 - top left sold) Here is the next set of my bead embroidered pendants that is heading downtown to the gallery for sale.  Lee Muir-Haman is the gallery owner, and she will ship them, so don't let your location be an issue.  But please come visit if you're in Massachusetts! You can contact Lee directly at her facebook page , or through her website Lee Muir-Haman for those not on fb.  Or you can always leave me a comment here if you'd like me to set one aside for you and arrange the sale with Lee.  Your comment won't be visible since all comments are moderated, so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

Do you like crystals?  Do you like shaped beads?  Do you like stitching components that you can use to make matching earrings or bracelets?  Isabella Lam's latest book, Beadwoven Glamour , may be just what you're looking for!  You may remember Isabella's work from a few years ago when Kalmbach published Beautiful Beadweaving .  Everyone was talking about it.  Everyone wanted a copy.  And it was soooo worthwhile! The instructions and illustrations make it a snap to follow along with the projects, and there is a complete and specific materials list for those who want it.  The Empera Necklace , shown above on the cover, is one of the more complicated pieces.  There are also several that are much simpler to stitch, although even those look luxe and expensive.  There are some simple pendants that are similar to the ones shown below.  They might be a great way to get your feet wet!  The projects are challenging, but beca...

Lee Muir-Haman's Tumblers Bottom Gallery  is the newest brick and mortar gallery in Massachusetts to carry my bead embroidered pendants.  But guess what?  Lee will ship them, so you're not limited by location!  The set shown above were the first ones to go to the gallery, and as you can see, one has already found its forever home :-) You can contact Lee directly at the facebook page above, or through her website Lee Muir Haman for those not on fb.  Or you can always leave me a comment here if you'd like me to set one aside for you and arrange the sale with Lee.  Your comment won't be visible since all comments are moderated, so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

Available   It's hard to capture the beautiful shine and flash of a piece of raku.  I bought several amazing pieces from  Amy Mealey's  trunk show last month, and this is the second focal I've gotten to.  You can see the first here at Moon bead embroidered pendant.  The color differences are part art and part magic! This pendant had a hole at the top, so I filled it with a little antique swallow button that I had.  And of course the swallow needs something to sleep in...  The tree was added after the bezel was complete, which allows some trial and error with easy removal if you don't like the first results.  And I didn't!  I think I redid most of it at least twice.  Now I have a better idea of how to do it, and I hope the next one (if there is a next one) will come together more easily. Further instruction on making bead embroidered pieces can be found in Every Bead Has a Story , where the first chapter is free to do...

Ocean Bliss $149 My most recent pendant features a seashore-themed focal piece by Sheri Mallery , pearls, rhinestone cup chain, and some raku beads by Amy Mealey .  This one will be heading for the local gallery unless someone reading here wants to reserve it.  Leave me a comment...it will stay private. I wanted some more texture with this piece, so I added some branching fringe to a few areas along with some pearls, and some tendrils at the bottom done in spiral square stitch.  There are step-by-step instructions for spiral square stitch in Chapter 3 ("Dimensional Beading") of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  Further instruction on making bead embroidered pieces can be found in Every Bead Has a Story , where the first chapter, with all the basic stitches, is free to download. Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronical...

Available I love the long shape of the focal cabochon in this piece.  I paired it with the smaller one in a way that to me is reminiscent of a woman.  (If it were hanging the other way round, it would be an exclamation point!! Anyway, I love the colors and patterns in this polymer clay cab set, which I bought from Mary Anne Williams Knapp in an online trunk show.  I had to be --fast-- to get it!  I used back stitched edging along the top and short stack stitches for fringe along the rest. If you want to learn how to add this type of fringe to your pieces, it's really easy.  I show you how to do it with over-sized beads and lots of pictures in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  There are also free instructions there for back stitch, edging brick stitch, and more. Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distribut...

Isn't he cute??  I got this special center piece, created on a domino, from Dorothy Supri of Skyline Beads .  Since the domino focal piece is so deep and took so many rows to bezel, I kept it pretty simple. The bezel was done in multiples of four beads, which allowed me to add the first row of Russian spiral around the outside without having to fudge the numbers at all.  The edges are all finished with edging brick stitch, stack stitches on the upper portion, and back stitched strands of seed beads leading to a dangling raku bead across the bottom.  The back has the usual square stitch bail for hanging.  If you are interested in using stitches other than back stitch to decorate around your cabochons, Bored By Back Stitch , has step-by-step instructions on how to create twelve different bead embroidery motifs, using nine different beadweaving stitches, created to surround and enhance your cabochons or accent beads, and to fill any open spaces in your...

Available!  Leave me a comment SOLD!! This may be my favorite piece yet!  I wore it over the weekend and received many compliments, especially on the beauty of the focal piece that Jennifer West made. One little trick that I'll point out to you is how I back stitch around a fresh water pearl when I want the flow of beads to continue as smoothly as possible.  When I add the last row of back stitching and the pearls are jutting into that row, I switch from size 11/0 to size 15/0 seed beads.  That means having a pretty big stash of beads, but I learned long ago that it's good to have a color you like in every size possible!  The color palette led me to use one of Amy Mealey's raku beads as a dangle at the bottom. Further instruction on making bead embroidered pieces can be found in Every Bead Has a Story , where the first chapter is free to download.  The book as a whole covers all the different stitches I use, the methods for attaching the b...

Yvonne Irvin-Faus makes these really fun focal pieces, and I just had to scoop up a few of them at her last online trunk show.  I wanted to add a few more dimensional elements in order to keep with the playful vibe of the focal, so I added some size 6/0 seed beads in short stacks, a few cute little asterisk beads that Yvonne included in my package just for fun, and some areas of drop beads around the edges.  With so many colors to choose from in the focal, it was a delight to stitch this one up! Copyright 2019 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.

Just finished!  My newest pendant combines a polymer clay focal by Shari Smith McDermott with some raku beads by Amy Mealey .  I may have a hard time selling this one!  Shari makes these crazy-pretty focals from black polymer clay that she then paints.  The ones I bought have an iridescent sheen that is hard to appreciate in photos.  Amy's raku beads are the perfect things to acccompany it! Since the whole thing got a little crazy to begin with, I decided to spice up the edges a bit with some drop beads as well as the usual stack stitched.  Step-by-step instructions for putting together a bead embroidered piece, including back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  Chapter two has instructions for stitching a peyote stitch bezel, and Chapter three teaches the square stitch bail.  Additional chapters focus on altered surfaces, dimensional beading, found ...

I have been interested in raku work for quite some time, but only recently found a maker of beads and cabochons that I could really envision in my bead embroidered pieces.  The focal and the two large beads in Moonlight were made by Amy Mealey of Xaz Bead Company .  I was blessed to be able to scoop up quite a few of Amy's pieces during a recent online trunk show.    The gold and coppery flashes of raku along with the purple and teal glazes are the colors that I love the best.  I made sure that I bought pieces in other color combos too, though!  It wasn't hard...all of Amy's work is great.  Since the beads are so eye-catching on their own, I kept the embroidery very simple, with a slightly decorated peyote bezel, lots of back stitch, and some double bead stacks.  The edges are all finished with edging brick stitch, stack stitches on the upper 3/4s, and strands of seed beads leading to a dangling raku bead on the bottom 1/4.  The ba...

Available And yet more pendants!  When will it stop?  No time soon, I hope :-) The center is another of the beautiful designs I bought from Jennifer West during her trunk show.  I just love her work so much, and each unique piece is inspiring me to think of a different bead design to show it off.  I really enjoyed stitching up the bezel for this one...do you see the little beaded "mountain peaks" at the bottom of the cabochon?  The piece had a hole in it, which was just begging to be filled by a pearl "moon". Step-by-step instructions for putting together a bead embroidered piece, including back stitch, edging brick stitch, and stack stitch can be found in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story .  Chapter two has instructions for stitching a peyote stitch bezel, and Chapter three teaches the square stitch bail.  Additional chapters focus on altered surfaces, dimensional beading, found objects and unusual materials, and int...

Available!  Leave me a comment SOLD!! I fell in love with this mermaid that my friend Sheri Mallery made, and I decided that she would be the centerpiece of my next pendant.  Along with back stitch, I used some varied lengths of stack stitch (similar to fringe, but on the surface rather than the edges) and pearls to go with the seashore theme.  The bezel uses a right angle weave edging, and some "corner" accents that are both taught in my e-book Some Assembly Required . SAR covers making different types of bezels to enhance both regularly shaped and irregularly shaped cabochons, connecting your bead embroidered components with various techniques, unifying your piece with texture, and creating beautiful finishing styles. Copyright 2019 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.

Available!  Leave me a comment SOLD!! I recently bought some of these polymer clay cabochons from Mary Anne Williams Knapp at her online trunk show.  The colors are wonderful and there's a lot of depth to the designs, even though they are flat rather than domed.  I didn't mind the lack of doming at all...in fact, it allowed me to add fewer rows of peyote in order to get to the top of the cab.  Once there, I decided to fool around a bit with a decorative flourish.  Do you like it?  It's simply some additional peyote done with size 15/0 seed beads.  I'm planning on playing with this idea more and getting more elaborate, but on a plainer cabochon! If you've never added fringe to your pieces, it's really easy.  I show you how to do it with over-sized beads and lots of pictures in the free first chapter of my e-book Every Bead Has a Story . Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed f...