Bead Arts

I rarely add to my list, because I wanted to keep this list for just the best of the best. However, Bead & Button has forced me to add them. When they redesigned their website recently, they made a lot of areas more accessible and better organized. On their techniques page, you’ll find links to pdf downloads on most of the major stitches and important beginning techniques. Here’s the direct link to the new page, and here’s the link to my full list of online bests!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Technique Tuesday!

Making a necklace like Moonstone Rainbow is very similar to the instructions previously given for making Blue Bells. I strung moonstone chips onto 28 gauge wire and crocheted a chain that ended up being folded into thirds. Most of the technique is outlined in the tutorial for Blue Bells, and I suggest reading it now if you haven’t already!

Moonstone Rainbow

1. Using 20 gauge wire, twist around the ends of the crocheted sections to keep them together, and take the wire through a large bead on each side. Create a wrapped loop.
2. Crimp a piece of beading wire like SoftFlex to each wrapped loop. Add beads for a strand that’s as long as you desire on each side.
3. Crimp one beading wire strand to a hook, and the other to the end of a length of chain. Make a dangle on a headpin, and attach it with a wrapped loop around the free end of the chain. Easy peasy, huh?

Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. 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.

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Make Art Monday!

This piece is similar to a crocheted necklace I shared awhile ago, but this one has a hook and chain closure.

Tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, there will be a few tips on construction!

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Art Bead Scene
Stop by and see the variety of art beads we found recently, all based on the idea of “spooky trees”, and inspired by the current change of season and upcoming holiday.

Bead Arts
Here is Cyndi’s list of the best metal bead suppliers. Do you have any you’d like to nominate?

Jewelry and Beading Blog
How about some low-cal candy corn this Halloween? How about zero calories in fact? That’s what you’ll get with this eye-candy elastic bead bracelet at the Jewelry and Beading Blog.

Katie’s Beading Blog
Get a sneak peek at one of Katie’s projects in the new issue of Easy Wire magazine. Subtle fall colors and lots of texture combine for a fresh, organic look.

PearlEsq.
Robin provides some fun ideas for how to create “under pressure!” She shows how to have some fun with techniques on your down time, so when in a rush, you’re ready to go! Also check in on her fun Stamp Giveaway Contest!

Savvy Crafter
Beads, beads, beads! They’re everywhere. Candie pokes around her apartment taking pictures of all things lovely and beadafied.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!
Jean shows a bracelet with lots and lots of cheery Earthenwood Studio pumpkins. She entered it in the Art Bead Scene challenge for October. Pumpkins surely can be Boo-tiful!

The Impatient Blogger
The Big Apple is a veritable beader’s paradise! Margot went to judge the Create Your Style Swarovski competition and scored some fantastic new beads and bits. Go see! Go see!

Artist: Billie Sanchez
Business name: Wicked Oak Designs
Location: Flagstaff Arizona

Website:
Wicked Oak Designs

How do you describe your beadwork, Billie?
I do mostly OOAK jewelry pieces and beaded objects. I love creating and building 3-D pieces and larger cabochon necklaces.

What is your creative process like?
Well, I usually start with a focal piece or a color scheme. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and I draw it out, others I just mess with it until I like the end result. I usually have the radio or TV going (good time for me to catch up on TV shows I enjoy), also, my 3 year old is always running around and adding to what it going on. I work when I can as often as I can. Sometimes I can sit for hours and work other times is 15 minutes here and there.

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I had many years of art classes. I found that I like beads better then paint. I found that I had a much easier time creating what I wanted in beads then in paint. I decided one day that I felt I could recreate a lot of the basic pieces that I was seeing around me, but with my own personal touch. It just kind of snowballed from there and 9 years later I am still creating and designing.

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
My beads, of course, My Ott Light and my Fireline…I use it for everything.

What inspires you to create?
Sometimes it is something I see in my daily workings, sometimes it is a piece created by another artist. I just try and keep my eyes open and remember what it is exactly that grabs my attention in something and try and use that and give it my own spin.

What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
Mostly just the thought of being finished with the piece. It is always easier once you reach the halfway point. So I try and focus on getting to that point when I am having a hard time.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
If you love what you are doing, keep at it. I have been doing this for 9 years and am not rich because of it. I keep going because I love it and it is a great way for me to relax and create things of beauty.

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?
Being a Mom and Wife. I have 3 wonderful kids ages 11, 6 and 3. Also a wonderful Husband of 11 1/2 years.

What are some of your other favorite things?
I love sushi. My favorite color is pink. I love finding time to read a new bead book or a bead magazine (Bead and Button and Beadwork are my favorites).

Other seedbead artist profiles:
Dulcey Heller
Karen Paust

handmade-beaded-jewelry, beads, beading, wearable-art, mixed-media, artist-profile

Here’s another beading magazine to add to your list of publications that would like you to submit your work for possible publication! The deadline for the Spring issue is November 1, so get busy designing!

Bead Trends Magazine is a brand new publication launching this holiday season! Bead Trends is a series of beautiful idea books published six times a year, featuring a great variety of incredible jewelry and bead creations.

Bead Trends (Mar/Apr 2008) Call
Bead Trends Magazine is currently looking for designs with the following themes for our Mar/Apr 2008 issue.

• Spring Style
• Spring Style
• For Baby
• Quick & Easy
• Wire Wrapped
• Matching Sets
• For Mom
• Anything Goes
• Dangles
• Semi-Precious Gemstones
• Birthstones (Aquamarine/Crystal)

If you would like to submit your work to this publication, please e-mail a photograph, the name or title of your piece, and contact information to: beadsubmit@scrapbooktrendsmag.com. Deadline for the Mar/Apr 2008 issue is 11:59 p.m. MDT, November 1st. We will review all submissions, and, if selected, we will contact you with additional information. All pieces will need to be shipped to us directly for photography. Your creation will be returned to you insured, after the issue has been printed.

Don’t forget about the Design Gallery at Beadalon when you need a shot of inspiration! There are so many lovely things to look at, like these Sparkle Flower Earrings, a new design by Meredith Roddy:

Sparkle Flower instructions

Each project has a list of supplies needed, plus links directly to the items available from Beadalon, and easy to follow instructions.

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Technique Tuesday!

Segments from your favorite beading and jewelry shows right on your computer screen! Next time you miss a show, check it out here: you will have to register to watch, but I don’t think that’s really asking too much! How To TV Online

beads, beading, tv online, jewelry-making, tutorials

Make Art Monday!

I just couldn’t get this picture to come out any better, and I’m really sorry about that, because this little sucker is so cute! I used the instructions in the October/November 2007 issue of Beadwork magazine, in the wonderful article written by Cathy Collison entitled “Starflower Bracelet”. Obviously from the name, these are supposed to be flowers, but I decided to make several of them in different sizes using white and crystal beads. I wanted snowflakes for a future Bead Journal Project page that I’ll be making, and I thought these little flowers made great snowflakes as well.

Thank you Cathy!

beads, beading, bead-weaving

Nina Designs
Bali, Indian, Thai, and Hilltribe silver

Beads of Bali
Wholesale Bali silver, direct from the producers

Rishashay
Huge selection of exquisite silverwork

Anne Choi
American artist with an international background, Anne creates silver beads like no others!

Green Girl Studios
Silver and pewter fairy-tale beads. Wonderful!

Tarak High Karat Gold
Wholesale only ~ beads, chains, and findings

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media

Handbags look a lot better when they have beads sewn on them, don’t you think?

Stampington & Co, publishers of Somerset Studio and Belle Armoire magazines among others, will be accepting entries for a few more weeks for a special publication called Haute Handbags, which will now be published twice each year! The deadline is November 15, so get out your supplies and get going! Here’s all the important information.

How do you carry it? That’s the question Somerset Studio would like to help answer through our new and exciting special publication titled Haute Handbags. Whether we use purses, clutches, totes, portfolios, sacks, bags, or attachés, there are many styles made with an astounding array of materials emerging from all corners of the creative world – all vying to be carried and used with style. You are welcome to construct a bag from scratch, or to purchase one that you embellish and alter with paints, beads, rubber stamps, ribbons, buttons, transparencies, and more. No medium or material is ruled out so use your imagination to make bags of leather, wool, fabric, paper, plastic, wood, glass, or any other materials that you love. Deadline for artwork to be received: Bi-annually every November 15th, and May 15th.

wearable-art, handbags, beading, call-for-entries

My friend Darlene was given this cute silver necklace, but it was too short to wear comfortably. I think you can see in the picture that the “clasp” is a simple hook and eye. She asked me what I could do with it to lengthen it for her, and the simplest solution seemed to be to add a chain with a dangle at the end. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best!

handmade-jewelry, wearable-art, wire-jewelry

I found this wonderful vintage rolled-brim felt hat with a built-in scarf in an old musty antique shop. I loved the style and the color, and knew immediately that the structure of the hat would stand up to a lot of altering! Sifting through my collection of vintage buttons and jewelry showed me just what direction to go with this hat. The name, “Dreaming of Spring” came to me before the hat was completed. I filled the brim, but still something was missing. The final piece was still sitting on my work table: a small vintage bee pin. Obviously, the bee was to be the focal point, the one who was “Dreaming of Spring”!

Now as cold weather approaches, I can wear this hat with the promise that spring will one day return to New England.

Materials and tools:
Vintage hat
Buttons, beads, seed beads, and vintage jewelry
Black nymo thread, size O
Beading needles
Fabric glue

1 Consider carefully the structure of the hat you choose. I was attracted to this rolled-brim style because there would be no need to line the inside after finishing the sewing: the style itself hides all the loose ends. I also looked for a hat with the structural integrity that could stand up to the weight of the embellishments I wanted to add.

2 Gather together all of the embellishments from your stash of button, beads, and jewelry (broken or whole) that you think you might want to use. Choose a theme or a color palette to unify your choices. Although I chose a solid colored hat, multi-colored would be a lot of fun to work with too. The color of my hat led me to develop a springtime theme in a monochromatic palette, with gold-toned accents.

3 Stitch shank-style buttons around the top of the brim, using nymo beading thread.

4 Stitch or pin your major focal pieces into place around the face of the brim. I used some larger vintage pins to divide up the surface.

5 Stitch buttons and beads in a pleasing pattern between the larger focal pieces. Use size 8 or 11 seed beads to decorate the threads holding the buttons. Take an extra anchoring stitch or two before and after stitching on each new piece.

6 After all your buttons and larger beads are attached, go back and “fill in” each large gap with a size 8 seed bead. I used bronze iris beads to add just a hint of extra color.

7 Use a small dab of fabric glue on each knot on the inside of the hat. If you’ve used a roll-brim hat like mine, there will be no need to line it, but if you’ve chosen a different style, consider adding a line lining fabric to protect your hair from getting tangled in the underside of the stitches.

Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. 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.

For more inspiration, check these posts:
The Best of the Basics Online
Bead Embroidery Techniques

wearable-art, beads, beading, mixed-media, beaded-hat

Make Art Monday!

The October issue of Bead&Button has a great article on making bracelets with herringbone helix stitch. When I started to play with the stitch a little bit, it occured to me that short lengths would make wicked cool beaded beads!

While there are free instuctions on the net for how to do herringbone stitch, even tubular, I recommend getting this issue of B&B, because author Linda Gettings has a variation that causes the really cool twist!

bead-weaving, wearable-art, beaded-beads, herringbone-stitch