Bead Arts

Technique Tuesday!

There are several different methods that are popular for creating woven bead necklaces: a figure-8 style of finger weaving, spiralling half-hitch macrame, and flat square-knot macrame. My preferred technique for this necklace uses all three stitches!

1. 1 Each half of the necklace is woven separately, starting at the ends and working towards the middle. For the loop, I used figure-8 finger weaving, starting in the middle of my cords, and then folded them in half and proceeded with square-knot macrame for an inch or so.
2. Once I began adding beads, I switched to half-hitches so that the work would spiral around. Beads are added only to the central cords, not to the outside working cords which are used only to do the knotting. It takes a little trial and error to figure out how many knots to add between each bead. For this necklace, I used a 8/0 seed bead to anchor each resin bead in place.
3. When each half is as long as you desire, switch back to square-knots to make sections long enough to pass through the pendant bail from opposite sides. Knot the cords to keep them from slipping back through, and add more beads to the ends of the cords to finish.

These are not terribly detailed directions, because there are so many variables that must be considered. Also, there is a wonderful book that is available to teach the finger-woven method, which I’ve mentioned before, written by Robin Atkins. My method is highly trial and error, and lots of errors went into figuring out how I wanted to make this particular necklace. The next one will be different, I’m sure! My best piece of advice is to start with a smaller piece like a bracelet, or even just a small sample that you’ll cut apart when you’re done. That way you can figure out how much cord you need based on the tension you keep in knotting and the size beads you use.

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Technique Tuesday!

There are so many great shapes of resin beads available now, in so many great colors…and so fantastically lightweight!

1. 
   Slide a flat rectangle and a round resin bead onto a piece of scrap wire, and suspend it so that you can paint all sides. Using a small sea sponge, dab the beads with acrylic paints, drying between each color. Use a heat gun to speed up the process if desired. Don’t cover all of the natural bead color.
2. 
   Stamp the surface of the flat bead using a solvent ink. Heat set the design well. Flip the bead over and stamp the other side too. Heat set.
3. 
   Cut a 4 inch piece of 18 gauge color-coated wire and make a wrapped loop at one end. Slide a triangular bead, your stamped bead, and a second triangular bead onto the wire and close it with a simple loop. Cut a 1 1/2 inch piece of wire and turn a small loop at the bottom. Slide on the painted round resin bead and a triangular bead, and turn another small loop at the top. Attach the two free loops together.

Materials:
Flat rectangle bead, 25 mm in rose [Note – all rose-colored resin beads were purchased from Rings & Things]
Round bead, 10 mm in rose
Lumiere acrylic paints by Jacquard, citrine and halo pink gold
StazOn solvent ink pad in jet black
8 triangular pink beads, size 8/0 or 6/0
18 gauge color-coated wire, purple

Tools:
Piece of scrap wire
Sea sponge
Heat gun
Stamp
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers

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.

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Technique Tuesday!

Destiny is a bracelet that I made last year for the Fire Mountain Gems annual contest. It won second place in its category, and has been gone since…October I think?…for the company to photograph it. It finally came home a couple weeks ago. Please let me know if you see it in any of the FMG catalogs or print advertisements. Details on this year’s contest are on the FMG website.

I’ve got a tutorial on making an embroidered bracelet on my old blog. You can find the instructions here, and don’t forget about all the rest of my old tutorials that are still available!

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Technique Tuesday!

Blue Bells has no clasp, so make sure that you string the necklace long enough to fit comfortably over your head. I used some terrific multi-colored ribbon-style yarn to make this necklace, but feel free to experiment with the fabulous array of fibers that are available these days!

1. String 50 Czech crystals onto 28 gauge wire. I used dark blue. Leaving a 4 inch tail, crochet the wire together with multicolored flat ribbon “yarn”. Slide a crystal into place every few stitches. I crocheted a long enough length to be able to fold it into quarters. Vary this section to suit yourself. When you’ve finished crocheting, leave another 4 inch tail.
2. 
   Fold the long strand up and use the tails to wrap around and secure them together. Cut another piece of wire for the other end if needed. Twist the wire ends together so that you can hide them inside the beads in the next step.
3. 
   Cut a piece of beading wire and crimp it around one end of the crocheted strands, close to the other wires. Slip 5 or 6 clapperless Indian bells over all the wires, followed by a large-holed silver bead and more bells. Clip all the wires except for the beading wire even with the top of the large-holed bead. Thread on more beads to create the back of your necklace.
4. 
   When the necklace is the length you desire, reverse the process of burying the other wires and crimping the beading wire into place on the other side.

Materials:
Ribbon yarn
28 gauge wire
Czech crystals or other beads
Beading wire
2 crimps
2 dozen Indian bells
2 large-holed silver beads
Small beads, approximately 4 mm

Tools:
Large crochet hook
Scissors
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers

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.

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Welcome to another Technique Tuesday!

1. 
   Originally, I had planned to make this a much more complicated necklace, but as I played with a few ideas, I finally realized that I really didn’t want to distract too much attention from the central medallion. So I settled on three knotted cords and a strand of ribbon yarn. I chose colors that would not only look good with the fish, but would also look vaguely like running water.
2. Cut all your fibers to at least 25 inches if you want an 18 inch necklace. I used a straw cut to various lengths in order to space the beads out properly on the cords. I used a mixture of vintage lucite and ceramic so that it wouldn’t get too heavy. Knot below and above each bead, and cut all the ends even when you’ve finished.
3. 
   Wrap the ends through and around a large jump ring so that the raw ends point downward. Pull the knots tight and glue them with jeweler’s cement for security. Attach a chain to one of the jump rings, and attach a clasp to the other end of the chain. When the cement has dried, clip the ends close.
4. 
   Finished!

Polymer clay pendants available from Amy E Fraser.

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.

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Technique Tuesday!

Here are the super-easy steps to creating this pendant

1. 
   Stamp black polymer clay with a texture plate. Cut slits at both the top and bottom for jump rings and gently mold the clay closed around them. Bake according to the directions for your brand of clay.
2. 
   Mix liquid sculpey with gold mica powder. Wipe it all over your clay and let it settle in stamped parts. Rebake.
3. 
   Sand the surface with fine sandpaper to remove mica from the raised surface of the texture. Now the piece will look like a mosaic with black grout! Add another thin layer of plain liquid sculpey to the surface if desired and bake one more time.
4. 
   Create dangles to attach to the bottom jump ring. I kept the middle bead “floating” by using a small crimp on the headpin. Use Diamond Glaze or E6000 to glue brass stampings or other charms to the pendant surface. Add a large jump ring or bail to the top.

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.

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Technique Tuesday!

This pendant necklace that I showed you yesterday was fashioned from a bola tie slide and some left-over beads from various vintage necklaces. Start by removing the slide finding from the back of the focal piece and sanding down the rough spots if necessary. Next, if there isn’t a hole through which you can fit a jump ring, drill one at the top of your piece. Mine didn’t have a hole, of course, but that was just a good excuse to use our drill press. Be really careful when you’re drilling unknown materials…you never know when something might shatter, so always wear eye protection.

Gather up some beads that go nicely with your focal piece. I used some beads from 4 or 5 different necklaces here. The one style that I had enough of, I used to create the necklace strand. They are resin beads that look like polished wood. The rest are a mixture of resin and glass. I love how lightweight the resin beads are…you can get a lot of bulk and movement without a lot of added weight.

I started with a split ring in the middle of the beaded strand so that it wouldn’t slip off the beading wire. From there, I hung 4 jump rings in a chain, with the last jump ring attaching to the pendant.

Since the holes in resin beads are sometimes rather large, I slipped a seed bead onto each headpin, followed by the resin or glass bead. Create a wrapped loop at the top. Arrange the bead dangles the way you desire, and attach each of them to the jump ring chain. To make the cluster of beads fuller, attach some of them to additional jump rings that will attach to the chain.

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.

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Technique Tuesday!

1. 
   Pick the items that you will use for your pin and decide on a layout. Do any preparation work necessary (eg, I had to saw the back off of the Mahjong tile because it was too thick to embed well).
2. Condition and roll out a lump of black polymer clay on parchment paper to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Use a rolling pin or a clay-dedicated pasta machine.
3. 
   Lay the pieces onto the sheet of clay and sink them down into it. Remove the pieces before baking.
4. Cut the polymer clay edges with the exacto knife, leaving a narrow border around the objects you’ll embed. Smooth the edges with your fingers. Cut a slit in the top and bottom edges with the exacto knife and insert a jump ring half way into each slit. Smooth the clay closed around them. Texture the top surface with a rubber stamp if desired.
5. Bake as directed on top of a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Exact times and temperatures vary depending upon the brand of clay used.
6. 
   After the pendant has cooled, use a small paintbrush to apply either 2-part epoxy resin or a clear coat finish like Diamond Glaze. Anchor your decorative pieces in place and coat the top with a thin coat. Let it dry thoroughly.
7. 
   To assemble and wear your pendant, attach another jump ring or a bail to the top. Place some beads on your head pin and create a wrapped loop around the bottom jump ring.

Materials:
Black polymer clay
Pieces to embed
2 gold-toned jump rings
Diamond Glaze by Judi-Kins or 2-part epoxy resin
Head pin
Beads

Tools:
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
Exacto knife
Rubber stamp with crackle pattern (optional)
Small paint brush
Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers
Wire cutters

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.

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In the ocean of information that is the world wide web, there are a few websites that rise to the top when it comes to covering the basics of beadwork. Not surprisingly, one of them is the Beadwork Site at About.com. Paula Morgan has compiled the very best tutorials on just about every aspect of beading that you can imagine: bead weaving stitches, stringing, wire work, and loom weaving. So really, this is the place for you to start.

One other brilliant site has made my list of the best of the best: Beads East has animated tutorials on many of the most popular off-loom bead weaving stitches! This is one of Ann Benson’s sites, and if you haven’t seen Ann’s beadwork before, prepare to be amazed!

There are a few additional sites that each have great tips to offer:

Bead Jewelry Making
Some harder-to-find seed bead instructions

Beading Help Web
Well-written articles and tutorials geared mostly for beginners

Jewelry Making at About.com
Tutorials and tips on all aspects of the art, including business

BeadStyle Magazine
Some good tips on working with wire

Fire Mountain Gems
How to use specific tools

Bead&Button Techniques
Pdf downloads of instructions available

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Technique Tuesday!

I’ve noticed the return of the “pendant with dangles” this spring. It’s a jewelry look that I like, and so even though I don’t usually consider myself any kind of slave to fashion, I was pretty quick to figure out how to make one of these to my liking!

Any of the full-service catalogs that I have posted about will have the pendants and connectors that you will need. I got mine in an antiqued pewter metal from Rings & Things: the central pendant, the two rose connectors, and the 5 loop drop. In addition, you’ll need a selection of pearls and crystals, or other beads of your choice, a bail, head pins, jump rings, and additional charms. I also used a 5 strand chain tassel from Rings & Things, but you can substitute plain chain or skip it altogether and just make beaded links.

1. 
   Assemble all your beads and findings and think about how you might want to lay them out. Generally, I think the balance is best on these pendants when the central dangles are a bit longer than the ones on the ends.
2. I started by attaching the 5 loop drop to the pendant and the tassel to the center loop of the drop, using jump rings. From there, I began to add beads to the bottom of each chain, making simple loops with head pins.
3. Moving outward, I added beaded links and the two connectors to the next loops and shorter beaded links and charms to the final loops on the outside. To make the beaded links, I simply cut the heads off of the pins since none of the links needed to be very long.
4. 
   Finally, I went back to the center and added some small beaded dangles to the length of the 5 chains just to fill in a bit. How full you make your piece is up to you.

   There you have it! These are so easy to make that you might find you want to adapt this style and make one in each color combo that you like! Mine cost under $9 in materials, so they would also make a wonderful gift.

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.

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My inspiration picture!

Starry Night started out as an old cardboard cigar box. I considered several different techniques for creating beaded pictures on it before I settled on my old favorite method, but with a new twist: the beads are embroidered directly on the box, using wire and a couching technique.

1. Coat the entire box, inside and out with black gesso. Let it dry. Apply two thin coats of black acrylic paint. Let it dry overnight.
2. If you want to have a pattern for your work, cut a piece of very lightweight paper to the size of each side you plan to bead. The paper must be able to tear away easily. Sketch your pattern in as much detail as you need. As you begin to bead, set the pattern in place and work right through it. Your first few stitches will hold the paper in place.
3. Cut off a few dozen 2 inch sections of wire. These will be used to couch your work in place. Bend each piece in half.
4. String your selected beads onto the end of your spool of wire. I keep the spool in a small baggie to keep it from unrolling completely as I work.
5. Using a small awl or a nail, poke a hole every few inches along the pathway that your beading will take. Make them closer together on the curves. Anchor the beaded wire in one of the holes by bending it tight to the inside. Begin to lay out your beadwork, securing it as you come to each hole with one of the 2 inch couching wires you cut in step 3. Make more as you need them. Tear away your paper pattern as you finish each section.
6. Create a handle out of heavier 18 gauge silver wire. Wire on a loop and large bead for a closure.
7. 
   When you have finished embroidering the entire box, you’ll have a lot of wire ends to hide on the inside! Cut a piece of interfacing or quilt batting slightly smaller than each side. Cut a piece of lining fabric (I used shiny black) larger than each piece of interfacing. Wrap each piece around the interfacing and glue the edges to the back. Let them dry. Glue each piece of liner inside the box.

Materials and tool needed:
Black gesso
Black acrylic paint
Foam paint brushes
Awl or nail
24 gauge silver-colored wire
Wire cutters
Chain nosed pliers
Lightweight paper (like tracing paper) and pen (optional)
Beads in appropriate colors and sizes for your design
18 gauge silver wire
Interfacing or quilt batting to line the box
Fabric for the lining
Glue

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.

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Often times, the jewelry pieces that I admire most are the ones that use the artist’s own handmade beads. Nothing else will ever be exactly like that piece.

If you want to make true one-of-a-kinds, you should probably think about learning to make your own beads and findings. We’ll just cover the beads today. Here’s a list of links to sites that cover lampworking, clay, paper, wire, and much more!

Lampworking ~ the allure of the flame

Schermobeads
An excellently photographed introduction to the steps involved in making lampworked beads.

Frequently Asked Questions
All kinds of information about hot glass.

Making Glass Beads by Cindy Jenkins
Beads that are multicolored, grooved, feathered or foiled, and decorated with spots, dots, eyes, and stripes: no matter which of these designs in glass you choose, the results will be beautiful. Detailed instructions and magnificent photos, along with scores of valuable tips and tricks, guide you through an awesome array of techniques, making this the best guide to glass beading ever.

Polymer ~ let’s play with clay

Polymer Clay Central
Lessons, projects, and instructions from some of the finest polymer artists, all gathered in one place.

Beads By Hand
Clay beads and more!

The Polymer Clayspot
Frequently asked questions about what it is and how to use it.

Making Polymer Clay Beads by Carol Blackburn
A comprehensive introduction to making beads from polymer clay that also provides inspiration, demonstrates the range of effects that can be achieved, and teaches how to incorporate these beads into jewelry designs.

The New Clay by Nan Roche
This book has been around a while, and for a good reason. It’s one of the best books for learning polymer clay techniques like millefiori and bead making.

Paper or Cloth Beads ~ rollin’, rollin’, rollin’…

Partz Paper Beads
How to make them, and what to do with them once you have!

Cloth Roll-Up Beads
Louise Duhamel shares her technique.

Creating Extraordinary Beads from Ordinary Material by Tina Casey
It is possible to make colorful beads of one’s own from craft materials. Casey’s beads are often humorous items made from glued strips of cloth, yarn, or paper and finished off with clear nail polish.

All wired up and no place to go

Wig Jig Wire Beads
A few lessons and many supplies for making twisted wire beads.

Make Wire Beads by Lisa Van Herik
Concise and detailed how-to instructions for making a wide variety of different wire beads. All 44 beads in this book are fully illustrated both in color and black and white and along with the individual instructions.

PMC ~ squishing silver and gold?

PMC and Art Clay Silver
An online manual for success with the new precious metal clays.

Making metal beads
Register with the ArtJewelry site and receive a free download of Nanz Aalund’s tutorial.

The Art of Metal Clay by Sherri Haab
Artist and instructor Sherri Haab demonstrates metal clay’s remarkable versatility, showing how it can be textured, molded, carved, and sculpted to create gorgeous beads.

Metal Clay Magic by Nana Mizushima
Packed with color photos showing each step of working with metal clay. Covers more than just beads, but has lots of techniques that can be used in making beads.

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Technique Tuesday!

1. 
   Cut 2 pieces of beading wire to 2 feet each. Center a soldered gold loop on both pieces, and pass all four ends up through a large gold bead and a large glass bead. Split the wires, and string 2 up through each hole in the V pendant.
2. 
   String each pair of wires through a large gold bead. String the rest of the two necklace strands, alternating between small beads and seed beads on a single wire and larger beads on both wires for about 4 to 5 inches. String both wires through several large beads, and finally through about ½ inch of smaller beads.
3. 
   Create 2 dangles on headpins and make wrapped loops around the soldered ring below the V pendant.
4. 
   Autumn Woods
   Use crimps to attach the loose ends of the beading wires on one side to a soldered gold ring, and to a 2 inch piece of chain on the other side. Attach a gold hook to the ring. Create another small dangle on a headpin, and make a wrapped loop around the loose end of the chain.

Materials:
V Pendant (available from New Terra Artifacts)
90 small glass beads, approximately 4mm, in 6-7 colors
20 larger glass beads, from 8-12mm, in similar colors
#8 gold-lined seed beads
3 gold beads, 6-8mm
2 soldered gold loops
2 pieces of .015 inch beading wire, each 2 feet long
2 gold crimps
Gold hook
2 inches of gold chain
3 headpins

Tools:
Wire cutters
Flat nosed pliers
Round nosed pliers
File
Alligator clips
Measuring tape

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.

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Technique Tuesday!

I love the paintings of the impressionists, especially Monet. I was fortunate enough to see a special exhibit at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the magic of those paintings has stayed with me ever since. This necklace is my tribute to the wonderful way that the impressionists worked with color, allowing it to blend and merge and shine until the canvas just glowed. Rather than covering the neckpiece with a solid layer of beads as I usually do, I used one of Monet’s paintings as the background and just accented it with beads.

If you need more information on the basics of bead embroidery, make sure to read through my tutorial on the topic!

1. Choose a painting to use as a background and scan it into your computer, making sure that it is copyright free.
2. Create a paper template for the necklace design by tracing around the base of a plastic CD spindle case on paper for the inside neck measurement. Draw the outer edge of the necklace by measuring two to three inches below the bottom of the circle and tapering the curve up toward each side of the neck. Scan the template into your computer, using a transparent background.
3. Using photo editing software, move the template around until you’ve found the best part of the painting to use. Delete all of the design except that which falls inside the template. Print the design out onto t-shirt transfer paper. Remember to reverse the design before printing if the direction matters.
4. 
   Iron lightweight fusible interfacing to white muslin, and iron the transfer on the front of the muslin. Cut around the design, leaving at least ½ inch of border.
5. 
   Begin backstitching beads into place. Add them in small groups of one to five beads, trying not to cover every spot. I find it helpful to work sparsely across the whole canvas, and then to go back and add more, starting with larger beads and working down to the smallest ones. This will help keep the bead distribution relatively even.
   
   
   
6. 
   Backstitch a row of 8/0 seed beads around the outline of the necklace. Run a very thin bead of fabric glue just outside of this line of beads. Let it dry and clip the fabric close to the outside of the glue line, without cutting into any of the stitching.
7. Use a small amount of fabric glue to attach the necklace to a piece of faux leather backing fabric, sandwiching in two wire-wrapped loops that will attach to thee beaded chain. These fabric pieces will all be stitched together, so be very sparing with the glue ~ you don’t want it seeping through the fabric.
8. Clip the faux leather backing even with your embroidered piece.
9. Stitch another line of beads to cover the raw edges. Pick up one bead at a time and bring the thread up through all layers of fabric, exiting behind the row of beads you added in step 6. Then pass the thread between the beads of this row, down through the bead that was just added, pick up another bead and repeat the sequence for the entire shape of the necklace. This technique leaves the edge completely finished.
10. 
    Create a wrapped-loop beaded chain for your closure. I usually add one link and a hook to one side, and three links ending with a dangle to the other side.

Materials:
Picture to use as background (original will not be harmed)
t-shirt transfer paper
1 sq. foot of white muslin
1 sq. foot of lightweight fusible interfacing
1 sq. foot of faux leather backing fabric
paper for pattern
fine-point felt-tip pen
fabric glue
Nymo O beading thread
seed beads to match the colors in your background, sizes 8/0, 11/0, 15/0
small crystals, pearls, and other beads for embellishing
8/0 seed beads for outlining and binding
5 large Czech glass beads and accent beads for chain closure
Hook
15 inches of 18 gauge wire

Tools:
photo-editing software on computer
scanner
inkjet printer
fine-point felt-tip pen
plastic CD spindle case
iron
beading needles
fabric scissors
chain nose pliers
round nose pliers
wire cutters

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.

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I have a stockpile of tutorials on jewelry making on another blog. Although all of my new tutorials will be posted here on Bead Arts, you are still invited to browse through the old ones anytime!!

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