Bead Arts

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.

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

Beaded chain stitch

The Beadwrangler has a great introduction to this art form. There are several adjustments that you’ll need to make when you decide to start filling your embroidery stitches with beads, and she goes over all the basics!

beads, beading, bead-embroidery, mixed-media

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.

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

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.

handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, tutorial, polymer clay

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

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

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.

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

Technique Tuesday!

Wendy Van Camp
wvancamp @ earthlink.net
Indigoskye Bead Fashions

Wendy has written another tutorial for us! Make sure you didn’t miss her last one on loom weaving basics.

Simple Pompom Delica EarringsThis is a design that is based on instructions on making the pompom in a cap that you knit. Instead of yarn, I use strands of beads to form the loose pompom on the bottom and then cover a core base with a simple peyote stitch. This earrings are unusual and real conversation starters. I like to make the fringe in stone, but you could easily use glass in the fringe instead. The earrings in the photo are transparent amber delicas and citrine stones.

MATERIALS:

2 Glass Cylinder Beads 6×12mm
2 sterling headpins - 2″ long
2 sterling ball posts with clutches
2 6mm clear glass rondelle beads (or opaque black depending on the
chosen color of delicas)
Delica beads
4mm round beads
Similade Thread

TOOLS:
Wire cutters
Round nose pliers
English Beading Needle

BODY:
The body consists of a simple round peyote stitch around the glass core bead. String 16 delicas on a 3 to 4 foot length of similade thread. Form the beads into a circle and knot the thread to secure it. Put the circle around your cylinder bead and make sure that the delicas are tight all the way around the core bead. Pass your needle through the first bead passed the knot in the delica loop, drop down and add a new delica, skip one of the beads in the loop and go through the next bead in the loop. Repeat until you have gone around the loop completely. When you reach the end of the loop, pass your needle through the loop and then through the first bead of the new row. Add a bead and then go through the bead that is hanging down. Continue around until you reach the end and go through the two beads to start a new row. I find that 7 to 8 rows will completely cover the cylinder core bead sides. To cover the top, I weave in a few delicas on the ends with a drop peyote stitch, decreasing dramatically so that they close in around the top of the cylinder. It should only take five to six beads to do the job. Do not cover the bottom of the cylinder bead.

FRINGE:
Form a circle of eight delica beads and tie a knot. Glue the knot if you wish, but I usually just pass the thread through the circle of beads twice to secure it. On your needle, put on four delica beads, one 4mm round bead and then one delica bead. Pass through the beads starting with the 4mm round, leaving the last bead in the spoke as a “stopper” for the fringe. Go back into the circle and pass through one of the beads. Then form another spoke. You should have eight spokes around the circle when you are done. After the spokes are formed, pass through the inner circle again once or twice to give strength to your fringe and tie a knot. Cut the threads close and set aside. You should make between three and six of the circle fringes per earring. They all stack at the bottom of the body to form the pompoms.

CONSTRUCTION:
To assemble your simple pompom earrings, take your headpin and put one of the 6mm rondelles on it. Then place half of your completed fringe circles on the headpin, putting the headpin through the center circle. The glass rondelle will act as a stopper on the bottom to hold your fringe in place. Next, place the body, uncovered side down, on the fringe. Take your round nose pliers and form a loop with the headpin at the top of the earring. Place your ball posts into the loop and then double wire wrap the loop closed. Do the same to form the second earring. You are done!

All Images and Text Copyright 2007 Wendy Van Camp.

–

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

I’ve subscribed to livebeadclass’s new videos!

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

Round-Up Thursday!

I love this idea! It is shared by Carolina, of NeoVamp Jewelry. She has transformed the idea of the simple necklace bust into something that’s a work of art on its own! Here’s the directions for how to make your own stunning jewelry display piece.

While you’re feeling inspired, Rena Klingenberg has compiled some more links to wonderful ideas for making your jewelry stand out at any venue.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Welcome to another Technique Tuesday!

Shauna Palmer, along with a couple of her friends and “a little help from some Pinot Grigio”, has made some wonderful resin art pieces that can easily be transformed into pins, lockets, or pendants. She shares her techniques at Art-e-zine.

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

Clare Byfield recently got some optical lenses from me, and I want to show you what she’s done with them! I love the way she’s added rhinestones to the surface of the lenses:

If it interests you to try playing with these, I have a tutorial available from when I taught these on HGTV. Sets of three lenses are also available.

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

Wendy of Indigoskye Bead Fashions has shared her tips with us on getting started with bead weaving! Many people mentioned how much they enjoyed the artist profile with Wendy two weeks ago, so now we’re fortunate to have a tutorial that Wendy wrote.

BEAD WEAVING BASICS by Wendy Van Camp

So, you saw one of those little bead looms in the craft store and just could not resist buying it. Visions of bracelets, hat bands and belts swirling in your imagination. But now that you have it, how do you use it?

Bead looms are based on a simple loom style. Basically, just a frame with a method of keeping the strung warp threads a uniform distance from one another. You loom should have instructions on how to string it properly, but a few tips to keep in mind are:

1. Make sure that all the warp threads are uniformly tight on the loom. While these threads should be taunt, they should not be so tight that they break while you work.

2. The warp threads should be placed on the loom in such a way that you can shift them without the threads tangling further.

3. Use the proper type of thread for beading and the right size for your work. Some to consider are Nymo, Silamide or Silk. Try to use the thinnest thread that you can manage, since you will be passing through the beads several times in some instances. Also, waxing your thread can help to make it pass through the beads more easily.

Before you load your loom with your chosen thread, have a look at your pattern. Pick a color of thread that will disappear into the finished beadwork. If you are using dark colors, black thread works well. Some threads come in various shades, if you want to use one, decide which color is the dominate hue in your pattern and match it with the appropriate thread color.

For loom work, any cross stitch or knitting pattern will work well or use the grid picture I designed (above). However, keep in mind that if you are using seed beads your pattern with be a bit wider than it is tall. Count the number of rows in the width of the pattern and then add one more to it. This is the number of warp threads that you need to load onto your loom.

Seed beads come in many shapes and sizes. For beadweaving, there are two types of beads. Seed beads and Delicas. Seed beads have been around for many centuries. They are the beads that the English traders used as currency with the American Indians, Africans and other colonies. Most are imported from either The Czech Republic or Japan. They come in many sizes from 22/0 to 1/0. The size most often used for beadweaving is 11/0, pronounced “eleven ought”. This number refers to how many beads are in an inch when laid flat. If you are a beginner I recommend that you select a slightly larger size, 10/0. The holes are bigger and you will have less trouble passing your needle through the beads.

Delicas are a small cylinder bead that is as tall as it is wide. They are from Japan and are more expensive than seed beads. A nice feature about Delicas are that you don’t have the width design problem that you have with seed beads and if you are using a cross stitch pattern for your work, the piece will come out close in proportion to the pattern. Also, the holes in the beads are slightly larger than regular seed bead counterparts.

Once you have selected the type of bead that you will be using, it is time to begin weaving. The following directions are for a right handed weaver. If you are left handed, please reverse the direction of your weaving if that is more comfortable for you.

1. Take a piece of thread around 3 to 4 feet long and tie one end of it to the thread on the loom that is closes to you on the left side of the loom. Leave around 4 inches of thread on the other side of the knot. This is known as a weft thread. Thread a needle onto the other
   side of the weft thread. Preferably a #10 English Beading needle.
2. Look at your pattern, the first bead that you load onto the weft thread should be the bottom of the pattern on the left side. Follow the row up, loading the proper colors onto your thread.
3. 
   Pass the thread under the loom until you pull the beads directly under it. Use the thumb of your other hand to gently push the beads up through the warp threads, one bead per space. Try to get the row as straight as you can. The first row is always the most difficult so if it takes a few tries to get the beads to behave, don’t worry!
4. 
   Once the beads are pushed up, take the beading needle and pass it through the beads. Remember, keep the thread on TOP of the warp threads. If you go under, the bead will not be secured and if on an end, the bead may pop off of your work. Once the thread is through, pull gently on the thread until all the excess is pulled through and your beads are taunt on the loom. Now, use your fingers to align them into a straight row.
5. When you weave the final row of your pattern, tie a knot and pull it down until it is snugly against the last bead, then take your thread and weave it back through your work a few times, coming up in the middle of your work and cutting it close to the surface.
6. To finish the product, take a bit of tape and secure the warp threads with it close to each end of your piece. Cut the finished piece off of your loom, leaving several inches on each side. Fold the warp threads under the loomwork and then glue to some kind of backing.
   Leather, sturdy material or cardboard are good choices. When using glue, take care that it does not ooze through the beads, this can ruin your work. Use a thicker glue that will stay on the surface of the underside of your work. A jeweler’s cement makes a good choice.

More Tips:

1. Make sure that every bead you use is of a uniform size. If you pick a bead that is a little larger or smaller than the others, your loomwork will become uneven. If you find one of these beads, throw it away. It is a cull.

2. Make sure that every bead slides easily over your needle, especially the eye. If there is even a little resistance, throw the bead away.

3. Pull the weft thread to a uniform tightness. Don’t be too tight or too loose. If you pull your weft thread too tight, your finished product will be stiff. Too loose and you risk the piece falling apart.

There you have it! Your first beadwoven piece. Remember, beadweaving takes time and patience to learn. Your first product may be of a disappointment, but with practice your work will improve!

All Images and Text Copyright 1997 Wendy Van Camp.

–
Wendy Van Camp
wvancamp @ earthlink.net
http://www.indigoskye.com/blog/