March 2013

Choosing Bead Colors

A while back I was asked how I decide on the color of beads to use in a project and did I have a favorite color. My favorite color is red, but if you looked through my finished bead and jewelry projects only a few are red. 

My choice of bead color for a project depends on the type of project, materials and who will be the recipient of the completed piece. In making my ornament covers the colors I use are those most often seen at Christmas time; though I have been branching out and using other color combinations as I did in the Mardi Gras and the Black and Gold cover.  I recently made a Shamrock pen cover for St. Patrick’s Day and naturally chose green as the focal color.

Shamrock Pen Cover

 

I like using semi-precious gemstone beads and cabochons for jewelry pieces and the colors in the stones play an important part in deciding the other bead colors. I recently finished a necklace using a Blue Goldstone Cabochon with the mixed Blue and Brown Goldstone beads. To make the bezel surrounding the Cabochon I used blue, brown and gold seed beads pulling from the colors in the Goldstone beads.

 

Blue/Brown Goldstone Pendant and Necklace

 

Sometimes I make a piece using established color combinations. I did this when I made my Onyx Cuff bracelet combining black and white beads and a touch of gold.

Onyx Embroidered Cuff

 

Choosing color combinations can be difficult at times and you can get stuck using the same color combinations over and over. Look in your jewelry box and see if all your pieces are in the same color family.

One way to break away from using the same colors over and over is to use the Color Wheel.  The color wheel begins with the primary colors red, blue and yellow. The secondary colors added to the wheel are a combination of the primary colors giving us purple, green, and orange.  When you add a primary color to a secondary color you have colors like red violet, red orange, yellow green, blue green and blue violet. On a color wheel the colors across from one another are called complementary colors. Combining red beads and green beads or orange beads with blue beads or yellow beads with purple beads will give you a piece in complementary colors. Colors next to one another are called analogous; blue next to blue violet and blue green. A jewelry piece made using different shades of one color, tone on tone, is called mono-chromatic.  The color combination of black and white beads in the Onyx cuff makes it achromatic or a colorless theme. You can generate more color by choosing three colors that are equally spaced from each other creating a triad of colors. Putting red, yellow and blue beads together in one necklace or bracelet is one example of a triad of colors. Take a look at the color wheel and use it to add more color to your beading.

A basic color wheel can be found here: http://www.firemountaingems.com/beading_howtos/beading_projects.asp?docid=6912&doccat=tutorials&sact=search

This sight gives more information on the color wheel and you can see how the different combinations of colors work.  http://colorschemedesigner.com/

If you need more help in selecting colors call on Mother Nature, she has the best color combinations around.

Seedbeadersters

We have reached 1000 members in the Seedbeadersters Yahoo group.  The members just finished with the Bitty Beads Bead Along and made some lovely pieces. 

Go to the Seedbeadersters Home page and take a look http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seedbeadersters/  

Not a member? Take this opportunity to join us for some beading fun.

The current project involves making a beaded bezel for a Cabochon, Rivoli, or a large focal bead and turning it into a pendant. There are various beading techniques to use to make a beaded bezel. The tutorials I have found on the web include Peyote, netting, Right Angle weave, square stitch, brick stitch, and Herringbone.

This is a jumping off project in preparation of doing Bead Embroidery for a future Bead Along project.

Can’t wait to see all the lovely pendants the members create.

Peyote and Peyote Starter Strips

Peyote is one of my favorite beading techniques and the Bitty Beads I designed for the Seedbeadersters Bead Along used the Odd Count Flat Peyote technique. Peyote stitch is one of the most used beading techniques for bead weaving and yet it can be feared by many. The first three rows seems to be the hardest part when it comes to doing Peyote. Fortunately for us two beading mavens, Suzanne Cooper and Deb Moffet-Hall, have developed easy methods to start Peyote. Suzanne Cooper’s method uses a Peyote Starter Strip you make using the Brick Stitch technique. Deb Moffet-Hall designed and developed the Quick Start Peyote Card.

I must admit I had not used a Peyote Starter Strip until the discussion cropped up in the Seedbeadersters’ group, and I had Quick Start Peyote Cards  too.  Most of my Peyote projects have not been too wide and starting them had not been a problem for me, but I decided I would try both Starter Strip methods and see how well they work and which one I liked the best.

First up was the Quick Start Peyote Card, because I had two and did not have to make them. I am working on a Bitty Bead necklace and matching cuff for one of my daughters and used the card to make some of the Bitty Beads. Since my Bitty Beads are done in Odd Count Flat Peyote I followed the instructions on Deb Moffet-Hall’s web site for using the Quick Start Peyote Card. The card itself is made of a laminated type of paper and is designed to be used many times. The card for use with Delicas and size 11 seed beads contains 16 spaces. To make a piece wider than 16 beads you can put two cards together, which is shown on the packaging and the website. The Bitty Beads were easier and faster to make using the card. Two things to watch when using this card; be sure to hold the card closed when doing the first row or the row falls out before you can add row two and when using Fireline watch don’t yank the thread or pull it at an angle against the notches where the beads sit.  

To make my, Starter Strip designed by Suzanne Cooper, I used Delica beads. Suzanne’s pattern will make a 4” or 6” strip.  Since most of my peyote projects are not very wide and the cuff I am making is 31 beads wide I decided to make my strip a little over 3”(60 beads wide and 8 beads high). I used three different colors of beads to make the strip one main color, a different color to indicate an inch, and a third color to mark every tenth row. The strip worked very well.  I will be using it again and plan to make two more for working with regular size 11 and size 8 seed beads. This is such a handy tool I may make some for my beading pals too.

With both the Quick Start Peyote Card and the Starter Strip you will need to remove the starter piece from the Peyote project. To make it easier always use a different color thread for the first row and put a stop bead on the thread when you start the row and another stop bead when you end the row. To do the return row (row 2) use thread best suited to your project and put a stop bead on the tail and work the row. You can leave the starter strip on until you complete your Peyote or remove it after several rows are complete. Remove the stop beads from the thread used to do the first row and then gently pull the thread away.

To learn more about the Quick Start Peyote Cards and the different sizes of cards available go to Deb-Moffett Hall’s website. http://www.patternstobead.com/ Good service and fast response.

To make your own Starter Strip you can find the pattern on Suzanne Cooper’s website. http://suzannecooper.com/free/measure.html

To understand how to use the Starter Strip go to http://www.vacacita.com/tutorials/peyotestrip.html

My Delica Bead Peyote Starter Strip

 

 

 



Welcome February!

Still working with Odd Count Peyote and designing Bitty Beads.  I have completed a second necklace using six Bitty Beads made with Toho and Miyuki regular size 11 seed beads. I modified two of my previous bitty bead designs and created three new ones for this necklace. The difference between using Delicas vs regular 11s is in the length and diameter of the finished bitty bead. The bitty beads in this necklace are 1 1/8 inches long and the inside diameter is slightly less than a 1/4 inch. To give the beads support I used 1/4 inch plastic tubing. I cut the tubing in pieces less than the length of the tube, cut through the length of the piece of tubing and removed a sliver of the tubing to make it fit inside the bitty bead. The style of the necklace is similar to the Netted Bead Tube necklaces from the Ukraine or Africa and I am calling it the Bitty Bead Blue necklace since the predominant color is blue. The bead colors used in the necklace are a dark transparent Sapphire blue #151A (two 6 inch full tubes), White Pearl #420, Sunflower #4, and Silver-lined Crystal #1.

I have carried the Bitty Bead Designs a bit farther and created a design for a beaded cuff. I modified two of the bitty bead designs I used in the Bitty Bead Blue necklace and created a cuff design with diamond, hexagonal and X shapes. I used an aluminum cuff blank with this bracelet and switched back to Delica beads to get a smoother feel and better fit. I stitched the bracelet using Odd Count Peyote. To put the bracelet on the cuff blank I first created a cuff blank and bracelet templates which I used to cut the backing for the beaded piece and the leather backing for the inside of the metal cuff. I used Aleene’s Tacky glue to attach the leather to the inside of the cuff blank and anchored the completed beadwork by first stitching it to 70 weight non-woven interfacing then gluing to the metal blank. To keep the beadwork in position while the glue dried I used binder clips protecting the beads with thin pieces of sponge. The Tacky glue worked great; no fumes and non-toxic. Once everything was set I trimmed the excess interfacing and leather leaving just enough to stitch the two sections together. I added a Picot trim along the edges. I have a large wrist and the finished bracelet topside measurement is 8 1/4 inches by 1 3/4 inches; I used an aluminum cuff blank cut 7 3/16 inches by 1 ½. I have a large size wrist and special ordered my cuff blanks from Beadwork Supplies.com http://www.beadwork-supplies.com/index.html good value and quick delivery.

Here are photos of the Bitty Bead Blue necklace and the Blue, Gold, and Silver Cuff.

 

Hope everyone is getting off to a good start for the New Year.  

Brand new this year is the Seed Beads and More Facebook page. This was started by Anita Adamson and is a great place for beaders to meet new people, share projects and ideas, gather tips and information, participate in beading challenges and have more beading fun. Here is a link to the Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/465805706810440/

The Seedbeadersters Group have started  the Bead Along for January/February. The project is making Bitty Beads using the Flat Odd Count Peyote Stitch. There are thirty-four graphed and charted designs available for the members to use in creating their bead tubes and finished jewelry pieces.

This is a Valentine necklace I made with the Bitty Beads and is followed by one of the designs available to the members of the Seedbeadersters Group.

Valentine Heart Bitty Bed

 

Row 1&2 (L)  (1)Red, (1)White, (1)Red, (13)White, (1)Red, (1)White, (1)Red

Row 3 (R)  (2)Red, (6)White, (2)Red

Row 4 (L)  (9)White

Row 5 (R)  (2)Red, (6)White, (2)Red

Row 6 (L)  (3)White, (1)Red, (5)White

Row 7 (R)  (2)Red, (3)White, (2)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 8 (L)  (2)White, (3)Red, (4)White

Row 9 (R)  (2)Red, (2)White, (3)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 10 (L)  (2)White, (4)Red, (3)White

Row 11 (R)  (2)Red, (1)White, (4)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 12 (L)  (3)White, (4)Red, (2)White

Row 13 (R)  (6)Red, (2)White, (2)Red

Row 14 (L)  (3)White, (4)Red, (2)White

Row 15 (R)  (2)Red, (1)White, (4)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 16 (L)  (2)White, (4)Red, (3)White

Row 17 (R)  (2)Red, (2)White, (3)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 18 (L)  (2)White, (3)Red, (4)White

Row 19 (R)  (2)Red, (3)White, (2)Red, (1)White, (2)Red

Row 20 (L)  (3)White, (1)Red, (5)White

Row 21 (R)  (2)Red, (6)White, (2)Red

Row 22 (L)  (9)White

Row 23 (R)  (2)Red, (6)White, (2)Red

Row 24 (L)  (9)White

If you like working with seed beads I hope you will stop by the Seedbeadersters Group Home Page and see who we are. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seedbeadersters/

During November and December I worked on jewelry projects to give as gifts. I made two bracelets for my Daughters.  I used Tila beads, 4mm Swarovski Crystals, and seed beads in one and used the new Twin beads, Tila beads, and seed beads in the second bracelet. Here are photos of the two bracelets.

 

I like using the Tila beads but since the beads are raised on one side it does make it a bit difficult to keep them aligned properly when stitching. The Tilas and the Twin beads work great as spacers, but I am not completely sold on the Twin beads. I have been looking at beading patterns using the Twin beads and in most cases the beading thread is exposed.  I do not consider beading thread, especially the fishing line I use as attractive. When I design a beading tutorial or pattern I work very hard to keep the thread exposure to a minimum.  Here is a photo of my most recent tutorial called Star Corona Earrings, and I did use Twin Beads in the design.

 

The tutorial is available here http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/CSDDesign/5594077/star_corona_earrings_beading_tutorial/design/jewelry/earrings/beadwoven



In addition to the bracelets I also made some beaded rings. There are some terrific ring tutorials on the web. Here is a list of a few of my favorite ring tutorials with pictures of the ring I made using the tutorial:

Briolette Flower Ring from Beadifulnights  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzIw6CPvf0

 

Cocktail Beaded Ring from Beadifulnights   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqtw_OpuDTw

Hugs and Kisses Ring from Beadifulnights  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZQ25T-LfNw

There is also a Hugs and Kisses bracelet tutorial available http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f9nznt1eSk

Deluxe Diamond Ring Off the Beaded Path http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB0W_eEMrDg

 

I added Tree of Life pendants to my gift list and for these I used Artistic Wire 18 gauge to make the Tree of Life Ring and 24 gauge wire to attach the gemstone chips. The Artistic Wire is a soft wire and will bend when you work with it, but in making the tree rings I discovered I liked having the bends; each one is unique. Funny, the very first Tree of Life pendant I made is the only one with the circle shape. Here are photos of the different pendants.

Currently I am working on another Bitty Bead necklace with a different color palette and some different designs. I will post a picture of the finished piece in my next blog.

Happy Beading Everyone!

 

 

 

 

 





Spent time away from beading this Summer to spend some quality time with my beautiful Grand-daughters and visiting my home state, Ohio. One of the best places to see is the museum at Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio. The museum has three airplane huts full of planes from the earliest Wright Brothers plane, planes used in war time to our modern day airplanes. It was the best place to explore and enjoy all for free. Here is a link to more information: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

While in Ohio I did manage to visit a couple of bead shops Ally Beads in Milford, Ohio and the Bead Circus in Lebanon, Ohio. I found a lovely Sardonyx at Ally Beads and cute earring kits at the Bead Circus.



Ice Cream Sundae Earrings



Fairy Princess Earrings



Since returning home I have been trying to catch up on my beadwork and projects for the Seedbeadersters Bead Alongs.

The Seedbeadersters Bead Along for June/July was to choose a project from one of the popular bead magazines. I selected the Dragon Dance Bracelet designed by Csilla Csirmaz from Beadwork Magazine the April/May 2012 issue. The beads I used for the bracelet were 3mm Cubes in a Muted Clay frosted finish #F463K, size 8 Hex beads in a Brownstone iridescent  #648, size 11 seed bead in Jade Sheen opaque luster finish #431, size 11 seed bead in Metallic permanent finish Red Brick #489, size 15 seed beads in Glazed Ginger #5 and Silver-lined Gold #3, Charlotte’s in 24K Gold plate, and 6mm Crystal Pearls in Bordeaux.

The stitch used to make the bracelet was flat Herringbone. I have made other Herringbone pieces and did not feel making the bracelet would be a problem. Not so. The biggest issue with making the bracelet was the amount of beading thread which showed between the beads and fitting the 6mm Pearls into the inside curves on the bracelet. To solve these issues I made minor alterations to the design to allow for fit and composition. The bracelet shape is a wave. Two sections make one complete wave. The inside curve of the wave is designed to be made using two colors of size 15 seed beads. I replaced one of the size 15 colors with the size 11 in the Jade Sheen color, thus increasing the size of the inside wave. The original design used a size 11 and a size 15 coming from the cubes along the outside curve of the wave. I prefer not to have a lot of thread showing when I bead so I changed the design creating a turnaround using the two colors of size 11 seed beads and the Gold Charlotte bead; this added a dragon spine look to my bracelet. To increase the length of the bracelet for my wrist size I added one more row to each wave section. The original design used 3 full waves to make the bracelet, for my bracelet I needed four full waves and a half.

I will probably make this bracelet again for my Daughters and I think I will try replacing the size 8 Hex bead with a regular size 8 seed bead since Hex beads are known to cut through beading thread.

Here is the picture of my finished bracelet.

In August the Seedbeadersters project was the lovely "Sparkle, Dash and Dot Bracelet" designed by Carol Cyphers from her book Mastering Beadwork. The bracelet is made with the Dutch Spiral technique and has a branched fringe closure. There is also three part video tutorial for this bracelet on You Tube made by Off the Beaded Path with Carol Cyphers’ permission.

Part 1 shows how to make the basic bracelet, parts 2 and 3 show how to make the closure.

The beads for this bracelet include size 11 seed beads, size 8 seed beads, and 4mm Crystals. Substituting Czech glass rounds or pearls for the 4mm Crystals leads to many different color variations as can be seen in the bracelets made by members of the Seedbeadersters.

Here is the photo of the Dutch Spiral “Sparkle, Dash and Dot Bracelet” I made.

Seedbeadersters Sparkle, Dash and Dot Bracelets Photo

September’s project is a Flat Herringbone stitched bracelet “Herringbone Sparkle” designed by Ruby from Ruby’s website http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/. This is a beautiful bracelet and I can’t wait to see all the different color and bead variations the Seedbeadersters will create. I have finished mine but will be making two more and saving them for Holiday gifts.

It won’t be long before the Holidays are upon us and I need to get moving on creating my annual ornaments and gifts for Christmas.

I have managed to finish one ornament cover, “Christmas Hope” and have a couple more ideas bouncing around in my noggin. Here is a picture of my “Christmas Hope” ornament cover and I am off to another project.

Have fun with your beads and come join us at Seedbeadersters@Yahoogroups.com







Shopping for beads is always fun and being able to go to a bead show adds to the fun. I recently attended the Greater Kansas City Bead Society’s annual Bead Blast. I have been before but this year I decided to take a Bead Embroidery class with a friend. Last year I made a bead embroidered cuff style bracelet after reading up on bead embroidery; the bracelet was my first bead embroidered piece. I took the Bead Embroidery class with the idea of learning additional bead embroidery techniques and increasing my beading skills. The instructor had taught at the Bead & Button show and this was a good opportunity to learn from a pro. The kits available for the class included a 25mm by 18mm semi-precious gemstone cabochon pre-glued to pre-dyed Lacey Stiff Stuff, Delica 11s color coordinated to the gemstone, size 15 seed beads, small square of light weight plastic, Ultrasuede backing material, combination pin/pendant finding, Fireline and Nymo thread, bead mat and needles. In addition to the kit the instructor provided an assortment of embellishment beads. I chose a Lapis cabochon kit.  Below is a picture of my finished pendant/brooch piece. Due to timing constraints and other issues I completed my piece at home and used beads from my bead stash for the embellishments. The class was fine, even though I did not learn any new bead embroidery techniques I did enjoy the time spent with my friend.

After taking the Bead Embroidery class I did some more research on line looking for alternate methods for finishing the edges on a bead embroidered piece. I found Jamie Cloud Eakin’s book Dimensional Bead Embroidery. I really like this book. It is chockfull of information on bead embroidery techniques and what you need to know to create a lovely piece of bead embroidery, plus it contains information and instructions on 10 different edge finishing stitches. I used the “Crowns Point Edge” on my pendant. The first chapter shows and explains what tools are needed to do bead embroidery, basic bead embroidery techniques are explained and illustrated in chapter two, chapter three is on getting started and designing, and chapter four is on using components in bead embroidery. Chapters five through eight are devoted to the different stitches used in bead embroidery. Each stitch is illustrated and explained in a step by step format. The last chapter contains nine projects. The projects are also well illustrated and have step by step instructions. There are photos of finished pieces all through the book, plus a gallery in the back for inspiration.

The Beadwork Beaded Bead contest is a continuing project. The Beadwork pattern for the third bead in the series can be found on pages 20 through 22 in the June/July 2012 issue. The bead is the Stargazer  Beaded Bead designed by Florence Turnour. I have made the bead as it was designed and also a smaller version. The bead, as designed, has a 1 inch diameter. Making the beaded beads is adding to my beading skills but I am disappointed to see the size of the beaded beads increasing. In the contest description you are suppose to make a piece of jewelry. In my opinion having such large beads limits the scope of the type of jewelry item you could make. I wanted to try making a bracelet; I would not put a 1 inch diameter bead on a bracelet. Below is a photo of the beads I made. The large bead is the beaded bead using the 4mm size foundation beads as listed in the pattern. The smaller bead is my version using size 8 seed beads for the foundation base.

In my last blog update I mentioned I wanted to try making a bracelet using the No Warp Ends method on my Best of All Loom. Below is a photo of the finished bracelet. I am testing Velcro for a closure on this bracelet to see how it holds.

I made another Right Angle Weave choker necklace based on Larry Linson’s original design. I decided to make a color matched bracelet. I used Right Angle Weave and the same beads to make the bracelet. I did not want to use the dangles on the bracelet because I feel they would tend to catch on things and cause the bracelet to break, but I did want to include the smaller beads in the design of the bracelet. The necklace and bracelet are pictured below.

I am heading back to my bead mat with more projects to do.

Update on the Seedbeadersters: The May Bead Along is starting and the theme is YOU PICK.

Members can select a project from the Bead Patterns and Tutorial folder on the Seedbeadersters Group Link Page. The patterns and tutorials cover a multitude of beading techniques. A member can try out a new technique or revisit an old one.

OR

Members may choose to make an Amulet Bag. There are 40+ links of Amulet Bag Patterns available to the members and the techniques used to make the bags include Peyote, Tubular Peyote, Netting, Knitting, and Loom.

Here is a photo showing a few of the necklaces made by Seedbeaderster members for the April Bead Along. The tutorial for the necklace was provided by Seedbeaderster member, Larry Linson.

If you like to play with seed beads please join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seedbeadersters/ or join our group seedbeadersters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Have fun beading!

Finished my loom project a “Rose Cell Phone Bag”. This should help protect my cell phone in my purse and keep me from accidentally turning it off or calling someone. I used Delica beads to stitch the bag and size 15 seed beads to close the sides. I created a felt inner bag to keep the phone from being scratched. Here is the picture of the finished bag.

Here is a photo showing the completed project on the loom. I used masking tape across the bottom row of paper clips to keep from snagging the thread while stitching.

I really liked working with the No Warp loom. It was easier to use and I was able to work faster. The only drawback with using paperclips is having small loops of thread along the end beads after removing the piece from the loom.  On the cell phone bag I added a row of beads to each end using Square Stitch and pushing the loops to the inside of the bag.

I have a Versa Loom but did not use it for the cell phone bag. The Versa Loom was not wide enough to accommodate the number of beads required.

I plan to make a loom stitch bracelet with the No Warp loom, but this time I am going to setup the warp threads using beads in the same manner as on the Versa Loom.