I’ve been wondering what style of necklace would work for my “in the works” beaded embroidery or beaded mosaic pendants. It has to be something that would be balance the bead work. The easy way was a satin ribbon, maybe a good quality leather or a commercial chain. All okay options, but not quite the look I wanted.

Along came a better way, using a wire weaving technique called Viking Knit. It doesn’t look like much as it is being worked, but once it is pulled through the draw plate, it becomes very cool looking. A perfect compliment to the pendants if I include some complementary beads on the wires.

My practice pieces are short and made with plastic coated kid project wire that was all I had in the right gauge, so here’s a link to the amazing site where I found the tutorial. Thanks for providing that, Rocio! http://www.fineartbyrocio.com/vikingknitdirections.html Make sure you check out her work on the rest of the site.

She uses a dowel, but I didn’t have one, so I used a long bead tube (duh!) and it worked magnificently. I drilled a few different sized holes in a small block of wood and it worked brilliantly as a draw plate.

Careful now, this is yet another addictive technique. ; )

Technorati Tags: jewelry making, Viking Knit

Like me? One who is always thinking about a different medium when only half way through a different project, which of course, results in too many UFOs. My husband calls it the butterfly effect.

It isn’t just crafting that is affected by this behavior, but life in general for this personality type. Careers are unfinished, moving is a regular occurrence and we won’t even  go into relationships. I always just thought I was flighty and easily bored. Turns out I’m a Scanner. That’s 2 N’s in the middle there, not m’s, lol.

In my mid-life search for who knows what, I came across this book by Barbara Sher, called Refuse to Choose. It explains so much about the “flighty” personality which she calls a Scanner. She provides ideas and insight into how to channel our many diverse interests into a satisfying career.  

So, it isn’t just me? Hmm, that’s worth the price of the book right there. If you recognize yourself, get the book and read it. No need to finish it necessarily, lol. You’ll get enough by the time you are ready to move on.

Technorati Tags: Barbara Sher, refuse to choose, Scanner

Felt the need to glue and I’ll I had for small substrates were square clear glass memory slides and it turned out they are great.  I’ll have to figure out how to edge them as they are a little sharp and fragile, but I love the clear backing to show off the beads.  There seems to be a color theme going here and sorta looks like I’m trying to make order, lol. Never!

Technorati Tags: Bead Mosaics

Not too long ago I bought a book to help me brush up on my embroidery stitches since it has been so many years since I did thread embroidery. This book by Yukiko Ogura fits well because while I want the embroidery stitch info, I will be using it with beads, so voila, a perfect resource.

She has the book formatted by stitch family: filler stitches, line stitches, running stitches, etc. so it is easy to know what to use when.

Adding your own spark to these stitches will give your piece a unique style.  I love to incorporate crystals and larger beads or charms as well for variety. Overall a great book for basic stitches with beads instead of just thread.

Technorati Tags: Books, embroider with beads, embroidery stitches

As I wear or carry my beaded jewelry pieces, people often comment that they would love to learn to bead and many, many people say they would love to work from home and earn from their art. There is something very gratifying when people appreciate and want to buy your work and of course, being you r own boss is the only way to go.

While jewelry is not my primary form of bead work, it is the form that is easiest to sell and many times, fastest to make. You can create a jewelry making and jewelry selling business in your spare time in your own home, without spending large amounts on teachers or books.

To achieve this type of jewelry making business lifestyle, check out the course from Kameron Kay. She is an experienced California artist who has had her pieces worn and loved by celebrities and her course covers aspects great for all levels, from beginners to existing jewelry makers. She has such a warm inviting manner in her material, which includes an ebook and videos. Videos make learning so much easier and will get you started right away. If you’re like me, you may need that visual aid to “get it”.

She’ll help you take your jewelry making from a hobby to a jewelry selling business with tips on targeting your market, inventory and trends.

See what I’m talking about:
Let Work Be Fun With Your Own Jewelry Selling Business!

Make sure you check out her bonuses, there’s some great free resources for you.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: beading business, craft business, home based business, jewelry business, jewelry making, jewelry selling business, learn to bead

Do you ever just start making something in whichever medium you are drawn to at the moment and not have a clue what it will be or even a design idea? That seems to be my standard operating procedure lately and I don’t think it is too uncommon in creative people. There’s no particular plan, but you have to get your hands moving. You know what I mean.

Here’s the piece from my last bead mosaic play time.  I like it, except for the one yellow glass triangle piece…what was I thinking?  I had polymer clayed the top of this little box years ago in a rough cane,  so rough in fact, that I’m not showing you the back.  Along the way, the box bottom was lost (moves, gotta love ‘em), so it became a base.  I just started gluing down beads that jumped out at me and pretty quickly this is what resulted.

I hate getting my hands dirty and that is unavoidable with the glue application required for bead mosaics, especially for a klutz like me, but I do love the look of them.   The glue and grout mess is actually one of the reasons I don’t do regular mosaics much, despite being a huge fan of several artists: Sonia King, Laurel Skye and Laurel True .

So, back on topic, if you want to try bead mosaics and need supplies, Fire Mountain Gems has a great variety and awesome customer service.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Bead Mosaics, Mixed Media Beading, Mosaics

Weird word, huh?  It is an old needle art, somewhat related to rug hooking, which involves the use of a special tool, called a punchneedle.  The floss or yarn is threaded through the body of the pencil-like tool then through the eye of the punching end and you push the tool through fabric, thus making loops on the other side that have an appearance somewhat like mini rug hooking loops.

Work is done on the back of the piece or pattern and a hoop or frame is used to hold the fabric taut.  That tautness is what produces the popping sound of the punch.  Here are a couple of small examples I did recently.  I favor a contemporary style, whereas many punchneedlers favor a more primitive look.

The heart on the right includes seed beads, which were sewn on first, then I filled in with the punchneedle in a variegated 3 strand floss.  These are examples of small pieces, the heart is about 1 1/2′ across and the abstract is about 4″ across.

Punchneedle is a fairly rare craft, but if you are interested in learning more, Yahoo has group     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PunchNeedleRugHooking/

To see some fabulous larger rug size punchneedle work, there are none better than McAdoo Rugs.  Scroll down to the video on the lower right to see the technique in action.

Supplies for smaller pieces can be found at craft stores, usually in the cross-stitching area, or an online search will locate several suppliers, like this one http://www.punchneedlemarketplace.com/

The punchneedles I found at the craft stores were of limited quality; usable, but not optimum.  I suggest spending a little more and starting with a Cameo needle.  It has adjustable needle length and can handle up to 6 strands of floss easily.  For yarn applications, I suggest an Oxford needle, such as you see in the McAdoo video.

Enjoy.  :  )

For years I have struggled to find the “right” craft for me, one which retains my interest and is somewhat easy to learn and accomplish.  Criteria was that it had to be somewhat portable if I chose (I’ll explain in another post that will involve RVs), be fairly clean as I hate having dirty hands (no throwing clay for me) and include tons of color, preferably bright and glitzy.  Beads certainly fulfill those requirements, but I was always drawn away from them to try something else and that became expensive, so what to do?

Yep, you got it!  Add beads to everything else.  What hadn’t I thought of that before?  I stifled their beady energy by keeping them contained to bead weaving or stringing when they craved the variety of other playmates: glass tiles in bead mosaics; fabric and thread in beaded art quilts, bead embroidery or beaded jewelry; paint, paper and clay in mixed-media. So many possibilities in mixed media beading. Ok, calming now, I’m getting carried away.

Once I accepted that what I used to call my craft ADD was something that could benefit my artwork, I began to overflow with ideas and filled page after page of my idea journal.  Of course, no ill intent is intended to people actually challenged with ADD.  My husband calls it my “Oh look, there’s a butterfly, what was I saying?” syndrome.  Usually he’s laughing, but not always.  Hmm?

So, as I investigate this new realization and creativity, I invite you to peek in on the journey and see where it leads.

Technorati Tags: Mixed Media Beading