The Plan

Do you design jewelry and in the process redesign and redesign again?  I do.  Which is why I don’t quite have a bracelet to share with you today.

Several months ago I purchased a pattern for a peyote puffy heart from Kreativ Keller.  There is no English translation, but Google translate worked quite well and the diagrams were great.  The plan for this weekend was to finally get around to trying out the pattern.  Now, that plan worked just fine.

Puffy Heart, pattern by Kreativ Keller

 
Having successfully made the puffy heart, the plan was to make a bracelet using these silver plated tubes as a quick and simple finish:

Silver Plated Tubes for bracelets

The plan also included the use of this carved bone frog as the center of the bracelet:

Plans don’t always work. 

Upon reflection the carved bone frog did not fit with the delicacy of the seed bead elements.  I am disappointed.  I think I have had the bone frog for a few decades.  The color was a perfect compliment.  The size was just right.  However, it just wasn’t going to work and I would not have been satisfied with the finished piece. 

New plans were quickly hatched.  I rummaged through my box of white beads and found a mother of pearl disk.  It was the right size and color.  However, when I put it together it was to long for a bracelet.  Which means the silver tubes will also be put aside for another day. 

The bracelet will now become a necklace, once I make it to a shop and pick up some silver plated chain.  Here is the unfinished piece:

Not Your Mother's Pearls

I am really happy with the way this turned out.  I am also well pleased with the instructions from Kreative Keller, they were well done, easy to interpret and follow, and the design is quite clever. 

Better Notes on Beaded Beads…

Okay, I should know better than to go from my scribbled notes.  I should have remade the darn beaded bead when I was getting ready to post my notes.  Corrections and clarifications are in red.

Here are the corrected notes:

The Beginning:  Thread 29 size 10 Delicas and tie a knot creating a circle of beads.  The tail should be equal on both sides, with needles on both sides. 

Size 10 Rows:  Peyote 8 total rows of size 10 Delicas; that is 4 rows on one side of that original circle (for future reference this is named the north side) and 3 rows on the other side (this named the south side.) 

Size 11 Rows:  Peyote 3 rows of size 11 Delicas on the north side and 3 rows of size 11 Delicas on the south side of the beaded bead. 

Size 15 Rows:  Peyote 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the south side.

Netting Rows:  On the north side exit from a size 15 Delica, add 5 size 15 Delicas, skip a size 15 Delica from the final peyote row, and enter the next size 15 Delica from the final peyote row.  Rinse and repeat.  Assuming my counting is correct you should have 7 scallops.  Repeat on the south side.

Note:  See my pictures below.  On the beaded bead I made today I had to use 5 beads on the south side scallop and 7 beads on the north side scallop. 

Final Row:  On the north side exit through the middle (3rd) bead of the size 15 netting row, add a bead, and enter the 3rd bead of the next size 15 netting row, rinse and repeat.  When the circle is complete pull your thread tight and weave back through your bead work to tie your knot.  Repeat on the south side. 

Below is a collage of the beaded bead I made today, a heart beaded bead that I will post more about tomorrow when my new bracelet is finished, and the pair of beaded beads showing the difference in the final netted row with 5 beads and 7 beads.

Notes on How to Create Beaded Beads and a Personal Update

Many months ago Mandy of Beads for Brains and I exchanged e-mails bemoaning the fact that a simple round beaded bead made with Delicas never quite turned out to meet our high expectations.  It seems all my efforts showed too much thread, the underlying bead, or was slightly unbalanced.  I finally made a beaded bead that works.  

Here is one that doesn’t work- notice the thread and the bead on which it is woven?

Having pointed out why it is unsatisfactory, it is only fair that also tell you that beaders that I showed this bead to thought it was just fine.  Macro pictures show every slight flaw.  Here is a different view of the same bead:

Here are two other views of the beaded bead that worked:

I told Mandy I would share my notes when I found them during the process of unpacking.  These are notes, not a diagram.  If you are not familiar with peyote this is not going to be much help, if you know peyote this is what worked for me.

You will need:

• a 5/8 inch wooden bead.  Available at Michaels
• Delicas in sizes 10, 11, and 15
• Needle, Fireline (or your preferred thread)

The Beginning:  Thread 29 size 10 Delicas and tie a knot creating a circle of beads.  The tail should be equal on both sides, with needles on both sides. 

Size 10 Rows:  Peyote 8 rows of size 10 Delicas; that is 4 rows on one side of that original circle (for future reference this is named the north side) and 4 rows on the other side (this named the south side.) 

Size 11 Rows:  Peyote 2 rows of size 11 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 11 Delicas on the south side of the beaded bead. 

Size 15 Rows:  Peyote 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the north side and 1 row of size 15 Delicas on the south side.

Netting Rows:  On the north side exit from a size 15 Delica, add 5 size 15 Delicas, skip a size 15 Delica from the final peyote row, and enter the next size 15 Delica from the final peyote row.  Rinse and repeat.  Assuming my counting is correct you should have 7 scallops.  Repeat on the south side.

Final Row:  On the north side exit through the middle (3^rd) bead of the size 15 netting row, add a bead, and enter the 3^rd bead of the next size 15 netting row, rinse and repeat.  When the circle is complete pull your thread tight and weave back through your bead work to tie your knot.  Repeat on the south side. 

I love this beaded bead, it is simple, it is clean, it is even, no threads show, and I really like the top and bottom.  As the top is netted you may want to try a trick I picked up on other blogs and use nail polish on your wooden bead prior to beading to give it a more finished look.  Maybe at some point in the future I will draw some diagrams.  Hopefully these notes will be enough for you to create your own unembellished and simple beaded bead.  If you decide to try out these directions, please let me know what your results were like.

You may recall I recently purchased a camera.  The pictures in this post were an exercise in learning about my new camera.  I am still on that steep learning curve and hope to post about how I chose my camera in the future.  The beaded bead pictures were done on different settings.  Thus, this blog post served two purposes: a commitment kept and a camera test.  The names of the pictures include my notes on the settings I used.

I moved this summer and had my furniture delivered in July.  I tell people I have finished unpacking; which strictly defined means I have opened all the boxes and created a large pile of things to be given away.  I have scanned all my hardback books into a spreadsheet so I know what I have.  I have also washed everything, including at least 24 curtains.  What I haven’t quite accomplished yet is getting the decorations out or my bead studio and table organized.  Also still on my to do list is scanning all my paperbacks and scanning the boxes of paper I have to my computer. 

To toot my horn about my accomplishments and to show you what needs to be completed here are a few more pictures- these were taken on the “easy” setting of my new camera.

The hardback books:

The paperback books:

My bead studio storage more is planned and necessary as these are not even my best beads:

My bead table- scattered with many things that don’t belong and a clean corner where I took my photos this morning.

Now, it is time to go and do some organizing.

Win, Win, Win...

Want a chance at a great give-away? 

Visit e-workshops written by Riki Schumacher's for four fabulous prizes, and I do mean fabulous. 

First is a tutorial about how to solder rhinestone chain.  Can't you just think of a million ways to use that skill?

Second is a really great destash.  That should inspire a second million ideas.

Third is a bee kit.  Not quite a third million ideas, but quite a buzz.  (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

Fourth is a video about how to wire rubber cord and make a clasp.  Now that would be fabulous with any number of beads, but mostly I am thinking of beaded beads. 

I discovered RikiSchuacher's other blog Riki Jewelry when I followed the link from the picture of beads she sent for the Bead Soup Blog Party.  I added her to my RSS feed and when I next update my link page I will add her to the ever growing list.

I have to tell you that I do not enter every contest, nor do I add every blog to my RSS feed, but you will be sorry if you miss this opportunity and I don't just mean the contest.  Riki's work is dazzling.

Color

I can't tell you how many hours I spend agonizing over color choices. 

Because choosing colors takes a large portion of my design time I have pick up books on color theory, follow decorating blogs and enjoy decorating magazines for more than just the lush decor, hold the Pantone color forecasts in high regard, pay attention when I walk through Target (color is how Target gets me to part with so much cash) and love blogs that feature color palettes.

In my RSS feed I have a subcategory titled: Color.  Topping the list is Beverly Ash Gilbert.  One of my favorite references is Margie Deeb's The Beader's Guide to Color.  Which is why I was delighted when Beverly Ash Gilbert announced that she and Margie Deeb have teamed up and published a color journal.  Waste no time in visiting Beverly's blog to download their first journal: Ask the Color Queens

Still Too Much Left To Do

I have at least three things that I need to blog about ASAP, but you can tell from the title that time remains an issue.  First, there  there is the new camera a Canon Power Shot SX 130 IS.  That blog post will have to come later.  Second, is Isle a Beads, a great eclectic bead shop in Cleveland.  Again, that blog post will have to come later.  Third, is actual beadwork.  I have a friend who is going on a cruise in October.  She requested a "purple necklace."

Two weeks ago I bought a purple swarovski rivoli for the purple necklace.  I bezeled and embellished the rivoli.  I knew if my friend didn't like it that I would use it in another piece. I presented the focal to her and it did not suit her- she had a simple single strand necklace in mind.  Here is the focal:

This is based on a pattern by Eva Kovács, which can be found here:
http://ewagyongyosvilaga.blogspot.com/2011/08/kolen-medal-minta-kolen-pendant-pattern.html

My apartment is still a shambles, I have opened every box but not everything has been put away.  It took me 20 minutes to find my box of purple beads so I can work on a pretty necklace for my friend.

More posts to come. 

That is All of My Blog Links...

There weren't that many more blogs to add to finish the alphabet.  Be sure to stop by Wickwire Jewelry- Nancy hasn't updated her blog for some time, but every piece she does causes me to think I should learn wirework.  (Her keys are to die for!)

World Artisan Gems is an irregular blog, but it is well worth putting into your RSS feed.  Every post features a new artist. 

That was the end of the alphabet.  Following that is a list of 13 blogs that I have added to my reader since I began publishing my list.  Pearl4U has been in my list for quite some time, but was listed as www.pearl4u so it was not listed with the other P's.  Riki Jewelry was added today when her partner in the Bead Soup Blog Party posted the beads she had sent; which in turn led to Melissa Manley Studios.  All of which is a prime example of how my list got to be so long in the first place.  I am looking forward to seeing more of these great artists.  Do not miss The Beading Yogini, who I discovered via Lorelei Eurto's shadow box challenge. 

In addition to the jewelry links I have two small additional lists: Non-Jewelry Inspiration and The Business of Jewelry.  The Non-Jewelry Inspiration is primarily, but not solely, for color inspiration.  The Business of Jewelry is a list of blogs offering business advice to artists.  Two of those blogs you should recognize from my jewelry links: Olive Bites Home of Uncorked + Polarity and Pretty Things.  Book mark these, add them to your RSS feed, do something so you do not miss either of these blogs if you are interested in selling your jewelry.  Blacksburg Belle has become a favorite for business advice.  Last, but not least, Luann Udell is one of my very favorite artists.  Her work is brilliant and her business advice has been spot on, and she is a pleasure to read.

My list will continue to grow and I will add a post when I add new blogs to the list.  I know some of these blogs are no longer active, but they are still worth browsing.  Let me know of any broken links.