The focal flower on the top of the piece is styled after a hibiscus, modified slightly (but only slightly!) from the excellent instructions given by Kerrie Slade in the April 2009 issue of Bead&Button Magazine.

For my general instructions on bead embroidery, please check Bead Embroidery Techniques.

Step by step instructions for RuthAnn’s Garden:

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Website & Blog:
Patterns of my designs
Beading Blog

Nancy, how do you describe your work?
I think that my first love of style of beading is beadweaving. I love to learn new stitches and then take them, create and explore new possibilities. There are some that I find myself coming back to, like the various forms of peyote.

What is your creative process like?
Having two sons, my creative process can be quite chaotic. I may have an idea for a piece but then I only get to work on it in small spurts between helping and taking care of them. Every now and then I will sit down and just bead while they are watching a show. Those are usually my longest spurts of beading. It is hard sometimes when I want to work on a larger project to break it down into the time slots that I have available. Of course when I get toward the end of the project, it is hard to remember to do the other things that I NEED to do, lol.

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I don’t have any “formal” training in beadwork. I started by doing simple stringing and was hooked. I wanted to make a piece of jewelry for a friend who was getting married and decided that I should expand my repertoire of beading skills. I started to buy patterns and follow along. This built up a lot of the skills that I use now. A good friend, seeing some of the things that I dabbled with on my own, encouraged me to start to write up patterns for what I was doing. I guess the rest, as they say, is history.

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
I love seed beads and Swarovski crystals. Give me a bunch with a needle and thread and I am ready to go.

What inspires you to create?
Other bead artists inspire me. I like to take in what someone else has done and explore their process of putting things together. It helps me to learn new skills and pick up little “tricks” that help make the process easier.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
My advice is to just keep at it. Don’t be afraid to learn something new. Life is all about learning and adapting and incorporating. Use what you know, add to it and share it!

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?
I would have to say my family. We have two upper elementary age boys and they keep me on my toes. My youngest son is very interested in my beadwork. He likes to help pick colors and often likes to sit down and bead himself.

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Websites & Blog:
MonkeyBuns etsy shop
MonkeyBuns facebook
Krystal Backer blog

Krystal, how do you describe your work…and why MonkeyBuns?
MonkeyBuns is my son’s nickname. I started making jewelry when I was up to feed him at night so it seemed only natural to name my business after him. I would describe my work as unique and on the cuff of being outside the box.

What is your creative process like?
I have a few ways of working. Some times I make sketches of projects if they come up at a weird time like just before bed. Mostly I see the finished piece in my head and go from there. Sometimes the piece ends up the way I saw it in my head sometimes not. I usually have the TV on when I’m working but find I’m a lot more productive if I listen to music. I especially find I’m creative when listening to the Beatles or 90’s music. I tend to work on a project of a span of time. I work 2 jobs and have a son so as much I as wish I had hours on end to create I just don’t.

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I am as self taught as I can be using other people’s tutorials. I have not taken any formal classes although I’d love to. I never set out to become a jewelry designer I just originally wanted something to do when after I was done feeding my son in the middle of the night. I lack the ability to just go back to sleep after waking up. Eventually there came a time when I had to many jewelry pieces so I started selling them.

Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
The one tool I depend on a lot is my bead trays. My favorite material is Delica Beads.

What inspires you to create?
My son mostly inspires me. He’s very artistic himself and his energy really inspires me. I find inspiration in other random things like nature or a floor rug. Being an artist tends to make me look at things different.

What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
I am very lucky that I belong to a great group on Etsy, JETS. This group of ladies is just awesome about helping each other get through our frustrations and disappointments.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
I would tell them that the first year is rough. No matter how great of a product you have it takes time to get seen in the sea of other great artist. You have to be willing to market yourself other wise you’ll drown in that sea.

What takes up the majority of your time besides your art?
My son is a huge priority in my life. I spend as much time with him as I can which often means that I don’t get time to create until he goes to bed. I also work so that takes up a lot of my time.

What’s your favorite comfort food?
My favorite comfort food is food my mom made me while I was growing up.

Post from: Jewelry and Beading

The exact bead counts will depend upon whether you decide to use Delica beads or the rounder Czech seed beads.  Both are size 11/0s, but the difference in shape means that you’ll be able to fit 16 base row beads (and therefore 16 full sized petals) if you use Delicas.  If you chose to use Czech see beads, you’ll only be able to fit 14 around the circumference of the 8mm bead center.

Materials & Tools

8mm crystal beads
Delica or Czech seed beads
Nymo thread, size O
Beading needle

Step-by-step instructions

Post from: Jewelry and Beading

There are so many different ways to make beaded flowers.  Some of the most intricate and beautiful that I’ve seen have been done on thin wire in the French style.  I decided to figure out a way to do mine with needle and thread instead.

You might remember awhile ago I shared a piece that I made, inspired by my mother’s flower garden.  I thought it might be nice to show you one of the simple ways that I made some of the flowers for this piece.

Gather up your seed beads, thread, beading needle, and some 8mm crystals or druks to use as the centers.  Tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, I’ll share the step-by-steps with you!

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Olga wrote to me: “I used four types of seed beads (2 green types and 2 yellow types) in order to achieve the most gradual color change. My Mom said the necklace might be used for eye relaxation because of its colors. It seems to me the necklace is similar to hair of dryad so I called it Wood Nymph.”

I asked Olga about some of her other work and whether she would please please please share some of it with us.  She wrote that she likes using natural gemstones in her jewelry making, and has a  fairly large collection of them. The necklace shown below is produced by using garnet beads.  Besides jewelery, Olga also likes to make home decor items, like beaded eggs or toys. The Chicken, also below, is made on basis of a beaded egg.  How cute is that?

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Sara writes:
I’ve made a number of these – starting with prototypes – and each one comes out different and more beautiful (to my way of thinking) than the one before.

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Step by step instructions

Materials & Tools

Large wood or plastic bead to cover
Nymo 0 thread
Delicas and/or Czech seed beads in sizes 15/0, 11/0, 8/0, or even 6/0 as
desired
Beading needle

Post from: Jewelry and Beading

I’ve been wanting to share with you about how Autumn Arbor was put together from several different components, but I neglected to take sufficiently detailed process photos while I was working on it.  For those of you who have some bead weaving experience, it’s probably easy enough to figure out. Three basic stitches were used to create the components, and then these pieces were woven together and embellished using the thread tails: tubular herringbone, free-form right angle weave, and spiral square stitch.

Step by step instructions

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A seed bead extravaganza, made by Sheryl Stephens!
Cool Moon Creations

Sheryl writes:
Ladybug’s Realm (The Exhibition) – a flower “collar” with many different types of flowers, all inspired by the patterns in The Beaded Garden by Diane Fitzgerald. This was the focal piece of a recent art gallery exhibit in East Lansing Michigan entitled Beauty and the Bead.

Post from: Jewelry and Beading