Using the cute little beaded flowers that I showed you a couple weeks agao, plus a few more styles, I fashioned a floral necklace that I named for my mother: RuthAnn’s Garden. RuthAnn has an absolutely magic touch with flowers of all types, and her garden is always a riot of colors from the earliest spring to the lastest fall.
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, …read more

Technique Tuesday!
I found this wonderful vintage rolled-brim felt hat with a built-in scarf in an old musty antique shop a couple of years ago, and it just occurred to me that I’ve never shared the instructions with you for its transformation!

I loved the style and the color, and knew immediately that the structure of the hat would stand up to a lot of altering! Sifting through my collection of vintage buttons and jewelry showed me just what direction to go with this hat. The name, Dreaming of Spring came to me before the hat was completed. I filled the brim, …read more

Technique Tuesday!
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

Technique Tuesday!
I made this multi-strand necklace for my friend Sherry. She wanted something that celebrated the fourth day of Creation, and she wanted me to make it for her! I was thrilled and flattered. Sherry is just about the perfect person to work for on a commission such as this: She knows the general style, weight, colors, and images that she wants, but she never crosses the line into micro-managing.
Her necklace became a three-strand affair, but still ended up relatively lightweight. I used a bead embroidered centerpiece, chosing a lovely fused glass bead made by my friend Jeanne Kent (New …read more

Technique Tuesday!
Back in the beginning of September, Mike and I went away for a long weekend with our friends Beth and Dan.  Both couples were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversaries, so we thought it might be a hoot to take a joint vacation.  The only thing was, Beth and Dan’s daughter was getting married the very next weekend!  So to assuage our guilt over not being around to help that weekend, we found a pretty rock on the beach (in Maine), and I wire wrapped it for Beth to wear to the wedding!

See, we were working on the details after …read more

Technique Tuesday!
Yesterday I told you that Wendy Talaro has graciously shared her tutorial on fusing glass.  I’m so glad, because even though I’ve tried it a few times, I feel in no way qualified to speak at length on the how tos!  It’s a lovely thing when folks are so willing to share their expertise

Glass Fusing Primer
So What Is Glass Fusing?
Glass fusing is the process of assembling pieces of fusing compatible glass (i.e. glass that has the same rate of expansion/contraction when heated or cooled) and melting those pieces in an electric kiln until they stick together, becoming …read more

Technique Tuesday!
Pick a large lightweight wood or plastic bead for the base of this fun project.  Since my wooden bead was painted blue, I decided not to fight against fate, but picked a good selection of blue beads in various sizes for most of the covering.  I also threw in some contrasting beads for fun!
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

Using the CopprClay pendant that we made last week, I want to show you what I ended up doing with it.  It was tempting to simply hang it from a plain black cord, but I wanted a bit more shine and contrast.   And something a bit more interesting too!
Materials and Tools:
Large jump ring
Sliding tube bail
2 pieces of beading wire, 24 in each
22 assorted beads
40 size 1 crimp tubes
4 size 3 crimp tubes
Toggle and bar set
(Sources: Vintaj, Auntie’s Beads, SoftFlex)
Step by step instructions

I love messing around with both positive and negative molds: sometimes the exact look you want to achieve can only be had by going through a few extra steps, and that’s what I did for this pendant. This week, I’m going to cover how to make the CopprClay pendant, and next week we’ll look at one possibility for stringing it into a finished necklace.
Materials & Tools:
CopprClay (Rio Grande)
Olive oil
Waxed paper or parchment paper
Objects to make molds
Polymer clay
Kiln, firing pan, and activated charcoal
Exacto knife, file, polish
Patina solution
Step by step instructions

Technique Tuesday!
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