Wednesday, June 29, 2011

In search of the perfect beaded bead, Part 1

I’ve wanted to create some beautiiful beaded beads -- some that would stand pretty much on their own, for awhile. I’ve seen patterns but haven’t really found the right one yet. some don’t have the look I want. some seem too complicated. some are beautiful but I don’t know how to make them.


So this is my first attempt. Here are some photos of the bead I made. I created with a purchased kit. I paid more for the kit than I EVER EVER wanted to pay.... was hoping that it would be the “first and last” one I needed. That’s how I justified paying so much.



I’ve decided that for this blog I am not going to call out names if I say something negative; so we won’t discuss where this one came from. The kit was nice and contained exactly the number of beads (seed beads and crystals) needed to do the job. The included silk thread seemed too fragile to me, but maybe that’s because I pull too hard/tight most of the time. :)


The instructions were OK but seemed like maybe they were written in a hurry. I redid the bead 3 times, writing notes into the several pages as I worked. In two cases, there were outright errors in the directions-- referring to the beads in numbered order, but they’d made typos. Sometimes I could get it right from the photos even though I didn’t understand the directions. And sometimes I just had to take a stab at it.




So the end result is not as beautiful as I’d hoped. You can see from the pics that it is very loose, even though I broke the thread pulling it tight a couple times. I think if I took it apart and did it once more I’d get it right this time. I don’t really have the desire to redo it though; it’s not the perfect beaded bead.

I have a couple more to try. If you have any ideas, feel free to send them along. Thanks!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Getting Started; my beading blog

Why in the world am I blogging? (I ask myself) I'm so *bad* at it. Yet I want to share what I learned/am learning about beading, beads, projects, etsy, and all things related to my obsession: beads. So, here we are.

I  have just started an etsy jewelry shop, and so far I think it's a lot of work with very little payoff. I've done everything they tell you to: twitter, facebook, participating in the forums, joining teams. Yadda yadda. Etsy's making lots of money off little people llike me, but they don't give you a great deal of assistance. The big idea there is to deactivate and then relist  your items, so that they get on the front page again and people notice them. Good for them, as they get the $$. Bad for the little people, who make crafts for pete's sake! haha. I haven't bought into the relist game yet, I'm too busy listing for the first time. And obvioiusly it works for some. But for me, all this stuff takes away from what I like to do: beadwork.

Here are a couple of my projects:

Black agate/onyx bead necklace, for sale on etsy


This one's actually a work in progress on my desk:



My favorite type of beaded necklace to make. The 3 large flat/wavy stones are jade. The toggle clasp at the back is aventurine, very cool. And the other beads are gemstones, like jade, amazonite, turquoise, others. Also for sale on etsy.