A Little Peyote Bezel Presentation

 Monday, January 4th, the Upper Midwest Bead Society asked me to speak about bezels, and the resulting presentation was live streamed to facebook on the UMBS club page.  If you are interested in listening and watching, here is a link:  https://www.facebook.com/umbsmn/videos/157959159111866  Our business meeting starts about 1:05 minutes in, and my presentation begins at 5:15 minutes.

I speak about how to make a simple bezel, and then, how to add embellishment, create connections, and a little about designing with bezeled components.  I touch on square and rectangular bezels and a few other shapes, and provide links to blogposts about some of those shapes.  

It's a lovely club, and I believe the plan is to present a guest speaker the first Monday of each month live as 2021 proceeds.  Membership forms are available on the UMBS website here: http://www.umbs.org/membership.html  This first meeting was made available to anyone who wanted to watch, but I think the goal is to eventually have meetings available to members, and since we are presenting virtually, there is no reason you could not belong from anywhere on the planet with internet access.  

As always, thanks for checking in, and please stay safe!

That Sweater Needed a Necklace

 It came from Target.  It's a color that is in the Pantone array for Fall and Winter this year. I had the Orchid Mist Pineapple Blossom necklace that worked with it.  But I had made that necklace shorter to wear on my skin with an orchid summer top, and it felt not long enough.  

Here's the original (but short) Orchid Mist.

So I made a new, longer one, with a silver demi bead.

I really like the result.  It has a dressier look than my original, because of the silver framing and the richer finish (Pink Metallic Suede) of the Czech round accent beads.  I designed the original colorway to work with a range from Orchid through Purple, but somehow, this lively Magenta wanted a different feel.  I'll show you the two together so you can compare and contrast.

This necklace sold out in all of its colorways last month after a kind gentleman posted his finished work in Seed Beads and More on Facebook.  Then another client posted her beautifully finished work and I have been scrambling to get some kits in stock! 

I now have all the colors available except Orchid Mist, and I am just waiting on the focal jewels to assemble those kits.  

Please visit my Etsy shop for the Pineapple Blossom Tutorial and the many kits available. 

Fuchsia

Blue Hawaii

Stormy Seas

Green Frond

Aqua Surf 

Stay safe in this crazy weird year of chaos and surprises!  

A Tale of Four Bails

EDITED TO ADD: I am having a 20% off sale on the tutorial for this project this weekend, Sept 19 and 20.  In fairness to those shopping for the tutorial because of the sale, I am posting the new kit at 8:00 am, since I feel the need to tell those buying other kits that this one exists.  If you want one and did not get one, I will make more this week.  Sorry for my change of plans! 

I have a new colorway for my Fall Flame Leaf kits.  I wanted to capture the full color of the Sugar Maples, and ended up also realizing imagery of the Forest Fires on the West Coast in this 2020 edition.  I think this particular color scheme is especially dramatic worn on black clothing

I have added this colorway to my tutorial and if you have an older edition and want these color names and numbers, please just Convo me on Etsy and I will send the new version along to you.  I also found an F near the end of Row 4 of the original tutorial that should have been an E.  So amended, AND corrected.  

As most things Pandemic, this was a little struggle.  I made four leaf samples to get one I liked, and them also created 4 bails to find one that supported the rope and leaf without taking too much focus.

Here are the leaf efforts.  I wanted to use silver-lined beads for their luminosity, and found many I liked.

I saw a little pink in the leaves I was collecting as models, and used a Toho #2226 Raspberry Silver Lined (Raspberry Fade above) at the very edge in my first sample.  But it was a dyed bead.  I rarely have trouble with those, but in this case, the color rubbed off, leaving silvery blue glints I kinda liked, but I worried about long term wear and durability.  So I switched to a Matsuno #638JS Silver Lined Rainbow Ruby, which had the blue and pink flashes I liked in the original.  I thought it looked BODACIOUS! But the work was extremely curly, given the larger size of those Matsuno beads with the tiny shiny black Miyuki Delicas I was using for the vines and edges, the Matsuno beads really pushed forward, both visually and physically.  That leaf was amazing, but more challenging to bead and very curvy indeed.  So I thought I would switch to Miyuki beads for the entire project., but the yellows (Lemon-Lime above) were a little too lemon-lime yellow, and the orange and flame red too close to each other in hue.  So I thought I could switch to Toho shiny black edges and veins, but I needed wholesale quantities and could not find them at my local supplier.  So I switched to Toho Jet Black Matte for the veins and their Semi Glaze Black for the edges and Went back to some of the Original Matsuno colors I loved, with a Miyuki Ruby AB E bead, and finally!!!had a leaf I thought was good.  

Let me say right now, if you like the Bodaciousness of the Matsuno S/L Rainbow Ruby, just tell me, and I'll replace the Miyuki beads in the kit for you with the Matsuno.  I have made the kit I think it easiest to bead and representative of the results I was aiming for. 

 I really like the matte black beads over my original shiny choice.  It looks all the more like flames and forest fires to me, and that seems so right for this year.

Now, about those 4 bails.  Most of the other kits have a rainbow finish Aiko or Delica as their bail, and some have a mix of beads.  My first two guesses for the bail failed to belong to the work in any real way.  I used both colors in the original sample, one in the first few rows and the second in the last few, to equally poor results!  GAH!

Then I tried a black matte bail.  It became complete focus of the necklace to my eye.  Nope.

Then I mixed Delicas in the B, C, and D colors of the leaf.  This was a step in the right direction and seemed a part of the whole.  You could choose to do it with the kit as provided.

My final bail choice was to take the three BCD colors from the leaf and organize them into a gradation similar to the leaf.  I felt like it pointed at the leaf, and put the focus where I wanted it.  I have included a closeup photo of this work in the kit, and I was not super strict with where the beads went exactly, just tried to put as close to the same number beads of each color in each row as I could, given row counts.  The color shift is subtle, and gently random, but I really felt it was a good solution to the problem.

The pile of beads purchased and not used is ridiculous.  BUT I am at peace with what I have to present and that means more to me than anything else.  I might also feel a new beaded Autumnal Bag coming on.  I might need all those rejects after all!  I am so spoiled by the two great Twin Cities Bead shops Bobby Bead and Stormcloud Trading.  Thank you for being here!

Kits for the new colorway will be available in my Etsy shop tomorrow, September 19th, probably 10:00AM CST.  I doubt there will be a huge rush, but if I am wrong, I can re-kit fairly quickly, now that all the hard work is done.  Stay safe, my beady buddies, and enjoy this beautiful autumn! I'll drop in a link tomorrow for the kits, and if you want the updated tut, just convo me and I'll be sure you get a copy.

An Early Start on the Holidays!

You might think that publishing a new holiday project in January is poor timing on my part.

For the last few years I have been beading ornaments for my son.  This year, I created something I thought might be tutorial and kit worthy.  And I have learned that I rarely return to an idea with as much gusto and joy as I have when it is fresh.  SO I have seized the idea, and written, and kitted, and here is Holly Bauble.  You might choose to think of it as an early start on next year's decorating and gift making.

Because as usual, there are many beads in the project, I have created a set of kits for three different colorways. Each has a white background that helps the bauble stay visible against the green holiday tree and in low light, although each white is different.  The bauble is an upside-down pyramid shape, with a double layer fringe tassel.  If you are not a fringe fan, there are some tips in the tutorial that make working with the long strands a bit easier.

The original tradition Christmas red and green version, I am naming for my own location in Minnesota.  It features a vibrant Christmas red Swarovski round bead (Light Siam) for its berries and two of the greens actually have forest in their name.  The white is a clean snow with a lovely luster.

The second colorway features Indian Pink Swarovski berries, and it feels tropical to me.  The pink calls to mind both coral and flamingos, hence its name.  I like the pastel softness, and all the beads in this version have a rainbow finish.  It has a lovely shimmer, almost like a heat wave.

The final colorway available is done with matte white beads to make the luminous, silver-lined holly graphics pop off the surface.  It has a very contemporary vibe, and seems dramatic to me, so hails from Hollywood. The Swarovski Fuchsia berries and cool emerald greens lift it out of the ordinary.

The tutorial is 11 pages, includes the usual row-by-row, step-by-step illustrations, with photo support and text that moves bead by bead, and also offers layout charts. The weaving is Peyote, with Herringbone corners and an intermediate level project.  If you have made triangles before, the start is a little different, but not terribly challenging.

I have made several kits in each colorway, and will launch these kits on Saturday the 12th of January, 10am, CST, along with the tutorial.  I'll add a link when they go live.

I plan to re-visit this design and try some different graphics, hopefully a poinsettia version and maybe a snowflake too.  But I won't do that until late fall.

Please do not worry, I am still working on the pearl icicle necklace, but sourcing has slowed me down a bit.  It is coming.  I promise.  I personally want one, while winter is still in full swing!

Hoping your holidays were happy, and that the new year brings you all peace, joy, and plentiful opportunities to bead.

Angel's Knot

I first made this necklace in early May, and it has taken me a while to write a tutorial and create a kit for the project.  It is inspired by my friend Ann's beautiful Brugmansia, which she posted photos of last January while I was working on my TOHO Challenge piece.  I was depressed by US politics, and this simple beauty was magical healing for my soul.

It seemed so incredibly pure and elegantly ethereal.  And yet, Ann wrote that the flower blooms only at night, and that every part of it is poisonous.  To me, this was all quite evocative, and totally appropriate to my mood at the time.

Toho provided no white (well, OK there were ivory, but not the shape I needed) or green beads, but there were purple, and I was doing my best to use all the materials provided.  I found a purplish version of the flower (also known as Angel's Trumpet) and modeled flowers for my TOHO Challenge work on it.

These flowers are nearly the same as the flowers in Angel's Knot, but with the addition of the pearly center that provides visual clarity, and is a nice foil for the matte demi beads.  I worked in Matte Crystal, Crystal Luster, and White Opaque Luster, and am very happy with how the beads work together to create a little of the beauty of Ann's gorgeous blossom.

The plant looked both gangly and ropy to me, and very drapy, so I tried to re-create that feeling in my necklace.  I riffed on the idea of an infinity knot, modifying to have a knot with two legs on one side and three on the other.  Mysterious, I hoped.  I also designed (on the suggestion of my wonderful tester Marie Weakland) a magnetic clasp that echoes the calyx supporting each blossom.

It is shown as worn below, and the size is adjustable, suitable for both a quite small, or much larger woman.  The tutorial demonstrates how to estimate the size you will need, and the kit provides beads to make up to a 22" rope above the knot.

I used lots of Toho Demi beads in this work and am super fond of what they can do structurally, as well as their lovely, lacy texture. They really helped me create a delicate, life-sized flower, and although in this rendition, I did not use the long calyx and thread-thin connection to the flower that is in Ann's photos.  I do have future plans for another version of it that will employ some of that alternate yumminess.

The flower is done in Herringbone and Peyote stitch and the ropes are Chenille worked over satin cord.  The project is for an intermediate to advanced beader, comfortable with these stitches, and ok with using Demi's and 15/0 beads. It takes about 12 - 15 hours to create.

The tutorial is available HERE in my Etsy shop, and I have made a few kits also, available HERE. The kit contains 14 different beads, plus the clasp, satin cord, and a spool of Toho's Green One-G Thread, and is certainly a cheaper solution that buying them all separately.

I've been wearing it on a multitude of greens and soft colors and it feels like a great Summer necklace to me!  I hope you'll enjoy it too!

And now on to a little Autumn beading!

White Lilac Tutorial - Too Stubborn to Quit and Proud of the Results

OK, this one was a huge challenge!  I am very proud to announce a new tutorial in my Etsy shop.  I have been asked for instructions for making my Lilacs more often than anything else in my repertoire. So, in this, my year of learning to write and illustrate, I decided it was time.  Please help me welcome "White Lilac."

I have not made kits.  There are myriad possible colorways, and my Facebook research informed me that people would prefer to use their own beads and choose their own colors.  So the beads I used in making this model are given, along with brief advice about choosing your own colors and beads.

The tutorial is 48 pages, and includes 122 diagrams, (if you count each step I illustrated separately) and over 10,000 words.  It will take around 25 hours to make this necklace.

You will learn to make the individual flowers that combine to make the blossom.

You will learn to assemble them on a supply unique to this work, and available in my Etsy shop 

for $1, and with the purchase of the tutorial I will refund your shipping to almost anywhere in the world.  You can't make the project without it.  

You will learn to make two sizes of three dimensional heart-shaped lilac leaves.

You will learn to make a supple, fringed Triangle Weave Yoke 

to support the lilac blossom and leaves.

And finally you will learn to make a floating connection between the blossom, leaves and yoke that  allows the finished work to fit any neck, and has the potential to be a choker or V necklace.

You can find the tutorial here, in my, Etsy shop, and I hope you will check it out.  For the first week of this listing, (through April 12th) I am offering a 20% discount on the tutorial, and everything in my shop as well.  Just use the coupon code WHITELILAC at checkout to get your discount.

This has been a tremendous learning experience for me, and the next time I approach a project this substantial, I will be armed with many new skills.  I have contemplated both starting over, and giving up many times.  But I believe the tutorial is descriptive and enabling, and that we must all move forward from where we are, rather than backing up endlessly.  

So I pass the baton (or maybe the branch?) to you.  I hope you will give it a try and let me know how it goes.  It is challenging, and labeled as an advanced project.  Like me, you may need to be too stubborn to quit.  I hope you'll be very proud of your own results!

Maltese Squircle!

Occasionally I am asked to solve a bezel problem, which kinda delights me. I recently agreed to try a shape for Cindy, who sent me a Swarovski Squircle, because I could not find this item locally.  Or that is what she called it.  And it is a pretty descriptive name.  The jewel is mostly a square, with rounded corners. A SQUare cIRCLE!  I wish like crazy that I had taken a picture of it before I started working with it Friday evening, but I did not.  So you will have to trust me when I tell you it had a gold foiled back.  And it was 18mm across its widest point, according to my caliper.  Now Swarovski, according to the Create Your Style site, has a NEW cut, #4470, which looks very much like this one.  But it is only available in 10mm and 12mm.  And in the picture, the "new" jewel has a silver foil backing.  So from this evidence, (and the color looking like Tabac or maybe Sahara to me) I will guess that this item is vintage cut #4471.

SO this may not be the most universally applicable bezel, but I do hope Cindy likes it!

When I looked at her picture, I thought the shape was pretty, and that there should be a way to bezel it to emphasize and delineate the lovely shaped edges.  I decided first to apply a leather back to it, both since I believed is was old, and because of the sharp point on the back.  I thought that point would be vulnerable to chipping, and not be especially comfy either.  So I cut a chunk of lambskin about twice the size of the jewel, warmed it with my iron, stretched it over the upside down jewel, and waited while it cooled to create a pointy pocket.  Then I applied some E-6000 to the back of  the jewel, pressed it into the leather pocket, and dropped it into my rice bed to dry.

Ok, true, my rice bed is not rice.  It is Poly Pellets, which is a craft store weighted stuffing material. But it does a great job of holding oddly shaped things while they cure.  After the drying was complete, I trimmed the leather back neatly to the edge, and chose two contrasting colors for the bezel.

I chose a light, shiny metallic delica, (24k green gold) and a dark, matte metallic delica,(Jet AB), and 15/0 seed beads to match.  You could be much more subtle than I was by choosing the same color in shiny and matte, but I wanted the finished piece to be for daily wear, with a nod toward denim, hence my choices.  Also I wanted to show you clearly what I was doing and thought the two colors would be helpful.

For all four (and like in this case eight) sided figures, we need a number of beads to begin with that is divisible by four.  If you want to read some general info on geometric bezels look here, and specifically for octagons, look here.  I found that 48 beads was perfect, not too snug, not at all loose.

Rows 1 and 2: String 5 dark, 7 light, four times total, and then go through the original bead again to form a circle.  If you need help getting started with appropriate tension, you could put a knot in the circle before going through the original bead again.  I just hold the tail tight,

Row 3: Peyote one full round, holding the work flat, and matching colors. Step up into the center of the circle.  

Row 4: Begin to curve the dark corners by stitching a 15/0 at each edge of the dark section, and matching delicas everywhere else.  So begin with 1 dark delica, then 1 dark 15/0, 3 light delicas, and 1 dark 15/0, repeating three times.  Stitch snugly, (but not super tight) encouraging the dark corners to round out as you go.  Poof, squircle created!  

(Now it would be possible to finish the face of this bezel simply from this point as I do on the back of the bezel, in row 12, but I thought some geometry would further emphasize the pretty shape and cover some of the sparkle power, since I wanted this to be a casual piece.  So hang in there with me for now, and if you want to see more of your stone, you can simple replace the next row with row 12, and call it done on the face.)

Row 5: In this row, we will add two more 15/0 to the dark corners, and two 15/0 to each light edge, to begin to create a triangle peak.  SO, 15/0 dark, 15/0 light, 2 light delicas, 15/0 light, 15/0 dark, repeating three more times.

Row 6: A tricky row, and I officially WISH I had time to learn to use Illustrator, so I could make it more clear for you.  The picture above shows the first three stitches in row six, as well as all of row five. Notice I DID NOT step up after the last stitch in row 5, but carried my thread ahead through the work to the first light 15/0.  THEN I stepped up and stitched the first three stitches in row 6, one 15/0, one delica, and one 15/0 in light.  Then I stepped DOWN, into the previous row (the first dark 15/0) and will stitch the final 15/0 in the peak of the dark corner.  Then I step back up through the first dark 15/0 to continue with the remaining sides in the same manner.

You will go through that first dark 15/0 many times.  If you are not using a size 12 needle, switch now to avoid breaking that bead.  I set the bezel on the stone to show you row six completed above.  I left a space between the dark corner peaks, both because to add a bead would be to excessively tighten the face of the bezel and because I am trying to emphasize the shape.  See the place where the bead is missing, just before where my thread exits?  I hope this is clear!

Rows 7 and 8:  In this round, we will stitch two rows onto each of the light peaks, and step down through that original dark 15/0 to cross the completed dark peaks.  Step up into the second light 15/0, and peyote two stitches with light 15/0.  Then turn your needle as in the picture below to back up and allow yourself to apply the final 15/0 to the peak. Here's the needle, creating the first turn.  I stitched the first light peak to show you what you are trying to accomplish here. 

After turning, work across through the bezel three beads, and turn again, up into the 15/0, to position yourself to add the final peak, as in the photo below.

Apply the peak, sneak your thread back down into the original dark 15/0, pass through the bezel to the other side of the dark corner and finish off all the light peaks in the same way.  

Here is our bezel and our Squircle Jewel, which are now ready to be BFFs.

Install the jewel, and if you are like me and want to continue to work counter-clockwise, turn your needle to allow that.  See how the negative space forms a Maltese cross?  Love that!

Row 9: Peyote stitch 3 light delicas and 3 dark delicas, four times total, and step up into the new row.

Row 10: Peyote stitch 4 light delicas and 2 dark delicas, four times total and step up into the new row.

Row 11: Peyote stitch 3 light delicas and 3 dark 15/0, four times total and step up into the new row.

Row 12: Peyote stitch 4 light 15/0 and 2 dark 15/0, to finish the back and step down into previous rows to turn your thread a few times to secure the work.  Work in the original tail in the same way, or use either thread for additional embellishing or attachements, but I suggest that you make each thread secure before using it for other purposes.

I do think that rows 11 and 12 could also provide the face of the bezel, but I personally like the geometry and shapes highlighted.  To my eye, this looks mosly round, but if you do the first contraction in the dark corner only as illustrated here, it does create the shape and would allow more of the sparkly stone to be visible, if that is your purpose.  Both ideas will work to create the square sided, round cornered octagon that is this jewel.

OH, and here is my first sample effort, using nearly the same color in matte and shiny delicas, with a bronze matte edge accent on the curvey corners.  As you can see, the same or similar colors in different finishes could be amuch more elegant, less casual frame.

Thanks Cindy for your kind words, a fun challenge, and a pretty jewel, and I hope you enjoy your Squircle as much as I am enjoying mine.  I added a little lace to my bezel with square stitch and netting, strung it as a simple pendant, because soft golden greens are plentiful in my wardrobe, and I want to wear it often! Here's my finish for this bezel, which I do not think I can show you without Illustrator's help.  But feel free to riff off my idea.  I thought something swell could have been done with Herringbone  stitch too.

Why Maltese?  Well, it popped into my mind, and the Wiki Wisdom on the symbology is that the eight points of the cross represent the eight obligations and aspirations of the Knights Hospitaller.

Excellent rules to live by, IMHO, and ones I am happy to wear around my own neck:

1) to live in truth

2) to have faith

3) to repent one's sins

4) to give proof of humility

5) to love justice

6) to be merciful

7) to be sincere and wholehearted

8) to endure persecution  

That last bit, I officially suck at.  But occasionally I can swallow my annoyance and live with it.