Latvian Beading Patterns

Do you remember the Latvian knitting patterns I brought home last summer, after a visit in Riga? My knitting skills are still rather basic so I haven't gotten that far with them. I have however put the patterns to great use by reinterpreting them as bead weaving patterns.

So far I have done 2 patterns and I have gotten half-way with the first bracelet. I am totally charmed by the dark yet colorful style. The second one I am planning will also have a black background, together with some strong green and pink palette (see : below). I'll make sure to post pictures, once the bracelets are done.

Beading weekend

I'm spending this weekend giving in to my heart's desires and beading away. It's partly due to a sale in the local craft store (khem, khem) and partly to a slight cold that makes it too hard to do anything else.

This first ocean-colored bracelet is now pretty much finished. It misses findings but other than that...

The blue necklace is thought as a mixed media piece. The white chain serves as a basis and the blue beads are the body. I am thinking of adding more white lace crochet to make the piece more airy and light. However, it is work in progress and I am not working of any pattern so I can't say what it will end up being.

Are you having a good weekend?

Blue and White Polymer Clay Beads

I am very excited about this new beads I made this weekend. Look how awesomely blue and girly they are! I made 7 of them and it took me over 2 hours - a little bit long, no? It is precise work, but I hope I can shave some time of this work in the future.

Anyway, I love them and I am very excited to make more. Do you also like them, or am I completely blind? Should I make more? What colors should I use now? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

PS.
You can see more photos on my flickr account and if you work with polymer clay and share your photos online, you can also join Polymer Clay Art and Craft group on flickr. I checked and all the other groups seem restricted geographically or by type of polymer clay items. My group is open to everyone and invites all types of polymer clay works. So feel invited!

Space Invaders Earrings

Inspired by my success with the bracelet I sat down yesterday to make earrings to fit. They came out nice and perky. Unfortunately the endings in small objects are even more difficult to make. I did my very best but I will have to continue practicing until I get the trick.

One way or another I still love the technique.

I hope you are having great Sunday!

Space Invaders Bracelet

I have recently bought beading loom - it was really cheap and I couldn't stop myself - and during the past few days I had a crack at it.

The choice of pattern for my first project was quite obvious. As an old geek, friend of geeks and a geek fiancé I was obliged by geek law to start 0with space invaders (if I had more colors, it would have to be old school Mario Bros).

So, with the pattern in mind and the instructions from The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques in my hand, I was off to a great start. The beginning was very easy and the pattern showed immediately. And I was doing a very good job all the way until I managed to tangle the beading thread and had to cut and reattach it. Which in turn caused some nasty knots on the side of the bracelet - well, I guess this means that I will wear it, rather then sell it in my etsy shop.

Beading on a loom turned out to be a great technique. Very simple and effective. It is easy to introduce the pattern and control it while beading.

And it would be an amazing way of creating jewelery, if not the problem of ending the project. I find it incredibly difficult to find fasteners that would fit beading bracelet. Any gold, silver or metal in general is too heavy for minute beads and beaded endings seem unreliable.

This time I stick to simply knotting the threads, once the bracelet is on my wrist. I think it looks very well and fits the style of this bracelet but I am not sure if it is "professional" enough. So I am still on a quest for better solution. Anyone has some ideas?

Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques

I love Amazon. I am crazy about this website even though it eats up loads of my money. This week two more books got purchased and delivered, through no fault of my own...kinda.

Anyway, I want to tell you about The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques. I saw this book in the store the other day and thumped through it. It looked interesting but I wasn't prepared to spend £13 on it. The same day, I browsed Amazon decided to check the price on the book: £6.11! Even with the shipping it is £5 cheaper!!!

The book came yesterday and I have just finished reading it. It is truly great!

The authors, Sara Withers and Stephanie Burnham, go through all the basic techniques that use beads of any kind. From paper embroidery, through knotting, wire knitting and loom beading, to beadweaving. Each page contains clear images and easy descriptions, accompanied by pictures of finised projects - for inspiration!

At the end of the book, there is also a chapter with beaded works of arts. Makes me wanna grab my loom and never stop working :)

I love the book for the variety of techniques it offers, easy-to-follow instructions and the great images. If you are looking for advanced projects in one of the techniques this is probably not the book for you. However if you are just looking to start with beading and jewellery making - that is a perfect publication.

Full title: The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques: A Step-by-Step Visual Guide, with an Inspirational Gallery of Finished Works
Author: Sara Withers and Stephanie Burnham
Published by: Search Press
ISBN: 978-1-84448-047-0
Pages: 160
Language: English
Amazon.co.uk: The Encyclopedia of Beading Techniques

Crochet beading: How-To

This weekend I was working more on crochet beading. It is a great technique and can result in beautiful jewelery. However, at the beginning it can also be quite frustrating. I decided to pass on what I learned, so you can hopefully be spared the frustration and go on straight to the fun!

1. Making the chart

In crochet beading, in order to introduce any complicated design, you have to start with a chart. Once you know the trick, making the chart is not difficult.

- Draw 6, 7 or 8 squares, line below line. Each line has to be shifted half a square to the right. Color the squares creating your chosen pattern.

- Start stringing beads from left to right and from bottom to top. String each line from left to right.

- Remember that the first beads you string will be the last you crochet.

- Repeat the pattern as many times as needed.

2. Counting beads

It can be daunting to count the beads you are stringing. Depending on the size of the beads, a bracelet can count between 700 and 1000 beads. And longer robes can be even more difficult. Luckily, there is a very simple solution to this problem. Every 10, 50 or 100 beads (intervals depend on you) string a small piece of paper with the number of beads on it. This way you will be able to control the amount of beads and, once the stringing is finished, you can easily remove the markers.

to be continued...

Beaded Crochet Bracelet

Over the weekend I discovered that one of the big bookstores in London is about to close down. To get rid of the stock, the bookstore offered 50% sale on ALL books. When I reached the place on Saturday morning the shelves were already half-past-empty. Luckily for me (and unluckily for my wallet) the craft section still had some interesting titles. And one of them was Beaded Crochet Designs by Ann Benson. I thumbed through the pages and, since I had some beads lying around, I decided to try out the pattern for beaded crochet bracelet.

The beginning was very frustrating and the beads just really didn't want to fall into places.


Then, things started working a bit better.


But once the bracelet was finished I realized, I butchered the seam up.


Luckily, I managed to unravel the problematic part and redo the seam. And voila! a seamless bracelet was created:


Conclusion: I love this technique, it makes for a beautiful, summery jewelery! You can see more pictures in my etsy shop.