WEEK TWO: Friday night beading

Well Friday night beading was successful!

I completed row 2 and 3!!!!!

Row 2 completed:

<<<------Starting Row 3

Row 3 is complete - one more row then the tassels on the ends to complete this lariat.

WEEK TWO: Beading but not on project... work comes first

Well I have beaded but not on the blog project. Orders and other things have come up and I had to work on them first. I got an order for Dutch Spiral Earrings: http://tinyurl.com/DutchSpiralEarrings

I made these with copper bronze iris and 24kt gold plated size 15 seed beads.

and I had to make a pair of Netted Pumpkin Earrings: http://tinyurl.com/NettedPumpkinEarrings

for the class display at the bead shop

But tonight I have a friend coming over and we are going to bead. Tonight I will hopefully complete this project. If not then tomorrow night for sure. Not sure which book but it will be a beaded bead project. I have a swap group and the swap is due next week and I haven't even completed my set of them yet, so next week will be beaded beads for sure!

WEEK TWO: project in the works

Well it's no secret that I love and prefer Japanese seed beads. I love them but there are a couple exceptions where Czech seed beads are concerned. Charlottes and 3-Cuts are the exceptions to that rule.

3 Cuts are the exception with tiny facets on all sides. a 3 cut is a bead that is cut on top and bottom as well as on the sides. A charlotte is a bead that is cut top and bottom then tumbled to be smooth and round then a single facet is cut into on side of each bead. A true charlotte is a size 13. Recently I was helping at the local bead shop where I teach and I got a couple colors given to me added to the few colors I already had in my collection. I needed 4 rows so colors.

So I think it's appropriate that I'm making project for week 2 out of a Japanese bead book and I'm using size 9/0 3-cuts. Not only not Japanese seed beads but WAY out of my comfort zone color wise! YELLOW - ORANGE - RED - BURGANDY!!! What am I thinking???? I'm thinking it's gonna be a whole bunch of sparkle!!!!

So here is what the plate looked at for the first row... I'm not seeing any purple... no blue either. No teal. Nothing to make my eyes happy except for the sparkle.



Stringing the first row.... sparkle is here and I am liking that

Even if there is no purple.

Ok - Strung the first row on to the next one. This is Ogalala stitch. My first article published was using this stitch, so that is also my comfort zone even if there is no purple here. lol

I have an order for Dutch Spiral earrings so it might be a day or two before I post here again. I might post a pic of the earrings though. I'm gonna like them myself when I'm done.

Have a great week! I have a beaded bead swap due soon, so I am guessing next weeks book will be about beaded beads! LOL

WEEK TWO: Japanese book on Netting

The title loosely translated by google on Amazon’s Japan site “Series Beads Stitch Basics Lesson 4”



Front cover:

The back cover shows this project: ISBN number:

On first pass through the project that catches my eye first of course is in the gallery section so there are no tutorials for it in this book. In English at the top of the page says STEP UP which I take to mean the next step after making everything in this book. So that is a project for another day.

I have decided to make this lariat:

The instructions for it are of course in Japanese but have pretty good diagrams:


So that is what I will be working on this week. Stay tuned!

WEEK ONE: Project done! SUCCESS!

In the complete intent this book put forth, I ended up designing my own earring with the information given in the tubular netting pages. What I came up with is being called the 3 sided earring. It has 3 sides with fire polish and yes they could be Swarovski crystals. I used size 15 Japanese seed beads in silver lined crystal AB along with 3mm purple iris fire polish beads for the body. I added some purple iris size 15 Japanese seed beads to the fringe and finally I got something I would enjoy wearing! I do suppose you could add something heavier to the 6 fringes or do them in 11's with 4mm fire polish. This book just oozes different directions you can take with netting! Week one complete! WOOHOOO!!!

WEEK ONE: So far no beading today

Well so far no more work on the earrings yet. Other work has to be done and so I'm stuck at the computer.

I did hear from Vicki Star though. She tells me that the book I'm reviewing is part of the e-book Basic Beadwork Techniques which is for sale on her web site: http://www.vickistar.com

I have been pondering the fringes in my head at night though. Maybe I will get some work done on it this evening. You never know :-)

WEEK ONE: Progress on project

Well I started the earring... The picture is pretty clear as are the text directions that would get a person to that end result. It's tubular netting and the basics of it are diagrammed on the page. The earring is described and based on the technique taught on this page most beaders can get to an end result that will make them happy.

Here is a VERY small picture of that very page - reduced and slightly out of focus for copyright purposes:
In the PURPLE section is the basics of tubular netting. Good clear diagrams and plenty of text in the not circled area to get you through a few variations. Then in the BLUE box, is the basics of this earring. It called for crystals as the point bead on each row but I was not happy with that. I used 3mm fire polish on each section with size 11 seed beads the first try. I didn't like how it bowed out so I switched to size 15's and the 3mm fire polish on every other row. I came up with an earring base I can be happy with, now all I have to do is decide on the fringe. I think I have decided not to use bugle beads but I'm not certain yet. Check back tomorrow! Today is Smokey's 10th Birthday (little brother in canine form) So a perfect day for him involves a trip to the groomer for a bath and blow dry then off to Petco for some goodies!

WEEK ONE: A Netting Primer by Vicki Star

Well here is my first entry in a possibly 180+ week project.

I decided to pick a netting book because it's my favorite stitch. I know I picked a book many of you won't have and is not available anymore but it's one of my favorite books on Netting. Unfortunately most of my favorite netting books are either internationally produced or are out of production. The book I choose to begin with is A Netting Primer by Vicki Star. This is one of a series published by Vicki Star and Jeanette Cook called "Beady Eyed Women's Guide to Exquisite Beadwork"

This book was published in 1994 by Vicki Star - her current web site is: http://www.vickistar.com/

Interesting detail to note is that this book was written and illustrated on a Macintosh Color Classic Computer. I also know from other books in the series that they used Super Paint which is the same program I used when I first started diagramming bead patterns out.

The project I'm going to make from this book is the Netted Earring with Crystals that is circled on the back cover.

This series of books were not fancy but they sure did have lots of good information in the books. The only color photos are the front and back covers. The project on the front cover is NOT drawn out step by step in the book but with the skills you learn in the book, you can create that project.

This book has lots of good descriptive text and several clear black and white illustrations. In this book you will cover many different types of netting. The earrings I'm going to make are tubular netting and are described in the book but not broken down step by step. Books like this one teach you the basics and then encourage you to take the knowledge and create things on your own. Sort of indipendant study for beaders.

So hopefully tonight, I will get started on these lovely earrings. I am seeing some kind of spiral incorporated into them.

A blog post a week... about a book a week

I saw Julie and Julia yesterday. It's a very good movie that was sad and funny. I needed to see it. It has inspired me who just cataloged most of my beading book collection. Julie Powell's blog is here: http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/ It's pretty good reading. I know I'm going to make Boeuf Bourguignon by Julia Child next time Frank is here. It looked amazing in the movie. The publisher has posted the recipe from the book in the movie on their web site for free: http://tinyurl.com/BoeufBourguignon

I am going to once I get the books all cataloged begin making one project a week from each book in the library with an occasional magazine article stuck in there from time to time.

While I don't fancy myself for a career in writing from this I think it will be a nice outlet since the passing of my mom in July. I need things to keep my brain busy on a more personal level.

So keep watching :-) I think even I will be surprised by the results.

1 Week to go before Christmas!

Well there is a week to go before Christmas. Where has this year gone?

I have a celini update - I have not worked on it for almost 2 weeks but I've been busy with other things.

Here is a pic of the progress. I told you - it might be done by Easter! LOL

Another thing that has really hit the bead waves so to speak are Permanent Galvanized beads! My local shop got in 8 colors:




I remember when I started beading and fell in love with galvanized beads, only to find out that they had a finish that made me crazy! The pretty color came off once I wore the earrings a couple times. Those pretty metallic beads.... People said - oh - you coat that with Krylon and they will be fine. I did that only to have the beads feel just awful and the holes got clogged with the spray paint. Now Toho has finally perfected the galvanized process and you too can have these little beauties. I got these at my local bead shop but Charlene at http://www.cbbeads.com has them! She has more colors than my local shop too! And more sizes as well as cuts in some colors!!!! The Permanent Galvanized can be seen here: http://www.cbbeads.com/permgalvanized.htm

So now you can have that lovely glow that only comes from galvanized beads without the worries that your work will lose color.


Charlene has great prices and even greater service!
She is also having a beadwork sale to help with her son's medical bills.
http://www.cbbeads.com/jewelrysale.htm

So make her an offer hopefully higher than she is asking if you can spare the cash. Nothing worse than having your child be ill and during the holidays makes it even harder. She is parting with things she would probably rather not part with but when it's your son, you do what you gotta do.

So have a safe Holiday. I hope it's filled with beady dreams. Hope you all stay safe and warm.

Free Ornament Covers links

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/1216/ornament.html

http://www.rockgarden.com/resources/files/page3_2.pdf

http://beadwork.about.com/library/weekly/aa111097.htm

http://www.baglady.com/ChristmasOrnament.htm

http://members.tripod.com/~beadnik/ornament.html

http://members.tripod.com/~kMoonstone/sornament.htm

http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/RedOrnament.html

http://members.tripod.com/~Beadme/Ornament.htm

Celini Spiral Take 1

Well I have done Dutch Spirals and Spiral ropes. I have mastered the African helix spiral and netted spirals. But Celini had avoided me or maybe it was the other way around... I have admired them but I was finally tempted ot make one when I saw one on Bead-Space.com.

http://www.bead-space.com/beadsforever

It's in her photos on the last page. Here is a link directly to the pic on Beaders Showcase - I could not get a link for the bead-space one

http://tinyurl.com/greencelini

Even though it is green and I am not a green person, I completely fell in love with it. Linda was kind enough to tell me the recipe she used and even the instructions she adapted for it, so all I needed was the right beads in shades of purple and I too could have a lovely bracelet for me! I already owned the book, so that was a bonus too.

So Celini is just peyote right? I can do peyote. So I bring scans of the pages and a print out of the recipe to with me on the trip. I don't like to bring my books on trips with me. It has me start with dummy rows. I still am not sure I understand why but I tend to follow the directions the first time I do a project. I will do it my way the next time if I figure out a way to simplify it.

It has 8 colors so that messes up my nice neat 6 triangle tray on my wooden plate... First a dummy row and now this! Can I do this? hmmm




So I set out the beads on the lap table... in the car no less on my way to San Jose for Thanksgiving. So I put on the dummy row, I later realized that if they had me go though one bead more, I could have left them in. I know dummy rows are for even tension and seamless zipping the ends together. Ok - it beads up nice. About 8 rows in the fireline cut into my skin where I pulled on it, so I put a bandaide on. It finally is starting to look like something that might resemble the picture. In the evenings I have been beading a little on it every day. It's about 2 inches mong now. It sure is slow going. I might have it done for Easter! LOL

Late Autumn Ramblings

Well Thanksgiving is less than a week away. This has been an interesting week to say the week and it's ending very nicely with a nice weekend with my other half.

The week has gone well though. Tuesday I got a call from Dell - my nearly 1 year old laptop has more than a couple quirks and they are sending me a replacement. It didn't take a lot of ranting to get them to do it either. I am having a power cord issue and I did use the words "Fire Hazard"... but that is not the point! LOL

So off to Office Max I headed to get an external hard drive to back this baby up with. They happened to have them on sale in the same size I have in this machine but there were none on the shelf. I asked the manager and he came out with a pretty blue one. PERFECT! I peeked in clearance and found the Swiss Army brand computer bag I have been watching was on clearance for $15 - down from $59! I had gotten an interesting e-mail in the morning that there was a job opportunity available that would be perfect for me.

I have beaded 2 new bracelets and an ornament in the last week or so.

I spent the morning looking at free patterns on the net. I noticed some with just text and a couple with just diagrams and it made me wonder... Is it that there is more work to put both? I believe that there are 3 basic ways of learning and we all use one or more of them when we learn something new. There is words - pictures - demonstration. I am a total diagram learner, but when I make a tutorial or teach, I try my best to cover more than just my learning needs. When I make a tutorial, I like to sit in an empty room to make them because I like to talk out the text first, sort of like when I am teaching. It helps me be very detailed.

So I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving. Stay safe and don't eat too much!

Bead and Button gives local magazine buyers the shaft

Bead and Button Magazine says it supports the local bead shops that carry their magazine but do they really?

Did you know that people who choose not to have a label on the magazine and who don't choose to deal with magazines late and damaged in the mail don't count with the magazine as loyal readers?

I have purchased every issue of Bead and Button from the very beginning and I was recently told that I did not count as much as a person who subscribes to the magazine. I choose to purchase things in person and magazines are no exception. I choose to support the local businesses where I live and I don't care for labels on my magazines and yet I'm not welcome to subscriber content.

The current issue is labeled as a collector's edition and yet the subscribers got it not in a plastic sleeve and without the little extra cover piece that I got on mine when I bought it locally. Shouldn't a collectors edidtion be shipped in a condition that would make it valuable years later? It should have been shipped in a plazstic sleeve so that it would be collectable. The magazine I saw on a friend's coffee table came through the mail. The cover was damaged and it had a label on it.

I have a choice and I choose to purchase my bead magazines where I want. I choose not to have to have to call and request a new magazine when it shows up mangled in the mailing process. I like my pristine magazine without labels. I think magazines that come in the mail are ugly. All of them, not just Bead & Button. Also there are often little free pamphlets that don't always come in the subscribers issues. I know this because my friends who subscribe have to call when I show them what I got to get equality.

The part of this that really bugs me is that the customers of local bead shops who purchase their magazines in them are second class readers to Bead and Button Magazine. When I contacted them, the editor claimed that they did support the local bead shops. How can they claim that when the people who purchase their magazine in them is treated as a second class beader? How can they say that they support the local bead shops when they short change the customers who purchase their magazine in those shops? So the magazine's goal for the customers of local bead shops is only to snag them as subscribers. They only send those magazines to the local shops to get those subscription cards in the hands of the beaders which stops the beaders from visiting to purchase thier magazines and probably beads in the process. If you support a local business, you make it more enticing to shop in the local shops. People who come in to get a magazine will often also buy beads. If their goal is to get subscribers, then how is that supporting the bead shop? It's not like the bead shop makes a bundle on magazines and books. The wholesale discount is lower on books and magazines. The shops that carry them do so to serve their customers better. So the shop is a friend to the magazine but the magazine is not a real friend to the shop if they give less to the customers who purchase magazines from them.

If the magazine is catering to it's subscriber base only, then they need to be a subscriber only magazine. Thousands of magazines are sold in stores all over this country and all the customers who spend more for their issues are not as valued by the magazine and I think it stinks.

So if you agree that people who purchase the issue in a store should be equal to those who subscribe, contact B&B to let them know. Here is a link to the Letter to the Editor form on their web site.

http://tinyurl.com/BnBEditorForm

Herringbone blocked or just disliked?

Well I am coming to terms with this herringbone issue I have had... It's not the stitch specifically that I can't get. It's parts of it that I just can't like. I don't like the thread showing in the flat. You can do an odd figure 8ish turn and I don't like that either. You can put a bead with the thread and thus not have the thread showing but it puts a bead on the outside of every other row... and on the alternating rows on the opposite side... and my OCD can't grasp that not matching thing, so I can't handle that. So I decided to make tubular and that I can get a rhythm going with it until the step up. I changed to a small needle than I usually use - which is very long - and that helped a bit. Maybe I'm just never going to like this stitch. And that is ok too but at least I can do it in tubular and flat. So I think it's just a stitch I am not going to like very much.

Versa Loom

I had posted about this elsewhere and hosted the pics on AOL but AOL is taking away the hosting part, so here it will be.

It's everything it promises to be and more! The instructions are very clear and each step caused another "light bulb" moment for me where the info and the task just made total sense and on to the next step I went. Where with other looms, the distance between warp threads can be a problem, it's not here because you use the beads you are looming with at the ends to space them out! Once it was set up, it only took me about an hour - size 8 seed beads to get the bracelet finished. I had a glitch in my pattern - I was 3 rows shy, so you can see - I added 3 rows of black to finish the piece:

Taking it off was fantastic. It called for a seam ripper or a sharp pair of scissors - I had the second and now need to add the seam ripper to my bead tools. Scissors were fly tying ones so they have a very tiny sharp point. They did the job perfectly. It came off the loom as advertised - with only 2 threads to weave in! Then I showed it to my friend's sister and she and I both show a love for rainbows, so I was compelled to finish it off with clasps right then, but which clasps? I choose these nifty snap clasps and since it was wide, I used 2 of them.

So here are 2 shots of it with the claps on it:

The Versa Loom web site
http://www.versa-loom.com/index.php

I just love it and now have all sorts of loomed ideas floating in my head!

Photographic Pet Peeve...

I have another pet peeve... who'd have ever guessed?

When taking a picture of your beadwork - or anything for that matter - you need to make sure it's a good picture. It needs to be in focus and clear. It needs to be large enough to see what you want them to and not so small that they can't tell what it is.

Many of us have digital cameras and most of those have a MACRO setting.

You can pick up a cheap tripod for under $25 - a table top version can be

even cheaper. You should not use your flash for photos of jewelry. Close up, the flash is way too bright. Use good lighting or even better an over cast day is great lighting. I use Reveal Bulbs in my lamps that are where I bead. They are great for lighting photos.

If you have photoshop, you have a couple tools that are simple and easy. Auto Levels does much for me in many cases.

In the IMAGES Menu - Adjustments - AUTO Levels

(yes everything on my computer that can be purple is purple)

You can also play in Brightness and Contrast as well as Hue/Saturation.

So that you don't damage your original photo - SAVE AS - and name it something else. Then play with the settings. You have nothing to loose and think of what you have to gain.

Here is a raw image of a pair of purple earrings - no flash -

reveal light bulbs in the celing fixture - tripod:

And here is one that I only used Auto Levels on:

The 2nd photo is a much better representation of the background and the piece I was taking a photo of.

So keep trying until you get a good photo because a blurry or too small or dark photo will not show off your work, it will show off the flaws of the photo.

Beading from the last week or so...

I finally decided try the new size 15 Delicas. I heard about them back in April 2007 from Miyuki at the Bead Expo in Oakland, CA. I have been a little excited about the new size 15 delicas coming out as I like the tiny beads, so if I'm going to like a delica, it would be the tiny ones.

I bought them from http://www.beadedimages.com/ and the service is EXCELLENT!

I designed a new pattern in Beadscape just for the new delicas. I used Miyuki extra fine beading needles and Sonoko Japnese beading thread which is very fine. I started the butterfly and as I neared the first end of it, I had a broken bead - number 202 - pearl white. Odd but I tried to fix that broken bead only to break another bead - number 44 - sliver lined light blue. So I gave up and started beading the same pattern in seed beads and I'm sorry to say, I like the look of the seed beads better. Now I'm used to matte beads being more on the brittle side but neither of these were matte. I did contact Miyuki about the breakage and they recommended a size 12 John James needle with nymo size B. So I will try them again, this time with peyote and make a bracelet. I will work on that next week I think. The earring seems to be about the same height in seed beads as the delicas but it is a little wider. I like the look of the seed beads better but could have to do with more colors that are in my personal pallet being available in seed beads. There isn't yet a vibrant purple or a bright pink available in the new size 15 delicas. Maybe time will tell.

I designed a new Rivoli - a Sunshine. A friend said she wanted a sunshine and a sunshine she shall have! I used a crystal 14mm Rivoli and 11 - 3mm Swarovski bicones for the points. I will be working on a tutorial for this one soon. This time it's a pendant not earrings because I think it's a little large. Some people might like it as an earring though. I do like the rivoli's because they are quick to make. It's almost instant gratification having a completed project in less than an hour. I will work on getting a tutorial up for this one this coming week if all goes as planned.

I have a new Swarovski starfish that I need to incorperate into something... I'm thinking either a OMG huge showy necklace or a dream catcher with a under the sea theme. It's summer time, time for fun in the sun and the beach is definately on my list for my vacation in Los Angeles first 2 weeks in August.

Rambling....

well this will be a rambling blog post.... because I have a bunch on my mind.


First off - if it's not your design, and you think someone else has copied a friend of yours, let the friend deal with it. The other person involved will only think you need to mind your own business and you do. No one can own RED, WHITE and BLUE. No one can OWN stars. Suspending them on fringe is not rocket science but you should NEVER suspend anything by thread from an ear wire or jump ring. It's not professional and it leaves everything open to failure. Use a ring of beads or french wire or anything else to suspend things from an earring. Red, White and Blue are patriotic and that is all there is to it. It's a celebration of our country and nothing more. Anyone can come up with stars in those colors for a cool quick earring. I didn't invent the concept nor did I have to see someone else's to make my own.

If you go to ABC pattern site and you see patterns with motifs you think other designers have done patterns in, don't assume that person is a thief and notify every designer you can to tell them you think that they found a site that had copied you. This happened to me recently and when I went to the site, I found lovely patterns but none of them were even close to the ones I was told were stolen from me. I contacted the accused designer and told her how sorry I was that she was being the focus of another witch hunt. It's petty and until you have concrete proof, you should keep it under wraps.

Completely not bead related... when a couple decides that the marriage is over and one takes the 50/50 for the blame and the other one takes no blame, lean toward the one who takes 50/50. At least they are in reality and perhaps that no blame person is more to blame than you would ever know. It takes two to tango and if one refuses to learn the steps, then the dance won't be right will it.

I can not own the stress of other people's problems. No matter who they are from. I can only handle my problems and I need to work on that one.

If you suspect a friend is near the edge, though it's easier to let them suffer in silence, the better choice is to just try to be there for them and push your friendship on them. It might be the thing that pushes them in the right direction to get out of that dark place. You should try it sometime.

Oh and another thing, the love of a good dog can make it all get better. If it's a poodle, then it's an extra bonus. I'm lucky to have a godchild poodle who is such a love and a visit with her made most of my stress vanish.

Just remember what Dr Suess says:

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

Best Little Bead Shop in Nebraska

5Z's Star City

Bead Shop

is

The Best Little Bead Shop in Nebraska!

Located in Lincoln, at 9th & O streets, tucked into the Mission Arts Building, this is a full service bead shop. Charlene Zweerink, the owner offers a huge supply of seed beads and accents as well as oodles of findings and supplies.

When you come here, you can just about get anything your beady heart desires.

More beads than you could imagine in one cute little shop!

Plenty of Beady Inspiration

Pick A Class - Schedule a class when it fits your schedule. Be taught one on one to make a number of lovely creations.

Don't be surprised if you get visited by the

building resident Corgie - Murray

5Z'S Star City Bead Shop

Mission Arts Building

124 S. 9th Street, Studio #3

Lincoln, NE 68508

402-477-4054

HOURS:Thursday: Noon-ish to 7 pm

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Noon-ish to 5 pm

It just might be the best bead shop in all of the midwest!