Fun, Frugal, Fiber Finds: Using Thrifted Scarves in Jewelry Designs

I just love when I get the opportunity to wander through a thrift store! I have certain areas I love to check out! (And of course the jewelry section is on that list.) Got to love finding old jewelry that has great components just needing a new design idea. For me there is something really satisfying about re-purposing  things! That said, my post today is about using old scarves as a great way to add fibers into your jewelry designs.

I was really inspired one day at a thrift store when I saw bags of randomly combined scarves in various materials, including silk (not the kind you wear to keep warm in winter but more the type women wear as accessories). The price tag was amazing at only $3 per bag.  Right there in the thrift store I thought; " how awesome these amazing colors and textures would be in jewelry designs!" I took them home, gave them a wash, and began to play around.

So here is what I do. I take the scarves that I want to use in my design and cut strips. For the purpose of braiding, I cut three strips.  I love to mix and match different colors. Color combinations are endless!  Strips I cut vary in width but are usually around one inch wide. If it is a thicker material, you may want to cut thinner strips, unless you are going for a thicker end result.  Playing around with this you will get a feel for what you prefer!  As for length, go as long as you like, you are only limited by the length of the scarves you are using. I just roughly cut the scarves as I think rough edges add to the charm.

I tie the three pieces together at the top. I often like to leave some extra fiber out because I will sometimes use it in my design.  Once tied I begin basic braiding.  I happened to find one of these macramé boards at my local thrift store - still brand new as you can see (I have not even bothered taking the plastic off). This works great to hold what I am braiding - by pinning it at the top of the board. You don't need one of these but they do come in handy if you have one.

Ideas are limitless when it comes to mixing things up a bit for this project.  I will add other materials with the scarves like leather and other fibres for different looks.  There is no right or wrong, I encourage you to just have fun trying different things out!

Sometimes I tie my fibers right to my jewelry components and braid straight from them. As I show here in the bracelet I made.  The braid is made up of two pieces of leather cord and one piece of teal scarf.

So if you have some scarves lying around that you don't wear anymore, you can add them to your jewelry designs.  If you don't have any, hit up a thrift store! There is no reason to be limited to scarves either.  Get creative and try other materials too!! 

I like to finish my ends with wrapped wire (various thicknesses), and I often leave some extra fiber because I like the look!  You could also use end caps.

Lorelei Eurto has a great tutorial on finishing fiber ends!

By the way, this is my first official post as part of the ABS team! I'm so excited to be here! In an effort to share my excitement, I would like to give away one of my ceramic rose bracelet toppers. Leave a comment telling me if you do or don't use fibers in your work. Let me know if you have a favourite type of fiber.  I also love hand dyed silk cording as one of my favourite fibers! Winner will be chosen at random sometime Saturday evening.

Terri Del Signore from artisticaos
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Patina Ideas

The other day I ran across this formula for creating patina on copper sheets with Miracle-Gro and vinegar and thought it would be worth a try. Hint - it has to be the Miracle-Gro water soluble azalea, camellia and rhododendrons plant food. You can read the directions here from Home Depot. 

I would use copper sheets from a jewelry supply shop, Ace Hardware or Hobby Lobby - they don't have a coat and you'd like to use thicker .016 copper sheets for most jewelry projects. 

(Photo credit: Home Depot)

This is a super fun idea from Rena Klingenberg using a Sharpie as a resist for patina - so many possibilities! Check it out here. 

(Photo credit: Rena Klingenberg)

You can totally fake a patina with Vintaj's Patina paints. Check out the video on Lima Beads here. 

(Photo credit: Lima Beads)

Another favorite of mine is Swellegant patina paints. I wrote a review with lots of tips a few years ago. Visit my blog for the article here. This is great for updating inexpensive pewter or brass components.

Have fun exploring coloring metal with these simple techniques! And if you try out that Miracle-Gro formula let me know - I'd love to see the results.

Tips for Using Wood Beads in Jewelry Designs

Powered By Toastie Studio - Etsy Tools - Click on the images to go directly to the item. 

I have a bead crush, it's a long standing one - but every once in a while the flames are fanned again and I can't get enough wood beads. I love the warmth of wood. I love that it's lightweight. It connects my designs directly to nature. And they happen to perfectly compliment my line of Humblebeads. Wood beads also let you work with larger pieces without adding weight to your jewelry.

Tips for Working with Wood Beads

Balance - Since wood is so light add in stones or ceramic beads to add a little weight to your jewelry. For bracelets add one or two heavy beads at the bottom of the bracelet so the back of the design will stay weighted on your wrist. And for necklaces, add a few heavier pieces at the center so the necklace doesn't shift around too much.

Irregular or Larger Holes - pull out spacer beads to cover larger holes. Try flat copper spacers to cover larger holes. Use round metal beads that are 2-4mm in size to keep wood beads laying smoothly while you wear it.

Add Color - Mix in a pop of bright color to your jewelry to balance out the dark wood.

Asymmetrical - I like the look of asymmetrical designs in jewelry that uses wood. I think it looks more modern.

Tie It Up - The larger holes in wood beads make them excellent to use with leather cord or waxed linen.

Do you love wood beads? Share your art bead and wood jewelry in the comments below or in our Facebook group.

To Cap It All - Bead Caps Inspiration

We all love beads here at Art Bead Scene - readers and writers alike. But I bet I am not alone in saying that my personal love of beads extends way beyond 'small, decorative object(s)...usually pierced for threading or stringing.' (Wikipedia). Findings, fibres, cords, found objects that can be incorporated into my jewellery - all these are things that, alongside beads, I couldn't live without. Well, perhaps that's going too far but sometimes it can feel like that! 

Today though, I want to talk about one of my favourite of all non-bead components - the humble bead cap. When I first started out beading with wire, quite a few years ago now, I found these sweet little things endearing - they were, as you would think, tiny little caps; miniature headgear for the little beads I loved to work with. (I don't think I could have told you what an art bead was at this point!) They sat and looked pretty, and occasionally served a useful purpose in keeping my beads from falling off headpins if the holes were too big, but that was about it. I played around with having them on the bottom of a bead too, a cup rather than a cap, and also sandwiching a bead between two caps. All very pretty, but nothing earth shattering there! 

When I discovered art beads a few years later, I also discovered artists such as Shannon LeVart (better known to you and me as MissFickleMedia), and her stunning hand patinated components. I went ahead and bought some bead caps. They were really pretty and almost seemed too lovely to use with some of my beads....and when the caliber (and price tag!) of the beads you are working with changes, you don't always want to cover them up with bead caps, however pretty. And the bead caps were so lovely in their own right, I didn't want them to be secondary to the beads themselves. So I started to think, how else could I use these lovely components....I tried a few things out but wasn't totally happy.....so I stuck with the capping and cupping, just with more expensive headgear than before. 

Earrings made for the Bead Soup Blog Party earlier this year.

Still, my quest to elevate the bead cap from it's lowly status as a finding continued....and then I had several lightbulb moments over the past year....why not turn the cap around? Not merely cupping or capping, but springing out from the bead like a flower? Now I was onto something! (This is not to say this was desperately original. I know many people have done the same and many people continue to do the same! It was however, new and striking to me.)

Cupping, capping, layering and flipping of Vintaj and Fallen Angel Brass bead caps - all in one pair of earrings!Polymer clay rondelles - Humblebeads

The lightbulbs continued to flash - layer the caps! Stack them! And then I discovered more and more bead artists creating artisan bead caps - ChelleV2, GardanneBeads and TheaToo to name but a few. These caps didn't need beads to be beautiful - they could work all by themselves, turned into flowers or bells with cord, wire, headpins for stamen. 

Here are some examples if you are struggling with a stash of beautiful bead caps like I was:

A tiny ceramic bird from BoHulleyBeads perches atop a handmade bronze flower beadcap (TheaToo), handmade brass headpins form spiralling stamen. 

Patinated ring and headpins from MetamorphSupplies.

A series of earthenware clay bead caps from ChelleV2 are knotted on waxed linen cord and hang down artfully, mimicking faded flowers, or tears. 

This was made for Erin Prais-Hintz' Challenge of Music earlier this year. Watch out for her Challenge of Literature on Thursday! 

The difference that different media can make - look at these bell earrings, this time bead caps from NadinArtGlass. The light and delicate ridging on these caps make for an elegant pair.

I made these shortly before going on stage to sing as I had forgotten to bring any jewellery with me!

A different look again - these Vintaj bead caps make perfect earrings as well, or even a single one as a sweet pendant.

Created for one of Andrew Thornton's blog challenges last year.

Enamelled flower bead caps add a pop of colour wherever needed - these bead caps from Anne of GardanneBeads are some of my very favourites, being a lover of colour. One hangs from an antique brass branch, a perfect complement to this cute lampwork owl from SoulSilver

These wee flower dangles are the perfect addition to many pieces of jewellery - Anne has just made me a custom rainbow hued order!

What components (other than beads!) do you love to work with? What handmade elements have you elevated beyond the ordinary? If you are a bead or component artisan, what are you working on beyond beads and pendants to make our jewellery making ever more unique and beautiful? 

Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer and singer, currently living in Manchester, England. You can read more about beads and singing at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com.

The Hunt: Finding the Perfect Beads

This is the cover project from my book, Jewelry Designs from Nature.  One of the things I talk about in the beginning of my book is substituting beads for treasures that you find along your way.  I collected the beads used in this necklace from shows, Etsy shopping binges and some of my favorite online shops.  The art beads come from all corners of the globe including the UK, Germany, North Carolina and New York to name a few! 

When you buy a book and the supplies aren't easy to come by, what you'll need to do is decide what the basic components of the design are that need to be replaced and what essence of the design do you want to capture in your interpretation of the project.  Is it the color combinations that have caught your eye?  If so, you can play around with the shape and style of the beads that you replace.  Is it the beaded clusters and lush exuberance of beads that have you drooling?  If so, start with two or three floral focals and gather your accent beads to coordinate with them. 

By adjusting the beads you use in a project from the ones used in a book, you create a design that is personal to you and has your own spin to it! 

I've gathered up some Etsy finds that could be substituted for the focal beads in my original design. 

CeraMiC BrAcEleT ... foCal ... suzieqbeads $5.90	2 Amber Handmade lampwork Gl... EnchantedCobwe... $6.00	Lampwork Bead - Pendant Foca... UglyDucklingBe... $35.00	SPIDER MUM in Orange Lampwor... DonnaMillard $37.50
Peony- handmade ceramic foca... kylieparry $14.00	Sweet Lampwork Glass Floral ... leazinke $5.00	Lavender and Orange Raised F... GlassElephant $14.00	Glass Head Pins - White, Bla... kimnelson $8.95
Flower Pendant, Pink and Bro... ZudaGay $20.00	Violet Glass Wire Headpins B... NadinArtGlass $6.00	Victoria Lampwork focal bead... pixiewillow $30.00	Purple Raku Leaf SRA Lampwor... DerondaDesigns $9.00
2 Light Amethyst Handmade la... EnchantedCobwe... $6.00	Sculptural Flowers in Icy Bl... catalinaglass $32.00	Interconnection- handmade ce... SlateStudiosSu... $12.00	Ceramic Pendant Flower Textu... MarshaNealStud... $15.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

(And just to give some props - the beads in my necklace: Focal bead: Seaurchin. Lampwork focal: Dora Schubert. Lampwork rondelles: SueBeads. Polymer clay lentil: Humblebeads. Ceramic lentils and blue rounds: Elaine Ray. Cream ceramic rounds: Gaea. Headpins: Cindy Gimbrone.