My First Bead Cruise

I (Michelle from Firefly Design Studio) returned a few days ago from my first Bead Cruise.  Our own Heather Powers says she plans her dream vacation and invites 65 friends to join her!  Heather keeps us busy, but there is plenty of time to enjoy the ship and ports.  For me, it was the top notch classes that got me excited.  This is what I took and learned:

Kerry Bogert is a wire worker expert.  She has written 3 books and has so many tips and tricks that she is willing to share.  My first class with Kerry was an earring class.  We received sheets of copper and brass, 24 g and 18g wire.  We punched circles and cut rectangles as well as punched small circles around the edges of our shapes.  It was fun texturing the metal with fancy hammers.  Here they are!

Next I learned chain making from Kerry.  She also showed us how to make a few kinds of clasps, which I was excited to learn.  We made 1 chain each hour.  We used dowels, pliers, punches, and made jump rings.  Which is your favorite?  Mine is the circle one, third from left.  I plan on dangling a ceramic bead at the end of the extender chains I made to make these bracelets and 1 necklace "me."

This necklace that Kerry taught us is so cool!  We used a coil machine, or hand coiling, as well as wrapping 16g wire around different sized dowels.  We connected our links together for this statement piece design!

Beverly Herman is a very talented, patient and fun seed bead instructor.  This is only my third time doing bead embroidery.  Time Traveler used multiple sizes of seed bead, pearls and a ceramic disc that I had the honor of making for the student kits!  I am about half finished at this point.  Isn't it going to be gorgeous?

Bead Cruise 2017 is already more than half booked.  I know the ship departs from Texas and is going to the Western Caribbean next year in February.  I am already going on a cruise in February with my friends, so I didn't think 2 cruises in 1 month would work with my schedule.  If you'd like to learn more, go to www.beadcruise.com and check it out.

Art Bead Spiral Bracelet

If you've never worked with seed beads or bead weaving, even the smallest projects can seem a little daunting. All those teeny tiny beads, where do you begin?! Today, I'd like to introduce you to bead weaving by starting with one of the most basic and easy-to-do stitches, Spiral Stitch. And, of course, in true Art Bead Scene fashion, we're gonna jazz it up by adding a few handmade art beads to the mix! If you follow the instructions below, you'll be able to create this one-of-a-kind bead woven bracelet in about an hour and a half. I call it Art Bead Spiral.
Oh, and if you don't have the exact materials that I've used, please feel free to swap out any color seed bead and any kind of art bead you have on hand. Let's get started!

Materials:- 3 Elaine Ray 7mm cube beads in Patina color.
- 5 grams size 11 matte brown Japanese glass seed beads. (A)
- 3 grams size 11 galvanized dark blue gray Czech glass seed beads (B)
- 3 grams size 11 opaque cream Czech glass seed beads (C)
- 1 small antique brass lobster clasp
- 2 6mm closed antique brass jump rings
- 3-5 6mm open antique brass jump rings
- 1 larger seed bead in a contrasting color (this will serve as your stop bead)
- Wildfire or Fireline beading thread (5 feet length)
- Size 12 beading needle

Terms: (these will help you as you follow the instructions)
Pass Through: to move the needle through the bead in one direction (i.e. from left to right)
Pass Back Through: to move the needle back through the bead in the opposite direction (i.e. from right to left)

Spiral Rope:1. Begin by threading your needle and pulling about 2' of thread through the eye. String the larger seed bead onto your thread and pass your needle through the bead again. Pull the thread tight and slide the bead towards your needle leaving a 6" tail. (Fig.1)

Fig.1

2. String 3A, 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1A. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2

3. Pass your needle through the first 3A that you added and pull tight to form a loop. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3

4. Add 2A, 1B, 1C and 1A and slide those beads down to meet the loop. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4

5. Pass your needle through the last 2A of the original 3A that you started with and also the first A that you just added. (Fig.5) You will be passing through three beads all together. Pull tight, allowing the new loop that you just created to sit on top of the first loop. (Fig. 6)

Fig. 5


Fig. 6

6. Complete steps 4-5 as many times as you need to reach the desired length. For the purpose of this bracelet, you will make 2 1/4" of spiral rope using this method. Make sure that as you add each new spiral you are allowing the loop that you just created to sit on top of the previous loop.

Note: As you work, notice the trend. You are constantly adding one bead to the main body of your rope as you add four beads to the outside spiral. In Figure 7, you can see how the spiral rope is starting to take shape as I continue to add four beads to the spiral for every three beads that I pass through of the main rope.

Fig. 7

Art Bead Add-ins:1. Once you've completed 2 1/4" of spiral rope, string one Elaine Ray cube bead. (Fig. 8)

Fig. 8

2. Repeat steps 2-6 of the Spiral Rope instructions until you have 3/4" of spiral rope. Make sure to pull tight after each loop you make in order to keep the beadwork close together.
3. Add another cube bead and another 3/4" of spiral rope.
4. Add your final cube bead.
5. Add another 2 1/4" of spiral rope. This will complete the beadwoven portion of your bracelet.

Adding the Clasp:1. Once you've added your last 2 1/4" of spiral rope, string 7A onto the thread along with a closed jump ring. (Fig. 9)

Fig. 9

2. Pass back through the three beads that you just exited. (Fig. 10)

Fig.10

3. Pull tight to form a loop of beads which will be holding the jump ring. (Fig. 11)

Fig. 11

4. Tie a knot by passing your needle around the thread that creates the body of the rope and then through the loop. Pull tight. (Fig. 12)

Fig. 12

5. Pass your needle back through three more beads in the main body of the rope and tie another knot.
6. Complete step 5 again. Pass back through three more beads, pull through and trim the thread.

7. To attach the jump ring on the other end of the bracelet, simply string your needle onto your tail thread and complete steps 1-6 again.

8. Add the open jump ring with the lobster clasp to one end, and to the other end add as many open jump rings as you would like to make the bracelet adjustable.

Congratulations! You have your first Spiral Rope bracelet with some pretty cool art beads added in! From here, the variations are endless. Try using larger beads or beads in different colors. Add larger art beads, add more art beads, or complete more spiral rope to create a necklace.

This is a variation on the technique you just learned. This bracelet features two spiral ropes and Elaine Ray's almond shaped art beads. I added a copper leaf toggle to mimic the shape of the almond beads.

So, what are you waiting for? Try your own Spiral Art Bracelet and post a comment with a link to your creation! We'd love to see your original beadwoven design!

Today's post is written by guest author Marcie Abney. To view more of Marcie's work visit her blog, La Bella Joya and etsy shop.

Planting Seed Beads

Image from ArtBeads.com

I know very little about seed beads, the different types, how they are numbered and what they mean. This seed has been rolling around in head for a while, so in my usual way, I took to the internet to find a basic explanation on seed beads.

I found this article on Street Directory by Paul Shane.

"Seed beads are tiny beads that are measured by a /0 numbering system. Higher the number, smaller the beads. Basically, the number indicates the approximate number of beads in every inch, when the beads are arranged in a linear manner on the ground. For instance, if you can lay 6 beads in a straight row within an inch's space, the beads would be numbered as 6/0.

The most famous of all types and kinds of seed beads are Czech and Japanese beads. While the Czech beads are famous for the uniformity in their sizes and shapes, the Japanese beads are known for the high precision in quality of the beads and beautiful and unique designs they are available in. Czech seed beads are shipped on hanks. (Hanks refer to a strung bunch of beads, where a standard hank contains 10 to 12 strings that are 20' long.)

Apart from jewellery, seed beads are also useful in art and craft projects, in decorating upholstery and tapestry, and in beautifying accessories to give them a funky fashionable look. If you are looking for good quality seed beads with nice designs and different colours, a good place to look for them is the Internet. There are many good websites that provide all the jewellery making materials, where you would get seed beads of your choice."

This article explained the mystery of seed beads to me. Like wire gauges the bigger the number the smaller the wire. I needed that info to help me understand this mystery.

Now that we've planted the seed beads, I can't wait to see what grows from your creativity!