Daily Blogs : Beading Tools, Brick Stitch, Bead Crafts

The Top 12 Beading Daily Blogs of 2012 - And a Giveaway!

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Today is 12.12.12! We're almost halfway through December, and there are less than three weeks left in 2012. I always get a little nostalgic in December, and I usually take some time to meditate and reflect on all the wonderful things that have happened during the year.

This year is no different, but it's a little more special because of that date -- 12.12.12. So, to celebrate, I've put together the Top 12 Beading Daily blogs from 2012! Read on to see if any of your favorite blogs made it into the list:

		January: Find Your Steampunk Style with Jean Campbell Steampunk always seemed so intimidating to me, but this post from Jean Campbell took all the mystery out of making amazing, easy steampunk jewelry.

		February: Your First Seed Bead Stash Stocking your stash of seed beads can be a huge task if you're just getting started with bead-weaving! Here are some great tips for starting your seed bead stash.

		March: Readers Share a Bounty of Brick Stitch Projects I love brick stitch -- it will always be special to me, as it was the first beading stitch I ever taught myself. I asked for our readers to submit their best brick stitch projects, and the resulting eye candy is just amazing!

		April: Start With...A Simple Strip of Peyote Stitch Ever feel stuck in your beading? You can create some really spectacular beaded jewelry just by whipping up a simple strip of peyote stitch!

		May: Readers Share Beautiful Bead Embroidery Once again, I asked, and our readers delivered. This time, they shared some truly breathtaking bead embroidery pieces with us. Enjoy the beautiful beading!

		June: 5 Common Jewelry Findings That You Can Make Yourself Save time and money when you learn how easy it is to make these five common jewelry findings with your basic wire wrapping skills!

		July: Why Necklace Length Matters Understanding the different lengths of necklaces is important to be able to match them with your favorite necklines.

		August: Use Wire to Bezel a Cabochon This isn't so much a "how-to" blog as a "how-NOT-to-do" blog. Read about my adventures using Viking knit to make a bezel for one of my favorite gemstone cabochons!

		September: Getting Started With Flat Peyote Stitch Peyote stitch was one of the last bead-weaving stitches that I taught myself. However, had I known some of these tips or had some of these tools, it probably would have been a lot easier!

		October: Meet a Chain Maille Genius At Bead Fest Philadelphia in August, I met a lampwork glass artist who takes the ancient art and craft of chain maille to a whole new level! Read about her and see some of her absolutely marvelous creations.

		November: Four Beading How-Tos You Need to Know You might be surprised at some of these four beading how-tos that every beader needs to know!

		December: Make This Free Embossed Leather Earring Project December isn't even half over yet, but so far, this free embossed leather earring project is our most popular December blog!

Did any of your favorites appear in this list? If not, now's your chance to nominate them, and win a little something, too! Simply leave a comment on this blog before midnight, CST on December 16, 2012 with your favorite Beading Daily blog from 2012. You don't have to choose from just this list, either -- take a look through all the blogs that were written by our friends over at Inside Beadwork Magazine and Inside Jewelry Stringing Magazine, as well as the blogs we posted in Beading Instructions and Beading Supplies We Love, too. You can post a link in your comment so everyone else can see it, too!

On Monday, December 17, 2012, check your email, because we'll notify three winners: two lucky people will win a five-pack of assorted back issues of both Beadwork and Jewelry Stringing magazines. One lucky winner will get to choose a prize from four of our favorite digital beading products! (Please note: we can only ship magazines to U.S. addresses only due to customs regulations.)

One lucky winner will get to choose one prize from the following great digital beading products:

You can also find links to all twelve of our Top 12 Blogs of 2012 on Pinterest for your pinning pleasure!

Good luck, and Happy Holidays from all of us at Beading Daily!

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

Free Embossed Leather Earring Project

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:00:00 GMT

I need another beading tool like I need a hole in the head, right? But a couple of weeks ago, I caved in and bought one of the new Big Kick machines from Vintaj, with the idea that I would make some lovely embossed brass pieces for earring making projects. Little did I know that playing with this machine would not just inspire me to create new and beautiful beaded earrings, it would push me a little further into the realm of mixed media jewelry!

I've always been a little intimidated by the idea of making jewelry with metals. Sure, I can cut and fuse glass and make lampwork glass beads on a torch. But those don't involve cutting or stamping or doing anything with metal. Well, even my five-year-old got into the fun, "helping" me crank the brass blanks through the machine and finishing them with the reliefing block and some colored inks.

When I found out that I could run thick leather through the Vintaj Big Kick, too, it gave me a whole new set of ideas for earring making projects! If you have a Vintaj Big Kick (or know someone who does), try this fun and easy earring making project using your favorite leather scraps and embossing folders.

Materials:

Leather scraps, approximately 1/2" thick (enough to make 2 leather coins, each 1 1/4")
Nicole's Beadbacking or other bead embroidery medium
Ultrasuede
2 grams size 8^o seed beads in color to match or contrast with your leather coins
1 gram size 11^o seed beads in color to match or contrast with your leather coins
5 grams Czech farfalle beads
6 lb. braided beading thread (Fireline recommended)
1 pair ear wires
E6000 adhesive

Tools:

Vintaj Big Kick machine and embossing folder
Scissors for cutting leather
Thread cutter
Size 12 beading needle
Flat nose or chain nose pliers
Sharpie markers (optional, for adding color to leather coins, if desired)

Step-by-step instructions:

		Cut two 1 1/4" circles from your leather scraps. Place them inside your embossing folder and run them through the Big Kick machine. If desired, you can add some color to the recessed parts of the embossed leather coin using fine-tipped permanent markers.

		Apply a small amount of E6000 to the back of each coin and adhere it to a small piece of Nicole's Beadbacking or your choice of bead embroidery medium.

		Using the size 8^o seed beads, work one row of beaded backstitch around the leather coin. Run your thread through the beads several times to cinch up the backstitch. As the beads tighten around the leather coin, you'll notice them form a slight cup around the leather coin to help hold it in place.

		Trim the bead embroidery medium close to the beads and glue the piece to a small scrap of Ultrasuede. Trim the Ultrasuede, leaving about a 1/8" edge around the piece.

		Using a 5' piece of beading thread, edge the piece using brick stitch and the size 11^o seed beads. After you've connected the first and last seed bead of the brick stitch edging, pick up 5 farfalle beads. Skip two seed beads in the edging, and pass down through the next seed bead. Pull snugly so that the farfalle beads "lock" together.

		Come up through the next seed bead in the edging. Pick up 5 farfalle beads, skip two beads in the edging, and pass down through the next seed bead. Repeat until you have three beads left in the edging left. (You may have only 2 or 4 beads left, depending on how many beads you used to edge your earring. As long as you have at least 2 unembellished seed beads, you're good to add the hanging loop for the ear wire!)

		Pick up 1 farfalle bead and 8 size 11^o seed beads. Pass back through the farfalle bead and into the neighboring seed bead in the brick stitch edging. Repeat the thread path once or twice to reinforce the hanging loop.

		Using the flat nose or chain nose pliers, attach the ear wires. These are big, bold earrings!

Something else I discovered about running leather through my Big Kick machine: it will also beautifully emboss my scraps of Ultrasuede! What a great idea for making the back of your bead embroidery pieces just as interesting as the front, right?

If you love using seed beads to create earrings (or other kinds of beaded jewelry), you'll want to check out the Beadwork Presents 10 Seed Bead Patterns eBook. Filled with ten great seed bead projects taken straight from the pages of Beadwork magazine, designed by your favorite bead artists. And right now, as part of the 12 Days of Deals in the Beading Daily Shop, you can take 50% off this great eBook of beading projects. Best of all, it's an instant download, so you can be reading and beading in just minutes!

Download your copy of Beadwork Presents 10 Seed Bead Patterns today and find even more great earring making projects using your favorite beads.

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

Like Wire Wrapping? Try Wire Embroidery!

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT


	These very cool 36 gauge copper sheets from Lilly Pilly Designs open up a whole new world of design possibilities!


	Chain stitch using wire makes a great decorative element when working with rustic style jewelry designs.

I don't know about anyone else, but lately, I'm really getting into make rustic-style jewelry. I love the way it softens the look of metals and wire by mixing them with soft suede fabrics, leather, and silk cords. And now that I'm cranking along with my wire wrapping skills and feel confident making my own custom clasps and jewelry findings, I'm starting to experiment more with metals in my jewelry making and wire wrapping projects.

Now, I never particularly enjoyed doing traditional embroidery with thread and fabric, but when I saw these cool tutorials in Kerry Bogert's new book, Rustic Wrappings, I just had to give it a try using some of these cool copper sheets I found at Bead Fest Philadelphia from Lilly Pilly designs!

The copper sheets are thin enough that they can be cut with just an ordinary pair of craft scissors, so the design possibilities are endless! And if you feel comfortable working with wire and making wire jewelry with your basic wire wrapping skills, you can make this very cool rustic-style beaded cuff.

Materials:

8" x 8" square of Ultrasuede, or other imitation suede fabric
(1) 3x3 sheet, 36 gauge patina copper sheet (Lilly Pilly Designs)
10 feet copper wire, 28 gauge
5 grams seed beads, size 11^o
Beading thread of your choice
Stiffener for the center of the cuff: plastic milk jug or poster board, cut slightly smaller than bracelet
E6000 glue
Clasp of your choice
Additional beads and components for embellishment (optional)

Tools:

Embroidery scissors for cutting fabric
Beading needle
Small hole punch
Wire cutters
Looping pliers
Size 12 beading needle

Step-by-step Instructions:

		To size your bracelet properly, wrap a strip of paper around your wrist and make a mark where it comes together. Take into account the size of your clasp, and leave an extra 1/8" for stitching the border. Trace your bracelet length and desired width onto the Ultrasuede and trim with embroidery scissors.

		Next, take your copper sheet and cut it into whatever pieces you'd like. For this project, I cut off one large centerpiece and two smaller pieces for the ends of my cuff bracelet. Use a regular craft scissors (not your embroidery scissors!) to cut your shapes. I decided to round my edges.

		Using a small amount of E6000, adhere your copper shapes to your piece of Ultrasuede. Take care not to push the glue all the way to the edges of the copper pieces. Use the hole punch to make a series of holes around the edges of your copper pieces, going through the Ultrasuede, spaced about 1/4" apart and about 1/4" in from the edge of the copper.

		Start the wire embroidery! Take a piece of copper wire as long as you are comfortable with (it's easy to add more later, if you need to) and insert it through one of the holes, leaving a 1/2" tail. Bend the tail against the back of the Ultrasuede to hold it in place.

		Pass the wire back down through the same hole you just came out of, pulling on it gently to form a small loop. You can use a pair of round nose pliers to help shape your loop. If you get a kink in your wire, try unbending it first, or use a nylon-jawed wire straightener to smooth it out.

		Push the wire loop flat against the copper sheet so that the next hole is inside the top of the loop. To make the next loop, bring your wire up through the hole and the loop, and make another loop in the same manner. To secure the last stitch, come up through the hole under the last loop of wire that you formed. Pass your wire back down through the hole, catching the top of the loop.

		To secure your wire, twist the two ends together tightly for about 1/2", and then trim the wire close to the twist. Bend the wire flat against the Ultrasuede.

		Stitch down all of your copper components in this manner.

		To give the cuff bracelet a little more body, I cut out a small piece of a clean plastic milk jug and adhered it to the back of the Ultrasuede using a small amount of E6000. It also covers up the twisted ends of the wire and prevents them from poking through the back of the bracelet. Lay the front of the bracelet down against the rest of the Ultrasuede and trace around it. Trim so that it is the same size as the front of the bracelet, and use a small amount of E6000 to adhere the second piece of Ultrasuede to the back.

		Using brick stitch (or whatever method you prefer), stitch seed beads around the entire edge of the bracelet. Attach your clasp. I decided to practice my wire wrapping skills and make a couple of hook and eye clasps out of copper wire, which I then attached to the bracelet using seed bead loops.

Now that I've got the basic wire embroidery techniques down, I'm thinking up all sorts of ways I can incorporate this into my jewelry making and bead-weaving projects! Using these fun copper sheets was a great introduction to working with wire and metals for me, and I have to admit, I'm totally hooked on the whole wire embroidery thing now.

Are you ready to branch out and start learning how to incorporate more metals and wire wrapping techniques into your beading projects? If you liked this little project, you'll love Kerry Bogert's Rusting Wrappings. Kerry has created twenty-five fantastic wire, metal, and bead jewelry making projects that use six different methods for adding patina to metals and wire. My favorite method for adding patina to metals and wire? Kerry's salt and vinegar potato chip recipe, of course! If you love mixing things up with your wire wrapping projects, grab a copy of Rustic Wrappings and spice up your jewelry making projects! (Or, if you just can't wait to get started, you can also download Rustic Wrappings as an eBook and read it in just minutes on your desktop or laptop computer!

What's your take on rustic style jewelry? Are you excited by the idea of learning new and easy ways to add metals to your jewelry making projects? Is there a particular technique for wire wrapping or working with metals and patinas that you want to learn next? Share your thoughts and leave a comment here on the Beading Daily blog!

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

Free Bracelet Making Project: Make a Simple Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

I don't often wear bracelets, but I love a good bracelet making project. One of my favorite techniques for bracelet making is bead embroidery using lots of different types of beads and cabochons in all sizes! I used to be of the opinion that bigger was better when it came to bead embroidered bracelet making, but then I started making simple bead embroidered bracelets to sell at the farmer's market every week.

Bracelet making projects using basic bead embroidery techniques don't have to be very difficult or complex. In fact, this little bead embroidered cuff bracelet project works up in just under a day, so you can stitch one up as a gift for someone special or to have something new to wear to the office on Monday morning!

Dig through your stash of cabochons and beads, and I'm sure you'll come up with a beautiful array of beads to be used for this free bracelet making project!

Materials:

(1) completed bead embroidered cabochon, any size
(1) 1/2" brass embroidery cuff blank
Seed beads, size 11, in color to contrast or match with your faux suede or leather, approximately 5 grams
10" square of faux suede fabric in color to match cabochon
Beading thread in color to match fabrics and cabochon
Glue or adhesive such as E6000

Tools:

Size 10 or 12 beading needle
Toothpicks
Scissors
Thread cutter
Chain nose pliers (optional, but helpful for getting needle through tight spaces)

Step-By-Step Directions:

		Step 1: After you've stitched a peyote bezel around your cabochon, finish it by surrounding it with a round of large seed beads and add a brick stitch edging to it.

		Step 2: Wrap a strip of the leather or faux suede (I prefer to use Ultrasuede) around the brass bead embroidery cuff bracelet. Leave at least 1" on either side of the bracelet to accommodate the stitching of the cabochon to the material. You can trim the top and bottom edges to within 1/8" of the edge of the cuff bracelet.

		Step 3: Cut a short length of beading thread (less than 3 feet) and tie a knot in one end. Center the cabochon on the leather. You can use a small amount of glue or double-sided adhesive tape to secure it temporarily while you work. Stitch from the back of the leather up through the cabochon, exiting somewhere between the outer round of seed beads and the bezel. Stitch back down through the cabochon and the leather and repeat along one side of the cabochon.

		Step 4: When you have finished stitching along the first side of the cabochon, stitch through the leather strip and tie a couple of knots. You can add a drop of glue if desired. Repeat on the other side of the cabochon, stitching it to the leather strip.

		Step 5: Use a toothpick to spread a thin layer of glue along the brass cuff bracelet and adhere the leather strip to the bracelet. Trim the ends to about 1/8" outside of the cuff bracelet. Allow at least an hour for the glue to dry.

		Step 6: Take another strip of leather and adhere it to the inside of the bracelet. Trim to within 1/8" outside of the cuff bracelet, and allow at least an hour for the glue to dry.

		Step 7: Using your seed beads, stitch a brick stitch edging all around the cuff bracelet using the same technique you used to finish the cabochon.

If you don't want to leave the band of the bracelet unadorned, think about adding metal filigrees, spirals or other shapes made out of craft wire or flat beads. Or think about making your own cabochons out of resin and your favorite scrap book paper, a copy of a special photograph or a copyright-free image that you like!

Get ready to explore even more fun and easy bracelet making techniques in Kristal Wick's DVD Mixed Media: Beaded Bracelets with Fiber Beads, Crystals, Resin and Wire. Kristal takes you step-by-step through six lessons that cover all the materials you'll need as well as bead making techniques using fabric, fibers, wire and resin. Then watch as Kristal shows you how to assemble it all into a one-of-a-kind beaded bracelet that's sure to turn heads! Get your copy of Mixed Media: Beaded Bracelets with Fiber Beads, Crystals, Resin and Wire and shake up your next bracelet making project!

What's your favorite technique for bracelet making? Do you like to use bead embroidery? Maybe peyote stitch cuffs are your thing? Leave a comment and share your thoughts here on the Beading Daily blog! (And if you happen to make this project, take a quick photo and share it with us over in the Reader Photo Galleries!)

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

Six Super Blog Posts from Beading Daily!

Jennifer VanBenschoten — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT

November marks six months since I've been here at Beading Daily, and I have to say that I'm thrilled to be able to sit down every day and write about my favorite thing in the entire world - beads! Having the chance to connect and correspond with so many fabulous beaders and jewelry-making artists here and on Jewelry Making Daily has been another exciting opportunity. Beaders are the best, and the beaders here at the online community of Beading Daily are so generous and friendly when it comes to sharing information.

I also need to give a big shout-out to my fabulous co-workers at Interweave and my fellow Online Editors for filling my days with creativity and laughs. I'm so lucky to be able to work with such a fantastic group of people who love what they do!

To celebrate my first six months of beads and blogs, I thought I'd share the six most popular blogs from the last six months on Beading Daily. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy!

1. National Seed Beading Month - Let's Do Some Seed Beading Every Day! My sister is a writer, too, and every year she participates in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. This year, one of my fellow bead artists Dulcey Heller mused on Facebook and Twitter about what would happen if there were a National Seed Beading Month and we all encouraged ourselves to do some seed beading every day. With two big pieces due at the beginning of December, I thought this was the perfect way for me to motivate myself to schedule some seed beading time into my busy day, every day for a month!

2. Successful Etsy Sellers Share Their Beadwork Photography Tips. Getting visually clean, well-lit and clear photos of my finished beadwork is something that I have to work at every day. I know that this is something that almost every beader who sells their finished work struggles with, and I was really excited to get these photography tips from four of my favorite (and successful) Etsy sellers. Remember that when you're selling your finished beadwork online, customers can't pick it up and touch it, so taking great photos of your finished beadwork is very important for making sales!

3. How to Read a Peyote Stitch Pattern. I'm really not surprised that this blog post made it into the top six. Reading a peyote stitch pattern can be so confusing, especially for a beginner. It took me years to figure out how to read a peyote stitch pattern, even after I had mastered the mechanics of flat and tubular peyote stitch. There are some truly fabulous charted peyote stitch patterns available out there, so knowing how to read a peyote stitch pattern can really be a great skill to have in your beading toolbox.

4. Tips for Traveling With Your Beads. It seems that we beaders are a busy bunch, and we like to take our beads with us when we travel! When I used to work for a non-profit community development organization, I did a lot of traveling to conferences and meetings. Since a lot of those trips involved staying on hotels for two or three days, I would always bring my beads along with me to keep busy at night in the hotel. And with all the new restrictions on what you can and can't bring on a plane or a ship, there are some great ideas for how to bring your most important beading tools along with you.

5. The Secret for Perfect-Fit Peyote Stitch Bezels? Brick Stitch! Yes, I love stitching up peyote-stitch bezels for handmade ceramic cabochons. I don't deny that I am totally addicted to the wonderful handmade ceramic pieces from Lisa Peters Art, and even when I don't really feel like doing any beading, I can always sit down and bezel a few pieces to use later on when I'm feeling more inspired. A friend of mine showed me this fabulous technique that just made me wonder why I hadn't thought of it before, and it's now the technique that I use pretty much every time I want to do an open-backed peyote-stitched bezel for a cabochon or other focal piece.

6. 5 Tips for Clearing the Clutter from Your Beading Studio. I don't know if I should be proud of this or not, but last winter, I started a blog called The Messy Beader's Club. I got the idea when I just happened to take a picture of what my beading table looked like while I was in the middle of crazy-holiday-craft-show-inventory-production mode. I had beads everywhere, piled literally about three inches up the side of my task lamp. Even though I get some great ideas from all that beading clutter, it can really make things hard for me when I can't find a bead or a tool that I need. With that in mind, I realized that there are things I can do to keep my beading table (relatively) free from clutter so that I can really enjoy my beading time!

Do you have a favorite blog post from the last six months on Beading Daily? What would you like to see more of in 2012? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Thanks to all my readers here on Beading Daily - I couldn't do it without you!

Bead Happy,

Jennifer

6 Brick Stitch Tips, Plus Free Seed Bead Pendant Project

Michelle Mach — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:57:00 GMT

Brick stitch, aptly named for the way the beads sit like bricks in a wall, has to be one of my favorite all time stitches. After building my bead vocabulary with lots of techniques, I still rely on brick stitch in its many forms for most of my signature designs. ...(read more)