Fairy Chrysalis Tutorial and Bead Soup Sale

I recently updated an old tutorial on free form beaded pendants.  Ten years ago, I wrote instructions to show how to stitch a Fairy Chrysalis, a pendant designed to look organic and constructed from a wide variety of beads. You can read all about the tutorial here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/536288125/tutorial-fairy-chrysalis-beaded-pendant

If you would like a kit to make a Fairy Chrysalis, then you should visit my Etsy shop this Wednesday July 19, 2017at 5 PM Pacific time. I will be having a big sale of kits of bead soup.  I hand selected each lot, and each lot of beads is unique. You can go to Facebook to tons of photos of all of the lots before they go up for sale, with sizes and prices.

Lot #1 has a crazy lace agate with crazy cool banding.  Red and earthy.

 Lot #3 has an amazing piece of orange bumblebee jasper. 

Lot #4 includes a very flashy labradorite.

Which looks really different under different lights.

There are lots more lots. To see the rest of the lots that I will have for sale on Wednesday, see this gallery on the Bead Infinitum fan page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/beadinfinitum/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1516325788427996

Thanks for looking!

KIT Slugs in Love Rainbow Pendant and Earrings

Last week, I released my newest tutorial, Slugs in Love. 

Today, I posted a new kit that makes a pendant and pair of earrings in all of the colors of the rainbow.

I really love working with a rainbow palette.  It's so bright and cheerful. 

Click on the photos to go to the listing.

Thanks for looking!

New Kit for Borromean Link

The first set of kits for the Borromean link is almost sold out, so I put together this color scheme to replace it.  I like the first photo because it shows reflection symmetry without rotation symmetry.

In contrast, the next photo shows rotation symmetry without reflection symmetry.

This last perspective really shows that the links are rectangles. It shows both rotation symmetry and refection symmetry

Lotus Drop Necklace Kits

Last month, I introduced the Lotus Drop Earrings.  Now I've got a Lotus Drop Necklace to show you.  This one is a kit.

The necklace is 20 inches long (51 cm), longer than what I typically wear, but it seems right for the shape of the dangles.  Of course, you can make it shorter if you want by leaving out some of the components.

Then, with the leftovers you could make matching earrings.  Anyway, I kind of really like this next photo.

As I was making this necklace, I was excited when I realized that I could source the beads to make a limited number of kits, all except the blue briolette drops.  So the kits include everything but the briolette drops and the wire I used to wrap them.  I left out the drops because it is terribly difficult and expensive to acquire natural faceted briolette beads in bulk.  Plus, I didn't think the ones I used are particularly the "right" choice, and you might enjoy, just as well, finding your own drops to make your necklace personalized for you. That way, every assembled kit will be a little different.

Here is what this necklace looks like as a drawing.

I used the drawing to help me make the necklace.  With Doceri software on my iPad, it's a lot easier to make copies than it is with real beads.  Doceri lets me design complex bead work quickly and easily, especially for a design like this, where a few motifs are repeated over and over, and there are lots of different ways to combine them.  The necklace I made wasn't the first necklace I designed on my iPad.  Here are a few others.

Here are some small ones.

I have patterns and kits available if you would like to make your own Lotus Drop Necklace.   Thanks for looking.

Desiging Starburst Galaxy Kits Water

I'm working on classroom kits for the Starburst Galaxy class that Florence Turnour and I will be teaching at the Bead & Button Show in June 2013.    The class will teach you to make stars in four different sizes, each with any numbers of points.  The five stars here are just a few of the 20 or more possibilities.

These stars are links, meaning that they are components that you can connect together with jump rings.  You can also dangle wired drops from their points.  After I finish weaving the rest of the set, I'll link them together to make a large necklace and show you. 

We now have patterns and kits available for the Beaded Starburst Galaxy so you can learn to make them yourself.

New Pattern: Lotus Drop Earrings

Here is my latest pattern, the Lotus Drop Earrings.  Here is the first pair, made with cubic right angle weave (CRAW).  I fell in love with the design, but I wasn't looking forward to writing another pattern with CRAW.    You can see the back is different from the front.

I also made this pair to illustrate how you can add wire wrapped drop beads that dangle from the bottom point.

See how small they are, a great size for earrings, I think. 

When I showed them to Florence, she liked them too, but I when I told her that I really didn't want to write another pattern with CRAW, she had the brilliant suggestion to redesign them to remove the CRAW.  Then she proceed to make me a prototype that gave nearly the same result, but with a different stitching pattern.  I tweaked them a bit more and made this pair.  Between the two of us, we came up with a design that's thinner than the others, and a bit lighter too.  It doesn't have any extra beads that don't need to be there, and it still has just enough thickness to give them some structure so they don't bend. They're rigid, little components.

Then I made this pair with real gemstones and gold plaited charlotte seed beads. With the improved design, they're not only easier to make, but the crystals in the windows don't have beads behind them.  So they really sparkle.

 

Aren't they pretty?  My mom really fell in love with this pair.  So if they don't sell before her birthday, I know what she's getting this year.

Here's the one kit I have made so far.  The pattern explains how to make both the large and small lotus drop components in these earrings.  

Here you can see how big they are, just the right size for long earrings, I think.  In fact, they're my new favorite earrings. They're not too heavy, and the links make them drape beautifully.  I feel like a movie star when I wear them! 

These little components are really fun to link together and hang things from.   If you want the earrings, click the photos.  If you want to learn how to make your own, my pattern is very detailed with 16 pages and 81 color illustrations and photographs, including 5 full pages of variations and inspirations.  Also, look out for my next blog post, and I'll show you some more complicated things you can do with Lotus Drops.  Thanks for looking.

New Kits for Infinity Dodecahedron

We put together a new kit for the Infinity Dodecahedron that makes all six beaded beads shown here. The little black one is the beginner lesson, and the other five make a set for jewelry. Since the holes are so large, you can easily string them on cord or a narrow chain.  Thanks for looking!

New Pattern Borromean Links with CRAW

I can't believe that I finally finished a tutorial with cubic right-angle weave. I once thought I'd never write a tutorial for CRAW, but lo and behold, here it is.  The pattern is called the Borromean link (or Borromean rings), and the pattern and kits for this piece are available here: http://www.beadinfinitum.com/Kits/Borromean_Link.html

The pattern has over 80 photos and illustrations in 12 pages.  About a third of the pattern shows variations to inspire you, including instructions for how to make all three versions:

You might remember this photo above from my report on bead art at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2013.  I actually produced this photo last summer, when I started writing the instructions.  Some time in September, they got shelved, but a little birdy requested a tutorial for this (Thanks Kim!) so I pulled it off of the shelf and finished it.  

The Beaded Borromean Link is a set of three rings (rectangles or other shapes), woven together into a single symmetric piece of art. The three rings are collectively linked despite the fact that no two of them are linked to each other. The pattern will teach you to make squares, rectangles, hexagons, and other shapes of beaded link components, and how to assemble them into this configuration. You will learn to weave cubic right-angle weave in a long cable, and how to turn corners with this stitch. You will also learn how to connect the beginning and end of your CRAW cable. The pattern also give instructions for square and pentagonal links like the ones shown here with little Swarovski crystals at the corners.

As a beaded bead, the Beaded Borromean Link has a hole through its center, plus many 1mm holes, so you can also string it through any of the components. You can also use the links as beaded beads in other jewelry designs, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and pendants.  The pattern also gives instructions for work with large or small seed beads to make the links different sizes.

We listed this pattern as "Advanced" because cubic right-angle weave is a tricky stitch, perhaps the trickiest of all of the basic beading stitches.  At the same time, I included enough text, illustrations and photos in hopes that an ambitious advanced-beginner could tackle it, you know, if you're up for a bit of a challenge. 

I also have a tutorial for the Highly Unlikely Triangle, that also uses CRAW.  I wrote this tutorial for advanced beginning bead weavers. 

Thanks for looking.

New Kits for Telstar Necklaces

We put a new kit in the shop.  I don't often do kits that make a complete piece of jewelry, but here we have a necklace. 

It's a dainty yet casual necklace, the kind of jewelry that I like to wear: small, light, understated and goes with everything, and it has a lot of detail if you look at it closely.  This necklace kit features nine Mini-Telstar beaded beads, each measuring just 11 mm in diameter.

The Telstar Necklace Kit contains all of the materials you need to make the complete necklace, including bugle and seed beads to weave nine Mini Telstar Beaded Beads.  It's 21 inches long, but you can make it a little longer or shorter.

For stringing, there are Swarovski black pearls, sparkling black goldstone, purple amethyst, and various glass beads.  In addition to the beads, the kit contains a lead-free pewter clasp, sterling silver crimps, beading wire, Nymo brand nylon thread, and two beading needles. All you need is scissors, a piece of fabric to place your beads, something to crimp with, and a little bit of time for beading.  Thanks for looking.

New Kits for the Rivoli Urchin Pendant

The Rivoli Urchin Pendant reminds me of a jewel encrusted sea creature.  The green, blue, and black stripes remind me of a Halloween or circus costume.  The color combination includes purple amethyst, aqua, blue, bronze, and a pretty green Swarovski rivoli crystal in the center. It contains over 500 glass beads, each one woven precisely into place.

This pendant is 1 1/2 inches (39 mm) wide and 5/8 inches (15 mm) thick. Its size makes it suitable for a focal bead on a necklace. A web of beads on the back allows you to add a cord or a medium sized chain and wear it as a pendant.

This pendant is now available as a very limited edition kit.  I can't source all of the beads, so they'll be sold out soon.  The pattern sold with this kit (or alone) includes all of the instructions for making the Rivoli Urchin pendant, as well as the complete necklace.  

Rivoli Urchin Pendant

The Rivoli Urchin Pendant reminds me of a jewel encrusted sea creature. I got a little carried away on the colors for this one.  The purple and black stripes remind me of the socks for a Halloween witch's costume.  The color combination is feminine without being dainty.  It includes purple, orange, pink, and bronze, including a rose pink rivoli crystal in the center. It contains over 500 glass beads, each one woven precisely into place.

This pendant is 1 1/2 inches (39 mm) wide and 5/8 inches (15 mm) thick. Its size makes it suitable for a focal bead on a necklace. A web of beads on the back allows you to add a cord or a medium sized chain and wear it as a pendant.

This pendant is for sale.  Click the photos to go to the listing.  To learn more about how to make your own Rivoli Urchin Necklaces, visit http://www.beadinfinitum.com/Kits/index.html#Rivoli_Urchin

Ionic Polyhedra: New Kits in Lime

We've got new kits in the house! May I present to you, the Ionic Polyhedra Beaded Beads in Lime.  The beaded bead kits include enough beads to make all four beaded beads shown. 

From left to right. the beaded beads are the Mini Ionic Octahedron, Ionic Pentacluster, Ionic Cube, and the Mini Ionic Cube.  Since the mini octahedron and mini cube contain exactly the same beads, you can pick one and make a matched pair. 

Yeah. Beads.

Bead & Button Show 2012

We made it to the Bead & Button Show this year, and I thought I'd share some photos with you.  Here are Florence Turnour and me a "Meet the Teachers" right before it started at our sales table.  This was our first show, so you can see how excited we were.

And here we are with Cindy Holsclaw who was at the table right next to us.

Florence and I successfully taught two classes, and we have leftover kits available for sale on our website.  This is one of the kits for the Rivoli Urchin Necklace.

This is one of the kits for the Infinity Ubercube & Other Beaded Cubes.  Check out the links to see all of the kit colors we have available.  Thanks for looking.