Bracelet Base

I have more flowers to share with you, but I wanted to pause and add the tutorial for the base I use when making bracelets using these beaded flowers. There's one bracelet pictured in the header of this blog, another in this post, and one in yesterday's post. All of these bracelets are built on a 3-bead peyote base made of either 8/0 or 6/0 seeds, 3 or 4mm cubes, Miyuki 8/0 plain or hex seeds, 8/0 or 5/0 Miyuki triangles. The one thing I want is a large-holed bead because I will be adding all of the embellishments through the center beads. I also like this technique because it has a nice working rhythm that yields a flexible, sturdy and smooth band. Here's one of my bracelets using "loopy" flowers and sunstone chips, one of my "Chips Ahoy" collection of necklaces and bracelets.



I first found this 3-bead technique in a special Interweave publication, Jean Campbell's "Beaded Cords, Chains, Straps and Fringe," and I've used it ever since.

I work with nine to ten feet of thread doubled to four and a half to five feet, so I don't have to add a new thread. And, yes, it can be aggravating in the first few rows, but I deal with it.

The beginning:

String four beads and move them to about 6" from the end of the thread.










Bring the needle through the first two beads on the thread as shown. Pull the thread until the last bead added (#4) is sitting on top of bead #3.










(I flip the beads in my hand after each step so that I'm always moving the needle from right to left. There's no real reason for this except that I can work faster this way.) Pick up a bead and take the needle through the center bead and the #3 bead below the bead on the left. Pull the thread to bring the needles into position. You'll note that there's now a space in the middle.


Take your needle through the first bead in the row, add a bead, and take the needle through the last bead in the row. Now you're ready to weave the band.



The Rest of the Story:

I think of the three steps as Straight, Down, and Across. (Remember that I flip the strip with my left thumb as I pick up the next bead with my right, so I'm always moving my needle from right to left. It's all part of the rhythm.)








I continue with Straight, Down and Across until the base is the desired length without the clasp.

Beaded Flowers - Day Three

Today's tutorial is a basic review on loops. I created these diagrams to show you that there exists a difference in loops with an odd or even number of beads; the even-number loops yielding a more rounded petal as shown in the flower pictured above. However, no matter how many loops I made I couldn't tell any real difference. Hence, when you start creating flowers, just put in however many beads give you the size petal you want. I have found that when I stack the loops, I need at least 5 more beads in each subsequent loop to create a visual difference in the size of these petals.




Let's look at "pointy" loops and how they're created. For these loops, string on one half of the petal plus two beads. Skip the last bead you put on, and take the needle through the next bead. Pull tight by holding on to the bead you skipped, and thread on the beads for the other side of the petal.

Now here there is a difference in the final visual depending on the number of beads you put on the other side of this petal. If you put on the original number of beads without the two extras, you will have a point in the center of the petal. But, if you put on the original number plus one or two more beads and finish your loop, you'll have a petal that is straight on one side and rounded on the other. Take a look at the flower shown above. The large petals at the top are point-centered, while the other two sets of large petals have straight and rounded sides.

The current issue of Beadwork Magazine (April/May 2009) has a necklace on the cover by Jamie Hogsett which has wonderful flowers created with pointy loops. She builds her flowers on a different base, so check it out and add it to your repertoire of techniques.

Tomorrow, I'm going to show you how to make a flower out of horizontally drilled leaf beads. But first, I added some center interest to today's samples, by adding a stack of beads between the three inner base beads. These stacks are created by working the first half of the pointy leaf. I also added a tiny fresh-water pearl in the center. In the other flower I put a loop of two 15/0s, a 3mm crystal, and two 15/0s between the inner base beads (3 loops total).

Beaded Flowers - Day Two

I think the most exciting flowers that I make with this loopy technique are ones that start with six beads, three in each ring. It was a great day when I tried this variation, and it just keeps getting better. Begin with six beads, go through every other bead and pull the beads into this interlocking triangle arrangement. Actually, it will happen automatically when you snug up the thread. (I used 8/0 seeds for the center and 11/0 seeds for the loops on this flower.)

Begin the loops on one of the triangles as shown in the diagram. If you want more than one loop in each of these beads, add them now before moving to the next bead in this inner triangle, remembering that you are working on the back of the flower. This means that you will add more beads to the second and/or third loop before taking the needle to the next bead of this triangle.

Once you have the loops on the inner triangle, then move to the beads on the outer triangle and add the loops. It's strictly up to you as the designer of one of these flowers to decide how many and the length of each of these loops. This flower has three matching loops on two of the beads in the outer triangle: 10, 15, and 18 beads in the three loops on each side. Ah, but then came the fun. I made the loops larger on the other triangle as follows: 20, 25, and 30.

I finished this flower with a 6mm top-drilled crystal in the center. Then I took a good look at it. Is this a flower or a fairy? or maybe an angel? And could I make it into a dragonfly or some other kind of bug? This is going to be fun. I also think this technique could easily yield a beaded flower that resembled a pansy.




This photo below shows some other possibilities. The little flowers are made with 11/0 seed bead centers and 15/0 bead loops. The spiky one is a teaser for tomorrow's blog where I'm going to show you different kinds of loops.






Scarlett Lanson, The Beader's Muse, and a new regular columnist in Beadwork Magazine hosted a wonderful contest called "Use the Muse" over February and March. The "Big Reveal" was today. My bracelet is near the bottom in the gallery section. She's planning another contest very soon, and I know I'm going to enter. I hope each of you will also. This was the fastest turn-around on any contest I've ever entered, and since it was judged from photos, I didn't have to trust my piece to shippers and then wait for a long time for it to return home. It was a great experience!

Rococo Necklaces

These are my two rococo necklaces. They're 25" long without the clasps. The red one below is new, while the green one is about three years old and well worn. They're very simple: three strands of beads accented with beaded beads with a toggle clasp.

The beaded beads are made like the rondelle below with the following row count: Begin with 10 11/0 seed beads to create the first two rows, then five rows or #5 rococo triangles, and finished with two rows of 11/0 seed beads. Make six for the necklace shown.

1. Cut three strands of bead wire about three inches longer than the desired length and crimp the strands together with at least two crimps.

2. Thread all the strands through one triangle. Separate the strands and string each one in the pattern (*3 seeds beads, one triangle** 8 times ending with 3 seed beads). Take the three strands through one triangle, thread on a beaded bead and another triangle. Repeat the pattern of *3 seed beads and one triangle** 10 times until you've used all of the beaded beads.

3. End with 3 seed beads, one triangle** 8 times on each strand. Take the three strands through one final triangle, pull tight and crimp the three strands together. I added a crimp loop on top of the two crimps on each side.

4. Attach the toggle and post with a jump ring.

Rondelles Continued

I had a photo all planned out of this pen and the other six rondelles that I removed when I put on the lampwork bead created by my friend, Diane Schulz, Houston lampworker extraordinaire. But, I have spent the last hour looking for those other beads and cannot find them anywhere. The fun thing is that I found a lot of "stuff" I haven't seen in a long time and some I completely forgot I had.

Anyway, I took the beads off the pen so you can actually see them. The rondelles on the pen are made with two rows of delicas, one row of 8/0s, one row of 4mm bicones, another row of 8/0s and finished with the two rows of delicas. Easy and quick to make.

I know the start to all of my beads--putting on twice the number of the tube, bringing the needle around and taking it through every other bead until you reach the last two when you take the needle through these seems awkward at first. Here's the reason: when you make a standard start of putting on twice the number of beads, tying them in a circle, putting on a bead and skipping a bead all the way around, you create three rows of peyote, and I only want two. I also hate working against a knot and this method yields a very tight circle. I usually go through the last row a second time and pull it very tight before I finish off my thread.

Here's a rondelle that makes a nice flower or bead to use instead of a button for a closure. This one is constructed of four bead rounds, beginning with the usual 8 beads and through every other one. There are four rounds of 5/0 Miyuki triangles, and the bead is finished with two rounds of seed beads. I love these triangles which Barry (Caravan Beads) lists as "rococo." They positively look like they're lit from within. Tomorrow I'll show you two necklaces I've made with these beads.