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Showing posts from February, 2014

More Tube Beads!

Here's the tube beads I made yesterday!  Find them in my SueBeads etsy store !

Tube Beads!

I've stolen a few moments in the past two days and made some tube beads - and there will be more listed tomorrow!  Here's a sampling - you can find them at my SueBeads etsy store !

Seed Beading with Cabochons

I've recently become enamored with all things seed bead - I love making beaded beads and have gotten into making beaded cabochons thanks to Sally Russick!  This is the latest one I have done!  I used a cabochon by Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Beads - it's a rustic oval shaped cab with a matte finish.  I made the bail using brick stitch (which I also learned from Sally on her video).  I just noticed the little bit of wispy thread I need to burn off!  Finally, I used a brass toggle from Fusion Beads as the closure.  It goes really well with the blue seed beads I used. All in all, I am really happy with this necklace. I'm starting on another using one of my smaller ammonite cabochons.  I'll show you when I get started!

Tutorial: Wire Wrapping Kumihimo Braid Ends

When I posted my necklace design with Jenny's Component of the Month, I used kumihimo braid.  I make a thin braid with C-lon and didn't want to use a bulky end cap, so I decided to figure out how to wire wrap the ends.  Some people were interested in seeing a tutorial on how to do this, so here it is!  The one I made for the piece was a messy wrap - here I'm going to demonstrate a fairly neat wrap! This tutorial is really similar to any wire wrapping you would do with ball chain, rhinestone chain, or any material that doesn't have a clear and viable loop. Materials Needed:  Kumihimo braid, 6-8" patinated copper wire Tools Needed:  Two pair chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, wire cutters, embroidery scissors Here is the braid and the wire.  I think I used 22 gauge wire - it needs to be strong enough to hold your cord, but workable too!  Slide your wire into the middle of the braid - make sure that you get it in between strands of the co

Happy Valentine's Day!

  This is a dish that my boyfriend got for me in Hilton Head on our trip to help my parent's pack up our wonderful family beach house.  They sold it and we won't be going there anymore.  I'm sad.   This dish is made from goniatite fossil -  it's an extinct group of ammonoids (cephaolopods) that were related to the octopus and squid.  They swarmed the oceans approximately 390 million years ago - these were from Morocco and carved in India.  So cool! Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Seed Beading and Ammonite Cabochons

I wanted to show you all what you can do with my ammonite glass cabochons, so I decided to make myself a necklace! I used one of my large cabochons (1.5 inches!) and made a beaded bezel from a tutorial from Sally Russick on her blog.    I made a spiral rope from directions from a magazine and a little help from fusion beads - their tutorials provide nice illustrations of what you are supposed to be doing.  I made the bail from Sally's tutorial.  She really did a fantastic job and if you are wanting to give it a try yourself, her tutorial is all videos and very easy to follow.  I'm waiting for a magnetic clasp to finish the necklace - the ones I ordered and received today are too small for my comfort! So, this is one thing you can do with my cabochons.  You can also bezel set them (like Patti Vanderbloemen) or glue on a metal bail, or .... who knows what else!  What are you doing with cabochons?