Are you wondering if our bead making how-to's have ended? I can reassure you they have not. The past few days have been crazy hectic. I just haven't had time to put together another tutorial. Instead I've been working to photograph all the jewelry I've made for my Etsy shop's upcoming opening. There are 30 pieces, each requiring 4 or 5 different product shots. That's 120-150 photos, most of which must then be tweaked and resized in PhotoShop Elements before they can be uploaded.. This chore has kept me plenty busy. But tomorrow, instead of shooting jewelry, I plan to remedy the tutorial shortage. So check back again in the next few days.
What you'll find will be a step-by-step for making multicolored, gilded eye candy. These little numbers are loaded with wow factor yet the technique for making them is as easy as making a PB&J sandwich. And you can do it with just four "ingredients," all of which you probably already have. Would I kid you? No way. Stay tuned!
©2014 Lynn Edwards
Showing posts with label beads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beads. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
How to Alter a Fabric Bead
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Today we begin a series of posts to show you several ways of making your own beads. For our first post in this series, I'll be showing you how to take an existing fabric bead and changing its look entirely.
Why alter a bead after it has been created? There are lots of reasons. Maybe you don't particularly like the looks of it. Maybe you no longer wear the outfit the beads were made to match. Maybe your taste has changed and you want a completely different fashion look. Maybe you'd prefer to upcycle rather than discard.
In my case, I had a couple of surplus beads left over from this necklace project, below:
I was thinking it would be fun to experiment with ways to alter fabric beads, a topic I've not seen discussed before. The surplus beads presented a good opportunity to try out my makeover ideas.
Paint would be my "magic wand" in this little venture. The fabric I originally used to make the beads was a finely woven cotton so I knew it would absorb acrylic paint readily. For the makeover I wanted to go dramatically glitzy with a gold and black color scheme.
This is what the fabric bead, identical to those in the jewelry shown above, looks like after its makeover:
Here's how to give a fabric bead a whole new personality:
1. Start with a bead made from a single layer of fabric adhered to a rolled paper base. To make handling it easier, slide it onto a wooden toothpick with a "stop" made from a snippet of masking tape wrapped around the toothpick. The stop keeps the bead from sliding around and keeps paint off your fingers.
2. Holding the toothpick upright and using a small flat brush, apply a coat of bright Iridescent Gold fluid acrylic paint to the middle part of the bead. When it's completely dry apply a second coat. (If using regular, heavy bodied acrylic, thin it with just a bit of water so it's the consistency of heavy cream. This helps the paint soak into the fabric.)
3. When the gold paint is dry, use a small flat brush to apply Carbon Black acrylic paint to both ends of the bead.*
4. With a small liner or rigger brush loaded with Carbon Black, make tiny squiggly marks randomly on the middle part of the bead with just the tip of the brush. Or, if you prefer a different design, you could make dots, stripes...any pattern you'd like. Let dry.
5. Seal your bead with a coat or two of clear acrylic varnish.When the varnish dries, your made-over bead is ready to string.
*You don't have to use the same colors I've used. Use different colors, or a variety of colors if you'd prefer. Just be sure to use opaque paints. Transparent paints won't cover the bead's original design.
That's it for now. Have a great St. Patrick's Day! Saol fada chugat! which, in Gaelic, is "Long life to you!"
©2014 Lynn Edwards
Today we begin a series of posts to show you several ways of making your own beads. For our first post in this series, I'll be showing you how to take an existing fabric bead and changing its look entirely.
Why alter a bead after it has been created? There are lots of reasons. Maybe you don't particularly like the looks of it. Maybe you no longer wear the outfit the beads were made to match. Maybe your taste has changed and you want a completely different fashion look. Maybe you'd prefer to upcycle rather than discard.
In my case, I had a couple of surplus beads left over from this necklace project, below:
 |
| A couple of fabric beads like the blue and green bead above were left over from this necklace project. These extras were good candidates for a bead makeover. Notice I'm featuring a necklace that's perfect to wear on St. Patrick's Day, complete with Celtic spirals! |
Paint would be my "magic wand" in this little venture. The fabric I originally used to make the beads was a finely woven cotton so I knew it would absorb acrylic paint readily. For the makeover I wanted to go dramatically glitzy with a gold and black color scheme.
This is what the fabric bead, identical to those in the jewelry shown above, looks like after its makeover:
 |
| The bead sporting a whole new look. The fabric texture is now more noticeable, adding interest to its appearance. |
Here's how to give a fabric bead a whole new personality:
1. Start with a bead made from a single layer of fabric adhered to a rolled paper base. To make handling it easier, slide it onto a wooden toothpick with a "stop" made from a snippet of masking tape wrapped around the toothpick. The stop keeps the bead from sliding around and keeps paint off your fingers.
2. Holding the toothpick upright and using a small flat brush, apply a coat of bright Iridescent Gold fluid acrylic paint to the middle part of the bead. When it's completely dry apply a second coat. (If using regular, heavy bodied acrylic, thin it with just a bit of water so it's the consistency of heavy cream. This helps the paint soak into the fabric.)
3. When the gold paint is dry, use a small flat brush to apply Carbon Black acrylic paint to both ends of the bead.*
4. With a small liner or rigger brush loaded with Carbon Black, make tiny squiggly marks randomly on the middle part of the bead with just the tip of the brush. Or, if you prefer a different design, you could make dots, stripes...any pattern you'd like. Let dry.
5. Seal your bead with a coat or two of clear acrylic varnish.When the varnish dries, your made-over bead is ready to string.
*You don't have to use the same colors I've used. Use different colors, or a variety of colors if you'd prefer. Just be sure to use opaque paints. Transparent paints won't cover the bead's original design.
That's it for now. Have a great St. Patrick's Day! Saol fada chugat! which, in Gaelic, is "Long life to you!"
©2014 Lynn Edwards
Monday, December 16, 2013
Gold Finish, Gold Plated, Gold Filled and Karat Gold: What are the Differences?
The terms used to describe beads and other components used in jewelry can seem very confusing. Take gold for example. There's gold finish, gold plated, gold filled and karat gold. The cost for each varies considerably, with karat gold being the most costly, and "gold finish" being the least costly. Gold plated and gold filled fall between the two. When buying jewelry, whether manufactured or handmade, it pays to know the difference.
The terms "filled," "plated," and "finish" can be applied in similar fashion to other metals including silver, nickel and copper but I've focused solely on gold here for the sake of simplicity.
I hope you find this information helpful when making your next jewelry purchase. There's nothing wrong with buying gold plate or gold finish if your aim is simply to enhance your wardrobe. These pieces are quite affordable and, if cared for properly, can look good for years. (My mother, who used to work in the jewelry business, has costume jewelry that's more than six decades old and it still looks great!) If you like the look of a handmade piece that's made with gold plate or gold finish, the artist who made it may be willing to make a custom piece for you with gold fill or karat gold instead. It all comes down to your needs and what your budget can allow.
©2013 Lynn Edwards
Karat Gold
Twenty-four karat gold is pure gold but it's too soft to use for jewelry making, where durability is needed. So jewelry that's made with karat gold commonly uses 14 karat or 18 karat gold. Fourteen karat gold is 14 parts pure gold. Eighteen karat gold is 18 parts pure gold. The rest is alloy, which supplies the necessary hardness for karat gold to be used for making beads and findings (clasps, chains, ear wires, etc.) and to withstand long term use. Karat gold is the most highly prized form of gold there is, and its price reflects that. It's beauty endures forever: lustrous karat gold jewelry has been discovered in tombs that are thousands of years old.Gold Filled
Gold filled jewelry is less expensive than karat gold jewelry because a lesser amount of karat gold is used in its production. A gold filled clasp, for example, is made of a layer or layers of gold alloy bonded to a base metal, most often brass. Like 14 and 18 karat gold, gold filled pieces are quite durable.Gold Plate
Gold plate occupies the third rung down on the pricing tier. Industry standards require it to be 0.15 to 0.25 mils thick. It's chemically plated or electroplated onto base metal. Gold plated is is not as durable as gold filled, but it's more durable than gold finish. It's often used in jewelry that's purchased as a fashion accessory rather than as an investment or heirloom.Gold Finish
Gold finish sometimes goes by other names, including "gold-color" or "gold wash." Jewelry that's designated as gold finish has been electroplated with gold but the gold is of a non-standardized thickness. Of the four categories, gold finish is usually the least durable. Like gold plated, it's commonly found in inexpensive costume jewelry.The terms "filled," "plated," and "finish" can be applied in similar fashion to other metals including silver, nickel and copper but I've focused solely on gold here for the sake of simplicity.
I hope you find this information helpful when making your next jewelry purchase. There's nothing wrong with buying gold plate or gold finish if your aim is simply to enhance your wardrobe. These pieces are quite affordable and, if cared for properly, can look good for years. (My mother, who used to work in the jewelry business, has costume jewelry that's more than six decades old and it still looks great!) If you like the look of a handmade piece that's made with gold plate or gold finish, the artist who made it may be willing to make a custom piece for you with gold fill or karat gold instead. It all comes down to your needs and what your budget can allow.
©2013 Lynn Edwards
Friday, August 23, 2013
Tips for Making Paper Beads
What started out as idle entertainment is now an obsession. To keep my muse from leaving on vacation while the studio was being built, I took up bead making, specifically, making beads from paper and fabric scraps. The materials were readily available and it was something I could do while watching TV in the evening. The simplicity of this activity appealed to me, as did the idea of turning commonplace materials into something attractive and useful. No special equipment was needed other than a ruler, scissors and glue.
Once I had the process down after considerable practice, I started thinking of ways to streamline the mechanics of rolling paper beads so the paper strips would stay centered, resulting in a nice, uniform bead. My bead making endeavor took a big leap forward when I discovered bead rollers while cruising Etsy. A bead roller is a simple hand held tool that grips one end of the paper and holds it in place so you have much better control of the paper as you roll it. (My bead rollers work only with paper. I continue to roll fabric beads entirely by hand. I'll cover making fabric beads in a future post.)
Once you start making paper beads, you become a paper addict. Suddenly you see anything made of paper in a whole new light! Can labels, candy wrappers, old stationery, gift wrap, advertising brochures, junk mail...everything that's paper becomes potential bead making fodder. The prospects are unlimited. But to expand my choices even further, I'm also hand painting my own papers using multiple layers of pattern and color. For these papers I use the same professional quality acrylics and permanent inks that I use for making fine art. The reason? The acrylic paints are the most heavily pigmented, most lightfast paints available, and the inks are equally stable. I'm using them so that the beads will look just as good years from now as they do today.
I've also adopted the practice of double coating the outer surface of each bead, particularly those printed from "found" materials, first with a clear acrylic isolation coat, followed by a polymer varnish with UV protection. The two products work in tandem to protect paper beads from fading, and the varnish provides additional protection from dirt and scratches.
Along the way, I've also made several discoveries through trial and error. I share them with you here:
1.The best looking beads have visual impact. Papers with colorful, complex patterns or images and those with high contrast graphics produce dramatic looking beads. A more understated look can be achieved by using papers with soft, blended colors.
2.A paper cutter can eliminate the tedium of cutting papers with a scissors. I spent about $17 on a Fiskar SureCut paper trimmer and love it. With it I can cut papers faster than the speed of light, and with accuracy, too. You can find these gadgets on Amazon, which is where I bought mine, or in arts and crafts stores.
3.Rushing things can ruin an otherwise well constructed bead. Allow beads to dry thoroughly in between applications of glue, medium and varnish.
4.A storage bin lets you dry many beads at the same time. Mine is an upcycled potato salad container with a couple inches of sand in it. (See photo below.) In place of sand you can use raw rice, dried beans or tiny pebbles. The beads are held upright in the sand on cotton swabs. I snip off one end of the swab to remove one of the cotton tips, but leave the other cotton tip in place because it makes the swab easy to grasp. My favorite bead roller creates a hole in the bead that's the exact diameter of the hollow plastic swabs I buy at Walgreens. So after I've rolled the bead, I carefully remove it from the bead roller and gently slide the bead onto the stick part of a swab. The cotton tip acts as a "handle" for the bead as liquid medium or varnish is applied. Then I push the trimmed end of the swab into the sand to hold the bead upright while it dries.
For beads with holes that are too large for cotton swabs, I use straws of a corresponding diameter. I cut the straws into 3" pieces and slide a bead onto each one. "Stops" made of masking tape wrapped around the straws, or rubber bands twisted onto the straws keep the beads from sliding downward.
Copyright 2013 Lynn Edwards
Once I had the process down after considerable practice, I started thinking of ways to streamline the mechanics of rolling paper beads so the paper strips would stay centered, resulting in a nice, uniform bead. My bead making endeavor took a big leap forward when I discovered bead rollers while cruising Etsy. A bead roller is a simple hand held tool that grips one end of the paper and holds it in place so you have much better control of the paper as you roll it. (My bead rollers work only with paper. I continue to roll fabric beads entirely by hand. I'll cover making fabric beads in a future post.)
Once you start making paper beads, you become a paper addict. Suddenly you see anything made of paper in a whole new light! Can labels, candy wrappers, old stationery, gift wrap, advertising brochures, junk mail...everything that's paper becomes potential bead making fodder. The prospects are unlimited. But to expand my choices even further, I'm also hand painting my own papers using multiple layers of pattern and color. For these papers I use the same professional quality acrylics and permanent inks that I use for making fine art. The reason? The acrylic paints are the most heavily pigmented, most lightfast paints available, and the inks are equally stable. I'm using them so that the beads will look just as good years from now as they do today.
I've also adopted the practice of double coating the outer surface of each bead, particularly those printed from "found" materials, first with a clear acrylic isolation coat, followed by a polymer varnish with UV protection. The two products work in tandem to protect paper beads from fading, and the varnish provides additional protection from dirt and scratches.
Along the way, I've also made several discoveries through trial and error. I share them with you here:
1.The best looking beads have visual impact. Papers with colorful, complex patterns or images and those with high contrast graphics produce dramatic looking beads. A more understated look can be achieved by using papers with soft, blended colors.
2.A paper cutter can eliminate the tedium of cutting papers with a scissors. I spent about $17 on a Fiskar SureCut paper trimmer and love it. With it I can cut papers faster than the speed of light, and with accuracy, too. You can find these gadgets on Amazon, which is where I bought mine, or in arts and crafts stores.
3.Rushing things can ruin an otherwise well constructed bead. Allow beads to dry thoroughly in between applications of glue, medium and varnish.
4.A storage bin lets you dry many beads at the same time. Mine is an upcycled potato salad container with a couple inches of sand in it. (See photo below.) In place of sand you can use raw rice, dried beans or tiny pebbles. The beads are held upright in the sand on cotton swabs. I snip off one end of the swab to remove one of the cotton tips, but leave the other cotton tip in place because it makes the swab easy to grasp. My favorite bead roller creates a hole in the bead that's the exact diameter of the hollow plastic swabs I buy at Walgreens. So after I've rolled the bead, I carefully remove it from the bead roller and gently slide the bead onto the stick part of a swab. The cotton tip acts as a "handle" for the bead as liquid medium or varnish is applied. Then I push the trimmed end of the swab into the sand to hold the bead upright while it dries.
 |
| Cotton tip swabs hold beads upright as they dry in a container filled with sand |
For beads with holes that are too large for cotton swabs, I use straws of a corresponding diameter. I cut the straws into 3" pieces and slide a bead onto each one. "Stops" made of masking tape wrapped around the straws, or rubber bands twisted onto the straws keep the beads from sliding downward.
Copyright 2013 Lynn Edwards
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Beating Boredom by Making Beads
Making Fabric and Paper Beads to Keep in Touch With My Muse
So how does someone whose art supplies are in storage keep her creativity from atrophying? She turns to whatever materials are at hand. In my case, at hand were scissors, a bag of fabric scraps and lots of paper that was destined for recycling. Oh, and a bottle of white glue. Using a TV tray as my work table, I've been having a ball turning out a nice collection of fabric and paper beads from these humble supplies with which to make necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Considering I was completely new at this and had never tried my hand at making beads before, I think they've turned out nicely, don't you think?
What inspired me to try making beads was a book titled Creating Extraordinary Beads From Ordinary Materials: How to Turn Common Everyday Materials Into Uncommonly Beautiful Beads by Tina Casey (North Light Books, 1997). I came across it at the library and was immediately fascinated by the depictions of the many variations of beads that can be fashioned out of commonplace materials just laying around the house.
The Basic Process
The basic process is really pretty simple: you cut your paper or fabric into long strips, then roll it tightly and evenly around a toothpick, straw or similar implement, gluing at intervals to secure it. It took me many tries to get this wrapping technique down because I'm all thumbs. My first few attempts were pretty laughable. But after a while, with more practice, I was able to keep the edges even and was able to turn out a bunch of decent-looking beads. The only problem was that it took me forever to make each one, primarily because it was very hard to wrap paper that was slipping and sliding around a skinny little cocktail stick.A Better Way
I figured there had to be a faster way to roll paper beads, so I turned to the Internet for help. (The process for making fabric beads is a bit different and, to my mind, is less tedious.) By cruising the Internet I learned about something called a bead roller. Basically, it's a tool that allows you to slide the end of the paper into a slotted holder that secures it and allows you to roll the bead much more quickly and without the paper shifting. A quick Internet search for bead rollers turned up sellers offering a wide variety of them at all price points.I opted for an inexpensive set of five bead rollers (each a different diameter) with simple wooden handles for $11. They work great! Now I can roll several beads in the time it used to take me to roll just one. In the past two weeks I've managed to create almost 100 beads -- enough to make several necklace and earring sets. After working on the studio each day, I spend my evenings making beads while relaxing after supper. I love the idea of upcycling discarded paper into functional art, and best of all it's keeping me in a creative mode until I can move into the new studio and unpack my art supplies. As soon as I can get to my paints I'll be embellishing and decorating my beads further, but right now, even in their most basic state, I think they look attractive enough just as they are!
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