BTW - 13th of June 2012

So here's my very last preview of the necklace I've been working on for a while, using bead embroidery. It is almost done. The embroidery is completely done and the Lacy's Stiff Stuff has been attached to a piece of Ultrasuede that I found perfect for this piece.

The other minor things I've added on the necklace are a couple of freshwater pearls and some Swarovski crystal flowers to give the necklace some more "bling".
I've also used a lot of 15/0 seed beads for the final touches of it. I've never used 15/0's in such a wide range in my bead embroidery pieces as I've done in this, and I must say, I really enjoy working with them and I'm definitely going to use them even more in the coming future.

What I'm also planning on adding to the piece, to give it that little extra, is a fringe that I've been having in my mind for quite some time. As soon as the edge is done, I'm moving on to that a-s-a-p :)

Simple Delica Bracelet

First I have to make a confession...
I have always been a bit skeptical about buying delicas or any cylinder beads at all, since I found them rather expensive from place to place. The second reason to why I haven't bought any is also cause I have a hard time picking out what colors I want, since there are... I think over 600 different ones.

So on Thursday I decided to put my stubbornness to the side and buy a couple of different colors. I bough about 10g of black opaque since I know that the main color I mostly work with is black. Then I also bought 5g of each a cream color, gray, crystal/coral lined and transparent coral.
I was actually surprised how many delicas there are per gram, compared to ordinary seed beads. And they are so... Perfect in shape and size, mostly all of them.

I wanted to try my hands on a peyote stitch pattern since I know a lot of people prefer to work delicas on peyote since they are even in size. I admit, working delicas with peyote makes the piece so much nicer then working with ordinary seed beads.
The pattern I chose to work with is from Bricol'Art, and can be found in their "Bead and Win" section on their website for free.

First Kumihimo Attempt

I was so happy this morning when the mail arrived and I noticed that one of my orders I've made arrived. My second order from Bricol'Art. I'd ordered a Kumihimo disc and some C-LON Beading Cord in a couple of colors to start with.
I've been wanting to try out Kumihimo for quite some time now and finally I was able to! I have to say, that it is a real fun technique and also very relaxing. With the Kumihimo disc from "The BeadSmith" you also get the basic instructions so you can start.

I went to Youtube and checked around for some tutorials, and there's a lot of different schemes out there to follow, and the video tutorials for the basic 8 strand braided cord is very easy to follow, and you can grasp this technique pretty quickly.

For my very first Kumihimo braid I went with three different colors; mahogany, chinese coral, tangerine (name of the colors of the cord). I was really pleased after a couple of rows, when the braid began to take shape, so I kept on going until I had a length of 44cm in total. There I stopped, and began to remove my cords from the board.
To make sure it wouldn't ravel up again, I secured each end with some matte tape and then trimmed each end with the tape on so I could safely add some E6000 to the tips and then slide them into the exterminators.

As this was my first Kumihimo project, I wanted to keep it pretty simple. I found a ceramic doughnut that I bought about a year ago since I found it so pretty, even though I wasn't sure I would be able to use it. Guess I was wrong, heh =P
The only thing I did was to make a simple loop through the doughnut and then move both ends of the cord through the loop and tightened it and measured it so they would be even long. I also decided to add some E6000 at the loop, so the pendant would keep sitting in the same position, so it wouldn't have to be adjusted over and over again.

Closeup of the cord itself.

BTW - 6th June 2012

I know I haven't been very active on making new creations lately :)
But, I'm still working now and then on finishing up that bead embroidery necklace that I posted the start of a few weeks ago.
The concept is still almost the same as it was then when it comes to color. I remember how I wrote that I might add some silver later and mainly stick with black beads in different finishes. I've so far incorporated silver seed beads in both 11/0's and 15/0's. After playing around with those wonderful, bright leaves here and there on the design, I actually decided to add them to it, and I think it fits nicely so far.
Yesterday, I played around with some flat backs (German glass, I think) that I've been having in my stash for about one and a half year. The dark blue shine on the flat backs gives a real nice contrast to the piece, and it fits the concept I decided to go. I actually already named the piece, but I won't say what until it's completely done. I also only show a bit of the design on the photo, since I don't want to spoil it too much :)

Last week I also decided to buy some stuff that I've been wanting to add to my stash for a while. I bought some brass cuff links in different sizes and one brass collar link from Robin's Beads. So far they are the only supplier that I've stumbled upon in Europe who sells these, I mean the brass collar links :) Currently, Robin's have them in three different sizes, so I might buy even more later!

I also decided to make my very first purchase from Bricol'Art. At the moment they have a 10% discount on all their metal findings, and I strongly recommend you to take a look.
I've already made my second order from them, and after it arrives I think I'm gonna make a review about them, we'll see :)

Wishlist: Coral

About a month ago or so I decided  to buy a strand of Bamboo Coral chip beads since I was really curious about how they actually look in real life, compared to what I've seen on photos.
Darn, they are really beautiful! They have such a brilliant red color that I just love.
I decided to put together this short article with a couple of different coral beads and cabs, mostly with bamboo corals.

I think they harvest the bamboo coral in Asia, if I remember right, and then dye it to look more like the exotic red coral which can be found in the sea south of France.
The red coral is actually an endangered specie there, due to the facts that it have been harvested too much over the centuries for its beauty.

Bamboo Coral Rondelles from Perles&Co.

4mm round Bamboo Coral beads from I-BEADS.

Fossilised Coral Cabochon from Kernowcraft.

Pink Coral Chip Beads from Kernowcraft.

Red Bamboo Coral Carved 8mm Flowers from HobbyPerline.com