Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Does anyone do beading? I started taking an on-line course for Indiginous Beading. Most people I know that do beading, it is putting beads on strings to make necklaces and bracelets. This is attaching beads to material to make pictures.

There are a few designers who are well into beads -- Hazel Blomkamp, for example. I did rather more beading on my "Firebird" piece than I anticipated. There are certainly more sensible and effective ways to use beads than I have done. I'll be interested in what you are doing, Roland.

Sounds like an interesting variation!

Serinde, having looked through the Hazel Blomkamp book I've been given I think she and I have different views on beads - I like them, but not THAT much !

Indeed. But what she does with them!! Roland, if you have a chance you might find her designs interesting from the beading perspective.

Those are interesting. Don’t think I’ve ever seen them before.

I do not think that I have seen beading on material before, Roland., except of course for the occasional bead on a design ( for the center of a flower for example)

Here’s a link with a variety of pictures of bead work.

http://rhondabesaw.com/regalia.html

I never start with anything small. I am hoping to make the peaked cap for my granddaughter. However, finding the wool will be difficult, and I think to expensive. Might try to find something else. But first....must learn how to bead.

Goodness. That's complicated, and learning skills first is a good idea, I suspect.

I’ve been making keychains lately. I don’t follow a design, I don’t even really plan in advance.

This one is fire and sky, given to my daughter-in-law because the one she was using the beads were falling off.



This is night sky.



This is the first I did…to teach myself how.



And my most recent, which my oldest granddaughter asked for.

Fantastic! These look great! and useful, which is always a plus in my book. New skills are so much fun to learn, even if it means a whole slew of different stash...

I love your interpretations of themes like night sky and so on - abstracting them into these colour patterns! What sort of technique do you use to make the chains?

“Technique” makes it sound so fancy.

I burn the end of the nylon thread and pull through the nylon rope. Put 11 or 12 beads on the thread, wrap it, put the needle through the nylon and come out the other side, pull tight. Repeat.

There are a few ways, but I like this way because it’s tighter, and if the nylon gets damaged, you lose less beads if you catch it right away.

As for the themes, I have come to realize with Indigenous crafts, I let them lead me. I’m not sure if that makes sense.

Just mailed these earrings off to my granddaughter. They should arrive next week.

These are so cute!!