Alley's Tribal Necklace

Since Stones and Tribal are being featured together this weekend we wanted to show off one more of Alley Mori's creations. Based off Janice's Trail's End bracelets, Alley made another "convertible," this can be worn as a necklace or as a wrap bracelet. As usual, Alley's eye for color, design, technique, and her sheer ingenuity are on display. With leather wall knots, Tribal beads galore, and an ingenious use of a Vintage Find, Alley has hit another home run!  Scroll down for the full list of ingredients and techniques used, and please enjoy!

Ingredients List

1 Pkg Distressed Gray 2.0mm Indian Leather 

1 Vintage Finds Wanderlust- Golden Serpentine 
1 Spool Light Copper Regular C-Lon 

1 Pkg Tide’s Out- Pumpkin 

3 Pkgs Keep Away- Red and Yellow 

1 Tube West African Mix- Earth 

1 Strand Popcorn Padres- Natural 

1 Tube 6-1233 Matte Opaque Mustard 6/0 Miyuki Seed Beads

1 Tube 6-1255 Matte Metallic Bronze 6/0 Miyuki Seed Beads

1 Tube 6-1236 Matte Terracotta 6/0 Miyuki Seed Beads

1 Strand Tribal Heishi- Brass 

1 Pkg Rattle 'n Shake- Brass 

1 Pkg Pony- Brass 

1 Pkg Pony Express- Brass 

1 Large-hole Serpentine bead from a beadshop.com Trunk Show, any large holed bead will do!

Techniques Used

How to Macrame

Learning the Wall Knot

Alley's closure consists of a loop of leather to secure around her Wanderlust stone. That leather loop is wall-knotted ends with a large-holed Pony Bead, then knotted around the macrame loop created in the strung bead section. The tails of the leather are decorated with Rattle 'n Shake and beads from the West African Mix. For the strung section, Alley starts at the Wanderlust with several strands of C-Lon going through the holes of the Wanderlust and knotted behind. Note the single Pony Express bead embellishment at the center...how pretty! Her strands are strung with her selection of Tribal beads and 6/0s. See how she tapers her strands at the end, combining two strands into one, before ending them in a macrame loop attached to her leather knot. Before attaching here, a large-holed Pony bead and her large-holed Serpentine bead are strung over her macrame loop to hide the end of it. 

Alley Mori's Maya Mix Necklace

This weekend, as we feature Stones and Tribal together, seemed like the perfect time to showcase Alley's beautiful necklace, based off Janice's Trail's End bracelet design. This piece is truly a work of art, and also a two-for! It can be worn as a necklace or wrapped around your wrist as a bracelet. As usual, Alley's eye for color, design, technique, and her sheer ingenuity are on display. Supplementing our February 2019 Monthly Mix, Maya, are a selection of beautiful semiprecious stones and tribal beads, including heishi, shadows, and more of the Natural Padres found in the mix. Scroll down for the full list of ingredients and techniques used, and please enjoy!

Ingredients List

1 Pkg Sable 1.5mm Indian Leather

1 Spool Gold Fine C-Lon
1 Vintage Finds Pinwheel- Blue Serpentine
1 Strand Popcorn Padres- Natural

1 Strand Matte African Turquoise- 6mm
1 Strand Matte African Turquoise- Large Hole
1 Strand Tribal Heishi- Brass 
1 Strand Shadows- Antique Brass (Bright Brass also works!)
1 Large-hole Serpentine bead (Alley bought hers from one of our Trunk Shows, but any large hole bead will work, it hides the end of the macramé loop) 

1 Tube Maya, February 2018 Monthly Mix, or purchase separately once sold out:

• 8-4481 Duracoat Opaque Eucalyptus
• 8-409- Opaque Chocolate 8/0
• 8-1233 Matte Opaque Mustard
• 8-4202- Duracoat Galvanized Gold 8/0
• 8/0 Metal Seed Beads - Gilding Matte Gold Plate
• 6-135S- Silver Lined Dark Topaz 6/0
• Popcorn Padres Natural

Techniques Used

How to Macrame

Learning the Wall Knot

Alley's closure consists of a loop of leather to secure around her Pinwheel stone. That leather loop is wall-knotted and strung with Padre beads and ended with a large-holed Matte African Turquoise bead and knotted. The tails of the leather are decorated with Padres, 6/0s, and Shadows. For the strung section, Alley starts at the Pinwheel with several strands of Fine C-Lon going through the holes of the Pinwheel and knotted behind. Note the single Shadow bead embellishment at the center...how pretty! Her strands are strung with the Maya mix, 6mm African Turquoise, Shadows, and Heishi. See how she tapers her strands at the end, combining two strands into one, before ending them in a macrame loop attached to her leather knot. Before attaching here, a large-holed Matte African Turquoise and her large-holed Serpentine bead are strung over her macrame loop to hide the end of it. 

Free Tip Friday: The Josephine Knot Bracelet

Hey Everyone!

What a fun broadcast today, if I do say so myself ;). I am really in love with this knot... and I think the resulting bracelet is a real winner. Super fast and super easy to make with a lot of "curb appeal".

What more could you ask for??

Today also marke the time we broadcasted LIVE on three platforms, the usual FB LIVE and we added a live feed on our YouTube Channel and our website. Give our YouTube channel a follow and you will be notified when we go LIVE on that platform. Big thanks to our webmaster Karen, for making that happen!!!

Here is what I used for the samples:

2 colors 1mm Leather

(Metallic Charcoal & Metallic Red)

(Metallic Teal & Metallic Gold)

1 Czech Glass Button

(Star Red Wine)

(Flower Star Turq Gold)

4 Czech Roller Beads

(Antique Silver Roller)

(Capri Gold Roller)

3 Transition Beads 

(Silver)

(Antique Copper)

Free Tip Friday: Vintage Inspired Carrier Bead Cuff

Another Free Tip Friday in the books. This design was inspired by the vintage feeling of the carrier beads and my love of cuffs created in the vintage style using memory wire.

I used the following supples in my design:

• 4mm Persian Turquoise Picasso
• Carrier Bead- Olive Bronze
• Falling Brass Leaf Charm
• Memory Wire Copper 2 1/4'. If you have smaller wrists, you may want to size down to the 2" memory wire.
• Zap Glue
• Memory Wire Cutters

You can change up the design by alternating the colors of the Carrier Beads and 4mm Fire Polish.

Check out the video below for all the details on creating your own. Enjoy and I can't wait to see what you make!

Advancing Your Bead Weaving Skills

Beadshop continues its venture into bead weaving by adding more free projects to its collection and devoting more Facebook Live shows to this wonderful way to bead. More projects mean more techniques and stitches as well, all of which can be found in what we call our Seed Bead School. We have covered brick stitch, spiral rope, and peyote, all three of which are well-known bead weaving stitches. Now, you can add right angle weave, also referred to by the acronym RAW, to that list. RAW is a stitch that is a little more advanced, but if you have been following along with beadshops' Seed Bead School series, you are ready to give it a try.

Austin ~ Project and Sample by Emily Miller

Two free projects using RAW are now available for downloading. First, there's bright and cheery Austin, which combines size 11/0 seed beads in shades of topaz and also bright yellow along with size 6/0 Miyuki Baroque Pearls in a beautiful golden color. We recommend using Fireline as your stringing medium for these bracelets, which will require you to make multiple passes through some of the beads, because while Fireline is thin enough for use with seed beads, it's also very strong. 

New York, New York ~ Project and Sample by Emily Miller

New York, New York also uses beautiful 6/0 Miyuki Baroque Pearls, but this time in a silver color. Their organic shape and texture combined with a shiny pearlized finish make them look like natural pearls. However, they are a better choice to weave with since Miyuki strives to create beads with uniform holes. The smaller 11/0 seed beads in this project are shades of blue: Moody Blue, Eucalyptus, and Silver Gray Ceylon. 

One of the benefits to right angle weave stitch is that you can make chunky jewelry pieces that still have a lot of drape to them. Whichever one of these two new projects - Austin or New York, New York - that you decide to attempt, you will love the finished product.

Connections: 9.6.17

Hello again, dear friends! I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing long weekend! If you spent some of that time beading, be sure to send me your work, I'd love to feature it in a future Connections post. Just email them to me at the customer service email: info@beadshop.com. As for today, we’ve got some really stunning pieces to show off, so pull up a chair and get ready to be inspired!

Happy beading!

-Drea

From Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, comes Lynn C. and her beautiful blues. A simple pair of earrings using our Tide’s Out in Marina matched with some beads and components from her own stash, they really do stand out. Love those patterned jump rings, Lynn! And your wirework is impeccable--perfect coils make a piece look so professional. 

Let me just preface this next submission from Lynn as being a favorite of mine…I am a Superduo fan, but I am also a fan of fancy knots! And this knot is so gorgeous…what a fantastic way to end and begin a ladder bracelet! Lynn told me it’s called a Josephine Knot, and with Josephine being my grandmother’s name…well, I had to learn how to do it! Lynn was kind enough to send me a diagram she found on Pinterest…mine don’t look as perfect as Lynn’s, but I did give it a try! Lynn’s beautiful Seashore-inspired wrap uses Picasso Turquoise Blue and Silver Superduos (try Full Labrador if you'd like to make a similar design), Metallic Grey 1.5mm leather, and Fireline—which we just started carrying in the shop!

“I've been making the ladder bracelets for a good many years but I have learned some great tips from Kate and Janice's broadcasts and the project lessons.  As the saying goes, ‘Even an old dog can learn new tricks!’"

Next up is some pretty looming sent in from Sheila A. in Arroyo Grande, CA. Using our Strawberry Lemonade Monthly Mix and some turquoise and gold beads from her own stash. Would you believe this is Sheila’s first loomed piece? It’s so very well done. She used an Endless Loom and says “all in all it was great fun and a rewarding experience.”  Our newest Monthly Mix, Harvest Time, is just out! We think it'd look great loomed or woven, and takers? Show us your work!

Debbie M. from Reno sends me her version of our project Homewood. She’s changed the button to our Giant Sunflower, and she’s also mixed up the pattern sequence and added some short sections of macrame, which all looks really great! She’s also added in some Empathy in Picture Jasper to use as charms, those heart-shaped jaspers are beauties! Debbie likes to create a project in our color ways first to learn, then to re-create or adjust in her own colors and styles. It's a great way to learn a technique or project and then make it your own.

Debbie also created these leather earrings. How cute are these? They’re very light, she says, which is great for women wanting a larger or longer earring without the weight. Black leather, a pair of foldover crimps, and some Shadows and Sliders…easy-peasy! This is a great way to use up some leftover leather that’s too short for a bracelet. Smart, Debbie!

Kendra D. from San Geronimo, CA, sent Kate a photo of her completed Brick Stitch project after watching Emily’s FB Live Broadcast. The stitch was a challenge for her…or so she claims. It looks perfect to us! We’d never have known! Kendra has a few pearls of wisdom for us and anyone else starting bead weaving: “I would encourage using matte 8/0 seed beads, even with the tension issue, I found them easier to see and maneuver. I also watched the video over and over to see how the first row of brick stitch was done…ie from what angle did the needle enter the beads. I used a shorter, squatter size  #10 needle so I could see it enter and exit ‘cleanly’ through a bead or a stitch.”

Good tips, Kendra, and thanks!! Using full Tilas in Mustard, Picasso Seafoam Green 8/0s, and her own button…this is a great work of art! 

One question we are asked often is “what’s a good men’s bracelet?” While we do have a few projects that are easily unisex, we have the Herringbone Ladder single wrap that was designed for men. Debbie G., our resident St. Louis Cardinals fan, made one of these and then adjusted the design to make two more. She makes them for her adult sons, which we think is really sweet!

This first one is straight out of Lauren Hartman’s Herringbone Ladder project. Using Picasso Opaque Coral Red Superduos and 8/0s on the edge, dark brown leather and a button that looks like a Buffalo Nickel coin.

These two of Debbie's own design are very cool. Rather than add beads on the outer edges of the Superduo herringbone, she’s added a bead in the center. It’s still a chevron look but with a distinctive flair. We’re loving it! She says they're a silver-lined clear 8/0, which would give a little shine without being feminine. It's like a racing stripe...what guy wouldn't like that??

These two use Crystal Bronze Fire Red and Jet Picasso Superduos, respectively. They also both use a clear 8/0 in the center, and Natural leather, and Debbie's own buttons. Your sons are lucky guys, Debbie!

Thanks, as always, everyone, for sending in your beautiful work. If you would like to be featured, too, send your photos to me at info@beadshop.com with "Connections" in the subject line.

Connections 8.18.17

Hey everybody! I can’t wait to share these amazing customer submissions we’ve gotten over the past two weeks…I took a short Connections hiatus last week so I could bring you the Tiara Challenge, but I am back this week and ready to show! Let’s start off with a bang…

From Mountain View, CA, Kathi G. sent us this absolutely amazing Memory Wire bracelet that she created for a friend. A self-proclaimed “bead collector,” Kathi had an amazing selection to choose from in her stash to create this piece, inspired by the colors of the state of California:

“On one end, it begins with the greens of the Giant Redwood Groves and marijuana farms in the northern part of the state, then moves into the Wine Country hills and grape vines with scattered Cabernet and Chardonnay colors.  Next are the greens and whites of the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains (but no neon bright ski jackets).  Moving westward across the San Francisco Bay, there is a glimpse of the rusty orange of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Then traveling south, there are sandy beaches, the aqua Pacific, and the blue sky.  The southern part of the state starts with endless gray highways, bright sun, golden hills and ubiquitous bougainvillea.  Lastly, there are the desert tans, sage greens and occasional bright poppies and surprise wildflowers of the Joshua Tree National Park.”

Isn’t that just incredible? This bracelet uses so many different beads, from 6/0s and 8/0s (in colors like Matte Terracotta, Picasso Seafoam Green, and Matte Transparent Gray AB) to one of nearly every single round from Dakota Stones that we carry…its a great mix that works together so beautifully. This is a great project to use up odds and ends in your stash!

Jeannie L. from Schenectady, NY sends us her really cool takes on Spiral Rope. She’s incorporated bugle beads into her spiral and they give these necklaces a really interesting look. This is a great idea to try once you've mastered the basics (which Emily will help you do here!)

“I have been stitching seed beads for quite some time. My spirals here have size 8s in the middle, bugles, 11s on outside and the pink one has an additional 3mm Czech glass beads. I have learned so much from watching and trying new projects. Thank you!”

No, Jeannie, thank you! It’s great to know that even seasoned seed beaders are picking up new tips and tricks from Emily, and of course we love to see what’s being made! Pardon the pun, but this new twist on the Spiral Rope is just brilliant.

Donna H. of Tallassee, AL sent in another piece, if you remember in our first post we shared her Mini Off the Cuff and a Macrame wrap bracelet made with hemp. This week she shares her own Pathways Cuff in a stunning Topaz Vitrail Matte Superduo and Champagne S/L Matte 8/0s. With an Abalone button to finish the look, it’s a stunner. 

We don't carry the same colors, I am sorry to say! But this abalone-inspired piece made me want to create my own version of a shell-colored Pathways Cuff. Here's what we suggest:

Crystal Capri Gold Matte SuperDuos

Dark Beige Ceylon 8/0 Miyuki Seed Beads

Oceana Button

Finally, I want to share some pieces that just came across my inbox just this morning. Marian S. sent us some photos of her work, all the way from the Phillipines! 

She's created a bright Born Yesterday with Turquoise and a Tree of Life Button, using her own pendant instead of a Pi Disc. I think Blue Calico 8mm would be a good substitute for the Turquoise, and since so many colors complement blue you could really choose any Pi Disc for a pendant.

 Marian also created aBeaded Berry Chain bracelet and earrings set. How cute are these? Her blue-green color palette is fresh and summery and would complement a variety of outfits.

“I have been watching your videos for quite some time now.  I'm a long time beader/crafter since I retired in 2006.  But since I started watching your videos, I have learned so much and have been inspired to try my hand in the various projects your group has been sharing.  I always look forward to your shows every week.  I live in the Philippines so if I try to watch your shows live, I'll have to wake up really early.”

Lastly, a really pretty Tricks to Looming using 3mm Miyuki Cubes in a pattern: Try it yourself in Mate Metallic Khaki Iris and Black. 

Thanks for waking up early to join us, Marian! It's so cool to see submissions come in from far away locales.

That’s it for this week!  We’d love for you to share your work with us! Email photos to me at info@beadshop.com with “Connections” in the subject line…I can’t wait to see what you’ve been working on!

Happy beading!

-Drea

Time for Tahoe Bracelets

Summer Tahoe- Ocean Breeze
Project by Janice Parsons ~ Sample by Emily Miller 

The Tahoe bracelet project is an old favorite from Beadshop and the most popular selling project as well, so this easy-to-make bracelet project was overdue for a summer makeover. Thanks to Emily and Jen, the original Tahoe designed by Janice has three new looks. You can either use the list of ingredients and how-to information provided for each design provided on Beadshop's Tahoe project page. 

Everything you need to make this bright jewelry piece just screams summertime: The 1.5mm and 1mm leather pieces are a pretty blue color called Seafoam, and an accent of yellow in the form of opaque matte mustard 6/0 seed beads add even more color to this bracelet. The cute copper heart charm shows how much you will love making and then wearing this bracelet. 

Summer Tahoe- Beachfront
Project by Janice Parsons ~ Sample by Emily Miller

Beachfront is another Summer Tahoe design that includes some blue. This time these turquoise colored 6/0 seed beads are also matte and metallic. Silver colored beads, findings, and leather in a metallic pearl complete the bracelet.

Summer Tahoe- Wine Country
Project by Janice Parsons ~ Sample by Jen Tello

If you prefer gold over silver, then Wine Country will be more to your taste. The findings, some of the beads, and clasp are gold-tone. Even the leather is a golden color, called Metallic Champagne. The seed beads, which are an easy to handle size 6/0, are Matte Terracotta. 

During a Beadshop Live Facebook show, Kate and Emily walk you through making a Tahoe bracelet, so you can follow along with them. Additionally, there are detailed episode notes in case you want to skip ahead a little. Tahoe is a simple bracelet to make for anyone who has some beading experience, and for new beaders, you can just slow it down a little as you watch Kate and Emily show you how and learn from their tips along with way.