New Giveaway

Finishing my last project left me quite satisfied. My post received so many encouraging comments that I feel I owe my followers a little reward, a new giveaway which I hope you'd like.

I made the scarecrow and the climbing rose. The handmade, clay birdhouse was purchased in Venezuela .
To participate in my draw, you have to be a follower, make a comment on this post and, only if you want to, put a link on your blog. The draw will be on 22 September by the random number generator.

Ilona asked me what size is the collage.  It is 78x58 cms.

My husband is holding Sans' little suitcase against the collage.  I still think a background like this is more suitable for the suitcase garden.  Who knows, maybe sometime in the future I'll make something in this style.

A warm welcome and thank you to new followers

Olgita - www.plushyk.blogspot.co.il
Wyrna - http://afairytalecometruewyrna.blogspot.co.il
Susso - minajamuut.blogspot.co.il
Axfu42 - Please let me know if you have a blog I can visit.
Villa Conejo - Please let me know if you have a blog I can visit

I wish you a wonderful weekend.  Blessings to all

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Bead Spotlight: Twins and Tilas

In their own way, two hole beads have been taking the beadweaving world by storm. First we saw the release of the much-anticipated Tilas by Miyuki - tile shaped seed beads with parallel holes. Although they aren’t as versatile as other shaped seed beads, projects using these tiny tiles have been cropping up everywhere. The double hole makes them a little tricky to incorporate into existing designs and stitches, but they are perfect for constructing unique beadwork that lends itself to the unique shape of the beads.

Left to Right:

Matte Grey-Blue Rainbow Tilas from Artbeads.com,
Matte Dark Orange Rainbow Tilas from Fusion Beads,
Opaque Canary Tilas from Auntie’s Beads

Matte Opaque Turquoise Tilas from Beadaholique,
Opaque Satin Matte Brown Tilas from Fire Mountain Gems,
Antique Rose Luster Tilas from Bobbi’s This n That on Etsy

Here are just a few examples of the fantastic tutorials available for Tilas:

Tila Wheels Tutorial for Bib Necklaces by Whimbeads
Tila Cuff Video Tutorial by Beadaholique
Karla Kam Simple Woven Tila Bracelet Tutorial by Auntie's Beads
Sky’s the Limit Necklace Project by Artbeads.com
Sunrise Bracelet Project by Fusion Beads
Tribeca Tila Cuff Project by Beadaholique

Naturally, competitors wanted to get in on the action, and Czech bead makers responded with not one, but two styles of double-hole beads. Both the Twin and Czech Mate beads are much curvier than Tilas. The tiny twin beads are like a hybrid of Tilas and Peanuts, and warm up to traditional seed beads with ease. The Czech Mate is more akin to pressed glass beads, and can work double duty as seed beads or accents.

Light-Green Crystal Two-Hole Beads from Artbeads.com,
Opaque Beige Picasso Czech Mate Beads from Dream Jewelry Supplies on Etsy,
Celsian Siam Ruby Czech Mates from Lima Beads,

Jet Dark Teal Pearl Twin Beads from Beadaholique,
Matte Color Mixed Lumi Twin Beads from Beads and Babble on ArtFire,
Bright Opaque Red Twin Beads from Yashma Creations on Etsy

And a few fun Twin Bead Projects:

Twin Beaded Bead Stretch Bracelet by Beadaholique
Spiral Twin Bead Bracelet by Julia Gerlach and Bead & Button
Twin Bead Rivoli Bezel Tutorial by Sashi Si
Circular Stitch Twin Bead Bracelet Video by Beadaholique

Do you have a favorite two-hole bead style?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Man Cave Camo Chairs

Last spring I bought a couple of dilapidated director's chairs for $5. My plan was to paint one a Caribbean Blue and the other a bright pink
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Inspiring Links: August 2012

It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a roundup of delightful and inspiring links! With two of the most crafty seasons of the year coming up, and a new school year looming, the bar on creativity is now going up, up, up. Here are some of my favorite articles, products, and tutorials of late.

I love the way that the ribbon and bead embroidery perfectly complement each other in this beautiful Daybreak Frost necklace project from the Artbeads.com Learning Center. The giant Swarovski cabochon in my favorite Montana Sapphire blue helps, too!

A picture is worth 1000 words - no matter what language you speak. We all know that beading ideas and inspiration aren’t held back by language - just look at the popularity of the infamous White Russian Beading Book. So I was thrilled to learn about a wonderful Egyptian Facebook page, care of one of my fans. El Antiquo Egipto is written entirely in Spanish, but the pictures are amazing.

Are you a fan of the TLC show Craft Wars? It’s received a lot of critisism lately for making a mockery of craft, and failing to live up to the inspiring and creative qualities of its predecessor, Project Runway. Even with guests like Margot Potter, the over-usage of odd materials and hot glue does leave something to be desired. If you were in charge, what would you do to make Craft Wars better?

Speaking of Margot Potter, check out this fun damask pattern locker magnet tutorial on Make It With Madge! It’s perfect for back to school, and was inspired by some of the store-bought trends for locker accessories this year.

The best thing about fall is the colors, followed closely by the tastes. This is a bit of a shameless plug, but I can’t resist sharing my favorite fall recipe, Perfect Blackberry Crisp. The secret ingredient ensures that your dessert will be perfect for fans of both sour and sweet!

We’ve already seen some fantastic beading accessory tutorials in the form of fabulous pincushions, but what about storage spaces? Back to school time provides great opportunities to discover ways of refreshing your work space with decorative jars for holding scissors, pencils, dowels, and rulers. Crafts by Amanda has a cute neon pencil holder tutorial, and here’s a more stylish version in burlap from Simply Chic Treasures.

If you’re a creative over the age of 20, and grew up in North America, chances are you know and love the work of PBS painting personality Bob Ross. If you haven’t already seen this fantastic Bob Ross Remixed video, it might bring a tear to your eye!

I’m a thrifty bead shopper. Getting the most value for shipping costs is a big factor when I shop online, so one-stop-shopping is a must for me, and I’m really excited about some new additions to two of my favorite bead stores. FusionBeads.com recently added 125 yard Fireline spools to their amazing selection - a definite must have for obsessive seed-beaders like me.

And, one of my favorite methods for trying out new bead colors and styles is to add a few fun pieces to my regular seed bead orders. Auntie’s Beads is a favorite destination for fun focals, and now I have an excuse to visit them more often. They’ve recently added tons of new seed bead colors to their inventory!

Nature is one of our very best sources for inspiration, and it’s wonderful when we can find new ways of looking at these bounties. Check out this fantastic rainbow ocean collage by the inspiring folks with the David Suzuki Foundation, and Marine Detective.

And last but not least, I want to extend a huge thank you to AllFreeJewelryMaking.com for adding Inspirational Beading and myself to their desiger profiles. Many of our favorite beading tutorials are featured in their enormous database of jewelry and beading techniques.

Are you getting excited about fall? What’s your favorite inspiration right now?

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Inspired Beader: Louise Goodchild

One of the most versatile of beading materials - apart from seed beads, of course - is malleable and adaptable beading wire. Unlike the beads themselves, wire can be shaped, wrapped, twisted and curled into an endless variety of designs. One artist who makes the most of these qualities is the very talented Louise Goodchild. Her creative and detailed wire wrapped pendants are something to behold.

Inspriational Beading: How did you first get into jewelry design?

Louise: I fell into it quite by accident. I was working for a haberdashery wholesaler, and one day I spotted a little box of beads and findings on one of the shelves. The rest, as they say, is history!

Inspirational Beading: Do you remember your first wirework design? Where is it today?

Louise: Ooh, first wirework design, that's a tough one. It was probably a wrapped bead bracelet (which I still enjoy making).

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite kind of bead or jewelry component?

Louise: I'm a complete bead addict, but I'm especially fond of glass - handmade lampwork, Czech glass and most of all, teeny tiny seed beads. They're just so versatile, and they come in the most fantastic array of colours.

Inspirational Beading: Where do you find the most inspiration?

Louise: Inspiration can strike from anywhere! I'm most inspired by nature - trees, water, flowers and leaves. But I also take inspiration from legends, fairy tales and the seasons. I also find it fun but useful to participate in challenges set by the Etsy team I'm a member of - the Wire Goddess Team. There's no prize for the challenges, but I think it does me good to use a set theme as a springboard. It's certainly resulted in some pieces I'd probably never have made otherwise!

Inspirational Beading: What was the inspiration behind your favorite design?

Louise: My favourite piece is probably still my lilypad pendant - it looks quite simple to me now, but I was so pleased with the way it turned out at the time, and I love those colours!

Inspirational Beading: Is there a material or subject that you would love to work with, but haven’t tried yet?

Louise: I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and attempt silversmithing at some point, although the reason I haven't so far is the same one that prevents me from trying out lampworking - I am regrettably accident-prone and I don't want to end up either burning down the house or getting myself sent to Casualty! I'm also tempted by resin, which may be a little safer…

Inspirational Beading: Who do you hope to inspire with your work?

Louise: I would like to inspire anyone out there who fancies having a go, or is like I was, and hasn't even considered it. Making jewellery, and becoming involved in creating handmade work has really opened my eyes to the astonishing wealth of talent out there all around the world. It's quite humbling, really, but it's great to be a part of that worldwide talent, even in a small way. No-one should ever feel discouraged by the work they see that seems so much better than theirs. It's a fact of life that there's always someone better than you - there'd be nothing to aspire too, otherwise!

You can see more of Louise Goodchild’s beautiful designs in her Etsy shop, or catch up with the latest pieces on Facebook. Louise also shares inspirations and ideas on her blog, Confessions of a Wire Worker.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Louise Goodchild
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Shed and Annex completed

This project took less  time than I thought, due to all the lovely gifts received from great friends.
I am quite pleased with the results and hope you too will like it.

This is the finished annex. It's a combined project, including Sans' wonderful rusty suitacase -http://sansdollhousediaries.blogspot.co.il. Sandra's lovely water can, railings and hortensias -http:samirasminis.blogspot.co.il and Tatiana's beautiful rose and violets -http://mylittlelittledream.blogspot.co.il

"Stone" walls inlays.

Note the little bird on the railings.

Before the climbing rose.

A lot of work, making the climbing rose.

The potting shed.  Here are Blanca's beautiful flower pots and Carmen's "tin" cans and box - http://pekevasion.blogspot.co.il

Potting shed and annex.  They can stand side by side and also separately.  I'm thinking of makin a
transparent cover for the boxes instead of installing them in an IKEA greenhouse.

It's still  very hard to get used to the heat here, day after day. From the beach,  Nilly brought me more tiny seashells.  I'm experimenting with making new boxes.

Blessings to all my readers

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Is This Thing On?

Have you ever looked at your work space and felt like you’ve just stumbled out of a weird dream, or come back from a long vacation, or that you just have no idea what’s going on? This is the feeling I get whenever I start a project that gets away from me. I start avoiding beads without even realizing it, until it seems like I’ve lost track of my talents. It’s a lot like that feeling that you’ve forgotten to do something really important, but can’t figure out what it is.

A while back, I started a new herringbone rope necklace, with the plan that it would gobble up all of my miscellaneous 11/o seed bead remainders. I mixed together all the reds, yellows, greens, and blues, and cut into one of my new black hanks. Everything was going great, and then I started to get a little bored. I started worrying about how exactly I was going to add one clasp to two ropes. Before I knew it, I was avoiding beading, and even planning blog posts left me feeling drained.

So, I decided it was time to take a rest from this project - refresh and restart my creativity. I pulled out my strand of wasabi green diamonds, and worked on a multi-strand necklace, similar to the one featured in this month’s fashion collages. I needed something funky for the backdrop, and I thought it would be refreshing to use up a whole lot of my very precious tortoiseshell druks.

I was still dragging my feet a little, feeling creatively drained, but the new necklace turned out great. I tried going back to the color blocked rope project, but I just didn’t feel it. I’ve decided to leave it on the tray for those middle of the night emergency beading situations, when I still have half a movie left to watch, and I don’t feel like digging out new beads when another project is finished. Eventually I’ll find the right mood and moment to finish it, but for now, I think I need to make a striped cuff or something really ‘me’.

I'm not sure what this could mean for the destash challenge. I only have a few months left, and the remaining beads have yet to inspire me. I'm determined to finish, but I have to find a way to make the beads work for me, instead of working against them.

Have you had any beading mishaps or creative slumps lately? What do you do to get past them?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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To Bee or Not To Bee

Have you ever had a great idea for a project, have it pretty much all planned out in your head, and then can't make it work? That's what happened with this lamp. I got this for a steal at a yard sale awhile back and had some great ideas for it. The brass was pretty shot on it so I knew I would have to paint it.
At first it was going to be antiqued white with a cream or burlap shade. But when I took a really good look at it I found this great detail on it that I wanted to highlight.
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Tatiana's gifts

Gorgeous miniatures, all handcrafted by a most talented miniaturist and a lovely, generous person, Tatiana -  http://mylittlelittledream.blogspot.co.il. If you are not already familiar with Tatiana's blog, a visit is most recommendable.
I have no words enough to describe my delight and joy at receiving these wonderful gifts.  Here are some photos. I hope they do justice to Tatiana's work.

A lovely postcard showing the city of Kiyev, Ukraine, Tatania's home town. Wow! I am so fortunate!

This tiny and very delicate tea set will go to the Bavarian rooms.

A precious pair of delightful teddy bears.

Flowers and plants that will go to the potting shed anned.  You will soon see them again.

Two tiny round boxes with flower decorated lids.

A beautiful wooden gold painted box, tiny perfect bell and candle holder and a lovely rose doily. All

perfect for the Bavarian rooms.

Here comes the most precious gift - A Stunning sewing Box

Full of ribbons, threads, and other sewing stuff.

Tiny buttons in the drawer.

THANK YOU DEAR TATIANA.  YOUR WORK IS FANTASTIC!

A very warm welcome to new followers

Farida - http://sirinseyleratolyesi.blogspot.co.il
Maribel - maribel41.blogspot.co.il
Marisa - http://steinworks.blogspot.co.il
Susy do Brasil - Please let me know if you have a blog to follow.
Illyria Miniatures - Please let me know if you have a blog to follow.

I am very happy and grateful to learn that the number of followers is growing and I shall soon be preparing a new giveaway.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend with all my blessings.

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Bead Shopping Made Fun

It is truly an amazing time to be a beader, or an artist of any kind. Heaps and mounds and oodles of inspiration are right at our fingertips, and some of the tools available to us are incredibly fun to use. Pinterest is a fantastic example, and you know that Polyvore is one of my personal favorites. These are great tools that reach out and sweep in inspiration from every source imaginable, but there is one fantastic resource that caters just to beaders.

I’ve been meaning to try out the Fresh Picks tool at Lima Beads for a long time. I haven’t yet had the pleasure of shopping for myself at the store, but their selection of colorful, quality beads is really excellent, and I’ve shared a few of them here in the past. Every time I visit, I have a peek at the latest Fresh Picks - selections of beads and beading products chosen by customers and staff.

There are some really talented Pickers, who create beautiful boards of beads in every theme imaginable. There aren’t just color selections, but shapes, materials, moods, and even Picks that tell a story. Here are a few of my favorites from just this month:

Carnival





Tending the Pumpkins





Squared Off





Egypt





Dill Pickles

Right now, Lima Beads has an easy color picker of the Fall 2012 Pantone line-up - two pages each of beads, findings, and beading materials that match this year’s palette. Of course I couldn’t resist using my favorite Pantone picks as inspiration for my first ever Fresh Picks!

Pantone Peacock

Making a Fresh Pick is incredibly easy - all you have to do is click the flower icon over a product that you like, to add it. For all the basics, Lima Beads has a detailed guide to creating Fresh Picks. And the best part? Your picks can be chosen for showcases on the website, and may even go on sale for a limited time!

Have you used the Fresh Picks tool before? What’s your favorite way to use it?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and LimaBeads.com
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Bead Wish List: By The Hank

It’s confession time again, beaders: I’m cheating on my Japanese seed beads with Czech hanks, and it’s fantastic! There are so many pros when buying Czech seed beads by the hank - great quantity at a low price being just one of them. I also love that you can hold all those beads in your hand at one time - again, the quantity is amazing - and apart from the threads, there’s no plastic packaging required.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: Japanese seed beads are much better quality than the Czech variety. One or two years ago, I would have agreed with you, but now I’m not so sure. Of course if you need absolute precision for something like graphic peyote stitch, you want the quality of Delicas, but for everyday round seed bead designs? Czech seed beads are often just as good as Japanese ones, particularly in the opaque finishes. While the sizes of the beads can vary a lot on a single hank, the actual amount of culled beads or wonky beads is much less than the more expensive packets and vials.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of Czech seed beads vs. Japanese seed beads (rounds, not Delicas). Which do you prefer overall? In the meantime, here are some delightfully tempting, cascading hanks of ‘rocailles’.

Opaque Rainbow Multi Mix Hank
From Beadaholique






Matte Opaque Olive Green Hank
From piecesparts






Turquoise Topaz Picasso Mix Strands
From Beads-and-Babble






Vintage Green Iris Maco Tubes
From Evez Beadz






Opaque Black Precioca Hank
From Canterbury Lane






Transprent Denim Glass Bead Strand
From Happy Mango Beads






Southwest Mix Mini Hank
From Spirit Bear Beads



And...



Transparent Dark Orange Preciosa Hank
From Fire Mountain Gems

Happy beading!

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