Bead Spotlight: Shell and Pearl

Summer is a wonderful time of year for the found object beader. The weather is perfect for spending hours combing beaches for beautiful sea glass, stones, driftwood and shells to use in jewelry. These little treasures are even more wonderful when found at a favorite vacation spot, and make for great keepsake designs.

The difference between beach shells and typical shell beads is that the latter is usually man made, and created from the inner layers of certain shells. Mother of pearl, or nacre, is a common material for jewelry, not just as beads, but also as inlay for elaborate luxury components.

Shell and pearl beads come in an amazing array of sizes, shapes and colors. Most natural and man made types of shell can be bleached and dyed to achieve any color, giving beaders an endless supply of inspiration and design freedom.

Shell Bib Necklace
by Leanne Designs

Because we can instantly recognize mother of pearl by it’s iridescent finish, shell jewelry in any color palette often has a summery feel to it. We see a strong emotional connection between shells, and beaches, and sunshine.

Here are a few fun projects to try using different types of shell beads and pearls:

Something Blue Bridal Hair Pin from The {NewNew}
Falling Water Necklace from paper n stitch
Pearl and Starfish Necklace by Irina Miech and Bead Style Magazine

Happy beading!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Leanne Designs

A Flicker of Inspiration: Sunsets

August is here, and that means summer is nearly over. Although we may rush to try and fit in a few more summer activities, the days will grow shorter, and lazier. One of the most telling signs of summer’s end is our reluctance to head indoors. Sitting around the campfire or on the patio until the sun goes down is a great summer tradition, and makes for some beautiful memories. Perhaps these colorful sunsets will inspire your next great beading palette!

1. Post-storm sunset, 2. Palm Tree Sunset, 3. Purple Sunset over Toronto,
4. Pirate Ship Sunset, 5. Spring Storm, Sunset, 6. Fiery Sunset Over Snow Fields,
7. Field at Sunset - HDR, 8. Field Sunset, 9. Mountain Sunset,
10. Simien Mountain Sunset, 11. Mountain Sunset, 12. Gun Beach Sunset, 13. Landscape

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Big Huge Labs

Beading Tutorial: Double Spiral

Flutterby Double Spiral Necklace

The best thing about a simple beading technique is it’s adaptability. Take a basic stitch and add different colors, shapes, and patterns, and you have a unique design all your own. It’s the simple techniques that we reach for again and again, because we know they can get the job done.

One of my favorite stitches is the double spiral. Although it’s easy to do, and looks fantastic, double spiral isn’t as common as some other rope stitches like tubular herringbone. Because it uses up a lot of beads, it can be a great way to finish off mixtures or use up that collection of spilled beads you’ll never get around to sorting.

The steps are almost identical to traditional spiral rope, with one extra row chasing the other. Because there are so many thread passes, it’s important to use large seed beads for the core - size 8/o or larger. It’s also best to use a sturdy needle. Though a small needle makes a better fit when plenty of thread is used, the limited space between the core and spirals requires a lot of angled stitches.

The spiral rows can be made up of just about anything, though average sized beads (from 10/o to 12/o) are best at the ends, so that the rows fit together snugly. Just like a basic spiral rope, you can increase or decrease the length of the rows, add accents, or create patterns for different looks.

To stitch a basic double spiral rope:

On a comfortable length of beading thread, pick up 4 core beads and 7 Color A beads. Slide them down until you have about an 8 inch tail, and stitch back up through the core beads. Pull tight to form a pair of side-by-side stacks.

Pick up 1 core bead and 7 Color B beads. Stitch up through the first 4 core beads again, and pull snug until the new row slides into place. Stitch up through the new core bead and pull tight.

Hold the beadwork so that the Color A row is to the left. Pick up 7 Color A beads, and stitch up through the top 4 core beads. Pull the thread snug, and push the new row to the left, up against the first.

Flip the beadwork so that the Color B row is to the left. Pick up 1 core bead, and 7 Color B beads. Stitch up through the top 4 core beads and pull tight. Stitch up through the new core beads. Push the new row to the left. Flip the beadwork to begin the next row of A.

These are the basic steps for creating the spiral. Continue adding new rows, flipping the beadwork between stitches. Often with really simple techniques, once the steps become too familiar, we can loose track of them. If you can’t remember which row was just added, check the top core bead. If there are 2 bead stacks exiting from the top of the core, it’s time to add a new core bead and a row of B. If there’s just one stack, it’s time to add a row of A.

You don’t need to use completely different colors for the two spirals, but it is a good idea to make each one a bit unique. When stitching my Flutterby necklace, I used a single bead soup, but picked a contrasting accent bead for either row - pale blue on one side, and dark blue on the other. This helps keep track of which row is which, and makes stitching more intuitive.

Happy beading!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and The Sage's Cupboard

Bead Color Triads: Beach Palms

Airlie Beach Palm Tree
by Rob Sangster

Summer vacation is reaching the halfway point, which means it’s time to soak up as much sun as possible before the cool weather of fall approaches. Of course, sun and sand is a way of life for some, and just a quick plane ride away for others. The rest of us pretend that we really love snow!

When it comes to perfect climates, a tropical beach is one of the most common types of imagery. Just look at a palm tree, and you can forget whatever the weather is doing outside. Even when it’s hot, seeing the cool blue waters of the ocean can cool you off. The combination of water, sand and vegetation makes for a great color palette, too. This month’s Bead Color Triad was inspired by the perfect getaway.

The palette begins with a deep, lush green and golden, sandy brown. I always like to include a fourth color for flexibility, so I grabbed swatches in two shades of blue - one for the water and one for the sky. Then comes the fun part - matching up the beads.

The first group, River of Jewels, started with a sapphire rivoli, which is a perfect deep sea blue. I kept going with the jewel tones and added transparent emerald 15/o seed beads, then topped off the palette with some shimmering gold 11/o’s. Although it has very little resemblance to a tropical beach, the palette does have warmth and exotic flair.

I hadn’t planned on literally making a beach palette, but when I paired some wood beads with dyed blue shells, I couldn’t resist. The colors are so vibrant and rich, I decided to cool them off a little with white-lined peridot seed beads. The unusual shade of green can still pass for leaves - I’ve used it in a bamboo palette - but it brings down the volume of this Sunny Day very nicely.

The final palette is quieter than the rest. Dreamscape combines shamrock lined seed beads and aqua blue pinch bicones with golden bugle beads. All three colors are very faint compared to the other selections, and together they have a very relaxing quality. Although this palette looks nothing like the inspiration, it has the same sleepy feel as a hammock under a palm tree.

Which one would you use first?

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading

Favorite Beads: Quartz Gemstones

Everyone has a favorite bead The materials that we are most drawn to can say a lot about us as designers, and as people, too. Our favorite beads always call to us when inspiration is low, and usually when our budget is low, too!

Fellow Oh Canada Team member Molly, of Little Bear’s Mom, shares some thoughts about her most treasured beads.

Hot Pink and Juicy Orange Chalcedony Necklace

Inspirational Beading: What is your all-time favorite bead? Why do you like them?

Molly: My absolute favorite material to bead with are beads made from stone. Since that's a pretty broad answer, I'll narrow it down by saying the I particularly like stones from the quartz family. The quartz family of minerals is huge, and includes not only varieties like rose quartz or smoky quartz, but also things like chalcedony, amethyst, chrysoprase, carnelian, citrine, jasper, and agate.

I love that it comes in such a wide variety of naturally occurring colors and that's it's generally quite affordable. There's the lovely minty color of chrysoprase, and rich caramels of carnelian, lovely purple amethyst, and beautifully clear crystal quartz.

Botswana Agate Coin Earrings

Although I do have a preference for beads made from natural stone (undyed), this is a stone that tends to take dyes well so you can find some really wild colors out there if you're working in a particular color scheme. And the naturally occuring features - like the stripes in agates - can really be enhanced by dyes.

Inspirational Beading: What is your favorite technique or method to use them?

Molly: Most of my jewelry is made by using wire wrapping techniques. I primarily work with silver because it's personally my favorite metal/color, but I also use copper and gold. Sometimes I'll have some beautifully striped agates which are the focus of a piece, and other times I'll use a type of quartz merely as an accent bead among pearls, crystals, or other stones.

If a stone is particularly "showy", I'll form a piece around it. But if I'm just looking to create something in a specific color I'll consider all types of beads within that color scheme. I mostly make charm-style bracelets, so with those I've got to consider what works with what, but with earrings I'm freer to just use one type of bead and focus on its particular beauty.

Smoky Quartz Teardrop Earrings

Inspirational Beading: Of all the creations you’ve made with these beads, which one is your favorite?

Molly: I absolutely love my smoky quartz teardrop earrings. These beads are so amazingly clear that they have no need for a fancy design or the addition of crystals. They're perfect in their simplicity.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have any tips for making the most of these beads?

Molly: Know when enough is enough. Some varieties of quartz like agates or rutilated quartz, can be quite busy, so it can be better to pair them with plainer or solid color beads, or just use them on their own. On the other hand, some, like rose quartz or chalcedony, make a lovely backdrop for something a little more eyecatching like pearls or sparkly crystals.

Inspirational Beading: What is your favorite bead or material to pair these with?

Petoskey and Tourmalinated Quartz

Molly: I use crystals in nearly all of my pieces, though I also like to use metal and glass beads, and beads made from other types of stone. Tourmalinated quartz, for example, which is milky white shot through with bits of black tourmaline, goes quite nicely with petoskey stone I find, which is grey, but has the added interest of coral fossils. I also like to add something in red to make it pop.

Inspirational Beading: If you were stranded on a deserted island, and you could have only one kind of bead with you, would you choose these?

Molly: Well, since flint is a form of the mineral quartz, yes, I guess I would! This is the advantage to having chosen such a large category. The ability to start fires on a deserted island would be quite useful, and I could also use it to cut things.

Inspirational Beading: In your opinion, what is the best source for these beads?

Molly: For something like faceted chalcedony briolettes, the best source is really other Etsy sellers - those that sell supplies. This sort of bead is more expensive, and if you're not going to need a huge quantity, why order more than you need?

Also, they tend to have better quality stones than the larger retailers. I've ordered a few things that I just don't feel that I can use in my own creations because the stones are too flawed...too many occlusions, strangely shaped, or the holes are all wonky.

Rutilated Quartz Earrings

Actually, even when I'm not looking for briolettes, I prefer to buy most of my stone beads from Etsy supply sellers because the quality is really hit or miss at other places like Fire Mountain Gems. I use larger retailers for things like crystals, glass, and metal beads, sometimes pearls, but smaller is better when you're dealing with stones.

Also, you've got a real person sizing up the beads (if you're looking for matched pairs), and describing the quality, and they generally take better - and more - pictures so you've got a clearer idea of what you're buying. And living in Canada, when you order in small quantities you're usually under the radar in terms of duties, but ordering from a "store" you're not.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Little Bear's Mom