Watches: From Function to Fashion

The personal time keeper we know as a watch was developed around the 15th century, and was typically worn as a pin or pendant. These early “clock watches” had no minute hands or glass faces like those we’re familiar with today. Eventually the design would evolve into the “pocket clock”, worn almost exclusively by men after the waistcoat became a fashionable garment. By the 16th century, the pocket watch was a common accessory for telling the time.

Emerald Bewitched Pocket Watch by youmin

Though wrist watches also developed at around the same time, they were considered a women’s accessory until around the 1880’s, when they became a crucial tool for military engagements. Since then, the wrist watch has evolved and developed into a fashion accessory for both men and women that we almost take for granted. Watches quickly became a part of our culture, and have even been important items in fiction throughout their existence - from the pocket watch in “The Gift of the Magi” to Penny’s computer watch on Inspector Gadget.

With smart phones now being so common, personal timepieces are no longer the essential functional item they once were – though they continue to be worn as accessories. As beaders, we have the advantage of being able to design and make one of a kind watch straps with any materials that we desire, so they’ll never go out of style. Here are just a few projects for handmade watches that you can try:

Tile Watch Band by 2 Good Claymates



Watch Me Now Bracelet by Artbeads.com



Time for Fruit Salad Necklace by Beadaholique

I don’t carry a phone to help me tell the time, but I’ve also never had such a need for a watch that I seek them out for style. Plus going metal free with my beadwork means I’m not up to making my own watch. Often I’ve just carried an old digital watch in my purse for the rare occasions when I need to know the exact time. Still, once in a while something comes along that I can’t resist putting on. Right now, the watch that I wear to work is a quirkier fashion statement that sort of clashes with my jewelry, but I love it anyway.

I bought this Lego Star Wars stormtrooper watch just to get the matching minifigure inside for a gift, and decided I might as well make use of it (even though I had to get a second set in order for it to fit my adult wrist). The strap is made entirely from Lego links, and I definitely love the palette. People often ask me if it actually works, which seems to imply that one could certainly wear a watch that doesn’t tell the time, so long as it looks awesome.

Do you like to wear a wrist watch? How does it fit into your style?

Many thanks to Invaluable.com for inspiring this post. Invaluable is currently running a blog project all about intriguing watch stories. Check them out on Twitter to see more watch inspirations and stories about the watches we wear.

Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading
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Book Spotlight: Creative Quilting with Beads

If you are a beader who loves beads not just for the jewelry that it can create, but for the sheer beauty – the very beadiness – of them, then you’ve probably spent at least a little time experimenting with a variety of bead inspired craft projects. Whether strung, sewn, glued or stitched, beads have a versatility that is unmatched by any other medium.

In Creative Quilting with Beadstextile artist Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader has compiled a wonderful assortment of quilting projects with gorgeous bead embellishments. A quick flip through the pages offers a wealth of inspiration to anyone who loves to combine beads with color and texture. There are over 20 projects in all, with designs by artists such as Julia Donaldson, Larkin Jean Van Horn, and Sarah Ann Smith.

The basics section covers everything you need to know about the materials you’ll need to try out the projects, including tips for conditioning thread and setting up your workspace. There are brief explanations of machine quilting and hand embroidery techniques – to master a complete project you’ll want to be familiar with the basics of operating a sewing machine. Even without these skills, the projects are a wealth of inspiration.

The project pages include templates and full color photographs of finished designs, with clear step-by-step instructions. More than just blankets, quilting combined with beads to make a variety of beautiful keepsakes such as magnets, pillows, art dolls, and wall hangings. Each piece uses beads to tell a story or capture an idea.

If you’re having a craving for some mixed media creativity, or want to bust your stash in new ways, look for Creative Quilting with Beads at your public library.

Copyright 2014 Inspirational Beading
Valerie Van Arsdale Shrader and Lark Crafts
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Pretty Jewelry Boxes for Mother’s Day

As soon as the flowers of spring start blooming, many of us start thinking about what we’re going to do for the special moms in our life. What I love about Mother’s Day is that it doesn’t matter who your favorite mom is - she can even be someone else’s mom. It’s just a great day to say thanks to some really fantastic ladies.

As beaders, we’re lucky to be able to custom make jewelry and other goodies for anyone we gift to. To make it even more special, why not a beautiful jewelry dish or trinket box? Although I leave my personal jewelry pieces lying around and hanging up to constantly test their durability, I do love to look at unique jewelry boxes. It’s just another one of those magpie things.

Here are some fabulous jewelry box designs that would be perfect for gifting.

Decoupage Jewelry Box by rrizzart





Earthenware Daisy Dish by damson tree pottery





Pile of Books Trinket Box by Sister Butterfly





Coral Wood Jewelry Box by paragraph loop





Cherry Jewelry Holder by Elegant Quirk





Upcycled Blue Jewelry Box by Green Fox Studio





Elephant Jewelry Box by Sascalia

Where do you like to store your own jewelry?

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
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Bugle Feather Keychain

Not every project can turn out they way we want it to, but if we’re determined enough, we can make mishaps work for us. This happened to me over the weekend, when I tried to tackle some gunmetal twisted bugles. I had been pondering the idea of turning them into an embroidery pendant for awhile. At first I thought something abstract and stripey might work. Then it occurred to me that it would be easy enough to arrange the two bugle sizes in the shape of a feather.

I chose some brown felt and turquoise seed beads to complete the look, arranged some beads and made a rough sketch to follow so that the feather shape was sure to come out. I hadn’t completed very many stitches when I realized that while the idea was good, it just wasn’t going to make a nice pendant. Since I was already committed, I just kept going. It took only a second or two to figure out a use for the mediocre design.

When I cut out the beadwork, I left a little tab and sewed it into a loop before attaching the backing felt. With a keyring in place, I now have a new zipper pull for my purse. (I was a little too rough on the old one). I like the design, and the size is much better. I’m looking forward to showing it off!

Have you turned bead lemons into lemonade recently? What did you make?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Inspired Beader: RAWRmonster

For many beaders, our love of tiny materials began at a very young age. From some of us, it started with grandma’s button jar, a strand of love beads, or a vending machine trinket. Many beaders also got their first taste by creating 2 dimensional bead art with Perler and Hama beads.

These fun little craft beads allow kids of all ages to create interesting pixilated images by arranging an assortment of colors on a peg board and melting them with an ordinary household iron. Boards of different shapes provide the base for lots of unique creations, and coming up with new patterns and playing with piles of tiny little plastic tubes can really ignite the beading spark in new crafters.

Today, I want to show you some truly incredible Perler bead creations by RAWRmonster. The artist, Shelby, turns these simple little beads into some of our favorite characters from the world of 16 bits. Her magnets, coasters and jewelry can really bring out the kid in you!

Inspirational Beading: How did you first get into bead crafts?

Shelby: Last year, I switched my major to Mathematics and in the process made a lot of new friends. Being a typical broke college student, I had NO idea what I was going to get everyone for Christmas gifts. I had an Etsy account, and was poking around looking for ideas and potential gifts, when I first saw coasters by iamadecoy, and I fell in love! I bought my first set of Perler beads off of eBay, and got to work.

I had no idea what I was doing - I never played with Perlers as a kid. I searched the internet, and found an incredlible forum of wonderful, talented people who made really awesome things out of Perler and Hama beads - Pixelgasm-forum.com. I read everything I could, and learned from some of the best.

Inspirational Beading: Do you remember your first project?

Shelby: Oh boy... yes, I remember my first project.

Like I said, I was making Christmas gifts for maybe 15-18 people, so I needed a game plan. The first thing I did was to make a sheet with 8 different 'sets' on it, featuring Space Invaders, Pacman, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, and Tetris. I told people to pick a set, and tell me if they wanted coasters or magnets. Each set had about 4-8 sprites on it; 'ambitious' is definitely an overstatement!

Before I could make everyone's gifts, though, I needed to make a few practice runs. I beaded two little aliens from Space Invaders in glow-in-the-dark beads with green backgrounds. I didn't have any ironing paper, but I had just bought a pack of stickers, and they come on non-stick paper, so that should work...right? No. Not by a long shot.

I felt a little discouraged, but more determined than ever to master these beads. So, I made the three magnets you see at the top of the picture (from left to right: Boo with a glow-in-the-dark outline, Blooper, and Bob-bomb). I only had maybe 4 pegboards, so I would work in batches; I'd lay down a sprite, iron it, let it cool while I laid down another sprite, iron the back of the first sprite, iron the front of the second sprite, and so forth. It was a very long month. However, I managed to get presents done for everyone at school before the semester let out for winter break, and finished presents for everyone else in the following week.

I hadn't really thought of selling anything I made until one of my friends asked if they could buy some magnets from me, and it took off from there.

Inspirational Beading: Where do you like to look for new inspiration?

Shelby: Honestly, most of my inspiration comes from my customers. The Minecraft coasters and Creeper keychain, and the Mega Man coasters are all the result of someone asking "Hey...think you can do this?". Jewelry was never on the game plan until Jeni from grimmlynn saw my early mustache magnets and messaged me excitedly about making a rainbow necklace. I love doing custom work, and I love hearing back from people who share their fond video game memories with me.

Besides that, my inspiration comes from my own childhood. I once left my NES on for 8 months as a kid so I could beat Super Mario Bros. 3 from start to finish. I have more items from that game in my shop because it had the biggest impact on my life growing up.

I think people have had a very negative stereotypical view of video games and gamers for a long time, but it's slowly starting to change. I think it has a lot to do with the how quickly smart phones are becoming a part of our culture, since playing [games like] Brick Breaker is now a totally acceptable usage of time. People are embracing their inner geek, and it's awesome.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite color to work with?

Shelby: It's difficult to say. I try to make my items as true to the game as possible, which restricts my color usage, and I try to make my background colors compliment the sprites. I love bright, funky colors though. I always enjoy making things with Lime, Turquoise, Purple, Hot Pink, and anything that glows in the dark!

Inspirational Beading: What’s your favorite thing about working with Perler beads?

Shelby: I've only been working with Perler beads for about a year now, so it's been really cool to watch my technique improve with time. If you were to go back and look at some of my very first pieces, they weren't so great. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure out the little things that make all the difference: finding what's the best temperature to set the iron, how long to iron for, how to keep the different colors melting at the same rate, and how to lay down the sprite as quickly as possible.

Besides that, my favorite thing is always hearing back from people. Seeing people's reactions as they look at my stuff - there is this gleeful excitement, almost like they're eight years old again and unwrapping a new game. I also secretly love the idea that there are people out there in the world, people I don't know, who have my coasters on their table, or my magnets on their refrigerator, or my necklace around their neck. It's like there are these little pieces of me floating around out there. In a metaphysical way, not in a creepy gross zombie way, of course.

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

Shelby: I don't know if I'd say my work is inspirational. I'm just a college kid trying to share her love of video games with the world. But maybe that's the inspirational part? It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what talents you think you have or don't have. Just do what you love, and love what you do, and be awesome.

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading and RAWRmonster
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Book Spotlight: Read My Pins

For jewelry lovers, studying the origins and history of ancient, traditional and famous trinkets can be endlessly fascinating. Sometimes, just getting a look into the jewelry box of someone iconic or influential can be a treat for the serious magpie.

In Read My Pins,the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, shares a glimpse of her amazing collection of pins and brooches. What started as a traditional way to accessorize eventually became an important part of her identity as a diplomat, as well as a rewarding hobby.

During her career as ambassador, Madeleine became known for her charming and unusual pin collection, and for her habit of using brooches to signify her mood or attitude toward the events or tasks of the day. Throughout this memoir, we catch glimpses of important meetings throughout the decades, with jewelry to highlight their significance. Some of the most interesting photos include Madeleine Albright wearing an Interceptor missile pin with Igor Ivanov, zebra pins with Nelson Mandela, and an enormous American flag pin while posing with Kim Jong-il.

Read My Pins is beautifully written, and fascinating from the first page to the last. Along with anecdotes about special pins, and how they played a part in some of the most important events of the last few decades, Madeleine shares some of her personal stories as a jewelry lover. The book is filled with hundreds of beautiful photographs, including plenty of close-ups of amazing pins - from quirky dollar store finds to stunning Swarovski creations. A handy Pindex at the back of the book highlights each pin, its origin and designer (if known), materials, dimensions and page number from the book.

If you love jewelry, current events or American history, Read My Pins is definitely worth a look!

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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The Ultimate Beading Tray

The accessories that we use for beading are often the last thing you’d expect to find in a craft room or workspace. Sometimes, the right tool for the job was intended for something completely different. Fishing tackle boxes of all shapes and sizes are perfect for storage and beading on the go. Serving trays lined with fabric make great bead boards. Nail files are just the right size for buffing the burrs off beads.

Last month, I shared a little glimpse of some Bracelet a Week beads on my absolute favorite beading accessory - a plastic veggies and dip server. One of my wonderful readers requested a closer look, so I thought I’d show you exactly how awesome this unusual beading helper is.

The tray is a durable and portable version of serving trays that have been around forever. Visit any thrift store or garage sale, and you’re likely to find at least one vintage serving tray with cute little compartments for separating hors d’oeuvres and treats. The open style trays are awesome for sorting big lots of mixed beads, or separating different components for a complex project.

Inside my container is a small central compartment. It’s meant for dip, and has it’s own lid to keep condiments fresh and free of debris during transport. This is another one of my favorite features. Over the years, this middle compartment has seen a steady rotation of different supplies.

The outer ring is big enough for almost everything I need for beading. The only thing it doesn’t hold is large spools of Fireline, but I like to keep those within arms reach at all times.

1. Right now I use the ‘secret’ compartment to hold tubes of stick pins, sewing needles, and bobbins of Nymo. There’s also a little vial of clasps that I saved back when I used to take apart costume jewelry for the unique beads. Since I don’t use these things often, but I don’t want them stuffed into the back of my beading cupboard, I store them in this little cubby for somewhat easy access.

2. Blister packs of English beading needles fit perfectly in the outer ring. If there are a lot of works in progress taking up room, they can even be stacked on their sides to save space.

3. This baggie that I saved from a bead order is always stuffed full of UFOs and miscellaneous beading scraps. I never feel like taking apart unsuccessful projects.

4. There’s usually a cup of floater beads - pieces I want to keep handy for future use. Sometimes I’ll put new finds in here to remind myself that I want to use them sooner rather than later. It also helps me not to forget what I originally intended and use them for something else.

5. Most of the time, there’s space in the tray left over to store finished pieces before photographing them. It’s a safe and convenient place to put designs out of the way until I can get them in front of the camera.

6. This mini lid is almost always on, but once in awhile it actually helps with a project or sorting job.

What I love most about this portable tray is the enormous, round lid. Turned upside down, it makes an excellent beading board, with room enough for all of my supplies and beads. When I need to put a project away fast, all I have to do is lay the beadwork on the tray and put it up on the top of my roll top desk, so it’s out of reach and unlikely to spill.

The rim on the underside is just the right size for holding 6mm beads, and has been helpful many times for planning projects with accent beads in a specific pattern.

The circular shape comes in really handy when I’m working with a lot of different beads in a sequence. I can place cups of beads around the outer edge, and rotate the tray like a lazy susan to move on to the next color or shape. This is exactly what I did for my Easter Egg bracelet, which used 11 different beads - one style at a time.

1. Another ‘found object’ beading tool I love is the plastic cups from single serving apple sauce. I saved and washed so many of them from kids lunches that they take up a huge space in my cupboard. They’re great for mixing paints, sorting beads, and all kinds of little storage jobs. This particular cup is where I toss all of my culled beads.

2. I usually have a few different cups on my tray filled with empty bead baggies, reserve quantities of the beads I’m working with, and sometimes beads from previous projects that I haven’t put away yet. I also keep a few empty cups around for mixing and sorting, or to funnel beads from coasters, back into their baggies and tubes.

3. This stack of coffee coasters never leaves the tray. They are wonderful for bead weaving, because I can pick up beads one-handed. They’re so shallow that they’re practically flat. If I’m working on a project that switches frequently between bead sizes or colors, I will usually spill a small amount of each onto one or two of these mini trays.

4. The lid from the inner compartment also doubles as an extra large shallow bead cup, which is great for sorting beads or working with mixes.

5. My trusty pin cushion has seen a lot of beading. It always holds two size 10 needles, one size 13 needle, and an assortment of stick pins and small sewing needles that come in handy now and then. There is also one black and one white seed bead pinned to it. These used to be go-anywhere stop beads, but when I started selling my creations, I switched to using a new stop bead - from the culled bead cup - for each length of thread. This makes it easy to count threads used at the end of a project.

6. I find my cups and coasters work really well for setting out beads, but it would be easy enough to glue a piece of fabric to the tray for a handy bead mat. Atop this swatch is a pair of my favorite bead cups - old tealight holders - and my trusty scissors. I grabbed them out of a miniature sewing kit and they are sharp as razors.

7. I have a paper ruler taped to my work surface for easy measuring, but sometimes a flexible ruler is needed. I don’t always have space for my tape measure on the tray, but it often rests here between projects.

So there you have it. The most awesome all in one beading accessory - for me.

What’s your favorite tool or storage accessory?

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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DIY Beaded Zipper Pulls

Nearly every beading tutorial book has at least one project for a non-wearable beaded object or accessory, and one of the most common is tassels and fobs that can be used as fan pulls and zipper pulls. Although they can be gorgeous, and a fun way to showcase beads, I’ve never felt the desire to make one myself just for fun.

Then necessity became my inspiration. On a recent thrifting trip, I picked up a really cute leather purse that was in great shape. But, after only a few weeks, I managed to wear out the zipper pull, leaving only a little ring to grasp while opening and closing the pouch.

So I went on a hunt for some beaded zipper pull or key chain tutorials and project ideas, looking for a fun design to use on my purse. Here are some of my favorites:

Spirals Micro Macrame Keychain Tutorial by KnotGypsy - This one is so pretty, and would be a great project for leftover beads.
Frog Prince 3D Keychain by Cassandra Elizabeth - So cute! A great idea for using kits and 3D beading patterns.

Two-Dimensional Star Dangle by Lynn of 3DBeading.com - Simple and beautiful. This one might not stand up to lots of wear, so it might be nice paired with a length of chain.
Beaded Wire Wrap Keychain Tutorial from Tatertots and Jello - Classic and simple, another great leftover bead option.

And two more simple beaded designs:

Easy Beaded Zipper Pull Tutorial from Childmade
Knotted Zipper Pull Tutorial from Five Little Ladies

I also thought it might be fun to adapt those funky animal shapes woven with plastic pony beads, and use 6/o seed beads instead. And sure enough, I found a seed beads animals project that uses the classic technique.

Although I found a lot of projects that I liked, none of them quite fit my style. Instead, I turned to my collection of Un-Finished Objects for a solution. I found a pair of RAW beaded rings that I had made for a chain link bracelet and never used. I added an old key ring and some peyote strips and made my own custom zipper pull.

I like the look of the bag a lot more than before! I think it’s excellent proof that beads can do so much more than make great jewelry. Perhaps I’ll have to look for more ways to dress up my universe with beads.

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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