My 2016 Beading Resolutions

Although setting lofty goals in the New Year can be an exercise in futility, I’ve always thought that this tradition provides a good opportunity to make small changes in one’s routine. If you set reasonable, doable goals, then this time of the year is a great way to reflect and improve. I’ve decided to make a couple of 2016 resolutions in my workspace, which I’ll hopefully be able to stick to and keep up with in years to come.

1. Staying Organized

If I were to make a resolution to put away all of my beads at the end of every project, I would be doomed to failure. I’m usually much too excited to start the next project on my list to stop and tidy up first. Also, I’m usually beading in the middle of the night, while a movie is playing, so taking 5-10 minutes to cart bead caddies back and forth to my desk is out of the question.

I made these 2 years ago and still haven't done anything with them.

Instead, my first resolution will be to make time every week to sort and replace all of my materials in one go. Several months ago I added a container to my workspace for tossing in beads that I’m finished with to deal with later. Although it keeps my workspace tidy, it also means that I never know where anything is half the time. I’ve got to make an effort to put things away more regularly so that I can stay organized and make more stuff!

2. Create More Tutorials

Technically, I had already set this goal a few weeks back, but I think it’s worth adding to the list because I am so determined to keep up with it. I have a big list of stitches and projects that I want to share, and I’m hoping that I can make at least 2 per month. I’m also planning to revamp some old tutorials, and I’ve got the first series of Master Class tutorials planned. They are going to be so much fun!

3. Make Practice Projects

For the longest time, I felt that making things for myself was a waste of materials, but I’ve had a change of heart. This year, I want to do more experimenting, make practice pieces, and try out techniques and projects by other artists. I’m interested to see how this new approach will change my skillset and overall bead outlook. The bonus is that I’ll be able to share my experiences and we can learn some new things together.

4. Wear More Jewelry

I have a ridiculous collection of beadwork jewelry, but most of it never gets worn. Often it’s because the pieces I have don’t go with my work ensemble, and any other time I’m wearing jewelry I just stick to my favorites. This year I want to make an effort to wear and experiment with all of the designs in my personal stash. Perhaps I can think of a way to share these as well!

Just a tiny portion of my jewelry collection.

5. Frog Old Pieces

I’ve been doing beadwork for almost 10 years, and apart from my first few projects, I have never ripped apart old designs to salvage the materials. Just like making designs for myself, I never felt that the time spent would be worth it - especially if I can just add unwanted designs to my wardrobe, or save them for Ugly projects.

This year, I want to try frogging and see if I can incorporate the process into my beading routine. I have a box full of pieces that I discontinued from my shop in recent years. Anything I don’t want to wear will get repurposed, and perhaps I’ll rediscover some favorite materials.

Do you like to set New Year’s resolutions? What are you beading goals for 2016?

Mortira

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Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Work in Progress: Chunky Rope

After all of the miscellaneous projects that I had on the go during the last few weeks of Christmas, my bead tray feels sort of empty this week. I’m just finishing up the rope base for a new PDF project, which I started at the beginning of December, and had to shelve for assorted other designs. I'm loving the palette of black, cobalt, and lime - although I've nearly used up all of my opaque cobalt Dyna-mites.

I haven’t made much progress on my swatch of ugly right angle weave, but I have a lot of quick projects in mind for the coming weeks, so I’ll probably get a chance to add some rows to it between designs. I’ve found a great new series on Netflix and got a copy of Mad Max: Fury Road for Christmas, so I foresee a lot of nights where I’ll run out of things to do before I’m ready to stop beading for the day.

The bead embroidery project that I was making for Christmas turned out really great. If I’d had a bit more time, I would have liked to add a sunshine stitch to the flap on the pencil case. Otherwise, I’m really happy with how it turned out. The O-beads turned out to be great embellishments for embroidery – they stitch on easy and don’t take up a lot of space.

What are you making right now?

Mortira

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New Beading in 2016

The craziness of Christmas week is finally behind us, and there are only a few days left of 2015! It’s hard to believe that we’re about to begin another year on Inspirational Beading. There are some amazing inspirations and lots of new tutorials on the way – 2016 is going to be a great year for beading!

Two weeks ago we had our final giveaway of the year, with a full suite of beading tutorials going to two lucky readers. Congratulations to our winners Hesther and CA, and thank you so much to everyone who entered. Your comments in this draw have been some of the most inspirating yet! This time I asked for your ideas and requests for new tutorials to feature here on the blog. It was such a pleasure to read all of your comments and learn about the stitches that you’re most interested in. I don’t usually respond to giveaway comments – to keep the draw accurate and fair – but I will definitely try to get back to each of you on this one. Your kind words and encouragement have made my year.

Many of the tutorials requested have already been covered (check out the full list of free beading tutorials for a look at what’s currently available) but I have been thinking about re-doing many of these techniques and updating them for new styles and beads. Peyote stitch, brick stitch, and bead embroidery were among the most popular stitches, and we’ll definitely cover those in both stitch tutorials and full projects in the coming months. I’d like to introduce a new Master Class series that will cover a single stitch from A-Z, with full projects to try whenever possible. Stay tuned for the first series!

I’m also working on some exciting new PDF tutorial projects for 2016, and I’ve made some changes to my current selection. Select projects are now available for commercial use – if you’ve purchased these PDFs as personal use projects in the past you’re automatically upgraded, so you can sell your creations as well! Open license projects include:

The Wavy Wedges Bracelet
The Right Angle Weave Bangle
The Herringbone Fringe Lariat
The RAW Lattice Cuff
The Strawberry Pendant
and Beaded Buttons and Toggles

The upcoming PDF projects will include some of my all-time favorite designs – I’ll keep you posted on new developments! If you have a particular design, stitch, or project that you’d like to see covered in 2016, please don’t hesitate to send me an email. I love to hear your ideas and questions.

Happy New Year!

Mortira

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Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading

Bead Embroidered Ocean Scene

I have a whole list of new inspirations, projects, and tutorials to work on, but for the moment they’re all on hold while I complete a bead embroidered Christmas present. I’m having a really great time working on this project, which is going to be a pouch for art supplies when it’s complete.

When I sat down to work on this piece, I had absolutely no idea what it was going to look like, or what kind of design I was going to stitch. Then I spotted some Czech glass fish that I happened to have in my workspace, and an idea started to take shape. I stitched on the fish and added a border of blue and green seed beads. From there, I picked out a few additional accents and then just let my beads decide where to go.

So far I’ve added a wave of O-beads and an assortment of accents like glass nautilus shells. I’ve been working in little patches, going back and forth to different areas and adding whatever looks best. The finished design should be covered with evenly spaced yet totally random embellishments and look like a sparkling underwater scene. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Do you use your beading skills for gift giving? What’s your favorite thing to make for others?

Mortira

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Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading

Very Merry Beading Tutorial Suite Giveaway

With all of the holiday inspirations and gifting projects in my workspace right now, I’m feeling in a very merry mood! For this month’s giveaway, I wanted to do something special for my amazing readers. I have some new plans coming up for my line of PDF beading tutorials, so I decided to get the ball rolling with a great big tutorial giveaway.

Two lucky readers will receive my complete collection of current PDF beading tutorials. Most projects will be open license or ‘commercial use’ meaning that you can use them however you like! I will also be including personal use versions of some tutorials that have been discontinued due to being included in Ancient Worlds Modern Beads. Here’s what each prize pack will include:

Full color and text copies of commercial use tutorials for:

The RAW Bangle


The Herringbone Fringe Lariat


The Beaded Strawberry Pendant/Ornament


The Stacked Peyote Ring


The RAW Lattice Cuff


The Druk Chain Y Necklace


The Wavy Wedges Cuff


The Faux Freeform Peyote Cuff


and last but not least, the Beaded Buttons and Toggles Collection

Each tutorial includes two files - one with full color, step-by-step photos, and one with text-only so you can save on printing if you want to take your instructions with you on the go. Tutorials will be sent to each winner by email, so you can download and save however you like.

Each tutorial suite to be won also includes personal use versions of these tutorials:

The RAW Chain Link Bracelet


The Herringbone Jewel Ring


The Peyote Ring Pendant


The Leafy Poinsettia Beaded Bead


and The Starfish Beaded Bead

How to Enter:

For a chance to win downloadable PDFs for all of the tutorials shown, simply leave a comment on this post letting me know what kinds of techniques and projects you’d like to see featured in free beading tutorials on Inspirational Beading next year!

Please be sure to leave a contact method or email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win! Comments should be made here on InspirationalBeading.Blogspot.com to qualify. Two winners will be drawn on Sunday December 20th, 2015. Unclaimed prizes will be re-drawn on December 27th. This giveaway is open to all international readers.

Good luck, and happy beading!

Update: This draw has closed. Congratulations to our winners!

Mortira

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Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading