Storage update

We had a great evening with the Beadworkers Guild on the Thursday Zoom meeting during IBW, when we talked about storage hacks. Not only useful, but so much fun was had. All the lucky attendants later got an email from Sylvia Fairhurst with all the links to the best storage hacks and solutions we knew of, including a link to my past article about the subject. 

Perhaps you will remember it? I had a larger space for my beading than I have nowadays. It now is a "handkerchief-sized studio". Hopefully I will soon have more space again. But the storage solutions, which also include many great tips from other beaders and designers, is still worth reading.

Now today, I have to show you what I chose for my numerous seed bead tubes, because back when I wrote "Bead organized", the solution hadn't been found yet. And boy, have I been searching and searching!!! Photo of the 10 trays in place:

 

I already had Kallax units (they were called Expedit back when I purchased them) and fortunately IKEA still sells accessories for these units fortunately IKEA finally sells clever storage accessories for these units. And they are compatible.

During one of the lovely Chloe Menage's Zoom meetings, she kindly shared her storage solution. She has a very big Kallax storage unit, and among other things, in there she had little trays adapted to the "cubes" and plastic trays. These trays were not real trays but boxes, of which she used both the box and the lid for trays. I immediately fell in love with it,because I had been searching for a better solution to replace my transparent A4 document tray tower that was getting too small for my growing seed bead collection, and also old and a bit damaged... and so noisy! Hard plastic trays are terrible, whereas this box is just the right material.

I could not be happier with the result. 

If you love beading and are interested in this solution, all you need is 

1 small Kallax unit

 1 or more inserts

4 or 8 more boxes from Weltonboxes (resulting in 8 or 16 "trays")

 

(sold by Westonboxes on their website)

and there you go!

 Happy organizing! 

Cath

Where is, where are? How I store my finished beadwork.

Perhaps you remember my article "Bead Organized" about storage and organizers for beads, trays, tools and boxes with cabs and findings?
Did you notice that something very important was missing? Yes! Finished Jewelry Storage. Let's call it FJS.

Nice "psyche"

It was missing because I hadn't found the right solution for me. I had boxes full of beadwork on my shelves. There were bags with things I had completely forgotten about... and that was simply not OK.

When you love beading, chances are that you have a growing pile of beautiful things. And even if you sell and/or offer what you make to others, there are certainly plenty of things you want to keep. Maybe you have a wonderful FJS. If so, I would love to receive photos of it to add to this article. I know, however, that some have their beadwork piled up in boxes in which it ends up entangled. I have many pieces in boxes too, but to avoid the entangling part, I put everything in separate plastic bags. It is particularly useful for jewelry sets: it all remains together and nothing gets lost.

In an ideal world, I would showcase my most special pieces on shelves behind glass, and have a vanity with lots of storage space, but as for many, my world is not perfect. My apartment is small and some places tend to be invaded by what I wear most regularly, or by recently finished beadwork that I don't want to put in a box immediately... Thinking about it - I made many new pieces the past year:

One year of beading (Oct. 2017 - Oct. 2018)

I saw several lovely "Psyche" out there, as the French call them, but although I quite like them, I find that they take too much space on the ground and the price was a little high. My big pieces would also not fit in there. The only place where the storage could be added was a spot between my bedside and the window. I have been searching for a satisfying solution during months, without success.

Now this article might seem to be about what you could do, but it is actually more about something to avoid, and that is buying plastic hooks like the ones in the photo left. 3 sizes, perfect for necklaces, rings, objects like brooches, and for earrings. Super cheap, they come in multi-packs. After some hesitation, I bought a shallow Billy shelf, in which I placed these practical hooks with double-sided tape and thought that I had found the best possible FJS I could dream of. I even made lots of photos of how I arranged everything... but... as said, the world is not ideal and my plan didn't work as I hoped. The tape and the lacquer, or whatever it is, on the Billy, didn't really like one another. During the night following my installation, all the crochets came off. Needless to say that we didn't sleep super well - the hubby freaked out when the first things fell... in the end there was so much beadwork on the bottom shelf, that the last pieces barely made a sound when falling. Only the earrings, light weight, remained in place.

Yes, beads are heavy and just like bead storage, beadwork storage has to be sturdy too! I thought about attaching it all with screws... but preferred buying peg boards with assorted hooks which I can move freely, tiny shelves and elastic cord which offer the perfect support for earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Unfortunately, this resulted in costing a bit more than foreseen. What I use less is in sturdy boxes, with stickers mentioning what is in there, so now I know where my CGB beadwork is, or tutorial beadwork, or contest beadwork, There is a  box for "specials", etc. So here is my FJS. It takes only 40x28cm on the ground but is 2 meters high and holds everything I want.

The bracelets are on a support that is normally meant for house-hold paper.
The tiny shelves are metal, and so magnets stay very well on them.

I cannot say that this is my dream FJS - the back of a Billy shelf is not so sturdy... but so far it  stays put and is very practical. Now if you wish to create this shallow storage with peg boards (called Skadis), unless you are really handy yourself... you might need an ingredient that might be hard to find: a handy hubby. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank my dear one for cutting the peg board and fixing it and also for the many other things he does. Love him b

My next buy might be a mirror that can open and close thanks to hinges at the back. They mention that one can add small objects at the back of the mirror where the crochets for screws are not in use. What I would do is hang my favorite pendants and earrings against the wall and close the mirror to hide it all! Hop! On my wish list for x-mas!

Now if I could find more hands to help me rip out old stuff to ⥀... but that is another story.  

I hope that this inspires you. Thank you for reading me! Maybe you also will like to bead with me?

Use coupon code CATHELIER to get 25% off of all patterns - valid only on my website until 30.11.2018 (not on Etsy). 

Happy Beading!

Cath

Bead Organized

What are the best solutions to store beads, components and manage work in progress? Vast subject. It took me way more time to write this article than I expected, because I found more and more awesome things to show and tell you. Take a bit of time to read it, I'm sure that there are things that you will like.

Plano Storage and Tool Box

If you don't have a big stash and only buy beads for specific projects once in a while, you need nearly nothing but a beading mat and a couple of drawers, and squat the kitchen or dining table from time to time. Maybe a Plano tackle system (a tool box with storage boxes for fishing) will be enough for you.

If your hobby gets more important, you may wish to dedicate more space to it.

What works for me doesn't necessarily work for others, but I asked my friends on Facebook what they like and dislike and it seems that we more or less use similar options. I hereby thank them all very much for their tips and advice. Of course, you'll find breathtaking solutions if you google 'best craft room designs', 'seed bead storage' or 'bead storage'. But read on, and see if my ideas, or maybe some of the ideas of my friends included in this article, inspire you!

Little note: even though my apartment may look like an extension of IKEA, I am in no way involved in their business and receive nothing from them (neither from anyone else). My opinion is entirely my own. Not necessarily better (or worse) than other suppliers, IKEA furniture is very affordable and easy to put together, and available nearly everywhere in the world, which is practical for you, friends world wide, who read me.

Trays with projects starting to pile up (on my previous beading desk)

My work space:

As a designer, I am a messy beader, because new ideas require immediate testing and hence more beading space. When things get too messy, my creativity suffers from it.

I already had storage for my beads and materials (and will show that), but my major problem was too many WIPs I didn't know where to put and so I needed to find a solution for that. Plus, the desk in the photo above had to go... (to make space for my birds). And to down-size is... quite interesting, I think.

My favorite plastic A4
boxes for WIPs. I have 12!

My "Smula" trays had a place on temporary, loose shelves above my computer screen; and the number of projects exceeded the number of trays... so I was really happy to find flat, plastic A4 boxes for my WIPs on Ebay. They can be closed and stacked. I put beading mats cut to size in each, so I can bead directly on them. They are slim, but not too much: they can contain bobbins, XL-tic-tac boxes and tubes of beads, scissor, a little spoon... and a little plastic container for waste beads. The only minus is that the clips come off a bit too easily, but they're also very easily put back. I use them in combination with the Smula trays which have a very soft, rounded edge that is very wrist-friendly.

I love my Besta work station on wheels. So practical.
Can you see the trays and the pile of A4 boxes? 

My trays and A4 boxes fit perfectly in my brand new "Besta" frames (one regular, and one TV unit) which is why I bought it. I added many shelves and could add drawers and/or doors. Besta offers great options to customize each frame. Julie Romero from Paris (FR) has an entire Besta wall and it is very beautiful (see a photo farther in this article). Many beaders say that Besta is the best!

My lap cushion (for key board or beading board), photo camera and computer are also in/on the Besta, practical for  designing and tutifying. The best man in the world, hubby, put practical wheels under both frames.

Small make-up displays can
be handy "tool stations" 

One tray is reserved for thread, spare needles, scissors, measuring tape and other little things I need all the time as a seed beader, but I left my other tools in an easily accessible place in my "storage room". Like Beverly Corbitt (USA), I like acrylic displays and turned two make-up displays into tool stations (see one of them in the photo right). If you like acrylic storage like this, have a look at what Muji has to offer (with thanks to Sarah Cryer (UK) for that good address).

If you use a lot of tools, a wooden beading station might be worth buying. Other idea: the modules made by the Poland-based firm HobbyZone might be something for you if you use pigments and glues or other materials for other arts of jewelry making, like paper beads, cab or stone painting. The system, designed for professional artists, can be completely customized and grow with you.

The "storage room":

Why a storage room? This room was my beading room, but my love was often alone in the living room and I needed to make place for some of my birds. When beady friends come to visit, a super practical "Norden" gateleg table still allows me to bead with them there. Below is a short video of how it looked when Esra was here:

My "storage" room can still be a beading and show room
with music by the birds...

The furniture:

First of all, when placing furniture, make sure that you have access to electric plugs, or use an extension cord. Despite making plans of all sorts with my computer (yes, really) I have moved my stuff around several times without success just because of electric plugs. If you plan to make some serious make over of a room, start with drawing the plugs first, together with the space needed for windows and doors, in particular if they open to the inside. Then cut out paper shapes representing your furniture and see how it fits in. It will save you a lot of time and sweat.

8-cube Expedit on wheels

An 8-cube 'Expedit' (IKEA furniture that got replaced by 'Kallax') stands in front of the window and heater. I needed something there to place a fan, a mirror, 2 camera battery charger, a humidifier and plants... Sometimes other things. Sturdy, heavy-duty wheels allow me to easily move this baby if needed.
It contains mostly cardboard boxes with finished beadwork, packing material, empty tubes, material for photography, books and mags featuring my work, fabric, etc.

Tip: when you buy boxes, make sure that they fit in. Here, two boxes fit in one cube, with a little space left on the side: just enough for the books and magazines, easy to take out without disturbing anything.

Silk, wool and fabric

Two 5-cube-tall Expedit shelves contain nearly all my beads, findings, other materials and tools. Two drawers contain materials for bead embroidery (Lacy's stiff stuff, silk, wool, fabric, leather scraps for backing, etc). I also have watercolors, a sewing machine and coloring pencils for fabric in there, among other things.

Small but stronger than
expected, Helmer fits in
everywhere, even
in an Expedit/Kallax

A computer with screen and all sits on an old Micke office desk. A matching drawer unit with suspended folders for papers serves administrative purposes.

In 2 'Helmer' drawers (photo left) are stored things that I use less: wooden beads, cords, wire, buttons, sewing material, glue, stationery, etc... Helmer have practical little wheels and space for labels. One of my FB friends, Aryd'ell Hotelling (USA) took the wheels off and put the drawers on a work table. Such a clever idea.

Remarkable things done by my friends:

If I did't have the Expedit already, I'd probably buy a Besta wall... or Billy bookcases. It is the sturdiest bookcase that I've ever seen, fantastic for heavy things like books beads. You can start with one case, buy another later, maybe more. You can add extra shelves. It is an IKEA flagship product, so you can count on them to make it for many more years. The structure is plain*.

Storage solutions aren't always sturdy: chests with (too deep) drawers meant for clothes typically aren't. And if "Alex" drawer units are shallow and have amazing success among crafters, Kris Empting-Obenland (DE) saw one collapse under the weight of her collection of lampwork beads. Kitchen drawers or antique printer's cabinets seem to be a better solution for that. Claudia Harberkost (DE) is überhappy with her 2 METOD cabinets with drawers. Note that in the USA, this series of kitchen cabinets is called SEKTION.

Elly van Buuren's Billy bead storage
Photo credit: Elly van Buuren

Elly van Buuren (NL) has transformed narrow Billy shelves into a dream storage for her beads (photo right). She hammered a gazillion of little lats inside the shelves for the box lids to slide on. A brilliant example of how boxes that fit well can change everything.

And below is Julie's beautiful "wall".  The doors open and close by pushing them, so no handles are visible. She thinks that she is messy, so she loves her doors to hide it all. Can you stand the beauty of it?

Julie Romero's wall could be a great room divider too.
Photo credit: Julie Romero

Both solutions are so awesome that you may not even want to read the rest of this article (but there is more to discover).

Interestingly, simple shelves seem to not please as much as Kallax, Besta or Billy. I think that we like our things to be framed, somehow. But shelves can be very practical and tidy. Look at what Hilly Monzin (NL) did with very inexpensive shelves and plastic boxes.

Hilly Monzin's shelves are neat!
Photo credit: Hilly Monzin

My Maltese friend Joanne Zammit is very happy with the incredible amount of plastic boxes that her Trofast unit can welcome. It has many shelves and/or drawers (at choice) and is quite sturdy (it is "kid safe" furniture). Also, it looks the same on both sides, so it can be used to divide a room if desired.

* Note: IKEA furniture often has a hollow structure, which is ecologically responsible. It can be quite sturdy - my shelves are. But I can't hammer one nail in them.
Also I have no idea if the Kallax series is as sturdy as the Expedit - if you know, please tell me in the comments!

Now if you have a lot of space, but a small budget. Think craft room on a dime and be creative. You probably already have an old cupboard or shelves which can be recycled or transformed; if not, search classifieds in your region (click on this link, you will love what this woman did to create her craft room). See also how some old TV-armoires can be transformed into great beading stations. With doors that can hide your stuff in seconds...

And what if you have only very little space and don't want to monopolize the only table where you eat? Be inventive: with a bit of imagination you can create a lovely mini-beading station. Here you can see a very-little-space-requiring -portable nail art desk. Wouldn't it be nice for beading?

Portable manicure desk

Manicure tables come in many pretty versions and prices, but for beading you don't need a special acetone-resistant version with a hole in the center and vacuum aspiration (muse whispers in my ears that it could be practical for cut threads, and that the transparent acrylic shelves to see the colors of the beads through are fab).

Maybe you can transform a dressing table into a beading station.

10-drawer organizer in frosted white
(translucent drawers) not taking
more space than a basket or a plant

And have you noticed that many a tower of plastic drawers on wheels or utility cart has a top where you can put your beading board, mat or tray? One organizer, and you have a mini beading station in the room! (with thanks to Elisanne M. McCutchen (USA))

Don't forget to use a good beading lamp with a good daylight bulb or LED.

Bead storage:

Seed beads

My seed bead storage

If your LBS or online shop sells seed beads in tubes or flip-top boxes, wonderful! If not, you need to buy them yourself. Buy more than needed. Because even if more durable, tubes and flip-top boxes have a limited life-time too, and next time you order beads, you will be happy to have them.

A drawer with
a few purples 

I had "bead towers" from the Beadsmith before, but out-grew them very quickly. The drawer with the purple seed beads shown left is one of the 'least crowded' drawers that I have now. My two units of plastic trays with all the tubes in them (in many sizes) is what works best for me sofar. It looks messy but it is vey practical.

Of course you can buy the awesome bead storage solutions invented by Elizabeth Ward, or the wonderful Bead Pavilion, with flip-top boxes. Quite expensive (in particular the shipping costs), but many beaders love it or dream of having an entire wall of those. I would love an entire wall too but am quite happy with my tubes.

60-tube rack - practical to keep the
tubes from rolling off the coffee table

Did you know that stores specialized in laboratory equipment have tubes in plenty of sizes, at a very decent price? They also offer racks for tubes. I use these racks when selecting bead colors and take them to the living room.

My seed beads are stored by color and somewhat by type: Czech, Japanese, Charlottes, cylinder, hex, etc, are all together in one tray by color, from size 15/0 up to 6/0, but the specialty seed beads are stored in XL flip-top boxes in another drawer (cubes, triangles, drops, peanuts, bugle beads, etc).

Small 17x10x2.2cm box for nearly
everything but seed beads

Tip: use the labels of the little bags for your tubes - my friend Marca Smit's labels come off like a breeze and I love that! but mark precious metal seed beads with a special mark to not confuse them with permanent finish metallic seed beads.

I avoid:
using multi-compartment boxes with only one lid for seed beads, it is a pain to take seed beads out of them, in particular in the corners. Sooner or later it ends up in a frustrating bead soup.

Other beads, cabs, crystals, focals:

Plastic drawers - 12 small
boxes fit in 1 drawer

Tip:  Measure your drawers and see what size box fits best, and don't forget that you need a little extra space for your hands. 

The small 17x10x2.2cm plastic box (photo above) is my favorite for everything small: beads, findings, cabs, crystals, etc. It has removable separations, to customize the compartments, so even long headpins fit in. I love that 12 of these boxes fit in one plastic drawer (photo right).

Fire-polished beads in small boxes
with practical individual lids

Photo left: I use small boxes with separate lids for fire-polished beads. 

For really large beads and focal components, I use bigger boxes, but again with removable separations.

The beads are  as much as possible stored by type and size.

One-hole beads are separated from the two-or-more-hole beads.

Medium-size boxes with
Superduo/Twin beads with
removable separations

Gemstones have their own box, freshwater pearls have their own box, gemstone chips have their own box, Twins/superduos have their own box... etc.

Tip: use a little spoon to take beads out (and vice versa).

I avoid:
Hard plastic boxes which are not user-friendly, but very noisy, and easily breakable. Translucent boxes are often softer, hence gentler with your precious beads and crystals.
Oh, and don't put big beads in a flip top box. Let me explain: I have a big collection of XL-flip top boxes which can contain beads up to 12mm, but the flip top won't let them through so I have to open their tops. So I also have a box for the big beads.

Findings:

Large boxes from a hardware store
for large beads, focal and findings

I use the same plastic boxes for findings as for beads/crystals. Depending on their size, clasps may need mores space than ear wires, so, again, the removable separations are a must.

I store them by metal color rather then by type, in particular copper, because copper findings often come with brown anti-oxidation strips different from the anti-tarnishing strips that come with silver plated findings.

Tip: Keep anti-tarnishing strips in your boxes with your findings. Also, if you can make sure that it remains out of reach of kids, don't throw away silica gel sachets. Keep some with your findings and in your drawers, for they are great to protect your metal and finished jewelry from humidity, hence preventing rust.

I avoid:

Transparent pouches are wonderful
to prevent UFO's from invading us

storing magnetic findings (clasps) with non-magnetic findings, for the latter can become magnetic when stored in contact with magnets. It is better to store them in a separate box and keep them in their original package.
I also never store precious metal in the same place as plated metals; it would be a pity to mix them up.

UFOs (un-finished objects)

We all make UFOs and sometimes we don't necessarily want to rip them off. My friend Darcy Rosner one day showed me her storage for her UFOs: hanging transparent organizers with lots of small pouches and I love this solution. You can find an UFO back at a glance. Mine are temporarily hanging from the side of an Expedit shelve in the storage room. I plan to make something strong to hang them onto.

Voilà - this is my bead organization ;)

As you can see, storage solutions from other departments than crafts can be very useful. Electronic components, fishing tackles, and screws and bolts also need to be stored.

Nail polish Seed beads
rack (source: Pinterest)

Don't forget kitchen storage and organizers for drawers. Or spice jars and spice racks, other jars, the awesome magnetic bar for knives...
And did you know? that with ice-cube trays you can recreate some sort of printer's cabinet in your drawers, to store your findings and/or cabs/crystals/lampwork beads (idea found on this interesting blog).

Oh, and Angeline Yoshiko Leong from Malaysia reminded me of the Ferrero Rocher boxes. Double pleasure!

If you have a narrow room or long corridor, and no space for shelves, maybe you can hang nail polish racks on the wall that can hold lots of nail-polish bottles beads. Or hang it behind shelves serving as room divider? Or a smaller rack on the side of shelves. Maybe you can assemble two, put them on wheels and use it as room divider? Store it behind a cupboard?

And if all this doesn't inspire you, perhaps scrapbooking hobbyists will, with their scrapbooking stations or armoires...

Happy organizing and beading!

Beads in my Bedroom

Except on paper (sketching), I had never beaded in my bedroom. But last Monday (October 9th 2017). I decided to go there for it is the only quiet place to film a video explaining how to do fast peyote with increases, using two threads. I talked about this method on Facebook, and one of my beady friends said that she was waiting for somebody to show it to her for she didn't get it right. So I thought that it would be nice to show it to all. It is a cool, fast method, and spares the tendons.

You'll see that I am far from being a pro at making videos. There are a couple of big sighs in it, because I have difficulties saying things right - I've always had, also in writing: I often say later what should come first, and vice versa. I also tend to mix up 'stitch-string-add' etc. Because of fibro, I forget to mention things I wanted to mention... and count the beads more times than shown in the video. This results in a lot of editing in both writing and filming. I hope that you will understand it despite the little cuts.

I am happy with the sound from an avian point of view. My first attempt to film this technique was ruined by a lovely, but deafening Figaro. I love my birds and Figaro and Charly are no exception, but they are noisy beasts. Seeing that I can't ask them to shut up, the bedroom appears to be the right place. It is actually really odd to not hear them at all when I am not talking. Next time I think that I'll leave the door open to at least hear them a little bit. I miss them :D

Figaro, Fluff' the Puff', and Miss White, sun bathing.

They are quiet at night, but then I still can't film because I'd need spots and those of you who know me, know that I can't use spots - also not for photography. The natural light in the bed room appears to be good enough - there is a huge window, letting lots of light enter the room without direct sun light.

Now there must be a fire polished bead somewhere in a corner of the room, because I am sure that I heard it fall. It makes a different sound than a seed bead, and seeing that I was adding those lovely faceted bead to the belly of my fish, there were FP on the BOI-board.

So now you may ask what fish?

May I present to you Takato, named after his 22cm real-life model, a big oranda living with us:

Takato and Takato

It is a purse that came together completely naturally. I had a little purse that I kept in my stash to reuse to make this fish. It had a very precise idea in mind since I wrote the book Diamond Weave (DW) but never got to make it. Then one day I saw Julia Turova's beautiful bead-knitted frog and it reminded me of my project.

I didn't want to bead crochet or knit. I wanted to use the beautiful pattern I imagined with the Diamond Weave Chinese Coin Motif stitch (variation 10 with Thread Cover Beads - TCB) for the back of the purse. It was a difficult project, but with plenty of "luck" - many things were made without having to undo or redo them, like the fish butt. I can't believe that I made it right immediately, because I actually was like "OMG how am I going to join it all and give that fish a nice shape? And there, a petal initially made for the gill plates that was too small got transformed into a "butt", which even appeared to be the perfect support for the tail. I call this beading with the Universe. Ask and you are answered. The next petals that I made for the gill plates were again too small, so I kept them for the tail. I really had many "how could I do this, improve that", and each time I asked myself, the answer came like magic. Everything fell in place better than I could have imagined. For those who wonder, petals are a two-increase form that is a very versatile component, The free tutorial can be downloaded by those who are part of my "From Petal to Pod Group" on Facebook - if you want to be part of the group, please drop me a note.

The head, tail and gill plates are peyote petals. The pectoral fins are pear-shaped peyote, based on a Monte Carlo Bracelet (a design by Gerlinde Lenz tutified by me at her demand), the pelvic fins and dorsal fin are made with herringbone with increases and last but not least, the tiny little anal fin was made with brick stitch. The bezels around the eyes were made with circular peyote.

I also used Diamond Weave in full hexagonal variation no. 3 with TCB - for the belly, which I embellished with a myriad of fire polished beads (which was something I had the feeling it was begging for repeatedly, lol).

Beading this purse was something awesome. I posted in-progress photos on FB and had a myriad of encouragements, which I appreciated very much. It helped keeping the motivation up. It took

11 days of intensive beading
2 days of forced rest, a bit of physio
Orange AB seed beads size 11/0 - 24g.
Red AB seed beads size 11/0 - 21g.
Topaz AB seed beads size 11/0 - 14g.
Dark gold permanent finish seed beads size 11/0 - 12g,
less than 1 g. coral lined size 15/0
less than 1g. 24Kt gold plated size 15/0
2 glass cabs
1 permanent marker, black
1 red coin purse
3 needles (size 11, 12 and 15)
1 bobbin of Hana thread "Gold Fish"

And voilà!

With the left over beads I am thinking of beading a lanyard - for the purse frame has some sort of loop for that, a chain tab. But I have to go back to work and write tutorials to add to my shop, for I need to feed my other (real) pets. Did you see that I listed the tutorial for the Pinwheel cuff, and another tutorial for a pretty, dainty bracelet, "Florets"? It is made with the same DW variation as used for the belly of the fish. So fast to make, it will knock your socks off.

I hope to do a tutorial for this, when my video skills and illustration software will have improved, for that are actually the reasons why this and some other designs are still not tutified - like the Samurai Pod and other 3D things. Working hard on it, and the video about fast peyote is part of the learning process.

 

Are hyper Eddie, the Universe and the Subconscience One?

Butterfly Ropes: Matinée, Lariat
and 3 strand-bracelet

Yes they are, because of It.

I blogged about a creative whirlwind not long ago, and beaded like crazy, so many ideas popping up in my brain, beading them up immediately, writing tuts immediately too... The Butterfly Ropes in January, two new creations this month and wonderful other things I cannot show you now... Of course my shoulder said stop. And I will have to listen because the stitching / weaving movement certainly may become responsible for about 50% for RSI or a frozen shoulder, the remaining 50% being Fibro's fault. So I will not be able to bead for the Battle of the Beadsmith or another big contest. Fortunately I will have adorable visitors from Paris next week. Perfect timing! That will rest my arms and lift me up.

Keira Bracelet - made me think
of a bracelet of a 'piratesse'

My muse, Eddie, (I think of him as a guy), is hyper, and driving me nuts. I love to have so many ideas... what I like less is having only two arms in not so excellent condition. Eddie is the imaginary personification of my creative juices. My studio is in a typical after-hyper-Eddie state: Hiroshima. I will tidy up while having this forced break. This is also the reason why I bead in such an incredible mess: I know that there always comes a time that I can only fondle my beads by putting them back in tubes and bags. I don't waste time doing that when my arms are good enough for beading... 5 beading trays are always covered with stuff.

A few days ago, a video with John Cleese presenting a talk about creativity went round on Facebook and it was so good, that I can't help but sharing it here. This long one is full of funny jokes,

and this second one, shorter, is also good but more serious and straight to the point. Watch both! or at least the short one now.

I discovered with my latest design, the Keira Bracelet, that everything he said, the exploring aspect, the playing (with beads), an 'open mode' (spirit) as he calls it, enough "pondering time" (especially long in this case) and a 'closed mode' after the 'open mode' (to let experience and technique master the job) are certainly the key to new designs. He explains this extremely well and I encourage you to watch both videos, really excellent, sure funnier than goats...

Pippi with black cat and gold
fishies, an autobiographic necklace

I just don't know if, as he says, it is our subconscience working behind the scenes, or the Universe. The name of 'It' doesn't matter, because It is the same thing, for sure. It is also the same thing which the Japanese wish to let flow when practicing an art, the essence of what makes them consider the handling of arcs and swords, drinking tea, practicing calligraphy and Ikebana as an art. It must be some sort of universal energetic flow which wants something to come to existence and uses me, and you, and them, to co-create.

I am writing about this because I am generally not a 'what-if' person - I am used to have 'It' talking to me (or through me) pretty loudly and I think that I practice the open / closed naturally. The nature of beads is greatly encouraging open-closed switches of the brain. But the Superduos / Twin beads which I always though of as 'that fatty little double-hole-bead provoking tons of weaving with other tiny little seed beads to hide the thread' obviously needed a long, very long pondering time to suddenly become a favorite.

Keira Beaded Bead

The use of it as a design element together with pinch beads first came up in my Pippi Longstocking's necklace (which I submitted it in the Design Contest organized by Bead Style Magazine). I actually focused on them because I could use them as anchor points for headpins... Then I made the Butterfly rope - which was already designed by the Universe because I had dreamed of it before, and now this. Hurray! They are a catalyzer and not an obstacle anymore and now have my full appreciation.

And while Keira wanted to become a beaded bead, a choker to go out to a wonderful theatre in Milan in Italy and another bracelet and earrings too, I thought by myself that it is good to sit down, play, ponder, wait, and see things unfold in our hands.

Sera alla Scala

You may have noticed that I sell my jewelry very rarely. I have offered the jewelry set (necklace and earrings) Sera alla Scala to Linda Roberts as a fundraiser to support her daughter and son-in-law who is facing tremendous difficulties with his health and, as happens often in such cases, they have to deal with many bills to pay... See the fundraiser here in her Facebook Album.