New Techniques - Beaded Wire Crochet and Making Paper Beads

***Delayed posting...This was actually August 2013***


What a busy week this week...and it's not over yet...starting with the +Austin Bead Society meeting on Monday, 26 August 2013.

A little messy, but...still learning

Not a really good shot, but random beads

Much better photo

During the meeting, one of our members provided us instruction on how to make beaded wire crochet jewelry.  Of course, I was running around like a chicken without its head and didn't get to participate in the instruction, but really wanted to learn...so off I went on a YouTube search and found what I needed to be able to make a piece that I was happy with. Knowledge of crocheting helped me and having worked bead crochet with cord I was familiar with the steps.  What I lacked was knowledge of how to finish the piece.  Tell me what you think? 

Later that week, the Jems and I had a Meetup where the project of the evening was learning to make paper beads.  After pouring over YouTube videos and Google searches...we set about to the business of making paper beads...we didn't do so bad...

Who could imagine that with paper, toothpicks, glue and Mod Podge, you could create some awesome things...+Suzy and I both decided to use scrapbook paper to make as our bead source and here's some of the finished beads.

Oglala Stitch - September Challenge Piece

Hi all:

I know it's been a minute since I've posted in my blog, but I haven't been idle at all.  I belong to several beading groups on Facebook and some of them have challenges (monthly) that I participate in.  I've decided to share those with you.

Bead Club - Monthly Challenge, is one such group.  It's a closed group so you'll have to request to join.  Any way, this month's challenge was to learn a new stitch and the winning stitch was the Oglala Stitch.  I know...try saying that 10x fast why don'tcha...

The Oglala stitch  (aka the Oglala Butterfly Weave) is a Native American Stitch named for the Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux tribe (click on the link to see what Wikipedia has to say about the history).  It is a variation of netting that tend to work up very quickly. 

While I tend to get along with most of the stitches I've encountered in my path, for some reason, this one I didn't enjoy.  It wasn't difficult or hard to comprehend, I just could get "into" it.  It took me at least a week to get my necklace done...of course my project didn't start out as a bracelet, but...take a look... 

Not sure that I'll do another one, but who knows...the point of being in a challenge group is to challenge ones self otherwise, what's the point? 

Next month's challenge is yet to be determined...stay tuned!!!


Happy Beading!