On the Workbench Today - seed beads
A little behind the scenes for anyone wondering what happens before the things we make are finished.
Seed Beads
A friend gave me tons of 11/0 beads, and I am soo excited to use them...but first, organizing...
There are many, many cuts of beads, sizes, finishes and colours. I organize by size...some people organize by manufacturer, some by finish, some people keep beads in project groups. There are as many ways as there are people.
I tend to do size and colour...and since I do like to group by project when working on larger items, I love these containers.
For years I kept my beads in little 2x3 zip baggies and kept them in a box. It worked well, because I had no space to organize well...but I have to say that I bead alot more now that I can see the beads easily and they are far easier to work with.
No matter how one organizes beads though, it is super important.
She gave me so many beads!!! I cannot wait to get started beading with new colours :)
I still keep my 13/0 seed beads in baggies, but now they are in this amazing gourd bowl my friend Candy made. She does such beautiful work! I traded with her for a pair of slippers...and though I know most people would put the gourd bowl on a shelf and dust it, I tend to use art in functional ways when I can...
The slipper trade...
There is always so much more happening behind the scenes, friendships, sharing techniques, trading, giving...there is a strong community beyond what can be seen :) and I am grateful...
New beadwork coming up soon!
how to make shoes .... ??
I will do some posts on how to make shoes after the holidays, they will take a long time so I have to wait until the quiet part of winter :)
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That's a lot of beads !!
Sorry I don't know anything about beads. What do the 11/0 and 13/0 numbers mean?
It is! tons of beads...I can make so many things :) 11/0 and 13/0 are sizes. Most beadwork you see is 11/0, but 13/0 is smaller, and then there are 15/0 which are super small...and even 18/0.
The smaller the beads, the more intricate you can make the design :)
WOW! I have never had this level of organization in my bead room, I am impressed. I enjoy listening to you talk about them though (as a long time professional bead embroiderer for designers and my personal biz). :)
haha, it took me over 30 years to get this organized... I would love to see your work too!!
In my next post concerning embroidery I'll include a wider shot of the mess. ahahahaha, you'll gag. I've made a few bead embroidery post of stuff in the works or close to finished. I'm finishing up a great bag currently. I've been doing bead work most of my life, it's like a meditation process for me -- my SaukFox granny kind of gave me that perspective about beading and weaving. <3
Somehow I work well with the bead craziness, however, I do have bags of the mixed seedbeads (and other beads) that are truly epic... like monsters. :)
I almost missed this because we were talking in other places :O
It is like a meditation for me too, which is part of why I challenge myself. I love the deep winter when everything is quiet and I can bead for hours...
You know, those bags of mixed beads? Kids are great at sorting ;) My kids never said they were bored after about 8 years old, because they knew I would hand them a bowl of beads to sort, hehe
LOL... kids are good at that, I was too. Great memories. :)
I LOVE the winter so much for arting. <3
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