Sequintastic September 2013

It's finally here, my sequintastic post. Many things have come in the way. First I was ill and unable to dedicate much time to creating, then I almost forgot about the hop because I was ill for so long and then yesterday I got the dates mixed up so while I had taken all the photos, I never got as far as culling, editing and writing a post about it. But now it's finally here!

Because I was unable to make a finished piece, but really didn't want to withdraw from two blog hops in a row (had to bow out of the cabochon challenge), I figured I'd instead write a bit about what I'm doing right now. At the moment I'm at the planning stage, sketching on a bead embroidery piece using some of my newest sequin flowers. Not yet having decided on a design, it's all been about trying to combine the different components in various ways to find something I like. Below you will see glimpses from this creative process.

(By the way, I don't know how the photos look on your monitors, but for some reason the white backgrounds change colour on my monitor when I upload them to Blogger. Really annoying and I only hope it doesn't look as bad on your computer as it does on mine...)

The first thing I did was to gather the beads and sequins I wanted to use for my design. I started with the flowers and then the beads pretty much added themselves. They were bought on a separate occasion and never really intended to be used with the sequins. The baroque seed beads from Miyuki were bought because they were new and I was dying to see them IRL. Chose the three colours I liked the best and two of them just happened to match the flowers. Similar thing with the twisted bugle beads. I never used that kind of beads, but I was curious about the gold antiqued matte finish and I could only find that in this bead type. Again, just a coincidence that they happened to go with the flowers and pearlescent big seeds. Lastly, I added the dark leaf sequins (purchased the same time as the flowers).

The beads picked themselves you might say. But now the question was what to do with this mix of components. First I just began by combining them in simple designs that would work just as well as strung or linked jewellery as embroidery borders. After all, just because I want to embroider doesn't mean the components want something else.

My first ideas for Sequintastic September when I signed up had been about using the flowers for a simple but cute necklace. While it was now set aside for this new idea about an embroidery (of some sort), I still wanted to test a few design ideas. And as said above, they could also work in an embroidery.

Sidestepping the chronology I'm trying to follow in this post, I also ended up testing what the flowers would look like doubled. Something I didn't think about before doing the experiments below where the sequins ended up nestled in one another.

I also had to test what the baroques would look like as flower centres. An idea that popped up pretty much for the same reason as above. The beads tried it themselves first. They are a tad too big, though. Unless flower is transformed into a ring of sepals and the baroque bead becomes a berry. Like, say, herb paris (Paris quadrifolia, ormbär). The first version would be great for something like that, though perhaps with another, more round, bead.

After the first little tests of combining components in different ways, it was onto thinking about the over all design. I had no idea what I wanted to actually do beyond using the flowers and then add matching beads to support them. So what do you do after you've poured out all the sequins and beads for a "group shot" (see initial photo)? Well, why not just mix them up and play with them?

I scooped them up, poured them out and took photos from different angles. Then I mixed them and spread them out in a new way, took more photos and repeated.

 I had taken a brown beading foundation and "antique gold" tulle with me and I tried the beads on that as well as on the white photo background. Unfortunately, the tulle didn't really feel as golden and metallic as I wanted against the sequins and beads. This photo session wasn't just about finding inspiration for my design, it also taught me I have to find another foundation to bead on. One that will truly complement the components as this looks like a bead embroidery where the surface isn't encrusted with beads/sequins but one where the surface will be an important and visible part of the design.

Maybe it's the autumnal colours, maybe it's the season -- or maybe it's because I often want things ordered and tend to lean towards that even in my creative work whether I like it or not -- but I fell for the "forest debris" look. Beads in layers, flowers and bugles tumbling around freely. It does however pose a big challenge for me: how to I keep this look once I start beading, knowing my subconscious urge to order and sort everything in neat groups and lines? This is a mild chaos without any deliberate pattern. Easy to do when mixing and pouring out the beads/sequins on the table, but harder to keep when stitching each piece onto a foundation. One by one they might want to line up neatly instead of lying on top of each other and fight for the same space. Those initial simple designs would be oh so easy to make, but this feels really hard to recreate. 

While the photo/design session didn't result in a fully formed plan or even a sketch, it did give me many ideas about how to use the flower sequins and also some general ideas for other, future embroideries. And of cause it was also fun and relaxing to just play around with the sequins and beads like this. With a camera by the side it's easy to capture different stages of the "play session" for future reference -- and the photos in themselves can become the result, the artwork (especially if they're better quality than mine; bad light sources and quick editing makes for poor photos). Even if I end up doing something way different, I also have these ideas captured in images for me to enjoy.

~*~

That was all from me. Thank you so much for stopping by (perhaps for a second time even as I didn't have my reveal up in time)! I hope you have enjoyed it. Now be sure to visit the other Sequintastic September participants too!

List of Sequintastic September participants

Sarah (our hostess) http://www.saturdaysequins.com/

 

Dawn, http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Mandi, http://www.beadcircle.com

Skylar, http://brisingbeads.blogspot.com

Cyndi, http://beading-arts.com

Karen, http://baublicious.blogspot.com

Lily, http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk

Eleanor, http://eleanorpigman.blogspot.com

Kepi, http://kepirasmussen.blogspot.com

Maneki (that's me),  http://wildrosesandblackberries.blogspot.se

Tammy, http://innermusejewelry.blogspot.com

Therese, http://theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Liz, http://beadcontagion.blogspot.com

Jasvanti, http://jewelrybyjasvanti.blogspot.com

Mischelle, http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com

Dee, http://agapecreationsjewelry.blogspot.com

Labweorc, http://labweorc.wordpress.com

Blog hop participants without blog share they creations here.

Got it right this time

Ok, so this is what I planned on doing when I ended up with the variations you got to see yesterday. As you see, a very different result so don't ask me how I could miss that I strung the bead wrong. To my defence, the oopsie stated with my using mini-drops and I really liked that result so it never occurred to me that something was wrong. As a comparison, yesterday's photo has been added below.

The flower bell beads was something I wanted to try already after making the first version with bicones (see below). Didn't know how it'd pan out as I thought the beads would be too big. As it turned out, what the flowers did do was to tilt inwards as I strung them and tightened the threads. Just to see what a difference it'd make I restrung the last three flowers facing the other way around.

I prefer them strung the way I did it first, but the downside is that there's quite a lot of exposed thread along the edge of the flowers. You do need a strong thread that'll blend in with the flower beads if stringing the beads this way.

For more piggy bead experiments and other two-hole beads, please see the 2-hole bead label.

One more -- comparing bead choices (and making mistakes)

After I made the little sample you can see in the last piggy post, I added a section with bicones (as in this post) plus one with Miyuki's new baroque beads.  The idea was to compare the different bead choices side by side. See what works and what needs to be tweaked. See what bead shapes and sizes work better than others.

And -- it turns out at the end of this post -- see what a difference the placement of the beads make. Yes, without knowing I did something different when adding beads in this sample compared to the first one where I added beads between the piggies. Notice that this is a mistake I didn't notice until writing almost all of the post so I decided to keep the text more or less untouched, leaving it as it was before spotting the oopsie instead of rewriting everything, pretending that the mistake was an intentional alteration/experiment or that I noticed right after finishing it.  My excuse is that I did the last two sections late at night after a long day that including having to get up early to go to town after barely having slept the previous night due to the thunder.

"natural scale"

Don't know about you, but as you can see I'm pretty fond of this way of stringing piggy beads. The size and shape of the bead you choose to add between the piggies really alter the final result and some fit better than others. There are so many options to choose between. I've only tried three this far (not counting stringing without any other beads at all).

Using 4 mm bicones was my first version and still a favourite -- even if it can create gaps where the thread is exposed. [Ok, this is the mistake so notice that the text talks about the new bicone varition, not the one, which is the one that's my real favourite!]. Not sure if covering the thread with a seed beads is a good option of if it will push the piggy beads apart so my plan right now is to find smaller bicones and give that a try.

I do have a few 3 mm ones, but feel like they might be too small for what I want. Does anyone make 3,5 mm bicones? It's something I think I've seen, but maybe I've just imagined it? Or got them mixed up so it's swarovski 2,5 mm bicones I'm thinking of? Did a quick googling and found a few copper beads that shape and size so even if there aren't any crystal beads in the size there are other 3,5 mm bicones.

My second version was made using 2,8 mm drops, as seen in the previous post. They nestled perfectly between the piggy beads and created a more compact zig-zag design than using big bicones. The drop shape is the same as the gap created between the piggies: smaller near the hole and wider at the edge. The perfect fit?

For this sample I also added baroque beads. Baroques come in two sizes, this is the smaller size 6/0. As you can see, the rounded shape of the large seed beads doesnt' fit the gap in the same way as neither the drop nor the bicone. A smaller seed bead size would probably be a better choice unless you like how these beads stick out.

 
And, yes, I did forget to mention the versions I made with rizos and 4 mm fire-polished respectively as I didn't make a section with those beads this time, but I might as well collect all variations here so here you go. Why not add the original version without extra beads too, just as a reference?

Oh! I just realised I made an oopsie! A big one! Do you notice it? In my first attempt to use bicones I placed them in the middle of the piggy bead cup (pic above), which made the beads nestle better than in the version I made yesterday where I placed the bicones on the edge, creating bigger gaps and therefore seeing more exposed threads. What a slip up... Stupid, stupid. But I guess it could be a good thing as you now get to see what a difference it makes how you string the beads.

Let's see them side by side:

Ack, now I need to redo the other sections, I think, to see what a difference that makes. Because one difference does become very clear when comparing these two samples: by adding beads on top of an edge hole you get more of a zig-zag pattern -- which I liked so much in the mini-drops sample -- and when adding beads in the cup of the beads, stringing through the centre hole, you get more of an overlapped pattern.

Well, at least this taught me that a small alteration -- intentional or mistake -- can make a big difference. When I take about tweaking experimental samples it really is all in the little tweaks. Like choosing the right hole to put the next bead over.

Live and learn. Live and learn...

Note: I'm using a thin beading thread here just because it's cheap, for a finished piece of jewellery I'd definitely go with a flexible beading wire instead.

Seed bead cravings

Have you seen my latest pinboard, Seed bead colours? If you follow my blog you know that one of the reasons glass beads are my favourite material to work with is that there are so many colours and finishes -- and I just want them all!

Having done some beaded beads, bead embroidery for TAST and now finally picked up my twin beads, I'm really craving some new seed bead colours. Like a true bead junkie. It's not like I don't have any seed beads, though my collection is probably far from as complete as some may think, but when I see a new colour I can't help but drool and think I must have it!

Gilded Marble Turquoise, Magic Raspberry, Opaque Olive Jade Picasso with Brown and Gray Stripes, Opaque Water Colors Half Coat Apollo Gold, Ancient Matt Snowcloud, Opaque Green Lined Montana Blue, Gold-Lustered Amethyst, Inside Color Lined Gray/Copper -- how can colours (and colour names) like that not be irresistable?

And with all the options, I find myself fascinated with one finish or type of colour at the time. It used to be picasso and opal colours. Before that celsian and lustre finish on opaque colours. Before that matte metallics and frosted vitrail. And Hybrids of cause. Right now I'm very curious about colour-lined and striped seeds.

Unfortunately, I can't really afford buying beads right now eventhough it's so tempting for a seed bead addict to just whip out the ol' Visa and order all those gorgeous colours. So right now I'm restricted to online window shopping only...

Daydreaming about all the colours and finishes I will buy one day. But rarely daydreaming about what I want to make with them... As I've said many times before, I'm a collector and hoarder so it's more about falling in love with colours than thinking they'd look fab in my beadwork.

Do you have a favourite seed bead colour you think I'd like? Please, do tell. With a link or just the colour name. I'd love some new colours ideas to toy with. And we all know some colours are much lovelier IRL and therefore easy to miss when just looking through the shops online like I do.

(The photo's of some czech seed beads in travertine, a picasso finish. It's a kind of note to myself to keep my eyes out for when the new picasso finish beads from Miyuki hits the market -- check out the colours in their online sample cards. They can be found in the Process category.)

TAST week 3: Feather stitch

English name: feather stitch

Swedish name: kråkspark

 *UPDATE: I've added some new detailed photos -- and another feather stitch variation made last night*

Feather stitch is another one of my favourite stitches. Not just because of its slightly odd swedish name: kråkspark literally means crow kick. I pretty much like all stitches you "lasso", thread, whip or interlace. And I especially like stitches that have an organic feel, that meaned like vines or make great branches and flowers.

For my first attempt at beaded feather stitch, see this post on my WIP ribbon bracelet. For this week's challenge I only made one beaded version and that was with the 2-hole tila beads (by Miyuki) as you can see in the top right corner of the pic above. Thought the bead would align perfectly with the u-shape of the feather stitches, but you can't really see much of the stitch, working it like this and there's no real benefit to stitching a 2-hole bead this way so it's perhaps more fun than useful. I'm thinking about trying it with PreciosaOrnela's Twin beads too. Because of their shape the stitch might be more visible so to speak.

I've done several "traditional" variations inspired by a embroidery book borrowed from the library. That's the lavender stitches at top. There you can for example see chained feather stitch  (second from the left) and grouped feather stitch.

The sixth and last of the lavender stitches is a basic stitch with a twist. Literally: the stitches are twisted the same way I did with some of the fly stitches here.

I had an idea to make a row with novelty yarn. Eyelash yarn was the idea, but looking at them, I felt it wasn't going to be pretty. So instead my eyes fell on another ball of yarn: Red Heart Aurica. It's just perfect for this stitch!

Then I went on to do some variations including fly stitch (to the right, lower half of the picture). First I added fly stitches to a row of feather stitch, using the same colour for both. For the second row, I added purple fly stitches. The third row is purple feather stitch with a second row of pink feather stitches on top of the first.

The last thing I did was another take on beaded feather stitch, but instead of seed beads I use tiny lucite (acrylic) flowers that I added directly to the stitches. As you can see, I tried to add them both to the middle and on the edge of the stitches. The flowers do end up sitting slightly slanted against the fabric, but if you don't want to add the flowers afterwards and think it takes too long to do, this is an option.

...and that's the result of my third weekly TAST challenge.

Oh, yes -- if you've missed my feather stitch bangle (which I consider part of my challenge result) you can see more of it here.

...aaaand then I went and did this last night. Inspired by the bi-colour (or magical) chain stitch. Same principle, but with feather stitch.

---
What is TAST?

Take a Stitch Tuesday is a weekly embroidery challenge throughout the year by Sharon of Pin Tangle. You can read more about it here (or by clicking the TAST badge to the right).


To see what others have done in this stitch, check out the comments in this post on Pin Tangle.

Tila trials

Well, seeing how my bead block kind of faded away this last week or two (read more about that here), I finally got around actually finish a couple of tila projects. While I've made a few swatches just to test how I could stitch with them, it wasn't until now that I actually made a whole project.

First out was the rivoli above. It's by now means a perfect project, but I really enjoyed creating this slightly unusual beaded bezel. The flipside looks exactly the same as the front, but the tila beads are a bit crowded: next time I'll only use seed beads for the back. As for colours, I just had to work with what I had eventhough the colour combo isn't my best one. Matte black tilas and seeds and a 18 mm custom coated Swarovski rivoli in peridot glacier blue.

I was planning on making a bracelet as well, but not this one. What happened was that I stumbled over Jennifer VanBenschoten's article Diagonal Stitch for Tila Beads and her Elegant Tila Bead Bracelet project. The stitch looked fun and interesting so I put my original idea aside in order to give this a try.

I didn't mean to embellish it with these seed beads. I tried a few different ideas, but in the end it was my choice of clasp -- a black and gold glass button given to me -- that made me go with the Permanent Finish golden 11/0. Ideally I wanted to use 15/0 matte beads in the tips, but I couldn't find them so I had to settle with larger 11/0 Czech seeds.

For the loop, I stitched a row of herringbone. Again, nothing I originally planned (thought I'd do a simple three rows of peyote instead of just stringing the beads). But when I began fastening the first beads agains the tilas, it came natural to do it in herringbone stitch instead.

And now I have to get more tila beads! Love playing with them and the new possibilites as well as challenges these two-hole beads offer. I've got so many more ideas to try, but -- alas -- I just have barely a dozen beads left right now...

Liquorice

Like so many I love liquorice and one type of sweets I liked as a kid was a type of liquorice sold in little flat diamonds or squares. Recently I bought tila beads and as my budget only allowed for one colour I did have problems choosing. In the end I went for a versatile colour that -- more importantly -- wasn't too expensive. Matte black.

It's just that the colour, finish and shape keep making me think of liquorice now that I have them in front of me. Must... buy... liquorice...

And, eeh, sometimes I feel like I have to tell myself that the beads aren't edible. Eventhough they look so much like sweets. They're really yummy beads. I better make something of these soon before I accidentally mistake the bag for my liquorice stash.

Pink anemone brooch

I really like these lovely big acrylic/lucite flowers. That's why I bought this one eventhough pink is not my favourite colour.

This just a very simple brooch I made by knotting the acrylic flower to a large coconut button -- it had a perfect curve for letting the flower nest in the middle -- and then adding a few matte crystal long magatama beads in the centre. I think it suits the season with its soft spring colours.

Long magatama bead earrings

While still trying to figure out how I want to use my "snowdrops", I took out some of my other long magatamas from Miyuki. Last time I used my long magatama beads was when making a crocheted bracelet. This time I wanted to use another, simpler technique and I soon began to think of shaggy loops. Originally a simple chain maille weave without beads, but it also looks great with beads (Beadsisters have a yummy example of that, using bronze wire and green lentil beads).

One thing is important to remember when using these beads: the two sides aren't symmetrical, meaning you will get different results depending on which way you string the beads. If stringing them all in the same directions you'll end up with something like FusionBeads' Birds of a Feather. By adding the beads in pairs, so that they instead "face" each other, you get more of a smooth look, almost like scales. That is what I did in my earrings above, adding the beads to larger antique copper-plate jump rings (screwbacks also in antiqued copper). If you turn the beads "facing away" from each other, you end up with a result like the one below.


This was more of an experiment so I just used what size jump rings I could find. Haven't tried any smaller one to compare results.