Purple beads and tissue paper

I just had some fun with a photo of table cut flower beads, layering it with a photo of the purple tissue paper they came in. I love how tissue paper can be used to create interesting textures, both digitally as here and in painting/mixed media art. Have thought about using it in jewellery, but so far it hasn't got beyond a few random thoughts as other projects have been prioritized.

If you haven't seen the type of paintings and mixed media techniques mentioned you can find a few examples below (as seen on my pinboards):

• Artangel
• Ink Stains
• [no original source]
• Donna Downey
• Creative Expressions: gesso and tissue paper
• Creative Expressions: faux leather tissue paper
• Yogi's Emporium
• Watercolor Painting

That last one is of using tissue paper instead of a sponge to create patterns in watercolour paintings. The others are variations on gluing crumpled tissue paper on paper/cardboard and painting it.

Tin thread resources

Tin thread bracelets are a search query that keeps popping up in my blog stats. I've also received several e-mails about where to buy tin thread (or pewter thread if you prefer) as it's not readily available outside Scandinavia. So for some time I've been thinking about writing an article with resources concerning this type of jewellery. And why then not do it already today? I did and here it is -- all about tin thread in english.

What is tin thread?

Tin thread or pewter thread is a gimp, that is a core around which fiber or fine metal wire is wound. In this case it's a fine silver-tin wire spun around a cotton core. There are also gold-plated thread aswell as copper and enamelled copper threads available today.

Metal threads made like this were common throughout Europe since the Middle Ages, but mostly they were made using precious metal. In Scandinavia, where gold and silver threads were used, it seems like the Sami where the only ones making tin thread. Originally reindeer sinew was used as a core, but nowadays a textile core is used. While the threads can now be made with machines, some sami artisans still make their own tin thread by hand.

The thread come in different sizes and to make it complicated, the width measurement is often based on the thickness of the core, which determines the width of the finished thread, not the whole tin thread. If the thread is said to be 0,3 mm then it will in fact be about 0,7-0,8 mm. 0,35 mm tin thread is 0,9-1,0 mm thick and 0,4 mm thread is 1,05-1,15 mm in diameter.

What's the history behind sami tin thread bracelets?

Tin thread has been used in traditional Sami embroidery since at least the Middle Ages. Nowadays it's mostly used in bracelets and jewellery where tin thread braids are stitched onto reindeer hide. The jewellery is often called a traditional Sami handicraft, but isn't as old as the embroidery. It was most likely first made for the tourists that began to holiday in the northerns mountains around the early 1900's. In Sweden this type of jewellery, mostly bracelets, is made by non-Sami and Sami crafters alike.

Making these bracelets was popular when I was a kid (80's, early 90's). I also think it had a certain rise in popularity during the 70's as well, when all things traditional craft where in vogue, but I'm to young to know that for sure. Some years years ago tin thread braiding again became popular, but this time it was more about colours. Instead of just natural or dark brown or black dyed hides, craft stores began selling dyed and patterned strips of hide. And there was also a wide variety of colours in the threads, not just the traditional tin threads, but enamelled spun copper threads. The "tin thead bracelet trend" seem to be constantly evolving: a couple of years ago I noticed that the red, moss green, black and blue was gone from the craft chain catalogue I got. Instead there was silver and lilac hide -- lamb, not reindeer -- matched with the silver-grey tin thread. They pitched it as"folklore gone glam". And last year I could find bright, almost neon tin thread and hides as well as patterned reindeer hide. Of cause, there's still the more traditional dark brown and black reindeer hide too.

I do not know how many more years it will be trendy for crafters and hobbyist jewellery-makers to make these bracelets, but I do know that it never really seems to fall out of fashion: there are always a few people making these, especially in the North.


How do I make tin thread braided jewellery?

As far as I know there aren't many instructions in english for making tin thread bracelets. I have found three project in english at Not Only Quilts: Sami bracelet -- the tutorial, Simple Katarina bracelet och Macrame. Some years ago I did spot a US place that taught tin thread bracelet making, but I can't recall their name and don't know if they still do it.

As you can translate websites using Google Translate, instructions and tutorials in swedish can be useful too. You can find a couple of how-tos at e.g. Slöjd-Detaljer, YLE and Min Fritid. You can also make braided or knotted jewellery without the hide foundation -- see Med glimten i ögat and YLE.

Panduro Hobby have a free pdf pamphlet with how-tos in swedish, danish and norwegian here.

Books in swedish include Tenntrådsflätning by Maggie Alexandersson (Brevskolan) and Tenntrådsbroderier by Mona Callenberg (ICA Bokförlag). The latter is more about tin thread embroidery than about tin thread jewellery, though. Gällivare Textil have published a pamphlet called Gällivare Textils Mönsterbok för skinnsömnad och tenntrådsbroderi. And for those who learn best from watching others, Agnetas Allehanda have made instructional DVDs.

For some pure eye candy, my favourite place to go is Sarakka Design.

 Where can I buy tin thread?
Outside Scandinavia it appears to be tricky to find tin thread and tin thread jewellery supplies. You are really stuck with two options: ask your local craft store or bead shop to carry it -- or buy from a scandinavian seller.

A few places in Sweden, that I know deliver internationally, are Agnetas Allehanda (wellknown source for materials and courses), Kero and TNKreativt (formerly Luletråden). There are more places, I guess, both in Sweden and in the other Scandinavian countries, but these are the better known sources. Gällivare Textil is also a shop I've heard good things about, but I'm not sure if they deliver internationally. One shop that do offer international delivery, but which I doesn't know anything about is Sörbyns Tenntråd. I also think Slöjdmaterial i Luleå and Smyckestillbehor.se (scroll to end of page) sells internationally, judging from the fact the websites are in english as well as swedish.

Then there's the chain where much of my own thread comes from, Panduro. It's a Danish chain of craft shops, based in Sweden nowadays, and they also have international websites, which you can find here.

These sellers all have supplies ranging from threads and reindeer hide to reindeer horn buttons and jewellery kits. Some of them also carry books or how-to pamphlets.
 

NB! Be prepared -- some shops charge a rather hefty shipping cost, especially if buying whole rolls as they are pretty bulky. It's probably best to contact the shop first to get an estimate if you are unsure about the costs. Remember that if you're outside the EU, you can deduct the moms (VAT/sales tax) off the retail prices (sometimes you can view the prices without moms directly and wholesale prices for businesses are always quoted without moms). That's 20 % off the listed retail price.

Old DIY jewellery and accessories article

I actually wrote about this magazine page in my other blog back in 2008, but thought it'd be fun to show it again now that I found it while looking for some other photos. It's a really big scan so if you want to read the text -- which is in Swedish -- or view the jewellery and accessory projects up close, you can just click on it.

I found this page in a crochet book I "took over" after my grandma or oldest aunt. Both dies years before I was born (one of age, one of stomach cancer) and left many things behind in my dad's possession.  The reason this page from an old women's magazine was folded and put in the book was that the other side, page 40, features patterns for a cat and teddy bear knitted in fuzzy yarn. It's also the cat pattern that made me save the torn out page.

Then, in 2008, I got the idea to unfold the paper and see what was on the back. I knew there was something, but didn't remember what. It turned out to be instructions for easy-to-make DIY accessories, or "decorations for the young ladies" as the headline reads. The necklaces and belts are made from such everday objects as bast/raffia, vent chain, curtain rings, glass or wooden beads and wire, while the gloves and purse are beaded with glass and steel beads. Also notice the bead dangles, taken from a crystal chandelier, on the raffia-wrapped metal belt.

A fun glimpse of DIY jewellery articles back in... well, I have no idea what decade or year it might be. Don't even know which magazine featured this. Anyone got any ideas?

Sequin waste inspiration links

I thought that as I'm not doing anything worthwhile anyway today, I could take a few minutes hours to show some of the links I found when looking for sequin waste (a.k.a. punchinella) inspiration. This is pretty much just a random list of things stumbled over. Hope you can find something of interest in it!

Most of the examples -- well, more or less all of them -- use sequin waste with round hole as that's the most common type. You can however find sequin waste in all sorts of shapes. For examples of this, see e.g. Simply Sequins (there's also snowflake-shaped punchinella, but it's out of stock so it doesn't show up in that page -- see it here instead).

~*~

First, I just wanted to mention that if you haven't seen it already, you can find some seqiun waste pattern photos in my previous post on the subject. You can also read about what sequin waste or punchinella actually is there.

A good place to start is of cause Flickr, searching for either sequin waste or punchinella. Different names resulting in different search results. Tip: use quotation marks around "sequin waste" for more relevant hits.

Another almost just as good place to start is Pinterest, again search for either sequin waste or punchinella.

In fact, those two places alone will give you many ideas, ranging from printing and scrapbooking to hand embroidery and beadwork.

So far, my favourites are the ones using sequin waste in embroidery. Plenty of examples at Flickr, like this, this, this (bottom right corner) or this (beaded). Notice how some cut open the "centre" to create open flower motifs. More embroideries, using detached daisy stitch, can be found at Pintangle. There's also tiny fragments of sequin waste in the art squares at Taylor's textile trials.

A fabric postcard with sequin waste background and beads and button embellishments can be found at Judy Skeel's blog.

Edited to add: Forgot to mention the videos from Guache Alchemy. One video with 7 different ways of using sequin waste plus a bonus video using embossing and inking.

At Rare Bird, you can see sequin waste being used to create patterns in friendly plastic, e.g. for making necklace pendants. There it's sold as laser mesh. Another version, using two layers, can be seen in Liz Welch's blog here. And don't miss this one either. In this pic, you can see star-shaped sequin waste too. Both sequin waste and sequins in friendly plastic can be found in this post.

Even more pics of friendly plastic and punchinella can be found at Adrienne Wood's blog.

Sequin waste can also be used for weaving as seen e.g. in this preview of a book by Lillian Coppock. Another use for it in the book is for wirework fish, as you could see in that link. More weaving can be found at Julie's mixed media blog.

Mixing punchinella and modelling paste (used with acryclic paints) can result in lovely art pieces like these by Amy Dame.

There are plenty of examples of sequin waste being used as stencils on Flickr so I'm just going to mention JoZart's blog post, showing how she created a background for a concertina file. And some pastel-painted polymer clay at Deez News.

Apparently, it can also be used as a bird scare.

~*~

Your turn: have you used sequin waste before? How? Have you found something inspirational online or in books for using this stuff? What would you do with it?

Feel free to add links to pics and blog posts. Your own or other's.

New giveaways: books, beads and pendants

I can finally log on to my Blogger account (updated my web browser to latest version and cleared out all cookies, which fixed it all) and I'll take the opportunity to give a few tips on recent giveways.

First up is a fab giveaway from Andrew Thornton. He's giving away a dozen of his new art pendants. Four bronze, four copper and four fine silver-coated ones -- with a value of 220 USD. For your chance to win these beautiful pendant, check out his giveaway blog post here.



Next up is Barbara Lewis of Painting with Fire who's giving away a selection of torch-fired enamelled filigree beads. You also get to choose which colour you want so if the green beads in the pic isn't your style, you're free to pick another colour you like better. For your chance to win you must check out the preview of her book on Amazon.com, like it and comment that you've done so here.



And, finally, today Marcie of La Bella Joya announced she's giving away her copy of Sherry Serafini's new book Sensational Bead Embroidery. This book is on my bead book wishlist. MY very long wishlist. I like her opulent bead embroidery and I've heard good things about the book. For you chance to win this copy, head of to Marcie's giveway post here.

PS! Check out Lark Crafts for a couple of free projects from Serafini's book.

Organza flower brooch

I mentioned making this brooch on a forum, but didn't have any photos to show. Well, now there are a couple of pics. It's my first assembled "burnt organza" flower, though I've made petals before that I never got around to stitching together.

This is a really simple flower. I cut about a dozen irregular circles in four sizes from a wide Mokuba organza ribbon, melted the edges over a candle and then stacked the ruffled petals. Then I stitched a few white opal seeds to the centre and added a brooch pin to the back. I can't decide if I think it looks like an old-fashioned rose, a peony or a ranuclus flower.

I only had white organza to play with. It looks nice, really romantic wedding style, but I want to use other colours too. Want to make more substantial and less ethereal flowers, if you know what I mean.


There are many places online where you can learn to various kinds of "burnt" organza flowers: Little Birdie Secrets, Engageology, Reese Dixon, Cut Out + Keep, What You Make It, You Can't Take It With You. Sew4Home have both instructions and templates. Mad Mim have three different tuts: The Burnt Edges Criss-Cross Flower, The Burnt Petal Flower and The Burnt Edges Circle Flower. And then there's YouTube of cause with videos like e.g. How to Make a Pretty Organza Flower and Rayon/Organza Flower Technique. In this one a Cuttlebug is used to cut the circles -- saves time when you don't have to cut them yourself.

I've got a few other styles of organza flowers planned. Not sure how they'll turn out, but I have a semi-finished chrysanthemum. Inspired by a ribbon flower project by Helen Gibb.

I finally bought some tin thread -- now what shall I do with it?

I finally got around to buying some "real" tin thread. I already have the copper version and at a sale I also got some black enamelled copper thread. Tin thread isn't exactly cheap so I have putting off buying some for years. But now I just couldn't resist it anymore.



If you're not Scandinavian I suspect you wonder: what, then, is tin thread? Well, tin thread is a literal translation of Swedish word tenntråd. Sometimes it's also called pewter thread, seeing it's made using a tin alloy -- in Swedish tenn is used both for tin and pewter so different translations exist. But unlike most pewter alloys used in jewellery components, tin thread has a pinch of silver in it: 4 % silver to give it a nice shine. Of cause it's also nickel-free. The thread consist of a fibre core around which thin tin/pewter threads are spun (see close-up below). The sizes can be confusing: it is not the actual width of the thread, but the width of the core, that is measured...




Tin thread is used in traditional Sami embroidery -- since at least the Middle Ages -- as well as in a type of jewellery where tin thread braids are stitched onto reindeer hide. The jewellery is often called a traditional Sami handicraft, but isn't as old or traditional as many think. Not like the tin thread embroideries. In Sweden this type of jewellery, mostly bracelets, is made by non-Sami and Sami crafters alike.

Making these bracelets was popular when I was a kid (80's, early 90's), I remember, but though I wanted to try it, it was considered too expensive by my parents I guess. We had a help teacher in our class that was part Sámi -- not very common in Southerns Sweden where I live -- and she had one of these bracelets as well as other hand-crafted Sámi jewellery and embroidered accessories that she showed us. I also think it had a certain rise in popularity during the 70's as well, but I'm to young to know that for sure.

A few years ago tin thread braiding again became in vogue, but this time it was more about colour. Instead of just natural or dark brown or black dyed hides, craft stores began selling dyed stips of hide. And there was also a wide variety of colours in the threads, not just the traditional tin threads, but enamelled spun copper threads. But the "tin thead bracelet trend" seem to be constantly evolving because in the latest catalogue I got from craft store chain Panduro, the red, moss green, black and blue was gone. Instead there was silver and lilac hide -- lamb, not reindeer -- matched with the silver-grey tin thread. They pitched it as"folklore gone glam". Of cause, there was still the more traditional dark brown and black reindeer hide too.

I do not know how many more years it will be trendy for crafters and hobbyist jewellery-makers to make these bracelets, but I do know that it never really falls out of fashion: there are always a few people making these, especially in the North -- not least as long as there are foreigners interested in buying "exotic" jewellery or wanting "genuine" souvenirs.



I'm not sure exactly what I will do with my threads. Perhaps I'll make something "traditional", perhaps I'll try to add more of my style to it or perhaps I will just not use it for braiding or embroidery at all. Though it might look nice, using some in bead embroidery?

~*~

How to make tin thread braided jewellery

Were you reading this, looking for instructions or tutorials for how to make "saami bracelets" yourself or tips on where to buy tin thread? I've written about all of that HERE.

A handful of beads

This is the second beaded ball I've ever made. The thing I like about it is the size: it's about 4,5 cm, making it ideal to hold in my hand and play with. To that, I've used soft "unfinished" wooden beads and matte glass drops so it feels very nice and soft to hold.

The bead is a basic 30-bead ball. After it was finished I added large drop beads to each "joint" where the thread was visible between the beads. Not only did they cover the thread, but I think they added a bit to the design as well. My reason for using large beads was to be able to use them as home décor, inspired by a cover of The Bead Book Magazine where large beaded balls made from a variety of beads were used almost like fruit, placed in a bowl.

I can't say I enjoy making these bead balls, but I kind of like them enough to probably make a few more in the future.

Decoupage pendants

Yesterday I wrote instructions for how I make my decoupage pendants in my other blog, Manekis pärlblogg. Text is in Swedish but if you're interested at least there are some pics (and you can always translate using Google Translate -- checkout the "share" button at the end of the post). And I might be translating it for this blog later.

For the pendants and rings shown I've used Decopatch papers on Vintaj's brass blanks and steel (?) rings from Bra Pärlor. If you like the rings and you're Swedish, you might want to check out that shop. They have 50 % off as they close down on Sunday (14/3).

Heat patina on stainless steel

Patinating metal using a torch is so much fun. I've tried both copper and stainless steel and really like the colours I can get on the latter. Here's just one example where I've used a dragon pendant I bought in a bead shop. Degreased it a bit and then I just heated it with my butane torch, making sure I kept moving the torch over the whole pendant.

I still can't control the outcome exactly, but it's a lot of fun so I don't mind if the result differs from want I wanted. For my first try, I used a thin steel sheet I picked up at the local craft shop. Very useful as there was room to experiment and test in what order the colours would appear. As you can see in my two photos, the back of the pendant also changed colour, but not as much as the front, where the heat was directed.



If you want instructions, you can find them e.g. at the M.A.I.L website. It not only covers "torching" but also how to heat metal in an oven or kiln etc. There's also an article on heat colouring jump rings using a skillet and stove top.

And one thing: if you try this, make sure you know what metal you're using. For example, never, ever heat galvy steel as you might release nasty zinc fumes. You really don't want to inhale those! Some stainless steel items in bead and jewellery shops are also chrome plated -- something that isn't always mentioned in the descriptions...

Dragon and the snowdrops

This is my sweet little green dragon. I took the photo February 28, 2009. Last Sunday, the 28, it looked more like this is our garden. I just can't wait for the spring flowers now!

By the way, the dragon is mine, but not made by me. I got him in an international swap/gift exchange some years ago when I was active at the big B&B/BeadStyle/Art Jewelry forum (before they split into separate forums). I'm so embarressed to say this, but I don't remember who sent him... I've lost the package with her name! The only thing I do remember is that the person sending it was American. If you, reading this, are the one who sent a beaded dragon to a Swedish beader named Kristina or know who might have been my "secret santa", please write me a note because I really would like to know.

(And if you want to make a dragon of your own, here's the instructions -- or read my link tips here.)

"Trick sennit" bead bracelet

Making a loose "trick sennit" is my favourite way of getting that feeling of twisted "ruffled" necklaces or bracelets without actually having to twist the strands. I found the instructions at the website of the International Guild of Knot Tyers and soon realised it would be useful for my beadwork. It doesn't require twisting or braiding strands without fastening the first, making it a simple method you can't go wrong with. You can divid the strands into three (as I've done above) or weave through each and every strand. You can weave a couple of times for a loose style or keep working until you get a tighter braid.

The colours of the bracelet in the photo might need a few comments as well. I got a colour challenge to use a mix of yellow, orange and dark pink (rose). It toook a while for me to find matching colours -- it's not a combo I normally use -- but I think my mix of carnelian chips, smokey topaz gold luster cubes, and dk rose lined lt topaz luster 11/0 seeds turned out better than I could wish to hope for.

Puffy hana-ami motifs

I don't really remember what made me start talking about this variation of hana-ami. But in doing so I inspired both myself and other beaders at a foroum to start making "hana-amipuffar". The one above is one of my favourites: note how the square bicone beads gave it a star shape.

I rather like the one below as well. This time, to vary the motif a bit, I added picots between the outer swaros. I had bought the 6 mm crystal beadss more or less by accident -- I'm not a big fan of white opal AB -- so I was quite pleased that they could be used for something.


What I like about these puffy things is that they are so versatile. You can vary the shape, size and number of beads, add embellishment and link several motifs together.

Five petals is good amount as it make the motif cupped already when making the first side, but still enough petals for it took look like a flower. You can make these with 6, 4 or 3 "petals" aswell, as shown in the photo below. More beads = flatter, fewer beads = more puffed up.



Unfortunately I don't have photos of it, but I have also made these using only round beads aswell as using FW pearls (rice and nuggets).


How to make it
If you're interested in making similar beaded beads or pendants (or whatever you think they are), I've got a few links of interest. Note that the motifs can be made in slighly different ways depending on who you ask. And while some use a single-needle method, others use double needles. I use the method described at Smyckestillverkning iFokus. Similar motifs are also made in projects at Rollendes Atelier and Beadjewelrymaking.com. Diane FitzGerald has instructions for her smaller version of them published in Beadwork Creates Beaded Beads, there called Star Flower (you can find a sample page with photo of them at her website, pdf format).

An example of how you can link together motifs can also be found here.

How to make flat hana-ami motifs can be learnt e.g. at Around the Beading Table and from Chris Prussing/Bead-Patterns.com (both free). You can also stitch together two flat hana-ami motifs like this.

I've written more about hana-ami and different variations on the stitch here.

Aunt Elsa's pearls

This is probably the most time-consuming jewellery repair I've ever made. What made it especially "complicated" is the fact that the pearls are (a) fancy, bought from a traditional jeweller, (b) old -- and (c) they belong to a beloved aunt, my father's only sister since my other aunt passed away long before I was born. Since May she is also a widow. So I wanted to do my very, very best knotting these pearls after the necklace had broken.

The necklace is graduated so first I had to be sure I put the pearls on in the right order. Then I could begin knotting. Slowly, making every knot more than perfect. Re-doing them if neccessary. Using my favourite method, a variation of Celia Martin's needle method. Then, finally, finish it all off. The jeweller had used the traditional shellac method to attach the pearl silk to the ends, which is a bit different from the methods I have used before.

Elsa was very pleased with the pearls. Even after we forgot to take them with us when visiting her the first time after it was finished. I thought mum had taken the necklace because she had a bag to carry it in, she thought I had taken it because I was the one repairing it. But the next time my parents visited, it was remembered and she could finally get her pearls back, complementing the quality of the repair. That felt very good to hear!

Dagger beads

I seem to accumulate dagger beads. Not that I use them very often, in fact I almost never use daggers. But then I might see beads in an especially pretty colour, or get an idea I won't realise or get inspired by beadwork or jewellery online, using daggers. So I keep buying daggers every now and then... Beads are passion, not logic.


PS! If you are in need of ideas I've collected a bunch of dagger bead projects here.

Chain stitch bead crochet

I really, really hate stringing beads for crocheting, but at least with chain stitch bead crochet the actually crocheting is easy and fun. The above bracelet is one that I made for a UK Beaders Forum Challenge, on the theme Golden Glow. My first time using the new Miyuki long magatamas.

The pattern is simple: 3 15/0 seeds, 1 triangle, 3 15/0 seeds and 1 long magatama. Seeds are transparent gold s/l, stitched into group of three, forming picots, and the rest are in a colour named sparkling beige-lined crystal. The thread is a straw coloured pearl silk cord.


This is the first piece I made in chain stitch bead crochet, after reading the tutorial at Bead Pattern Central. Instead of making big loops, as in the original instructions, I made each loop out of the sequence 2 11/0, 1 drop, 2 11/0. Very boring to string as I had to alternate between two different bead shapes the whole time. Using bead mixes added variation to the pattern. The thread is a brown YLI Jean Stitch.

Of cause I like to experiment with different types of threads and cords. Below is a photo of a few samples I made just to show when writing about the technique in my other blog. Sorry about the crummy photo. Silk cord, cables, craft wire, faux suede, silky novelty yarns, jewellery chain, Mac Cord, you name it.


Some of them turned out better than others... making the chain bracelet and heart bracelet was probably the most interesting. The former showed me new way of using chain, the latter was a good example of how you can pick up embellishments during crocheting, not having to string it on before starting as with beads. And I quite like the narrow bracelet with matte ivory drops and s/l burnt orange seeds -- it actually is what inspired me to make my Rowanberries bracelet (the one that won the UKBF challenge).


PS! For links to tutorials and patterns, please se my other blog.

Rose petal beads and tea dyed silk

Our water has frozon today so I feel it fitting to dedicate this day to daydream about last summer. One thing I managed to take the time to do for the first time last summer was rose petal beads.

There are many different recipes for rose petal beads online -- you can find several listed by me here -- and I read as many as I could find before giving it a try. I have mostly followed a version written by Cathy Covington, who puree the petals using a blender instead of using the old Victorian technique of boiling/simmering them for hours. Unfortunatly, her recipe is no longer to be found online.

I picked petals from several different rosebushes, some pink and others red. Luckily dad has mostly chosen to plant old-fashioned roses with wonderful scents, not the modern one that look good and blossom for a long time, but lack that real rose scent. To make them more special, I also added another sweet-smelling flower: Sweet mock orange or English dogwood ( Philadelphus coronarius L.). We have a couple of bushes in our gardens and they smell lovely. No summer is complete without the scent of doftschersmin in the evening.

It's impossible to tell the size of the dried beads from photos only. I haven't measured them, but would guess that they are 14 mm i diametre at the most. The colours of the dried beads are a melee of red and brown, reminding of silk ribbon I own. Many doesn't look divine, but that is how they smell.

They feel lightweight and fragile and I think one way I might use them is for decorative scented boquets/bags/pomanders for the closet. Or perhaps they will be part of a pendant or earrings.



But how, then, are rose petal beads related to tea dyed silk cords? Other than I dyed them the day after I made the rose beads. Actually it didn't start out as a project related to my venture into bead making. It just ended up that way. But I will tell you the story from the start.

I visited my local Panduro store, a craft shop chain, once when they had a sale and I bought two dozen white silk cords for a fraction of the normal cost. They spent a long time in storage until I finally decided I had to dye them, even if it meant I would have less cords left -- and that tea dyeing would be both fun and cheap. Barely anyone in our family drink tea so teas we are given or buy to serve tea-drinking relatives just sit in the cupboard most of the time.

So I did my usual round of research online. And I also began to wonder what the result would be if using green tea. Would the silk turn green? I'd love that! Found green fabric online which was supposedly dyed with green tea so it seemed plausible even if other websites warned of unpredicatable results.

What I did learn from my research was this:

• Salt or vinegar/ättika can be used to stabilize the colour. One website says to use 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water, and 1 spoon of salt. Soak for 15 min, dry and press. The tannins act as mordant.
• The dye can also be heat set.
  
• Colour can fade in the sun.
• Dye can be removed with bleach and too much washing using modern detergents.
• Work on all natural fibres.
• Use at least 2 bags of tea per cup. Rinse in cold water.
• Coffee dye will leave a smell longer than tea does. (So not for me.)
• Some say the tannins will deteriorate the fibres over time.
• Best for small projects.
• Green tea works, but many different variables will affect the outcome colourwise.

Knowing that I began, using different teas and letting the cords soak for different amount of times. My green tea did give the cords a bit of a greenish yellow tinge, but not as much as I hoped for. Below, in my crummy photo, you can see the different shades I ended up with -- upper-most cords are undyed. Green tea to the right and fruit-flavoured black tea to the left. In the middle a cord dipped in both.


Don't worry -- I haven't forgotten the rose connection. Well, after all my tea dyeing I couldn't give up thinking about dyeing with plants and natural dyes, something that had interested me as a kid. Actually, at one point as kids we did make "ink" out of flowers, mostly evening primrose or St John's wort, (i.e. boiling them with vinegar and reduce) and also "painted" with petals on paper. I can still feel the special vinegar smell from those inks. But we never really did try dyeing fabric. I guess mom thought that would mean too much work and special ingredients.

Well, as I mentioned above, part of making the rose beads included mixing the petals, which resulted not only in a puree but also a lot of rose juice. That juice, which I squeezed out of the puree to make firm beads, was saved. Don't ask me why. It had a pleasant smell so I guess I didn't just want to pour it out. So, one thing I had discovered about rose juice -- let us call it that -- was that it could stain clothes, paper and skin. Because that it did when I made the beads. I know somethings stain when you don't want it to, but refuse to be used as a dye on purpose. Still I wanted to give it a try. I added a splash of vinegar and salt (see above) and dipped the cords.

As you can see in the first photo of the silk cords, I did manage to give them a nice rosy colour. The flat cord was "heat set" using an iron. The cord in the upper part of the photo is both rose dyed and tea dyed. I liked that result. Unfortunatly I have no idea if my amateurish dyeing is good enough to make rose dye that won't fade in sunlight or over time... [UPDATE: the rose dye was unfortunately not permanent even without sunlight bleaching it. No difference between heat setting it or not.]

~*~

Footnote: The first thing I wanted to tea dye was actually not silk cords, but FW pearls. Inspired by websites on the subject, I actually once did try to dye pearls using plants, but it failed. Haven't given up though. If you are interested in dyeing your own pearls, please check out the links I've listed here.

Wire bird's nests

Wire bird's nests with pearls as eggs seems to have been popular for quite some while, but I didn't really discover them -- as in take an interest in them -- until some weeks ago. They are really cute and didn't seem too difficult to make or require any supplies I didn't have at home. So of cause I had to give it a try or two.

Above you see my first two pendants, using leftover pearls and scraps of wire I had home. Copper was the only wire in a suiting colour I had at home so I settled with my favourite metal (next to blackened steel, brass and tin/pewter). In the tiny second pendant -- or rather, charm -- I used wire in two different gauges.

Of cause, not all birds lay their eggs in special nests, some -- like hens -- can lay their eggs in simple grass nests or just an undisturbed grassy corner, perhaps under a shielding bush or plant. As I started to use up my copper wire, I took out my thin coloured craft wire and made a small nest with brightly coloured easter eggs. As the wire was so thin (0,3 mm, suitable for crocheting), I used doubled wire in two different shades of green. The cheap pearls did not have perfect holes, going from end to end, which is the reason why some of them seem to be standing up more than others. An imperfection that in a way made the design "come alive" in a new way compared to nest where all the eggs lay down. This is a bit more three-dimensional.


There are many instructions for these nests online, either for free or tutorials for a fee: Just Something I Made, Denise Mathew (don't miss her nest ring part 1 and part 2 too), Stampington/Creative Impulse, Vintaj, Something Sublime, AnneMade Jewelry, Creations by Janice (ring) and purple8p/Jewelrylessons.com (also a ring tutorial). Variations on the theme includes Cindy Gimbrone's A-layin' Pendant with a nesting bird instead of eggs and tadaosgirl's Robin's Egg Bracelet with "single egg" nests.

Framed bead flowers

Some time ago I stumbled upon some pretty flowers at Parts Club, a Japanese bead shop with many free projects (click on recipe). What I especially liked about the Swarovski-sparkling necklace I first found was how the round links were used. At the time chains with big links was very popular in Sweden -- and I really, really disliked them. But suddenly I saw new potential in them, not just crushing them or use as frames to coil on, but as frames for bead flowers.

Recently instructions for a "dreamcatcher-inspired" bag charm has also been published on the website.

As you can see, some flowers turned out better than others. The "chunky" on with teal fp drops is probably my favourite so far. Not counting the latest version, which uses the same amethyst drops as the compontent to the right, but with a second olivine flower added to the back (so they partially show through the gaps between the purple petals). Don't have a photo of that one yet so you'll just have to wait until I've made it into a finished necklace.