The December Challenge

Welcome to the December challenge! It's colour time and the theme is METALLICA. No, we don't want you to create something inspired by the rock band (although you can if you want to!). Rather than choose a particular colour scheme this month we're inviting you to use ONLY metallic beads in your piece.

Thinking that metallic means just gold or silver? Wrong! There are so many glorious colours made in metallic and galvanized finishes these days - including Miyuki's Duracoats and Toho's Permanent Finish as well as all the beautiful metallic finishes on other types of beads - that you may be spoiled for choice. And if you want to use just gold and/or silver then that's fine too!

Specifics for this challenge:

• You can use as many or as few colours as you like but please make sure you are using only metallic beads in your piece.
• They can be shiny and/or matte.
• Please note that silver/gold lined beads do not count as metallic.
• If you're using a focal bead, it doesn't need to be metallic. So if you have a gorgeous handmade bead or a cabochon that you wish to use in your project then please feel free to do so.

THE TWIST:

For the twist this time we'd like you to include TWO-HOLE BEADS with a metallic finish in your entry. Also known as twin-hole beads, we mean the speciality beads that have two holes like Superduos, Tila beads, Rulla beads or Silky beads to name just a few! Remember, the twist is optional, you do not need to include it for your entry to be accepted but if you do you will receive two entries into the draw. 

THE PRIZE:

Our sponsor this month is Valentina and she's offering £25 to spend in her online shop Beads & More by Yashma!

HOW TO ENTER:

Simply email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com. The challenge runs until Midnight in your own time zone on Thursday the 31st of December and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.

RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after December 1st 2015.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the colours allowed in this challenge.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The November Challenge Reveal

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in our November challenge, where we invited you to be inspired by a book. You all used a variety of titles as your inspiration with Terry Pratchett as the most popular choice of author! The winner of the prize draw is at the bottom of the post but take a look at all the wonderful entries along the way :)

All the names went into the List Randomizer at Random.org and the lucky winner who's name is at the top is...

KRISTEN HO

Congratulations Kristen, you're the winner of the £15 voucher to spend at Old Bicycle Shop!

We hope you enjoyed this challenge, whether or not you took part. Please drop by a little later on to see what the challenge is for the last month of 2015.

The November Challenge

Welcome to the November challenge! This month the theme is INSPIRED BY A BOOK.

You can use absolutely any book (except beading/craft books!) old or new, in or out of print and it does not need to be a novel. As well as your photo you will need to supply the following 3 things for your entry to be accepted: The title of the book, the author's name and what inspired you to create your piece/s .

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Davida and she's offering £15 to spend in her online shop Old Bicycle Shop!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Monday the 30th of November and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.

RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:
Entries must have been started on or after November 1st 2015.
You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
Your entry must be a finished piece.
If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.

There is more detailed info here but if you have any further questions about the challenge please feel free to email us at ottbs@live.com!

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The October Challenge Reveal

Huge thanks to everyone who joined in with our October challenge! Here are all the gorgeous entries we received in our colour scheme of Grey and Red. The results of the prize draw are, as always, at the end of the post.

A list of all the entrants names were put into a randomizer at Random.org and the name in position one receives the prize of £15 to spent at RB Beads. That lucky beader is...



AUDREY GRAY!



Congratulations Audrey, we'll be in touch with you shortly about your prize :)

Well that's it for the October challenge, we hope you enjoyed it. Didn't have time to join in? Then why not create something for the November challenge which will be posted very soon.

Starlet Earrings Tutorial

 

You will need:
A small quantity of size 11 seed beads in colours A, B, C and D
A small quantity of size 15 seed beads in colour D
16 4mm Czech faceted crystals
A size 10 or 12 beading needle
Fireline or other braided beading thread
A pair of ear wires
2 4mm jump rings
Long nose or flat nose pliers

 

Unless otherwise stated, use size 11 seed beads throughout. 

 

Thread your needle with at least ¾ of a metre of thread. Pick up 4 A beads and sew through them all again, plus one more, to create a circle. Leave a tail of about 8". Pick up 1 B bead and sew through the next bead in the circle...

Repeat a further 3 times. Step up at the end of this round by sewing through the first bead you added ready to start the next round...

Pick up 1 C bead, 1 D bead and 1 C bead and sew through the bead that your thread is coming out of, in the same direction...

This will create a little circle. Pick up 1 C bead and sew through the next bead...

Repeat the above two steps another 3 times so that you have a circle of beads at each corner with a single bead between each. At the end of this round, sew up through the right-hand bead on the first circle of beads you added ready, for the next round...

 

 

 

Pick up 1 C bead and sew through the top bead on the circle...

Pick up 1 C bead and sew down through the bead on the left-hand side of the circle...

Sew through the 2 adjacent seed beads as in the photo below...

Repeat another 3 times to add a C bead either side of the remaining colour D beads. Step up through the first C bead you added on this row to be ready for the next round.

 

Pick up 1 4mm crystal and 1 D bead. Sew back through the crystal and into the adjacent C bead...

Pick up 1 crystal and sew through the C bead on the opposite corner...

Repeat the 2 steps above a further 3 times to complete the row, replacing one of the D beads with a hanging loop as follows: Pick up 6 size 15 D beads and sew back through the first size 15 bead, the crystal and into the adjacent C bead...

 

Add the remaining crystal. Weave both the working and tail threads into the beadwork, making one or two half-hitch knots as you go. Trim the threads close to the beadwork.

 

Attach the finished Starlet to an ear wire with one of the jump rings. Repeat to make the second earring.

© Liz Reed for OTTBS 2015
We are happy for you to sell items you have made with this tutorial on a small scale but please do not sell this tutorial, make the design into kits, reblog or share via PDF. However, sharing a link to this page is always welcome and appreciated!

The October Challenge

Welcome to the October challenge! It's colour time and this month we would like you to create something in Grey and Red.

The guidelines for this challenge are very simple - use any shades of grey (excluding black & white) and any shades of red! And don't forget, you can use multiple shades of these two colours within your piece. Please note: Shiny silver is not accepted as grey for this challenge, but any matt silvers that look grey are fine.

THE TWIST:

For the twist this time we'd like you to include SQUARES in your entry. There are several ways that you can incorporate squares - either in beads/findings etc. or as a pattern or beadwork shape in your piece. For this challenge cube shapes and cube beads are counted as squares and are accepted. Please note that 'square stitches' such as cubic right-angle weave and square stitch will not count for the twist unless they are formed into a square shape. Remember, the twist is optional, you do not need to include it for your entry to be accepted but if you do you will receive two entries into the draw. 

THE PRIZE:

Our sponsor this month is Rachel and she's offering £15 to spend in her online shop RB Beads!

HOW TO ENTER:

Simply email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com. The challenge runs until Midnight in your own time zone on Saturday the 31st of October and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.

RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after October 1st 2015.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• No other colours except for those stated.
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the colours allowed in this challenge.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The September Challenge Reveal

Huge thanks to everyone who joined in with our September challenge. Our theme was Whatever the Weather and we were pleased to see a good variety of different weather phenomena translated into beads.

Here are all the wonderful entries we received... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A list of all the entrants names were put into a randomizer at Random.org and the name in position one receives the prize of £15 to spent at Jencel.co.uk. That lucky beader is...


FATEMA ISMAIL


Congratulations Fatema!

Well that's it for the September challenge, we hope you enjoyed it. Didn't have time to join in? Then why not create something for the October challenge which will be posted shortly ;)