Wednesday's Wear It Or Frog It

I've made some dodgy pieces in my time but this ring I found really is the pits! I fancied having a go at making a ring but I didn't have a proper mandrel, only an aluminium ring sizer with flat sides. I was so chuffed with it - mainly because it actually fitted - that I wore it quite a bit after I made it. But I can see now that it's a right old mess and I think that lovely big bead deserves much better, don't you?! Off to the frog pond with you!





Feel free to giggle now girls...

Wednesday's Wear It Or Frog It

This necklace has been in my 'hmm not sure' box for some time. Looking at it now I realise that's because it's really not my style. I'm also horrified at how I wasted these beautiful triangle beads by just stringing them when I could have woven them into something far more interesting! Even though I still think it's pretty I've decided to frog it and use the beads for something else.

Wednesday's Wear It Or Frog It

Well this is a blast from the past! I was digging around inside a box in my wardrobe the other day when I came across this necklace. I was so pleased to find it as it holds my very first peyote beaded bead!

I'd wanted to make one for ages but I couldn't find any instructions so decided to just wing it and see what happened. I was so proud of my first attempt and wore it all the time. Since then, my beads have improved a lot and I've made hundreds in different sizes, even making tutorials to teach other beaders how to make them.

It's gappy, it's lumpy and there's a lot of thread showing, but I can't bear to frog it. So now I've found it I'll wear it now and again, just to remind myself how far I've come :)

The Trials & Tribulations of Goal 8!

First of all, huge apologies for my lack of posting lately. I've been really busy with orders and commissions (although I'm not complaining!) plus other non-beady stuff and have spread myself a little too thin.

Also I came to a total standstill with my last goal. I had planned to use up that gorgeous tube of beads by the end of the week but three weeks later they were still sitting on my desk! Several times I had an idea, tipped the beads onto my bead mat and had a go but everything I tried was a disaster.

I discovered that they're not very good for herringbone, triangle stitch or right-angle weave. I had an idea that because they're triangles, they would look good stitched in rows on a bead embroidered cuff and I visualised a lovely zig-zag texture. No. They wobbled about a bit and it just looked messy, so back into the tube they went.

My last resort was peyote stitch which I had dismissed at first because of their shape. Success! They fit together brilliantly to give an unusual effect. So off I went, merrily making a six bead wide strip to make a bracelet...and ran out of beads three quarters of the way through! Grr. Determined not to buy another tube of these flippin' beads I unpicked it all and started again with four beads. Several hours later and with the addition of some red and gold seed beads I had this bracelet...



Now who was it that said beading was relaxing, lol.

8th Goal (Liz)

I bought these red & gold luster Toho triangles about four years ago at my very first trip to a major craft/bead fair. I didn't have many seed beads at the time and not a whole lot of knowledge about them either, so in a state of "OMG look at all the beads!" I just bought anything that looked pretty.

Quite a few of those tubes were triangles and after all this time I still don't really know what to do with them to bring out their, well, triangleness. Haven't decided what I'm going to make with them just yet but by the end of this week I want to see that tube empty!

7th Goal Completed

Here's what I did with my hex beads. I decided to use them on their own, using up ¾ of the tube to weave a band in herringbone stitch and then attached it to an aluminium cuff covered in Ultrasuede. This solves both issues that I was worried about...because the cuff is stiff, the beadwork won't be moving around so there's less stress on the thread and hopefully no breakage. And adding it to the top of the cuff means that only the soft Ultrasuede touches the skin. I'm really happy with how it turned out, even though it was really hard to photograph!

7th Goal (Liz)

Browsing through my box of blues I found this tube of twisted hex beads, which I've had for what seems like forever! They're the most gorgeous shade of blue with flashes of colour (Miyuki metallic blue iris shade 452 in case anyone is interested) and I've taken them out of my stash loads of times, wondering how I could put them to use.


But like bugle beads I'm a bit nervous about using them, worried that the edges will slice through the thread and also that the finished piece will be too scratchy as they're not the smoothest of beads. Today I've had an idea that hopefully will solve both of these dilemmas. In fact I couldn't wait to start and I'm already half way through!

6th Goal Completed! (Liz)

I struggled all week to find ideas to use these lampwork beads. My brain was constantly thinking jewellery and although I had a few ideas rolling around in my head, none of them worked out. Then yesterday I was reading and inspiration struck - book thongs! Just because you have a set of beads, there's no reason why you can't divide them up to make several things, at least that way they're being used and enjoyed and not languishing in a box for years on end. I'm really pleased with these...




Book thongs are one of my favourite things to make. I cut lengths of faux suede thonging and use fold over cord ends to attach the beads. These are a great way to use up those odd beads in your stash. Two leftover beads would naturally be made into a pair of earrings but not everyone wears them. Make them into a bookmark and you have a wonderful gift! Great for making men's gifts too if you avoid girly colours ;)

6th Goal (Liz)

My goal for this week is to create something with this gorgeous set of lampwork beads. Made by Julie Fountain at Lush Lampwork, they were my prize for winning the Artist of the Month challenge on the UK Beaders forum almost two years ago. I've taken them out of my lampwork box many times, wondering what I could make that would do them justice. This week I'm determined to find some inspiration!

5th Goal Completed! (Liz)

Isn't it funny how you start off with an idea and then go and do something completely and utterly different?! I was going to string the beads very simply with some cherry red seed beads in between them and weave a large flower from seed beads as a focal to sit in the middle. Look what happened...


I was worried that the beading wire I have might not take the weight of the beads so decided it would be better to link them with wire instead. Choosing antique gold, I was getting the headpins and jump rings out of the drawer when I spotted my little stash of butterflies, so out went the flower idea! Then I found some filigree beads that I bought and have never used, and as you can see it started turning into an eclectic vintage style necklace.


The other metal beads and the chain were from a necklace that was 50p in Evans a couple of years ago (I bought one to wear and another three to use as 'parts'!) and then I added some small darker red aventurine, green aventurine and a few Chinese jade beads. And of course I couldn't resist a little beadweaving, making a few beaded beads in gold and olive green. The only thing missing is a clasp as it seems my antique gold clasps have gone awol! Although its not what I'd planned to make, I'm really happy with how 'Penelope' has turned out :)

5th Goal (Liz)

I was putting some things away yesterday when I came across a box, tucked away in the corner of a cupboard. A little cardboard box that was stuck down with tape and felt suspiciously heavy for it's size. I had absolutely no idea what was inside so feeling a bit confused, but also a little bit excited, I carefully opened it...


...and look at the hoard I found! Sesame jasper, citrine, blue lace agate, peridot, sodalite, little agate pendants, sets of fans, and loads more that I don't know the name of. I had bought them in a Beads Direct sale some time ago and they were a fabulous bargain, but how tragic to put them away and then completely forget about them.

My goal for this week is to use some of these gorgeous peachy/orangey beads from my little treasure trove, which I think might be red aventurine. I don't normally use this colour so it'll be interesting to see what I can do with them.

4th Goal completed...sort of (Liz)

The instructions for these beads are brilliant and they're really easy to make, but due to their small size they're incredibly fiddly! I can see why rubber tubing is used in the project now, they look great while on the straw but once you take them off they collapse. So I popped a couple of size 6 beads inside them to hold them in shape and added some silver Greek ceramic washers to keep them from sliding over the Swarovski crystals. This scuppered my plans to make a bracelet as I don't have enough washers so I decided to make just two beads and create a pair of earrings. As you can see I didn't use very much of my bead stash but at least I've made some use of the magazine!

4th Goal (Liz)

Time to choose my next goal and I thought it was time that I made a start on those magazine back issues. Dragging the huge plastic box from under my bed, I stuck my hand in, closed my eyes and randomly picked out a magazine - out came the Feb 2007 issue of Bead & Button.

I've chosen to have a go at this Beads Cubed project designed by Marissa McConnell - I love to make beaded beads so this is right up my street! I've never made square ones before so this will be interesting and something new for me. I won't be using rubber tubing but I've got a few ideas on using the beads in this project to make a bracelet.

3rd Goal Completed (Liz)

Here's my finished bangle...well I'm calling it finished anyway! I had some problems getting my needle through to add the corner beads so I've only done this on the bottom row and left the top as it is. But I love my punky bangle and have called it Greenday :)

2nd Goal Completed (Liz)

I had a lot of fun making this lariat and I'm really pleased with how it turned out! The stitch is incredibly easy to learn and definitely one I'll be using again in my work.



And here's what I've chosen for my 3rd goal, again from issue 21 of Bead magazine and again designed by Jean Power. I thought this bangle looked really punky!


I don't have a whole lot of dagger beads, most of what I do have came included in bead mixes. While I love the shape I never really know what to do with them apart from adding them to the end of fringes. I've had these emerald AB daggers for several years and found the colour tricky to pair up with any of my other beads, but they seemed destined to go with these mint Matsuno seed beads that I bought recently!

2nd Goal (Liz)

For my second goal I've decided to use a couple of packs of bead mix that I've had for ages and at the same time make a project from the current issue of Bead (April/May 2010). The project I've chosen is an arrow chain lariat designed by Jean Power. I've never made a lariat before and never tried arrow chain either so both of these are a first for me.

The project looks great and will be perfect for using up bead soups. I'm making my own soup from the purple bead mix along with some drops, cubes and other seed beads in purples and greens. Yum, doesn't that sound tasty? I'm really looking forward to making a start on this, it's always exciting to learn something new!

1st Goal Complete (Liz)

Happy Easter to you all! Well I am pleased to say that I've completed my first goal and, even if I do say so myself, ended up with a lovely cuff for my sister! The design is a new tutorial from Lynn Davy which I thought would be perfect for using up some of the bugle beads I have and never use. I still have loads of those Navy Iris 15s left but I was happy to use some of them at last plus half a pack of twisted bugle beads, the rest of a pack of purple size 11s, some metallic silver beads and these gorgeous black and purple AB faceted beads that I seem to have had forever! I hope you like it.

Hello and my 1st goal

First of all, thank you very much to Sarah for having me! Well I think I should start by introducing myself. My name is Liz and I live in Monmouthshire, South Wales, with my family and three young cats, Thomas, Willow and Tabitha. I love creating with different crafts but my big passion is beading, which I've been doing for about 6 years now.

When I reorganised my beads recently I found a lot of packets and boxes of beads that I haven't even opened and used yet. Why do I have so many beads? Because I love them and can't resist buying them! My problem is that rather than buy just the beads I need for a project, I'll happily fill my online basket with all sorts of goodies just because they're pretty. It's the same with books and magazines, I buy them and look through them for inspiration but rarely do any of the projects inside.

The time has come to do something about it and I was really pleased to find that Sarah has set up this blog to do just that. My two goals are to make use of those unused beads - even using some from the pack will mean that they were worth buying in the first place - and also to get more out of my growing collection of beading books and magazines. I'm aiming to recreate at least one project from each magazine, hopefully more.

Here's where I keep my beads, divided by colour into separate drawers. Believe me, I've never been this organised before! I hope it lasts, I can find things so much quicker now.



My first goal is to use these beautiful size 15 Toho seed beads which I bought a long time ago and have yet to use. They're a gorgeous deep blue, called Metallic Navy Iris, and it's such a shame that they've just been lanquishing in the drawer all this time. I've decided to use them in a bracelet that I want to make for my sister and I'll post the result here very soon!