Saturday, March 27, 2010

WHOA - long peyote chains

Well, here's my first WHOA! post.  In other words: don't try this at home.

I read lots of magazines on beading. Lots. And on-line tutorials and books. I'm a researcher. I like to see how three or four different artists do something before I try it at home. This month I'm into peyote stitch. And it's pretty darn simple until you get into patterns (which I'm not). After making a couple dozen beaded beads, I decided to take up an author on her instruction to make a piece of flat peyote weaving as long as needed. I then intended to roll it into a bead long enough to reach 1/2 way around a bracelet.

BIG mistake. They say it can be done, but apparently not by me.

 

The beads in this picture represent about 2 hours of work. The tension is all wrong and the beads keep sliding around, even though I taped one end to my coffee table (great tip, BTW, just use a tape that is easy to remove later!). I kept going, though. Until I discovered I missed a stitch in the previous loooong row. And Since I'm a perfectionist AND I kept sticking my way-too-sharp-needle through the Nymo thread in the previous row, that was the end of that.

Next time, I'm using Fireline, a dull needle and fewer beads. No matter how much you research, there's no substitute for experience!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Welcome to my blog!

Come in and pull up a chair...you're welcome to join me anytime.

I have a webpage: www.kelleysbeading.com, and my finished jewelry is on display at: www.kelleysbeading.etsy.com. This page is where you'll get to know me, my work, and my jewelry making WOW's and WHOAs. (WOW! I just made that up. Can it be copyrighted? Hmmm.)

I'll also blog about the weather here in Rochester, NY (mostly cloudy on any given day) and if it's killed my jewelry photos for the day, my son's 'help' (some days are better than others), and the general state of affairs in my little bead room.

Come back often, and comment, comment, comment! I'll answer any reasonable questions. :)

Kelley