Bead Blog

Issue 23 off to print

So soon!

I know it was only recently I was telling you that issue 22 of Bead was off to print but going up to 8 issues a year means that issue 23 (which will be on sale the 26th May) is already on its way.

As usual I have tried to pack the pages with as much beady goodies as I can and this issue continues our great mix of different technqiues and materials so some of the items we have are:

A wirework and crystal set

Inspired lampwork beads

Quick and sparkly seed beads

 

More advanced seed beads

Chinese knotting inspired seed beads

A sparkling tiara

Quick and easy polymer clay

Scrumptious stringing

plus 5 more projects as well as all of our usual profiles and articles.

Esepcially a great report back from the recent Big Bead show

Keep an eye out for it in your local bead shop or newsagent - or why not subscirbe to the paper copy or iMag to ensure you don't miss out?

Jean Power

Editor of Bead

Crystal Projects

Who doesn't like crystals?

I think every beader or jewellery maker I've ever met is part magpie and is easily distracted by shiny objects.

Even if you don't heavily embellished work, or that dripping in crystals, there's no denying that used well crystals in all forms can bring a touch of light to any project.

These two projects, which use a lot of crystals, will be featured in future issues of Bead magazine.

First up is what I have called "Crystal Interchangeables" or "Sparkly Crystal Wheels"

These dazzling beaded beads will be a project in issue 24 of Bead (due out 21st July 2010) and you can read more about them here.

Next is "Crystal Balls"

This stunning necklace (which some of you may have seen me wearing at The Big Bead Show) will feature in issue 26 of Bead (out 20th October 2010) which has the theme of "Winter Sparkle Special".

Do you think it fits the theme?

You can read more about them and my colour choices here.

What's in a name?

As issue 21 of Bead gets ready to go to print (it will be out 17th March 2010) I am reminded of just how much variety we feature.

I recently received a letter from a reader saying we had too many seed bead type projects in an issue but when I looked back at the issue referred to I found that out of 13 projects only 6 were solely seed beads.

The other 7 included: 1 card making, 1 making paper beads, 1 lampworking, 1 PMC and crochet, 1 beadwork and stringing, 1 wirework and one 1 knotting- a pretty mixed bag!

Whilst I personally love seed bed work I also love to mix techniques and travel between wirework, chain maille, polymer clay, stringing, knotting, crochet, PMC, felt-making... the list goes on. In fact just about anything I can get my hands on!

So, if you're a fan of mixing it up then I hope issue 21 has plenty to offer you.

There are 12 projects in the issue (plus our extra free download) and they include:

Lampwork-

Wirework-

Crystals-

Fashion jewellery-

and of course lots of great seed bead work-

Hope you enjoy it!

Jean Power

Editor of Bead

Fun Fashion

As much as I love seed bead work even I get bored with projects that take me 30+ hours!

So, I love being able to swap and change with wirework and stringing to create more fashionable items in minutes

This necklace took minutes to make and takes advantage of the great shape of bicone crystals to make a great pendant and necklace

Look out for lots of these projects appearing in upcoming issues of Bead

Back To Work

After my trip away I'm fully back to work and issue 20 is nearing completion.

I previously wrote about taking project photos for this issue and my Crystal Geodes project.

Well, the pages are now all laid out and proofed and I can give you a sneak preview of how the main photos will look- not at all like the one I showed you!

It was decided that in the one I previewed the gold dish was so shiny that it became hard to see the actual beads/ charms and this one showed them off more.

Next week I will be filming them for Bead-TV as they will be one of the free projects to watch with issue 20.

Hope you enjoy beading them!

Onye 3

Phew- I'm on an Onye Roll!

As soon as I beaded my first one of these pendants I knew I wanted to bead one using eyes.

It took a while but eventually I managed to track down just the right ones and finally they turned up.

I'm still using orange as part of my Colour Challenge (and that's the colour the previous 2 versions were based on) and as orange is the complementary colour for blue what better to highlight the blue eyes?

This pendant will appear as a project in issue 19 of Bead magazine.

Onye Pendant version 2

I recently beaded a crystal rivoli based pendant which will appear in issue 19- my Onye pendant.

As part of my own personal Colour Challenge I'm currently working in orange so wanted to bead a new version but using orange in a different way and this version is the end result- I hope you like her!

More Pendants

I'm off to Arundel today to work on the magazine, open the post, send out copies of Bead and also do some filming for Bead-TV.
On the way there I take advantage of the 90 minutes train journey to finish my 4th Reversible Rivoli Pendant and begin my 5th. This 5th one is what I will use when filming tomorrow so I need to bead up a few samples to show the different stages.

I'm really enjoying making these pendants (which will appear in issue 18 of Bead- out 21st September) and as each one only take 1-1^₁/₂ hours to bead they're a nice project for when you want to finish something quickly.

Jean Power
Editor of Bead

Crystal Experiments Part 4

I worked on my double-sided rivoli pendant some more last night and am pleased to say I finally got all of the details worked out and am really pleased with the end result- so look out for it in a future issue of Bead.
But of course whilst beading that my mind was working over time and I've come up with a whole new way I want to use some rivolis- so out will come the beads again whilst I work that out!

Crystal Experiments Part 3

I'm still working on my double-sided rivoli pendant and with a couple of minor (very minor!) changes I think I've cracked it- maybe.

I just need to finish beading around it and then re-evaluate it- so it may change completely once again!