Come Into My Garden Bracelets

Posted on Jun 24, 2010 in Paper Bead Creations | 5 comments

I am taking advantage of my renewed interest with buttons.  Here’s bracelet sets to match the paper bead button ring from yesterday.  These are little garden creature buttons  strung with round paper beads.  This is what I call “happy bracelet”.  You know how you just want to be a kid again and paint you toe nails different colors?  Well, I do feel like that sometimes and if you noticed I paint my nails happy colors.  Here’s the ingredients for a well kept garden:

Garden Creatures Buttons

Check out you local craft stores for buttons, they range from whimsical to vintage, just make sure the button has a shank that elastic can go through.

Paper beads are perfect elastic bracelets because they have holes that are big enough to accommodate elastic knot.  You just want to make sure to secure the knot with a little dab of clear nail polish.

Idea 1 for the Paper Bead Trade 🙂 You can make whatever you want with the kit I will be sending you, add your own beads if you like, as long as you use the paper beads that comes with the kit which comes from your new found friends.

BTW, I am not putting a limit on the Paper Bead Trade participants, the more the merrier right?  As long as you sign up on or before June 30th.  I just need you to email me your address so I can send you your kit:)

I just have to share with this guy who lives in my garden, a remembrance in my antiquing days.  He is funny and I can’t help but smile when I see him.

I would love it if you would share with me and with everyone your ideas, just email it to me and I will link it to your blog or web site.  Let’s get those creative juices flowing 🙂

A Button Ring

Posted on Jun 23, 2010 in Paper Bead Creations | 3 comments

This is an impromptu post, I couldn’t wait, just have to share it with you.  As I was organizing my beads preparing for the Paper Bead Trade,( by the way you can still email me or sign up, as long as it is on or before June 30th) I rediscovered my button collection.  They are very inexpensive and comes in a bag, I think I got this in one of my trips to Michael’s, one of those things that “I just gotta have” 🙂

Flowers in my back yard is an inspiration.

This ring is very simple to make, it took me a whole 30 minutes to do it and if I have time I will do a video.  I used really small paper beads.  Tip: To make really small paper beads, cut triangles that measure 1/8 of an inch at the base and 8.5 inches long, using magazine or catalog pages. The result are tiny paper beads around 4-5 mm.

I used 24 gauge craft wire and put it through the button holes, strung the small round paper beads, twist the wire to form into a petal until you have 5 or 6 petals.

You finished it off by twisting the two wires together and curl it into a spiral to sit in the center of the ring.

You will then hot glue gun the button into a ring blank and voila!

I have a few people signed up for the Paper Bead Trade, for those of you who already have tons of paper beads 🙂  you can mail them to me so we don’t have to be rushing.  Thank you for the nice emails, truly appreciated.

My Paper Beads – Hilde Debruyn

Posted on Jun 22, 2010 in Paper Bead Creations | 3 comments

I have created a new category: My Paper Beads to feature paper beads that are made by paper bead enthusiasts from other parts of the world.  Hilde Debruyn who is from Belgium, combines her paper beads with unusual beads and finds to achieve that organic look.  She carefully describes each one of her creation, the kind of paper and beads she used:

This necklace I made with scrap booking paper pasted on small pieces of cardboard. In stead of scrap booking paper I made some similar necklaces with starched papers too.

Black and White

I started this necklace with a big silver bead (I kept this bead from a broken necklace). I completed it with little silver cube beads and paperbeads. I found the paper for this beads in my letterbox. They are made with promotional leaflets with a white background. On the other side I put a double string with ancient African tradebeads. They are made of glass. I bougth them in an African shop in Brussels.

Silver and African Beads

Here I made a very long necklace (4 times the usual length). It’s very colorful. I made it from magazine papers and I joined a lot of little yellow squares from an old necklace from my mother. I took the picture on a stone in the shape of a heart. The stone is carved. As you can see there are small roses on it.

A Heart Of Stone

This necklace is also made with magazine papers. I chose papers with an orange colour in it, so it could be combined with the silk textile bead. A friend of mine made it for me. I also used a big coral and some small orange-red beads.

With Orange Fabric Bead

This necklace is photographed on a small raffia tablecloth from Congo (a present from my aunt). It’s made of gift wrapping paper (craft paper with stripes) I used a red spherical and some olive wooden beads from Santorini (Greece).

Red and Green

The tubes are made of gift wrapping paper with little colorful figures on it (for a gift for children). I used small wooden beads, and also a very big wooden bead and a red bead (dry vegetable material).

TUBES

We still have room for the Paper Bead Trade, you can sign up by e mailing me your address (Email Me button is on the right hand side).

Thank you Hilde, for sharing your beautiful work.  We will be posting ideas and inspiration for the Paper Bead Trade in the next week or so.

First Paper Bead Trade 2010

Posted on Jun 21, 2010 in Other Crafts & Crafty People | 20 comments

I put in First on the title of this post because I am hoping that there will be a Second and Third Paper Bead Trade for this year at least.  I am excited about this because it’s like going into a party with like minded individuals yet you don’t really have to go anywhere and just be in your pajamas sipping your morning coffee.  A few of you have suggestions on how we are going to do this, I like Eveline’s idea the most (thank you for the suggesting this).  So here it is ladies;

PAPER BEAD TRADE RULES:

• First you will email me or leave me a comment (would be nice) to sign up – 16 participants is ideal.  In your email you need to send me your full name and mailing address.
• You will make 20-30 paper beads of different size if possible if not whatever size and shape you are comfortable making
• You will then mail your paper beads to me – address is on the envelope you see in the image below
• After I get all these nice paper beads of different sizes coming from all over the world, I will then sort it out, with Kayla’s help of course (she has a really good eye for color) and match it with beads that I have in my collection.
• I will then mail you other participant/s paper beads with coordinating beads and findings (elastics and ear wires) for you to make into elastic bracelet and matching earrings (if you like).
• You will take a photo of your finished creation and email them to me and post it in your blog or flickr to share with every one else.
• You will have until July 15 to mail your paper beads to me.  Note: not for me to receive it but for you to mail it, I realize that for those who are from another country that it will take probably 3 weeks for me to get it, just ordinary mail so you don’t have to pay for expensive postage.
• This Paper Bead Trade is open until June 30th.

In the next day or so I will be posting examples of VERY simple bracelet and earrings that is beginner, beginner project.

After all this is just our first try at doing this right?  If successful, then we can move on to bigger projects 🙂

Remember: There is no right or wrong way of doing paper beads, they are all unique and hand made, so please, please, do not be intimidated by this.

Tell your friends, we need to have at least 16 participants, my sister Joann is excited about this whole thing, it is her first time as well and if it make you feel better, she has never strung a single bracelet in her life, sorry Ann…

If you have questions, please feel free to email me,  I read and answer all of them although I would prefer that you leave me a comment, other people might have a similar question.

Next post: Hilde’s amazing paper bead jewelry and more on the paper bead trade.  Start rolling now ladies, WE CAN DO THIS!

Paper Bead Trade

Posted on Jun 20, 2010 in Events and Experiences | 11 comments

Over the past few months I have been blessed to meet so many nice ladies who like me, enjoy more like obsessed making paper beads:)  It is habit forming of the good kind.  Wouldn’t it be nice to see and feel other people’s work?  I thought of this while trying to organize my mess at home.  I could be a good candidate for that show “Hoarders” if I don’t do something about it 🙂  And so the idea of trading paper beads with you guys was born, and it would be a nice way to get rid of some of my beads, findings which can be put to good use made into something with paper beads.  Here’s a peek into my clutter;

Above, is an area in my bedroom where I have suitcases full of beads, ribbons, paper, you name it I probably have it.  I have stuff all over the floor as well, I am one of those that have to visually see the everything, I guess organization is not for me.  Just to prove that I am not one of those who cannot part with their things, I am sharing it with you 🙂

Katherine who is also a “collector” like me offered to share some of her beads as well.  Eveline also has neat ideas.  So,  next  day I will be posting on how we are going to do this and I appreciate any input from you.  You can leave me a comment or if you’re shy, just email me, I am like that sometimes when I visit other blogs.

Anyway, here’s more of the mess I have all over my house.  This is downstairs in the family room.

You should have seen our formal dining room table, this is one reason why I don’t entertain, aside from being an introvert, I don’t have space for people to sit and eat!  The good side of it is, I am a happy camper and I don’t need to spend money on therapy.   Kidding aside, I need to clean up, this is why I am posting this for everyone to see 🙂

Let me know, by leaving me a comment here or email me, for those of you who already have emailed me I just need your addresses.   We need at least 16 participants.  Tomorrow we will get into the details on how we are going to do this.  I don’t want you to be intimidated by this, we are going to be doing something really simple, I promise 🙂