Paper Beaded Purse

Posted on Oct 29, 2009 in Paper Bead Creations | Comments Off on Paper Beaded Purse

A few months ago, I took on a big project, but did not have the time to finish it until now.  Not by me but by someone who has the patience to do it.  Meet Kayla, she is my assistant/shop manager/jewelry designer/teacher and an avid beader.  This was the purse from earlier post.  I purchased a blank canvass purse from Michael’s craft store and a pair of handles.  This was meant to be embroidered I suppose, but I looked at it and I thought, this would be great project to showcase the white left over paper beads we have.

Here’s Kayla, picking up where I left off………

We used illusion cord and needle to sew the paper bead one by one onto the purse.

This was more time consuming than the messenger bag which I did earlier.

Almost done……..

Here’s the finished purse, finally.  I loved this purse it has such a fluid movement to it and the texture….

I think Kayla’s happy now she can move on to another project.   So many paper beads, so little time……..

What would you do if you have 10 strands of paper beads?    Please watch for an upcoming giveaway soon.

Guavas and Guava Punch

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 in Musings | 1 comment

It’s that time of year again when we count our blessings and muse about the things we should be thankful for.  I harvested today fruits from our guava tree.  I look forward to this time of the year when it gives us delicious guavas.  Somehow, biting into one evokes childhood memories for me.  I remember that my grandfather used to make delicious guava jellies, he would boil them, after that he would put them in a strainer to take the seeds out and  put lots of sugar to make it into guava jellie.

I have a recipe I kept from Martha Stewart magazine for Guava punch, I like it because it is simple, it only has three ingredients.  I have made this for friends and always gets compliments.

• 2 quarts chilled guava nectar (sold in cans or frozen concentrate in Latino groceries and some supermarkets).
• 3 fresh guavas
• 2 chilled bottles of champagne or sparkling wine

Directions:  Combine guava nectar and champagne in a punch bowl, add guava slices, serve over ice and enjoy!

Taken from: Martha Stewart Living July/August 1995

What are you thankful for today?

Wire Wrapped Paper Beads Bangle

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 in Paper Bead Creations | Comments Off on Wire Wrapped Paper Beads Bangle

Today’s tutorial is inspired by Beth Kraft of Nordic Gypsy.  She was showing viewers of bead tv on how to wire wrap left over beads and stones.  What I like about this is that it does not require a lot of materials, just wire and your beads, in this tutorial I will of course be using paper beads.  The result was light and pretty, very organic looking kind of bangle.  This would look great if you wear more than one.

To cut the instructions shorter I have video demonstration on how to make the basic wire loop.  I think you know by now that any tutorial we have can also be applied with other beads and they are just one of your very basic jewelry making tutorial.

After learning the basic wire loop, please practice a little bit before starting on the project.

Materials are: 20 gauge non tarnished wire, 2 accent beads and a about 12 round paper beads.  Tools are: round nose pliers, flush cutter and chain nose pliers.

Step 1 – You take about 36-38 inches of 20 gauge non tarnish wire in color of your choice: silver or gold. Leave one foot tail and start your wire loop.  Notice that the longer wire in on top and shorter wire is at the bottom.  You put in your first accent bead on the shorter wire, the longer wire is for wrapping over the beads.

Step 2 – Take the longer wire with your right hand and wrap it over the blue bead once or twice.

Step 3 – You put in your next bead which is your paper bead (or other type bead of your choice) and wrap the longer wire in the same manner.

Step 4 – Continue adding beads and wrapping the wire around it until you have your desire length.

Step 5 – This is how the almost finished bangle look like: it tends to curve around at this point.

Step 6 – You will trim the longer wire to about 2 1/4 inches and bend it to meet at the base of where you have the last wrap.  What you are doing at this point is doubling the wire to be made into an eye hook.

Step 7 – Pinch the wire so that it is completely side by side and straight and wrap the short wire around it .  Trim off the excess wire.

Step 8 – Take your round nose put it about 1/4 inch from the base and bend it away from you (this will form the neck of the eye hook).

Step 9 – Reposition the round nose pliers just slightly above the neck or the bend and pull the wire to curve towards you.

Step 10 – Take the tip of the eye hook with your chain nose pliers and bend it up.  This is your finished eye hook.

And here are the finished bracelets.  Have fun with them!

Filigree Bracelet Embellished w/paper beads

Posted on Oct 25, 2009 in Paper Bead Creations | 1 comment

You can buy these filigree bracelet findings but you can also just make them or crochet them. If you already crochet then this would just come easy to you. It is same as crocheting yarn or thread except you are doing it with wire. The wire you will be using for wire crochet should be 28 gauge or higher if you are just a beginner or if you have delicate hands because the wire could be tough on your hands but not the 28 gauge or 30 gauge wire.

Crocheted wire bracelet with paper bead charms

I crocheted this with two 28 gauge wire held together, it holds up its shape more when you do it this way.  This is a fairly simple design made with single crochet and double crochet.

These non tarnish wire comes in an array of colors but I prefer working with silver or gold.  You can also make these in silver or gold filled wire but I advise you to practice first with craft wire.

This bracelet is made by making two strips of a simple chain with tiny paper beads and then I sewed the two strips together with seed beads.

I made this necklace (this is actually on my etsy shop), much like the one above except I braided three strips together.

My next post will be a tutorial on wire crochet.

Beautiful Enameled Copper by Ckoop

Posted on Oct 23, 2009 in Paper Bead Creations | 1 comment

I met Sara Lukkonen at the Pasadena Bead and Design show and I felt lucky that her booth is just a few feet from ours.

Sara has been enameling for 30 years and has an amazing story: