Our very first show at the Pasadena Bead and Design

Posted on Oct 21, 2009 in Events and Experiences | Comments Off on Our very first show at the Pasadena Bead and Design

Our very first show in Pasadena!  We were happy with the results, a lot of people stopped by, bought, commented on our beautiful paper bead jewelry.  The paper beads hand made by men and women in the Philippines are so well made can often be mistaken for shells or real beads.

One of our displays that garnered so much attention is the paper bead skirt that Kayla made.  Our booth was so small we did not have any place for it we just had to prop it up on our table.

It was such a fun event, I just wish I had more time to go around and look in other booths, there were just so many beads, pearls, gem stones even beads made out cloth!  I wish I took pictures, maybe next time…..

Across from our booth is the Ckoop Beads, I will be writing about her in my next post, Sara makes amazing enameled copper beads, pendants and findings.

Not far from me, was a table of vintage lucite beads and did a little shopping.  I was like a kid in a candy store, well they do look like candies.

It is so hard to keep my hand off them and make them into something, most likely with paper beads.

I could just imagine a bunch of paper beads cascading down the petals of these beauties.

Just perfect for fall

These beads are huge, I have a Wilma necklace or bracelet in mind for this one.

Something blue……

This will have to wait for Easter.

A necklace or a bracelet?  How about earrings?

Trick or Treat?

So many beads, so little time.

Where I take pictures…..

Posted on Oct 20, 2009 in Musings | 1 comment

Part of the fun in making something is taking photos of it and sharing it with you.  I usually take photos of my “stuff” outside; in my back yard, in the beach or when I’m taking my walks.  It is still quite a challenge to be organized, it seems like I am always forgetting something.  I find that this cart just sitting in my living room is a big help, just carting things around.

I have draped bracelets and necklace to this Japanese lady water fountain, the fountain does not work but I keep it there, aside from the fact that it is super heavy, it is now part of that little garden.

The rusty bird cage I painted in different hues of purple and pink is also part of my “props”, and the indispensable antique white jug I bought long time ago from an estate sale, the handle broke off but it looks pretty when draped with paper beads 🙂

I call these “papa heads”  also a favorite back drop of mine.

I don’t know why but I have a fascination with rusty objects  like this old chandelier, I must have gotten these from one of those garage sales expedition.

My back yard is really small the swimming pool occupied most of it so I have little patch of space I am able to plant Japanese trees, papa heads, herbs and perennials.  This is one of my favorite little garden with little bird bath, this was always a popular hang out for birds summer time.

And of course Bo (means precious in Chinese), white furry pekingese, I call him “King of the Hill” because he always acts like he owns the whole place.  He knows everybody who takes a walk down the street.  Here, you can tell he know the person below down the street.

Bo drooling over the bone I placed for him, as a reward for being good……

Think Pink Paper Bead Stretch Bracelets

Posted on Oct 18, 2009 in How-To's / Tutorials, Paper Bead Creations | 10 comments

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and if you need to make something quick and easy to give as a present to someone whose life is somehow  touched by this disease, or just to show your “pink” side, stringing on elastic is the answer.  I am going to show how to properly string beads on elastic, not just paper beads (because this is a paper bead site I will be using paper beads:).  You can certainly string swarovskis, pearls and other beads into elastic, you just need to use the right size of elastic for each type of bead: .5mm for smaller beads like swarovskis and pearls, .8mm for heavier beads like glass and stones.  It is really quite simple.

Mommy and Me Bracelet

Here’s another example of  stretchy bracelet, using paper beads mixed with pearls and crystals.

This one is a baby bracelet, I added the “evil eye” charm believed to protect the wearer from evil spirits.

Baby Bracelet

The materials are:

Materials for stretchy bracelet

• Saucer shaped paper beads in pink
• clear nail polish
• elastic .5mm (about 10 inches long)
• scissors or a nipper tool

Step 1 -Cut a 10 inch elastic and put a bead stopper on the end so your beads does not fall off.

Step 2 – String the beads into your elastic, you can follow a pattern or you can string beads at random (which can also be fun).  In this case I have a pattern as you can see here:

Step 3 – Take both ends and tie a square knot: right over left and left over right.

Step 4 – Put a dab of clear nail polish into the knot.

Step 5 – Do not cut the elastic yet, leave it to dry for about 10 minutes.

Step 6 – Cut the elastic with the cutter or scissors, leave about 1/8 of an inch.

Step 7 – Pull the knot so that it goes inside the hole of the bead that has the bigger hole.  Tip:  always put a bead with bigger hole (paper beads is perfect for this) so that it is easier to pull the knot in.

Pull the knot gently to hide inside the hole of the bead next to it. I pulled the knot inside the paper bead in my right hand, so you don’t see the knot anymore.

The petite pink paper beads, comes in strands and you will need one strand for one bracelet (they’re really small).  Available at www.aubreysbeads.com

I have a few to share to the first 50 visitors.  Just leave me a comment on what you want to make with it.  Thanks for stopping by.

Paper Bead Flowers

Posted on Oct 15, 2009 in Paper Bead Creations | 2 comments

These flowers are so pretty yet so simple to make.  You can glue it onto a ring finding or hair clip or as an embellishment for a scrapbook or card.  It uses the regular paper bead tube, the size of the flower will be determined by how long the paper bead tube is.

Paper bead flowers

As you can see in this flower I used a pearl for the center part but it can be just the coiled wire like above example or crystals.

The materials and tools needed for this project are the following:

Materials and tools for the paper bead flower

• paper bead tubes
• 26 gauge wire gold or silver
• chain nose pliers, round nose pliers and flush cutter
• glass pearls or crystals

Step 1 – cut about 30-36 inches of 26 gauge wire and put in one bead leaving about 6 inch tail.  The long end will be your working wire.

Step 2 – Pull the wire down the back side of the bead until it meets with the tail of the wire at the bottom hole of the bead and wrap it around once.

Step 3 – Pick up your second bead and put it through the same way, pull the wire down and wrap once at the base of the bead, bring it back up ready for your third bead.

Step 4 – Bring the wire back up and insert your third bead and repeat the same procedure, wrapping the wire at the base of the bead.

Step 5 – Put your fourth bead in and repeat the same procedure.

Step 6 – Continue until you have about 8 petals – although it all depends how fat your bead is, it can be 6 or 7 petals, in this flower I used 8 beads.

Step 7 – Take both wire ends together and twist them.

Here’s how to twist them together two or three times.

Step 8 –  Take the longer wire (working wire) back up and insert your pearl or bead.

Step 9 – Take the wire back down behind a bead and back up and down again in each bead to secure the pearl.

Step 10- After going around each bead securing the pearl, the two wire will meet up again in the back.  You twist them together and cut it down to about  1 1/4 inch.

Step 11 – Take your round nose pliers and take the twisted wire and curl it around the round nose pliers until it lays flat at the center bottom of the flower motif.

Now, you’re finished.

Please let me know if the instructions have been helpful.  For more examples of paper bead flowers, I have them on my etsy shop.

Paper Beads and Rosary Loops

Posted on Oct 13, 2009 in How-To's / Tutorials, Paper Bead Creations | 3 comments

This necklace is easy to make once you get to learn how to connect the beads with “Rosary Loops” – notice how rosaries beads are connected in this manner. First of all, is a quick “how to” on rosary loops. The paper beads used in this project is bigger and more rounded, and even if they have bigger holes it will not go through the loops. You can use other type of beads of course but since I am the “paper bead lady” I try to make everything in paper beads. I loved the balloon pendant, the colors just cheers me up, I thought it’s just perfect for these paper beads. So, one of those days when you feel like taking off but can’t, I wear my paper bead balloon necklace instead and dream of those far away places…..

Of course you can substitute everything, use other kind of beads and pendant. What I’m going to show you is just basics of rosary loops that can be applied into making bracelets and necklaces.

Here’s an example of a bracelet made with rosary loops. I used the same size beads and amazonite beads left over from previous projects.

Materials are:

• Tools: flush cutter, round nose pliers and chain nose pliers
• paper beads or other type beads
• 30 pcs. 1″ inch head pins
• jump rings and lobster claw clasp

Here’s the Steps:
(read on for photo tutorial, or scroll to the bottom of the page for a video tutorial!)

Step 1 – Put a bead into the head pin.

Step 2 – Cut the head pin to about 1 cm

Step 3 – Bend the head pin at 90 degree angle away from you.

Step 4 – Take the round nose pliers and put the head pin in between the round nose pliers. Make sure that the tip of the head pin is not sticking out of the round nose pliers but right in between the jaws of the round nose pliers.

Step 5 – Slowly turn the round nose pliers towards you with your wrist until you cannot turn it anymore which at this point you need to let go and reposition the pliers

This is how your loop should look like.

Step 6- Before you close the loop attach the rest of the beads already made and continue to close the loop.

This is a finished portion of the chain interconnected with rosary loops. You continue doing so until you reach your desired length.