New Tutorial - Ginkgo Leaf Earrings Beaded with a Variation of Cubic Right Angle Weave

With nothing more than seed beads and thread, make these Gingko Leaf Earrings with this original variation on Cubic Right Angle Weave (CRAW). This tutorial is very detailed, written for advanced beginner beaders who have a basic knowledge of beading. Knowledge of CRAW is strongly recommended.

Each leaf is nearly inch wide (23 mm) and 20 mm tall. They’re small, and CRAW creates a lot of negative space. So they’re light, making them comfortable to wear as earrings.

The tutorial is 14 pages, with over 90 full color illustrations and photographs, a COLORFUL FEAST for the eyes. The tutorial gives highly detailed illustrations, photographs, and written instructions to make the earrings. Included are 14 different pairs of Gingko Leaf Earrings in different color schemes. That I have made so many pairs is a testament to how much fun these are to make and wear. Since they use mostly size 11° seed beads with just a few colors of 15° and 8° they are a wonderful way to explore color combinations with just seed beads.

I beaded Ginkgo Leaves from time to time for over three years before I figured out how to write it down on paper. In my blog, I said I'd be "insane" to write a tutorial for this design. This is actually because I didn't really understand how to do it. As I posted more and more pairs of these earrings on the internet, bead weavers wrote to me, asking me to write a tutorial. So, I kept making pairs and eventually, I drew some pictures, and my method became clearer to me. Months passed, and I made more pairs, and drew more drawings. Then I made more pairs and eventually I understood the method, and I was able to draw all of the steps in a way that makes sense. Then I took photos to match the drawings, and wrote it all up. This tutorial is the culmination of a long process to document these earrings so that other bead weavers can enjoy making them too. This tutorial is also super colorful. I used a rainbow pair for the step photos and illustrations in the hopes that you will enjoy looking at this the tutorial as much as making and wearing the earrings.

Mom's Great Yarn Destash Sale

My Mom is moving soon, and I'm am helping her sell off her yarn collection. I'm putting it all on one section of my Etsy shop at super bargain prices.

Our spare bed is literally covered with balls of yarn from my mother's yarn collection of a lifetime. Two nights ago, I laid out the whole collection so I could see it all at once. (Just the good stuff. We gave away a trash bag's worth of the other stuff.)

Then I arranged all the balls into a big blend of color over the whole bed, which I separated into colorful piles that look nice together. 

As I rearranged the balls and assembled the piles, I imagined knitting each group into a hat or scarf, or maybe using them to make fancy trims on collars and sleeves of sweaters. I used up a whole box of ziplock baggies. I need to buy more baggies. 

If you knit, crochet or weave or you just like to spin webs, or you ever wanted to learn how, here's a great chance for you to get some gorgeous yarns for a steal. This is the good stuff, and THIS YARN IS PRICED TO SELL: More than 50% OFF what she paid for it! In many case, the price is close to 1/4 or 1/3 of retail.  I also lowered the price on some of the earlier lots from a couple weeks ago. The photos here are just a small sample. Also, keep checking back because I'm not done listing it all! Nope. Not yet. I still have over a dozen lots to list, including some really good ones too!

 Thanks for looking.

Free Tutorial - Lentil Lantern Beaded Bead Earrings

Here is a free beaded bead earring tutorial!

This little Lentil Lantern is a design I made with beads I got from Starman Beads. I'm on their Trend Setters team, which means that I trade them designs for free beads. This is my first designs that they turned into a tutorial.

It's a pretty fun deal for me since they did most of the work.  Amanda Hundt did the writing, illustrations, and stitching of the samples. Nichole Starman worked on the writing, and Lisa Jordan did the photography. All I had to do was he fun part... designing with their fancy two-holed beads, and a little proof reading. I hope you enjoy it!

Tila Icosahedron Beaded Beads Necklace with Nuts and Washers in Blues with Lampwork Glass

For this whimsical necklace, I made 6 beaded beads, including 4 Nuts and Washers and a Tila Icosahedron and an Octahedral Cluster. Then, I added 5 borosilicate and lampwork glass beads torched by 5 different artists. Together they make a pallet of blues and silvery greens. This is an unusual and strand of beads, eclectic yet harmonious, and never to be repeated.

They're all strung on a 26 inch piece of silk and cotton cord, that I twisted and plied on my spinning wheel in colors that match the beads. I tied sliding knots so you can adjust the necklace to wear it long or short. Alternately, You could use this set as a beginning of a more elaborate necklace, but I would wear them just as they are, strung on cord.

 Includes 4 inches (10 cm) of beads. Largest beaded bead (the doughnut) measures an inch (25 mm).

Thanks for looking!

New Tutorial Tila Icosahedron Beaded Beads in Three Sizes

I finished a new beading tutorial that will show you how to weave beautifully spherical beaded beads with just two-holed beads and seed beads. That's it.  Use half Tila beads to make a 16 mm beaded bead (perfect for earrings!), Tila beads for 22 mm beaded beads, and both types for 30 mm beaded beads. These beaded beads are remarkably hollow with large holes let you see inside and through them.

This tutorial is suitable for intermediate bead weavers who are comfortable with right angle weave. This beaded bead is a relatively quick project that will push your spatial reasoning thinking to new places. Presented is an easy and intuitive method for beading the beaded beads in all 3 sizes. The beads you need are just Tilas and two sizes of Japanese seed beads.

The tutorial is 16 pages, including 90 illustrations and photographs. The tutorial is a PDF file that gives photos, illustrations and detailed written instructions to make the beaded beads in three sizes. Lots of tips are included. Several pages show detailed photos of all three sizes of the beaded beads in different colors and from different angles. One page gives information on icosahedrons and how they relate to this design. Two pages show beaded bead necklaces that include Tila Icosahedron Beaded Beads. Thanks for looking!