Bead Info & Trivia — No comments
08
Feb 10

Miyuki Delica Beads

Miyuki Delicas - Japanese cylinder seed beads in four sizes

Miyuki Delicas - Japanese cylinder seed beads in four sizes

Miyuki Delica beads are cylinder shaped Japanese seed beads. These glass cylinder beads were first introduced by Miyuki in 1982 as a replacement for antique french metal cylinder beads. They are now available in four sizes – 8/0, 10/0, 11/0 and 15/0. There are approximately one thousand colors available in the most popular 11/0 size.

Delicas are used widely for peyote stitch, brick stitch, and weaving on looms because their cylinder shape gives the finished piece a flat surface maximizing any design or pattern. Their exceptional uniformity of size and shape create tiny rectangles which lock together to present an unbroken surface. Bead artists have used them to create detailed portraits and sculpures with each bead acting as a single pixel of color.

Delica beads also have a proportionally thin wall and large hole for their size which allows more threads to pass through the woven work. As every beader knows, this gives you more room for invention as well as being helpful for correcting mistakes or securing the finished ends. We recommend Delicas (especially the largest 8/0 size) as perfect for beginners learning peyote or brick stitch, since it is easy to see when you make a mistake.

Delicas are also available in a hexagonal cut version, with six faceted sides cut into the outside of the cylinder. Cut Delicas are available in all four sizes – 8/0, 10/0, 11/0 and 15/0 but in a smaller range of colors than their standard counterparts.

See all 1000+ colors here.

Projects — No comments
04
Feb 10

Texture with Fancy Drops

Miyuki Fancy Drop Peyote Stitch Bracelet

Miyuki Fancy Drop Peyote Stitch Bracelet

Fancy Drop Peyote Stitch BraceletMaterials -

Japanese Beading Needles
C-lon Size D  (Turquoise)
1-2 tubes Miyuki Fancy Drops (dpf-31)
(fancy drops are color-lined with contrasting colors to the rest of the drop)
1 tube Miyuki 11/0 Seed Beads (11-271)
1 clasp or snap

Step 1- Start flat peyote stitch with twelve 11/0 seed beads. Each following row you will add 6 beads.

Step 2- Begin randomly inserting the drops to create a textured surface. Continue until bracelet reaches desired length.

Step 3 – This bracelet is clasped using a snap sewn onto a tiny leather tab. It makes the closure point nearly invisible. Using a button or regular clasp would also work fine.

Fancy Drop Peyote Stitch Bracelet on wrist Miyuki’s color-lined fancy drops give this bracelet a cool optical effect – as you turn your wrist the color appears to change because the angle of the light hits the bead at a different place.  Try your own version and admire the effect!

Projects — No comments
02
Feb 10

Looplicity Brick Stitch Earrings

Looplicity Brick Stitch Earrings

Looplicity Brick Stitch Earrings

Materials:

Japanese beading needles (extra thin)
C-lon beading thread size D (Burgundy)
Miyuki 15/0 seed beads (15-1428)
Miyuki Delica beads (DB1244)
Miyuki 11/0 seed beads (11-302)
Miyuki 10/0 triangle beads (tr10-1836)
Miyuki 8/0 seed beads (8-24f)
2 7mm soldered jumprings
2 earwires

Step 1. Add one 15/0 seed bead to your thread. Sew through the jumpring, and back down through the seed bead. Repeat nine times to complete your initial row.

Step 2. Increase in the following row by adding two Delica beads to your thread. Sew through the thread bridge between the first and second 15/0s on the edge of your work your thread is coming from, and go up the second bead added and then down the first. Come back up the second bead. For the row’s remaining stitches, pick up one bead and go under the next thread bridge on the previous row. Go back up the new bead.

Step 3. Repeat step two using 11/0 seed beads, always increasing by one bead for each new type of bead added.

Step 4. Repeat step two using 10/0 triangle beads.

Step 5. Repeat step two using 8/0 seed beads.

Step 6. Beginning at the edge of your work add thirty-two 15/0 seed beads and sew up through the center 8/0 seed bead. Sew down through the next further down 8/0 seed bead, and add another thirty-two 15/0s. Create a new loop by sewing back up through the second 8/0 from the edge, and continue to work across the earring, one 8/0 at a time until each one has been used once. The only 8/0 to have two strings of 15/0s coming from it is the center 8/0.

It is fun to use a slightly contrasting color of C-lon to accent the beadwork on these earrings. Send us a picture of your interesting combination to share with everyone!

Designers — 1 comment
28
Jan 10

Beaded Turtle

Former Caravan Beads employee Tina Chance makes incredible bead sculpture look easy.
Beaded Turtle in 15/0 Miyuki Seed Beads by Tina Chance

Using the smallest seed beads we have to offer, she made this lovely fellow from illustrations of real turtles found in nature. His toes are made from toothpics colored black with magic marker.

Beaded Turtle Underside in 15/0 Miyuki Seed Beads by Tina Chance

Send us pictures of your beaded art and we’ll put them up on the blog for other beaders to admire.

Projects — No comments
26
Jan 10

Long Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet

Large Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet

Large Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet

Large Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet Detail

materials -

Japanese beading needles or Big Eye Needles
1 spool C-Lon Micro Cord (olive green)
2 tubes Long Magatamas (LMA-2008)
1 tube 8/0 Miyuki Seed Beads (8-217)
1 tube 11/0 Miyuki Seed Beads (11-2013)
1 clasp

(alternate colors: Micro Cord in Wine, LMA-142fr, 8-410fr, 11-360)

Step 1 – Add four 8/0 seed beads to your thread. They will become the inner core of your spiral stitch. Then add a group of three – one 11/0, one long magatama, one 11/0.

Step 2 – Sew back up through the four 8/0s to create the first loop of your spiral. Each time you add a new loop, you will want to rotate the work in the same direction, so that each new loop is added to the left of the previous loop.

Step 3 – Add one 8/0 seed bead, and a group of three – one 11/0, one long magatama, one 11/0. This is the same grouping that you will repeat from now on. Sew back up through the top three 8/0s in your core and then up through the new 8/0 that you just added. This leaves only the group of three loop on the exterior of your spiral.

Step 4 – Repeat step three until you have reached your desired length. Remember that you will need additional length because the design is somewhat wide in circumference.

Large Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet in Purple

Large Magatama Spiral Stitch Bracelet in Purple

Be whimsical and creative with your colors and clasp choices. Send us a picture of your version of this bracelet and we’ll post it on the blog for everyone to admire!

Projects — No comments
21
Jan 10

Regal Caterpillar Bracelet

Regal Caterpillar Bracelet in brick stitch with Miyuki Japanese seed beads

Regal Caterpillar Bracelet in brick stitch with Miyuki Japanese seed beads

Regal Caterpillar brick stitch bracelet on modelmaterials –

Japanese beading needles
1 bobbin C-Lon Thread size D (purple)
1 tube 15/0 Miyuki seed beads (15-462)
2 colors of 11/0 Miyuki seed beads (11-465 and 11-469)
1 tube of 10 cut twisted seed beads (10C-TW-462)
1 tube of 2mm x 6mm twisted bugles (TW206-191)
1 tube of Miyuki drop beads (DP-453)
1 clasp

Brick Stitch Instructions from our friends at Bead & Button.

Step 1 – Make your ladder row with twisted 2.0 x 6mm bugles. Continue until it is the desired bracelet length, minus the length of the clasp.

Step 2 – Begin working on one side of the bracelet. Decrease by 1 bead in your next row using 11/0 seed beads. (Example uses 11-469).

Step 3 – Decrease by 1 bead in your next row using twisted 10 cut seed beads.

Step 4 – Decrease by 1 bead in your next row using 11/0 seed beads of a different color. (Example uses 11-465).

Step 5 – Ornament outside edge with alternating additions of three 15/0 seed beads and another three grouping: one 15/0 seed bead, one drop bead, and one 15/0 seed bead. Or use a different ornamentation – be creative!

Step 6 – Repeat rows 2 through 5 for the other side of the bracelet. Complete with a clasp.

Remember to send us a picture of your version of this bracelet, and we’ll post it on the blog!

Projects — No comments
15
Jan 10

Scalloped Brick Stitch Bracelet

Scalloped Brick Stitch Bracelet with miyuki beads

Scalloped Brick Stitch Bracelet with miyuki japanese seed beads

Scalloped Bracelet

materials -

Japanese Beading Needles
1 bobbin C-Lon Thread size D (teal)
1 tube 15/0 Miyuki seed beads (15-452)
1 tube 11/0 Miyuki seed beads (11-2008)
1 tube 8/0 Miyuki seed beads (8-2405fr)
1 tube 10/0 Miyuki triangle beads (tr10-455)
1 tube 2.7 x 12mm Miyuki twisted bugles (TW2712-401fr)
1 clasp

Brick stitch squares (make four).
Brick Stitch Instructions from our friends at Bead & Button.

Step 1 – Begin your ladder row with 7 10/0 Triangles.
Step 2 – Increase in your next row to have 8 11/0 seed beads.
Step 3 – Decrease in your next row to have 7 Twisted 2.7 x 12mm bugles.
Then reverse and repeat step 2 and 1, in that order.

Once you have completed your four squares, connect them with strands
of seed beads. My pattern was 15/0s, 3 11/0s, 2 TR10s, 1 8/0, 2 TR10s,
3 11/0s and 15/0s again. On the outermost rows I used 11 15/0s on each
side, the next two rows I used 10 15/0s, and the center row I used 9
15/0s. This gives the bracelet the nice scalloped shape.

Complete two sections with a brick stitch square on each end and a
seed bead scallop in the middle. Then connect the center with a row of
7 8/0s (or any other decorative touch you like). Decrease at each end
to 6 10/0 triangles, and attach to clasp. Finish off any loose ends.
Remember that it is easy to adjust the length (this one was 6.75”) by
adding to the seed bead scallops or adding additional center or end
rows.

Scalloped Bracelet
If you make this bracelet, we want to see it! Remember to email us a picture of your version and we’ll post it on the blog for everyone to admire.

Projects — 3 comments
19
Nov 09

Long Magatama Necklace

Our full-page ad in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Beadwork included a bracelet made with Miyuki’s new long magatama beads. Since the ad came out, we’ve gotten quite a few questions from people who want to make something similar, so this post is our attempt to help out.

The first, and most important thing to know, is that after the bracelet was photographed for the ad, it evolved into a necklace—

It’s strung on C-Lon® Micro Cord. When stringing the long magatamas, you need to always insert the thread in the same direction if you want the beads to hang as they do in this necklace. There is some decorative base-metal chain attached by the pendant.

Here’s a close-up of the spiral stitch. In addition to the long magatamas, we used Miyuki beads sizes 11/0 and 8/0. (The items are LMA-2008, 11-2015 and 8-217).

And here’s a detail shot of the clasp and cones. The cones are sterling silver and we dipped them in silver black to darken them.

That’s the quick overview. Please email if you have additional questions.


Bead stores — 2 comments
16
Aug 09

Sun Country Gems – Susan Lucas


I’m often asked when I started beading. The answer is always “it depends on how you count it.” When I was very young, I was a Camp Fire Girl, and we were given colorful wooden beads to sew onto our vests as rewards for completed tasks. Then, when I was in college, a friend showed me how to string seed beads and make the wrapped wire loop. That knowledge spawned a little earring business where I sold my earrings on consignment in the college bookstore. That business provided a little spending money for me until one day when I spent ALL my proceeds and didn’t have enough to buy more supplies to make more earrings. I was instantly out of business. It was my first real lesson in business. There is an old adage of farmers “don’t eat the seed corn.” Well, that’s what I did. I didn’t touch beads again until more than 30 years later.

During the interim, my mother had retired from a lifetime of teaching school and taken up gemstone faceting. I would frequently take her to gem and mineral shows so she could buy rough material, and I was facinated by the gemstones. In those experiences, I began to learn a little bit of the lingo. Mom graduated to silver smithing and lapidary work, and then to teaching those subjects at her senior center. She did that for about 20 years, then quit and finally passed on. She left me all her hand tools that she had not sold, and as I was looking at them one day I wondered what they all did and what I was going to do with them. I thought, well, I don’t know what all these tools are for, but I do know how to make a necklace. So, if I get started with jewelry making I’ll eventually learn what they are and whether they should be kept or not. So, I made a liquid silver necklace (100 strands) and sold it on Ebay for $175.00. “Woohoo! I can do this!” I thought. That success gave me the confidence to start my own web site.

I figured I’d sell my jewelry online, so hubby and I took a buying trip to Tucson. (If you’ve never been to the bead shows in Tucson at the end of January and beginning of February, you have missed quite an event!) I maxed out a credit card and spent all my savings and came home with quite a few beads. As I was putting some finished jewelry on the web site, I thought, “hey, why not put the beads out there too?” It wasn’t long before I discovered that the beads were selling better than the jewelry. So, I found myself in the bead business. I was working a full time job with a serious commute time for the first year. It took 1 hour to get to work, and another hour to get onto the military base where my job was (after 9-11.) Then I would put in a 10 hour day and drive another hour back home. Then, I’d fill my web orders and work on the web sitein the evening and week-ends. Aftera year, I had to make a choice – keep my day job or keep the web business. I chose the web business.

I worked out of my home, selling beads online for several years, then, when the beads started to take over every available space in the house, moved into a shop in Albuquerque’s Old Town historic district. I’ve been doing that now for 4 years. My business is still in the fledgling stage, so I don’t have any employees. All available money goes to paying down the debt I’ve incurred buying the inventory that I now have, and consequently I work 7 days a week with only occasional help from hubby. I have to admit, I’m tired of no days off, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel someday.

Most of my time is spent packaging beads, doing accounting, filling web orders, and waiting on customers in the shop. However, once in a while I have time to be creative. That’s really the best part of the business. I like to combine different types of beads, such as glass with gemstones or pearls. I truly believe every bead can be a part of a beautiful design given the right companions. My goal is to continue to expand my skills and to learn new techniques as well as to make my little bead business all it can be.

Sun Country Gems
Contact Info


Beginner's Corner — No comments
24
Jul 09

Lesson 2: Wire Wrapping

The previous lesson showed how to make a basic earring loop. In this lesson we’ll teach you how to do wrapped loops which can be used for earrings, links, dangles, etc. It’s a very versatile technique! Here are the tools and supplies you’ll need:

Tools-
Round nose pliers
Chainnose pliers
Cutters
Supplies-
Earwire
Headpin
Beads

1. Stack the beads on a headpin (be sure to leave about an inch of wire exposed above the beads). Sterling or gold-filled headpins are preferred for wrapping.

2. Grip the headpin with roundnose pliers above the bead (not pressed up directly on the bead…you want have room to wrap).

3. Bend wire away from you up around pliers.

4. Reposition the pliers above the bend. For a smaller loop, place the wire near the tip of the jaws. For a larger loop, place the wire farther up the jaws.

5. Bend the wire towards you going over the top jaw of the pliers.

This photo shows the wire after it has been bent over the top part of the pliers and back down.

6. Reposition pliers and bend the wire across the stem (the vertical shaft of the headpin).

7. Grasp the loop with the tip of your chainnose pliers. Wrap the wire around the stem. Wrap tightly and be sure not to overlap the wire (each loop should be just below the previous one so it spirals down the headpin). Make three complete wraps around the stem.

The partly completed wrap.

The wrap is completed. Now it’s time to trim the wire.

8. Trim the excess wire. Cut with the wire away from you and pointed down so the cut piece doesn’t hit you or someone else in the eye! With practice you can put a finger on the piece to be cut so it doesn’t become a projectile.

The excess wire is trimmed but leaves a sharp end. Clean-up time!

9. Use the tip of the chainnose pliers to gently squeeze the cut end up against the headpin. Don’t chip the bead!

The finished wrap–nice work!

10. Open the loop of the earwire. Remember to open it by gently bending it sideways, perpendicular to the plane of the wire.

11. Slip the earring loop over the earwire and close the earwire loop.

Finished! Note that this loop is very strong. A regular loop (previous lesson) can open up if the earring is tugged (babies love to tug earrings); a wrapped loop won’t open under any normal conditions.

Final thoughts: This technique requires more practice to master than the basic loop, but your efforts will be well-rewarded. Your local bead store (I hope you have one!) probably offers classes in making linked bracelets or other types of jewelry using this technique. In our next lesson we’ll show some examples of ways to use wrapping to make links for earring dangles, bracelets, etc.


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