Bead Brain, How'd you make that?
Sorry can't help ya.
But I can tell you where I got the inspiration, information and instructions to make some of my little beaded wonders.
My Butterfly collection
No Net Required
These butterflies were made from directions in the April 2004 Issue of Beadwork magazine. They were designed by Sue Sloan. The technique used is a radically modified brick stitch.
There are just endless variations possible for this design.In addition to making great pins & necklaces, they are really great for decorating gift packages. I did a flock of them in gold & white on a wedding present & I think the bride liked that more than the china inside the box!
I highly recomend ordering this back issue. I think it was one of the best issues they've done. In addition to the butterflies, there is a wonderful tatted bracelet tutorial as well. I guess that would make it a Tat Tut right?
Beadwork
Beadwork is a great source for instructions, inspiration & general information on creating art with beads. There are instructions for basic stiches in every addition.
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 07/06/2009) 
Beaded Animals
Bead Yourself a Zoo!
These critters and the eagle at the top of the page, were made using patterns from a wonderful French site Perles de Rocaille. (If you don't read French you might want to visit Babel Fish for help)
My Zoo
These are critters of my own design made using the same beading style. It's called Victorian Beading. Unlike French beading, the wire goes through each bead twice instead of just once.
Sorry I don't have any great tutorials for these. But once you learn the basics it's easy to create these guys. For example, take the spider body, 2 monkey legs, wings, and the eagles head on an elongated neck & wow!...you've got yourself a flamingo Attention all Bead Godesses
Beadie Heaven!
This is my version of the bead Godess from the August 2003 issue of Bead & Button Magazine. It was designed by Ronda Kivett. Like the butterflies above, the only limitation to the variations on this pattern is your own imagination.
Bead & Button
Bead & Button Magazine is my all time favorite beading magazine. I have gotten so much inspiration from it. I highly recomend it for any aspiring bead artist.
Amazon Price: $28.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
Beaded Bottles
The message IS the bottle...
These are 2 inch Glass bottles I purchased at the craft store. They're covered in a variety of stiches. I got started doing this as a way to display tiny swatches of sample bead work, done while teaching or learning a new stich.
The problem is they're a little addictive. They take very little time to do & the results can be gorgeous.
These are all my design but About.com has some instructions that are basically the same as what I do.
Basic Beading stitches
Gotta start somewhere
- Suzanne Coopers Jumpstart class room
- Great, simple instructions for the peyote beading stich. Check out the Frog Stich Link for good info on making corrections when you've made a boo boo.
- Beady Boop's School
- This is kind of a cool animated Peyote stitch. But the best part is the animated increase columns link. I found it to be very helpful.
- About.com
- and of course About.com has instructions for every bead stitch ever conceived!
- Bead jewelry making.com
- They have illistrated instructions for a bunch of stitch types as well.
Free bead patterns
Yay Free Stuff!!
- Aunt Molly's Bead Street
- >This site has a lot of simple patterns in all Bead Weaving styles. Also she has all the graph papers you would ever need. DO NOT leave this site without looking at the gallery. She is a master bead artist.
My favorite pattern:Peyote Hummingbird by Mary Tafoya. - About.com
This is probably the mother of all free bead weaving pattern sites. Be sure to take time to explore this site. There is tons of really good ideas, instructions and inspiration here.
My Favorite:The Cow Pin or Pendant Bead Pattern by Emily Hackbarth.- Bead patterns.com
- This site is mostly patterns for sale. However, they also have 38 pages of free items, including patterns, instructions and even graph paper.
My Favorite:The Mini Kimono by Toika Bridges - Bella Online
- Shala from Beadwork at Bella online has done a great job here. This list has some of her patterns and links to other sites. My favorite:The chicken earings by Shala Kerrigan.
Got Beads?
Mr. Kitty's Big Bead Bonanza - Bead Mix - 1/2 Pound
I ordered one of these too. I'll let you know if it's a good thing as soon as it gets here
Amazon Price: $3.88 (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $9.99
Used Price:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Turquoise Jasper Square Cube Beads 4mm/16 Inch Strand
Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price:
Used Price:
Cobalt Blue AB 4mm Round Czech Fire Polish Glass Beads
Amazon Price: $1.99 (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price:
Used Price:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Gemstone Mix Lot Small Faceted Nuggets Beads 5-8mm/14 Inch Strand
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $6.99
Used Price:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy More Beads
Czech Seed Beads 6/0 'Victorian Rose' Pink Mauve Mix (1 Ounce)
Amazon Price: $7.49 (as of 07/06/2009)
Miyuki Delica Seed Beads Mix 10/0 Transparent Rainbow 8 Grams
Amazon Price: $1.95 (as of 07/06/2009)
Czech Seed Beads 8/0 Honey Butter Mix Cream Gold (1 Half Hank)
Amazon Price: $2.49 (as of 07/06/2009)
Czech Seed Beads 11/0 Ruby Red Foil Lined (1 Hank/4000 Beads)
Amazon Price: $12.39 (as of 07/06/2009)
Czech Seed Beads Mix 11/0 Grey Mist Iris White Silver One Half Hank
Amazon Price: $1.49 (as of 07/06/2009)
Sound off
Leave me a note so I know you were here.
All-Cool-Crafts wrote...
Hi to all bead lovers,
I love to share my passion too. My bead weaving style is a little different because I used Swarovski bicone crystal, but it is similar idea to your stuff in your lens. Please come to take a look at my stuff in my lens. I'm trying to add more stuff but because I am really new to Squidoo, so it is very slow to learn how to add things in the lens. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you so much.
Posted July 04, 2009
teriann wrote...
Hi, thanks for sharing your beautiful work with us. What an inspiration!
The Bead At Home Mom
Posted May 15, 2009
Margo_Arrowsmith wrote...
Your work is amazing. I have featured it on Peyote Beads . I really loved the way you put the skull in the body of the butterfly, and your take on the goddess is amazing! 5* to you for the lens and I only wish that I could put more up for the work with the beads.
I aspire to be as creative as you!
Posted December 25, 2008
GlitterGlowBeading wrote...
Some good links here, I like your beaded bottles!
Posted November 29, 2008
LauraKay wrote...
Wow! I've been making bead jewelry but I haven't gotten into the beading of patterns much... I'm starting to see some of the amazing possibilities thanks to you lens! Thank you!
Posted September 13, 2008
Thanks for stopping by!
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Be Well,
Bead Brain
