Table of contents for December 2015 in Bead&Button

With the winter holidays comes a bonus — an extra reason to wear sparkling beadwork! This issue offers several holiday styles to make, like Janice Chatham’s cover necklace (p. 26), Cara Landry’s jewel-toned bracelets (p. 30), Gianna Zimmerman’s floral necklace (p. 40), Jeanette Dailey Bobby’s garland-inspired bracelet (p. 60), and Lane Landry’s peppermint delights (p. 68). For year-round style, try the crystal bracelets by Jackie Schweitz (p. 23), Nicole Vogt (p. 36), Maria Theresa Moran (p. 48) and Cary Bruner (p. 64), as well as Renee Kovnesky’s simply elegant necklace (p. 72). As always, we have hidden a bead strand somewhere in this issue — it looks exactly like the one at right. When you find it, email its location to me by January 8 at editor@beadandbutton.com (put “Find the…

Cassie Using Heather’s bird and tree beads as the focal, I slightly warmed up the mood by making a tubular herringbone necklace in golden colors and adding warm brown hues with pip beads. Although not visible from the front, the donut-shaped polymer beads sit comfortably inside the flared ends (Design challenge ideas are for your inspiration; instructions are not available.) Connie I love the colors of the polymer beads for this challenge. Using seed and fire-polished beads in greens and browns, I made components with the donut beads, and joined them into a chain. A charm from www.stinkydogbeads.com finished the bird-and-tree pendant. Lorelei Eurto (B&B reader) The cool blue, green, and grey hues set the tone of my design. I’m always fond of an asymmetrical design, and the focal beads…

Base 1 On a comfortable length of thread, attach a stop bead, leaving a 12-in. (30 cm) tail. Pick up 11 80 hex beads, and work in flat odd-count peyote stitch for the desired bracelet length less ¾ in. (1.9 cm) for the clasp. End and add thread as needed, end on an odd numbered row with six up-beads, and end the working thread. 2 Place the base horizontally on your bead mat, and attach a needle to each end of a comfortable length of thread. With the right needle, sew through the third top edge hex from the right end of the base, with the needle pointing away from the base (figure 1, point a). With the left needle, sew through the adjacent fourth hex on the top edge…

keep it together If desired, use a 2-strand clasp instead of a 4-strand clasp. Components 1 On 4 ft. (1.2 m) of thread, pick up a repeating pattern of a SuperDuo and an 110 seed bead four times. Sew through all the beads again to form a ring, leaving a 6-in. (15 cm) tail. Continue through the next SuperDuo, 110, and SuperDuo (figure 1, a–b), and the open hole of the same SuperDuo (b–c). 2 Pick up a repeating pattern of an 110 and a SuperDuo three times, then pick up an 110. Sew through the SuperDuo your thread exited at the start of this step, retrace the thread path (not shown in the figure for clarity), and continue through the next 110 and SuperDuo (c–d). Sew through the open…

Base 1 On a comfortable length of doubled 6 lb. Fireline, pick up four 6 mm beads, and sew through the beads again to form a ring, leaving 6-in. (15 cm) tail. Continue through the first three 6 mms added (figure 1, a–b). note If you prefer to work with a single thread, retrace the thread path of each round for the entire base. 2 Working in right-angle weave (RAW), pick up three 6 mms, and sew through the 6 mm your thread exited at the start of this step. Continue through the first two 6 mms just added (b–c), and tighten. Continue working in RAW using a tight tension for the desired length of the bracelet, less 5⁄8 in. (1.6 cm) for the clasp, ending with an even number…

Peppermint piece 1 On a comfortable length of thread, pick up three color A 150 seed beads, and sew through the beads again, leaving a 6-in. (15 cm) tail. Continue through the first bead added. Pull the thread tight, and position the beads into a triangle-shaped ring to help keep track Before each round, count out the number of beads needed. When all the beads are used, the round should be completed, and it’s time to step up to start the next round. 2 Work rounds of increasing circular peyote as follows, ending and adding thread as needed: Round 1: Pick up two As, and sew through the following A in the ring. Repeat this stitch twice, and step up through the first A added in the round (figure 1,…

THREAD AND KNOTS Conditioning thread Use beeswax or microcrystalline wax (not candle wax or paraffin) or Thread Heaven to condition nylon beading thread and Fireline. Wax smooths nylon fibers and adds tackiness that will stiffen your beadwork slightly. Thread Heaven adds a static charge that causes the thread to repel itself, so don’t use it with doubled thread. Both conditioners help thread resist wear. To condition, stretch nylon thread to remove the curl (you don’t need to stretch Fireline). Place the thread or Fireline on top of the conditioner, hold it in place with your thumb or finger, and pull the thread through the conditioner. Ending and adding thread To end a thread, sew back through the last few rows or rounds of beadwork, following the thread path of the…

BeadDreams 2016 Once again, we are accepting submissions for BeadDreams, our annual juried competition celebrating creativity and artistry in beading. Finalists will be displayed at the Bead&Button Show in June and will complete for prizes totaling more than $10,000! Submissions are due February 26, 2016. Go to www.BeadAndButton.com/BeadDreams for complete rules. Shown at left: “Moby” by Huib Petersen, BeadDreams 2015. National Button Day Mark your calendars and get out your buttons — November 16 is National Button Day! Send us photos of your favorite button designs so we can share them with the beading community on the big day! Email your photos to editor@beadandbutton.com, and put “Button design” in the subject line. Gone too soon Justyna Szlezak, whom many beaders were introduced to through her “Blooming flower pendant” (June, 2015)…

helping hand Pearl holes are small, so throughout this project, if you encounter tight spots, use a pair of chainnose pliers or a needle gripper to gently pull the needle through the beads. Beaded buttons 1 On 30 in. (76 cm) of thread, pick up five 150 seed beads. Leaving a 6-in. (15 cm) tail, tie the beads into a ring with a square knot, and sew through the next 150. 2 Work rounds of peyote stitch: Round 2: Pick up a 150, and sew through the next 150 in the ring (figure 1, a–b). Repeat this stitch four times, and step up through the first 150 added in the round (b–c). Round 3: Work a round picking up two 150s per stitch, and step up through the first two…

Julia I love art glass and am smitten with Amanda Muddimer’s “Harlequin” pendants. Available at www.mangobeads.co.uk. The book 18 Beaded Jewelry Projects offers the perfect blend of instruction and inspiration for a little motherdaughter beading time this coming year. Available at www.JewelryandBeadingStore.com. Czech glass buttons always make my list — they’re cool and colorful and make great clasps, pendants, or components. This one is available at www.artbeads.com. There is nothing quite like making a great piece of jewelry from a beading kit! I’m drooling over this beautiful “Peledu” necklace kit by Isabella Lam, www.bead4me.etsy.com. Anna Chernykh’s metal jewelry findings are beautiful and inventive and can really elevate a design, so they make my list this year. Get them at www.annabronze.com. Cassie Make your own cool business cards at www.moo.com —…

The original In college I had a teacher who demanded a minimum of 20 sketches in response to her design challenges. Pushing myself to come up with that many ideas forced me to travel far from what I knew, and in so doing, make experimental play part of the creative journey. When I first saw Robin Tennebaum’s “Jasper Coin Necklace” (above, left), I thought “I can’t use this, there’s no glaring design issue to improve upon.” So I filed it away. Then I remembered my college design professor’s challenges. For the final 2015 Second Look column, I wanted to see where I could take an already solid composition. Not necessarily to improve it, but to simply play, to experiment and learn. So I retrieved Robin’s design and took a second…

T here had to be a story behind “Blue Feather.” In 2013, this intricately embroidered necklace dripping with fringe and whimsy alighted on the proverbial doorstep of the Bead&Button offices. It had come to compete in the Bead Dreams competition. But first, it competed for the notice of the B&B editors and passersby from other departments. All were captivated by the beaded blue horse. It was cute but not cutesy, elaborate but not excessively so. It gave off a Native American vibe and at the same time pulsed with some other indescribable influence. And there was a story. “‘Blue Feather’ is a tribute to the first horse I had as a young girl,” says Andrea Grzabka, the wrangler of this wearable art. “She was a sweet old quarter horse broodmare…

Beaded segments 1 On a comfortable length of thread, pick up 10 110 seed beads, and sew through the beads again (not shown in the figure for clarity) to form a ring, leaving a 6-in. (15 cm) tail. Tie a square knot, and sew through the first five beads again (figure 1, a–b). 2 Pick up eight 110s, and sew through the last two beads your thread exited in the previous stitch, and continue through the first five beads added in this stitch (b–c). 3 Work as in step 2 for a total of 15 right-angle weave (RAW) stitches to form row 1, ending and adding thread as needed. After the final stitch, sew through the next three 110s on the bottom of the last stitch (figure 2, a–b). 4…

Necklace 1 On a comfortable length of thread, pick up a Tila bead, a 150 seed bead, an 110 seed bead, an 80 seed bead, an 110, and a 150, and sew through the open hole of the Tila (figure 1, a–b). Retrace the thread path (b–c), and tighten the beads. 2 Pick up a 150, an 110, and four 80s, and sew through the first 80 just added to form a loop (figure 2). Snug up the beads. 3 Pick up an 110, a 150, a Tila, a 150, an 110, and four 80s, and sew through the first 80 just added to form a loop (figure 3). Snug up the beads. Repeat this stitch for the desired length of the necklace, allowing 1–11⁄2 in. (2.5–3.8 cm) for the…

“Every child is an artist. The problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” – Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso knew it — life has a way of convincing a lot of us that we’re not artists. As children, we’re naturally creative and willing to experiment with different ways to express ideas, but years of learning the “right” way to do things slowly erodes that innocent confidence. But soft-spoken lampworker and art teacher Stephanie Dieleman didn’t fall for it. And her fans and students are so, so glad she didn’t. A lifelong resident of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, she gets her inspiration from her beautiful surroundings, like the sandy beaches and muted colors in the local coastal landscape. “I like to joke with my husband that it’s…