Minty fresh

Heck it's gone cold. All the more reason to get the heating going and have a crafty weekend. Not sure it'll turn out quite like that but I have a four day weekend so there's a remote chance. 

However while I'm pondering and planning the weekend here's another catch up.  These lovely minty beads are painted glass pearl beads that I purchased at the recent craft show at the Kings Hall.

Necklace

The necklace has been made using three strands of tigertail. All strands are threaded through the larger beads then threaded individually though small beads in between.

 

Bracelet

The bracelet is using a new technique where the beads are wired and linked together. I will be covering this technique in more detail in a new post. 

Earrings

There are also some earrings using headpins and fish hook earring findings.  

Triple tigertails

Another technique and effect using tigertail wire can be achieved using multiple threads.

Materials and Tools: Tigertail wire, crimps, beads

This recipe uses a repeated pattern using seed beads, a slightly larger bead for each thread and then a larger bead for all the threads.

1. Crimp all three threads together, including the fastener as appropriate.
2. On each of the threads add 3-5 seed beads, one larger bead, 3-5 seed beads. 
3. Add a larger bead with all three threads going through the same bead.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 to required length.

The magic of felt

Materials and Tools:   Merino Wool Tops, Hot Water, Soap

Pick a piece of the merino wool. Taking a piece of the merino wool is like pulling at candy floss, this thin fibers string out like a web. Starting at one end of the piece fold or roll the end into a ball and work the fibres around this ball until all of the piece is in a loose ball shape. 

Merino wool tops

Dip the ball of wool into a container of the hot water and soap. Remove the wool and squeeze out the excess water, taking care not to scald yourself with the water. 

Place the wool between the hands and roll gently to form a ball. As the fibres knit together to ball becomes smaller and dense. 

If there are any cracks or folds appearing add some more fibres around the original ball. Repeat the dip in the water and rolling and hopefully the crease should be removed. 

Once happy with the resulting ball dip in cold water to rinse. Then allow to dry. Thorough drying may take several days. If using as a bead then introducing a hole with a needle is best done before the bead dries.

Finished beads

Polymer clay beads ... experimenting at home

The topic for the class this week will be polymer clay beads. So with the Fimo having arrived and lots of tutorials on "You Tube", particularly those from "The Crafts I couldn't resist having a play.

Polymer Clay Beads

Materials and Tools:   Polymer clay (I'm using Fimo ), Sharp knife, Baking tray, Oven

Polymer clay comes in blocks. Cut off a piece to use and wrap the remainder of the block in plastic bag or other airtight container.   Work the piece by kneading and rolling. The purpose of this is to make the clay more pliable, easier to work with and eliminate air bubbles.

I'm going to leave any discussion on patterns until after the class. This was just having a go and I limited myself to two colours (ochre and turquoise). I made a check pattern by layering the colours then cut into cubes which I rounded into beads, and pierced a hole. As the colours became more mixed there was more marbling and I tried a couple of different shapes. 

The clay is baked (according to instructions) at a relatively low temperature (110 degrees C) for about half an hour. 

All tools used for polymer clay are no longer fit for food use so the baking tray needs to be covered in tin foil or made exclusive for non-food use.