a few of my favorite quotes......

Do bead do bead do - Frank Sinatra 

to bead or not to bead that is the question - Shakespeare 

We shall never surrender our beads- Sir Winston Churchill

      Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles - Sonja Henie

and My Favorite one of all...... 

 Men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage - they've experienced pain and bought jewelry - Rita Rudner 

day 7 ( I know i missed a day but i had a disaster)

Well,  am not hugely impressed, i finally finished it but didnt like it so i took it all apart again without taking a photo....
It just didnt seem to sit right and i  had a tantrum and took it apart. Its usually at this point i decide to give up, but im not going to this time.... 


I think i will try and bead on a cuff and see if thats any better.


I did play with some seedies at Bead Club and am happy to share those pics. I Used proper sized beads and was back in my comfort zone! 

Day 5 seriously distracted

Well not much to say about the pesky bleeders today...  i got sidelined by reorganizing my bead room ..oops!
Don’t get me started on my bead room… Im having a major overhaul and finding new storage for the pesky bleeders. Actually that’s one thing they have in their favor, they take up hardly any room.  I’ve put all mine into test tubes on a rack, so they look pretty…:D

Im very proud of myself as yesterday  I noticed something was wrong in my beading immediately after i had done it. So no major unpicking…..

PROGRESS  ( think). I have almost completed it now.  ( I am as slow as a tortoise with the attention span of a gnat!  I get distracted by shiny things all the time)

Talking of which 

 I decided to have  a break from the blue cab  and I  spent most of the day tidying my beads and sketching my  Cuff ideas onto scrap paper. I did get a gorgeous design journal a while back, but I put it somewhere safe before I started on my  bead room and its so safe I cant find it! will make do with scrap paper for now.

Here's a sneak preview of my new storage...  most beaders i know are almost as excited by storage as they are by beads....
(ignore the hammer, and all the junk on the floor, its a work in progress)

Day 4 Where are my big beads?

After a few minor unpicks and a few major temper tantrums  i came to the conclusion  that life really is much simpler with "normal beads"
these pesky little bleeders are really quite unforgiving  and show up every little mistake, unlike my beloved big beads!! 


One of my lovely friends on FB Mary linked some tutorials for me to watch..... for which I'm very grateful.  (u can see more of Mary's amazing work here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garnishes/197072357031252)


I am currently  two thirds through the cab.... and  slowly getting there.... had to have a break and console myself with some huge beads in between attempts... I'm not too happy about it, but assume i will improve with practice. 
Here's how its looking now. hoping to be finished by today, i just need to finish off with the pesky's  to pull it all together. 
What do u think?

I have decided to start of my cuff too as the tutorial Mary linked to me has inspired me to carry on with an example of beading around a cab on the actual cuff, so do i take this one apart and start again as i love this colour or  take the easy option and select a new colour cab...hmmm decisions.....?

ps I'm so glad i started the blog as i'm 99% sure i would give up if i hadnt told people i was doing this!  

heres a pic of what i have managed so far.... it a slow process for me! 

Day 3…. Are u allowed to swear on blogs?

Well, after yesterdays promise of not blogging every day, here I am again…

I lied!

 It looks like I may be sharing my ramblings every day for a while at least.

 A couple of very strange people I call friends  on Facebook thought it might be a good idea for me to post every day…..so I may just give it a go.

 An update on yesterdays exploits with the dreaded beaded cab….

Alison BG Bickell form treasured forever on Facebook 

( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Treasured-Forever/230245737008469)

has made a great tutorial on beading round a cab that made it look so simple…… so I thought, why not!

It would have helped if I started with the right size pesky bleeders,   size 8 seedies not a size 6 which I chose because of the colour, and didn’t think to check it wasn’t a size 8…..

The right beads do help apparently, and u can’t just use them because you like the colour! (A favorite technique of mine, when working with “proper beads of a normal size”)

Take 2 wasn’t much better….. I used a clear fireline with navy blue beads, not a good idea.

So take no 3 involved a new smoke thread……

I used a Dichroic pendant (obviously because of the colour…. That was ok as it’s a proper size so my tried and trusted technique worked there!) And had another go with the right size seedies and the right coloured thread!

This worked much better.

I have now successfully started beading around my first Cab. And am feeling quite proud of myself. It’s a major achievement for a seed bead phobic! its approx 40cm, and im sort of wishing i had perhaps started with something smaller.

May post a pic tomorrow if I get it completed.

And ps,

Yes……I did curse the pesky little bleeders more than once last night! 

Day 2 (don't worry, i have no intention of posting every day )

Now i have told everyone what I'm doing,  I'm wondering is this a good idea?


I have my "stiff Stuff" and some beautiful embroidery felt my mother-in-law gave me years ago that i knew would come in useful one day. (just like all the other "crafty" bits in my loft )


Now that  I no longer own  Absolute beads, it means i can  partake in the monthly challenge packs that i missed out on before, So what a great opportunity to practice my seedies skills.


(you can buy  a challnege pack here)
 http://www.absolutebeads.co.uk/summer-challenge-pack-pink-and-green-1313-p.asp

 I  was thrilled about buying my first challenge pack and got started straight away and finished within a week.....



I made 3 pieces for the  challenge. 2 of which involved the use of the "pesky things" as i like to call them ,  or seed beads as others call them.


sadly I cannot post pics of my makes until after the challenge ends in August.....  but here s a pic of what we started with. 
Now  i need to start on my Cabochon.................................... 

Day one

I decided this summer to challenge myself to overcome my phobia of bead smaller than a 20p peice ... so i purchased a stack of seed beads , Muyuki Delicas, Czech 11's , Berry beads,  & Myujki drops to name but a few....


Just a couple of months ago this would have all been a foreign language to me, But i decided it was time to face my fear of these little bleeders and get on with it. 
I made a couple of fringe bracelets to build my confidence and to get used to handling these specks of sand  masquerading as beads  and surprisingly I found  i quite enjoyed it!


Im currently practicing beading around a cabochon and hope to design an embroidered cuff before the summer ends. A huge task for a less than confident beginner....
but i figure its like giving up smoking, the more people you tell..... you just have to go through with it! 
I hope to keep this blog updated with my progress (if any!) and keep me focused on the task at hand.


Happy Beading!

Here are a couple of my seedie makes which sparked my interest in  the pesky bleeders :)