Art Bead Scene Blog: Dear Ms. Bead-It-All

There's a new bead blog in town, and it promises to be something pretty cool. My friend (and Beads-of-Clay co-founder) Melanie Brooks-Lucaks, will be writing regularly at the Art Bead Scene Blog. In her first column as Ms. Bead-It-All, Melanie addressed the problem of designing a necklace with a focal bead whose hole is oriented vertically instead of horizontally . The column inspired me to look at my beading history, to remember how I've addressed this problem in my own work.

The truth is, since I'm usually stringing my own beads as focals, I have an idea how I want to present the piece and make the holes accordingly. As a result, I'm very seldom confronted with holes that go "the wrong way." A quick look through my jewelry box didn't reveal any finished pieces that I could easily scan. The next best thing was to try to come up with a graphic to demonstrate the idea.

The idea behind the solution above is to thread your focal bead on 2 lengths of your stringing material (thread, beadalon, etc) down through vertical hole. The strands from the bottom connect back to the main body of the necklace forming a beaded frame around your art bead focal. Crimp where the loop closes and continue beading as normal. The whole design can be further embellished by adding a dangle below your focal using a headpin threaded through the hole with your stringing material.

Of course my real question for Ms. Bead-It-All is where do you find the time?!?! Melanie does everything. Earthenwood Studio, articles in numerous beading magazines, shows, blogging, etc

Art Bead Scene Blog: Dear Ms. Bead-It-All