New Look Web sites

I've been busy making changes to both Craft Cove and Flower Cove.  I'm changing every page over to photo gallery elements.  This will take me a while to do.  But once it's done it will make it a bit quicker for me to list things.  The way it is now, I have to individually add heaps of elements for each and every item, then fill each one individually.  This new method means I just add the images of the jewellery then add the descriptions.

It will also be easier to see all the handcrafted items, there won't be so much scrolling down the page to see everything.  They're small thumbnail images at first, but you can hover or click on an image to see the item larger and the information about it.

I will no longer list when an item is sold, because I can always make a new one from scratch anyway.  So I will let you know if it's sold when you add you're order, so you can either have a custom one made, or choose another item.

Wedding jewellery

I'm not a very social person, so when I received an invitation for a wedding, I had absolutely nothing to wear!  Finally I found a nice black dress with a tiny black jacket over it.  The jacket has a lovely sequin trim, so I found a small clutch bag with sequin trim as well.

Of course even though my business is in selling jewellery, I don't actually wear jewellery very much.  I'm usually at home crafting, gardening, parenting, housework and looking after pets, this stuff just doesn't lend itself to jewellery.  So I decided to make something new for the jewellery.  It took a lot of thought, but I finally decided on a beaded bead necklace with a chain.  The beaded bead being all white and silver, with crystals, pearls and seed beads, to offset all the black.  Then I decided a tassel of chain would also look nice hanging off the bottom.  Here's how it looked.

Beaded Bead

My next issue was the earrings.  I thought it would be great to make earrings to match, but the same beaded bead would be a bit big for the earrings.  I tried using less beads and using small beads and a couple of variations until I came up with a design I liked.  I put the same tassels on the bottom, and used the same colours.  I was quite happy with the design, it's wuite a bit narrower, but about the same length as the pendant.

wedding jewellery

Of course I could have made a new dress as well, but since I'll probably never even wear this dress again, it wasn't worth the time and expense.  It's much more costly to make your own.

wedding set

While I was at the wedding I saw another guest with the most beautiful crocheted handbag.  I thought "why didn't I think of that?"  I could have incorporated some beading into the crocheting as well, and I love crocheting!

Instructions for following 3d chart patterns

Instructions for following 3d patterns in chart form

Every now and again you may come across a 3d beading pattern that is created in a chart form.  They are usually written in Chinese or Korean.  Here are the instructions for how to follow them written in English.  

There are also some variations to this, but this at least gives a good starting place.

If anyone knows of any errors or things to add, please let me know.

Techniques:

·         Right angle weave, stringing

Difficulty:

·         Moderate

Note:  These images are just examples and not an actual pattern.

You work one circle at the time, marked by the number in Row A.  Start with row B, then work row C.  Then cross the LEFT thread through the last bead to make the total for row D.  The whole 4 rows of the chart create one circle of beads.

The images below show the exact same instructions using the more common pattern method.

This first table shows the very basic information that is sometimes seen in the first part of the pattern

This section above the table will give information like size of beads, colour to start with, etc

A	1	This just states the number for the circle of beads being worked on
B	0	This is the number of beads for the LEFT thread to go through, unless otherwise stated
C	5	This is the number of beads to be added to the RIGHT thread, unless otherwise stated
D	5	This is the total number of beads made in this circle. Crossed with the LEFT thread

 

This shows some more advanced entries that are found in the B row

B row almost always means you need to go through beads already there, and almost always on the Left thread.  A “-“ in between two numbers means both threads are used.

Note: Sometimes characters are used for LEFT and RIGHT or for the colours

B

2-1

The LEFT thread needs to go through two beads already there.  The RIGHT thread needs to go through one bead already there

B

R1

The RIGHT thread needs to go through one bead that is already there, instead of the usual LEFT thread

 

More advanced entries in the C row

The C row tells what needs to be added, usually to the RIGHT thread, unless otherwise stated.

C

3-1

Three beads need to be added to the RIGHT thread, and one bead needs to be added to the LEFT thread

 

C

L2

Two beads are added to the LEFT thread instead of the usual RIGHT thread.

 

Working with colour

Colours are shown by either a character or a circle in a particular colour.  Usually there is a key at the start of the pattern.

 

 

To sum up:  B  means to go through beads already there, and on the LEFT

C  means add beads, on the RIGHT

D means cross left thread through last bead, to give this total number of beads.

Created by Jenny Lawson

http://craftcove.weebly.com/

http://flowercove.weebly.com/

For any questions, email me at:  craftcove@gmail.com

More tutorials can be found at:  Jewellery from Craft Cove    http://craftcove.blogspot.com/

Please do not distribute, lend or copy.

Do not mass produce.

Copyright  2010 Jenny Lawson

More Tutorials

Don't forget about all the wonderful tutorials on the 3dbeading website.  There are many free tutorials and some paid ones starting up now.  There are many in all sorts of categories, including, flowers, animals, jewellery.  There is also a wonderful forum that has many great people who can help you out and sometimes post other tutorials.

Fancy Finger knitting!

I just discovered a new type of finger knitting that I'd never heard of before! Thanks to Khalija on DeviantART. I've been knitting almost every stitch I thought possible since I was around 5 years old, but I've never heard of this.

But this takes fingerknitting to a whole new level! This is really proper knitting just like you'd do with needles, but you use your fingers in place of needles! What a great idea, I'm fascinated!

The pages are in French, but you can use the translator, and the images are probably enough anyway.

http://www.tricotin.com/fiche24.htm
http://www.tricotin.com/fiche25.htm