Kumihimo - Beads - Fun & Failure

Can't believe the second week of February is almost gone.  Man, wha' happened to the week ?  It really flew by.  It's been a crazy week for sure.  I didn't realize it's been over a week I was here.  lol !

I had a few projects going over the last week or so.  One in particular drove me nuts.  I knew it was going to be a total failure but kept on going thinking I could fix it.  Didn't work out that way at all.  There was more than one fix too which made it all the worse.  Finally had to walk away from it before tearing out my hair.  lol !  Came back and tore it apart.  I should of taken photo's first to show those mistakes but was so frustrated...........  :(  I did have a good outcome on two other projects pictured below and have started another one.  :)  Looking forward to the finished piece of the one I'm working on now.  :) 

I also tried to draw up my own Kumihimo pattern using a grid.  I found it very hard to follow.  Gave it several tries before I had to walk away from that.  lol !  Not a good week for trying new things evidently.  It happens.  But it was a learning experience and I have a solution in mind.  There is a digital program someone invented that's suppose to be easy to use to create your own patterns in Kumihimo.  I am considering it.  This is the link HERE to that pattern maker.  I need to decide if I will use it enough to justify spending the money.

So here are the two projects I finished up this past week. 
The first photo is a flat braid and it's LONG.  lol !  I think it's 82" long !  lol !  Would be perfect for handfasting and that's what I made it for.  Now in my Etsy shop.  :)  I LOVE the colors of this braid !  They work so well together.

The second photo is of a necklace I made the other day.  This is the second BRIGHTS necklace I've made using Greek ceramic beads and my own lampwork spacers.  This one is a bit shorter than the first and this one has a clasp.  Something bright to wear on a cold, dreary winters day.  lol !  It's 29" long and very lightweight.  It is for sale - $40.00 plus $5.80 priority flat rate small box shipping.  Send me a message here if interested. 

Thanks much for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon. 

The Old of it and The New of it

It has been a busy couple of weeks here and I've dabbled in some new and some old crafty/artsy things along with getting a couple made to order orders in the works. 

I wanted to venture into something new and decided to find that cheapy beading loom I bought a long time ago.  As it's known here I have made jewelry using the peyote stitch and made a couple of beaded dolls using bead embroidery.  Figured it was time to give the loom a go.  I really love the look of seed bead embroidery and stitching.  Found the loom and began.  Eye, eye eye !  Warping that darned thing drove me INSANE !  The key word to using that loom is cheapy and it sure made life difficult -  but I pursued !  Used the cheapy beads that came with the kit and wha la, I FINALLY finshed this "piece".  It's nothing in particular, just wanted to give it a go to see if I wanted to continue. 

 The really hard part of using this loom I have is it is too flat.  I had to sit one end of it up on a box of tissue.  lol !  Made life much easier.  Also, I started this piece at the wrong end of the warps !  lol !  When I got to the end of the loom, I had to work backwards to be able to keep going.  lol !  It worked but I wouldn't recommend doing that.  

Once I finished this piece, I decided I have to try one more just to see if I really wanted to continue pursuing this new venture.  I picked out some of my own seed beads this time, found a pattern I wanted to try and got started.  It was still difficult to warp the darned thing but after a fight I finally got it done and began.  The pattern was super easy to follow and I just got on a roll.  The outcome is just below.  I like how it turned out but made it too long to use as a bracelet and too short for a hatband which is what the pattern is for.  lol !  I didn't warp enough thread.  Oh well, such is life.  Maybe one of these days I'll figure out what to do with it.  lol !

 

So the question is:  Do I want to continue with this beading on a loom ?  I'm on the fence about it.  If I do, I will buy another loom before giving it another go.  There are a couple of looms I have in mind.  I have enough seed beads that's for sure.  This shall be continued at a later date.  :)

 

So that's the new of it.  The old of it, I made a couple kumihimo braids !  It was fun !  These are flat braids, no beads in them.  I used my Marudai for both and enjoyed making those movements again.  Might have to make more.  These are in my Etsy shop now.  These would be GREAT for handfasting.  I made them with hand dyed satin cording.  LOVE the colorways of both.  :)  I left the ends unfinished that way the purchaser can finish or decorate the ends as they wish.  These are LONG too measuring 48" and 43" long.

 

 

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon.