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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

BUZZzzz! Busy little Bee!


What's Buzzing on the Bead Tray now!

Here are some beading tips for you.

Delica beads are expensive. You probably already knew that! To keep from losing beads and having them mingle with others, I highly recommend you buy a divided bead dish like the ones I sell on my website. Get them here. Only pour out a few beads in the dish at a time. You never know when disaster may strike and the whole tray winds up in the floor! Let's hope that doesn't happen but we all now it can and will when you least expect it.

If you are like me every second counts. Taking out bead work and having to redo makes me crazy. What a waste of time. I could be two rows ahead by the time I finish fixing my mistakes. To prevent this, get yourself a pencil. You can use a pen or even a crayon if you like but, I have found pencils work best because most of them come with erasers and you might need that too. Mark off each row as you go. Depending on how long a row is, I sometimes break it down into sections. Save a copy of the pattern. Who knows you might want to make it again and if you have marked all over it, you better hope that pencil came with a really nice, big eraser!

Put the pattern on a clipboard. Secure the bottom of the page with a rubber band. That will keep the bottom edge of the pattern from curling up. Not only does it work well, people with clipboards look important. Well, most of them think so anyway!

Get yourself a nice wooden tray or box that the bead dish, scissors, tubes of beads and the clipboard will all fit in. Don't sit on the couch and think the bead tubes won't go anywhere if you lay them down beside you for just a few minutes. They will disappear forever. The couch will eat them and you will never see them again!

Scissors. Get yourself a nice pair of itty-bitty ones. If I didn't already have so much stuff I would start a scissor collection. They too will find comfort and safety in that wooden tray mentioned earlier. Never run with scissors. Not even the itty-bitty ones. You could fall and hurt yourself.

Always use black thread when ever possible. It likes to hide in the shadows. White thread can be colored with Sharpies. I am going to use this trick on the honey bee. I'll post more on that later with pics and everything!

Store your needles in a wooden needle case. It's a tradition of great bead artists. Bead around that needle case and keep an eye on it because some of my favorites have disappeared and it was not the couch that ate them!

If you have any beading tips please feel free to share them here.

Until We Bead Again, Beth Murr

P.S.

Bead thread works great in a pinch when the couch has eaten your dental floss.

1 comment:

  1. What great tips!! Interesting on the use of black thread..Of course I did buy my tray from you along with the wooden needlecases!! And I was a good student and beaded them using your wonderful patterns!!

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