Making Books with Beads

I’m having fun this week making books with beads. Using my beads from CJ Bead Store in Katy.  

I made this beaded fringe book in a Houston workshop a few years ago.

It was very pretty with feather charms and various sizes of beads. As I remember - it took all day. So far I have not made another one exactly like it!

This week I made similar books using only a few beads with the Coptic binding. 

I used stiff board covers with 5 holes. And on the 5 signatures I used 7 holes with two for the kettle stitch at each end. The amount of thread is 10 times the length of the spine. 

An important part of Coptic binding is to cross the thread over the last inserted thread and go back with your needle into the same hole.

There are many kinds of Coptic binding tutorials.  There is an excellent online resource: click here.

I need to use some of these keys I collected. How do you use your collections; I would love to hear from you!

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

Knotting a Pearl Necklace

I met with the Crafters Anonymous group on Saturday, a local crafting group.

We bring whatever craft we are working on. I brought beads and supplies to make necklaces. Plus I repaired a few of my necklaces, one has a Guillamine bead I bought in Africa.

On January 29th I wrote about creating with beads - click here to read that blog. 

I recently bought faux pearls at CJ Bead Store in Katy. Last summer I took a pearl knotting class there from Joy. I made two necklaces in small and larger size faux pearls. The supplies include: fish hook clasp, two knotting crimps, bead cord and pearls.

Plus the tools include scissors, needle-nose pliers, and this long needle awl.

First you thread the knotting crimp, make a knot, hook the crimp onto the fish hook, as pictured.

The difficult part of pearl knotting is getting the knots in between and up close against each pearl.

Place the tip of your thumb up against the knot to make sure it rests close to the pearl. My finished pearl necklace I made this week is sized in between my two others. 

Plus I made these necklaces to give as gifts. I plan to give them as Christmas gifts in 3 months. Tell my nieces not to look!

I’m glad I bought several large Guillamine beads, also known as African Trade Beads, when I visited Africa. Bead prices range from 50 cents for smaller beads up to $25.00!

Please let me know if you have tried knotting a pearl necklace or if you have any questions about how to go about doing it.

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016