Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Swimming in the heat




Hooray for long weekends and indoor crafts before a heat wave. (click to enlarge)

I made two necklaces and two goldfish. I downloaded the goldfish pattern from Abby's site While She Naps. You can print a pdf of instructions to make this ornament or part of a mobile.


I still can't get over how easy it is to make a necklace. You need the crimper tool, 2 crimp beads, two seed beads, Fireline wire or other stringing material, a needle to pass through the decorative beads and a mix of beads. I use a beader's tray to make it easy to lay out to study and measure the length of the necklace: 17 inches, with another inch for the clasp run it up to a nice length of 18 inches. At both ends of the necklace, pass a threaded needle through the crimp bead, a seed bead, the loop on the clasp, back down through the seed bead, back through the crimp bead to finish down a couple of inches into the decorative beads. Tighten all firmly and crimp (tighten) first with the funny hole and then again with the round hole on the crimper tool. Do this at both ends and voila. Don't cut the wire until you are sure it will hold (meaning the crimper bead is tight enough). You will find other ways to secure things. I do a hidden knot about two inches down and use clear fingernail polish to glue.

4 comments:

  1. The necklaces are beautiful, the goldfish so cute! Your instructions for how to bead a necklace truly do sound as if anyone could make one, with the proper tools on hand. What a fun, productive holiday weekend!

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  2. Linda, I keep thinking of your making a necklace to go with every color you wear. You make it sound really easy. This past week-end I wore the beaded red/blue bracelet you made a few years back. So festive! - Your goldfish faces reminded me of some cute fish I watched as they swam in an aquarium yesterday at Cheddars' restaurant.

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  3. So neat to see the coral necklace. It is just perfect! The blue one looks pretty too. I have a variety of necklaces and enjoy wearing them. The goldfish are so cute. What a clever design. I'll check that out also.

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  4. Hi, Linda from Orange County, CA. Love your goldfish. I also love your necklaces. The blue is still my favorite. Grandson, Cody and I made a snake together. Wonder if nail polish would secure the google eyes to the tie. Miss your emails. Can't remember my email password since I haven't used it for a year. Take care and so glad you're staying out of the heat.

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