Presentation at the San Diego Bead Society, April 20

I've been busy getting ready for my presentation and classes at the San Diego Bead Society on April 20 and 21. I made several changes from the version of this talk that I gave at the Northern California Bead Society last fall, but it will still have two main sections: math and science!

Inspirations from Mathematics

As a big geek, I sometimes get a little too carried away with my descriptions of the different kinds of geometric structures. To make these concepts easier to grasp, I recently wove some prisms, dipyramids, and the Platonic solids out of bugle beads so that I can relate several more complicated beaded designs to these basic versions. (Gerlinde Lenz pioneered this style of beaded beads with bugles, and made a much more impressive collection of them that you can see here.)

Can you tell which two Platonic solids are depicted below?

I'll also talk about some of my design philosophies, such as how changes in symmetry can lead to several different variations on one beaded bead...

...and how the interplay between flat and three-dimensional elements can lead to different designs altogether, or even a matched set of jewelry.

I'll give many beaded examples for the five Platonic solids as well as the prisms and dipyramids, as several wonderful bead artists have again graciously allowed me to use images of their work in this talk. I'll also have plenty of examples of my own work on-hand to examine in person.

Inspirations from Science

The second half of this talk is on science-inspired beadwork, which has grown considerably since the last time I gave this talk. Not only will I discuss topics such as beaded DNA...

...but also chemical structures such as this beaded molecule of caffeine...

...as well as several other science-inspired beadwork designs that I haven't previously discussed online.

Bead Dreams News!

On that topic, I'm pleased to mention that one of my latest beading designs has been juried into the finals of the Bead Dreams Competition! I had been debating exactly when to post about this piece, as it's been taking up a lot of my design time, and I have more to say about it than can fit into one blog post or even a series of posts. But I'll have to continue to delay discussing it until the Bead Dreams winners are announced in June.

However, if you attend my presentation on April 20, you might get to see a sneak peak ;)

My presentation will be at the monthly meeting of the San Diego Bead Society, which meets at 10 AM on the third Saturday of every month in the Mingei International Museum in beautiful Balboa Park. Parking is free but can be tricky if there's an event in the park, or if it's just a particularly sunny day, so give yourself plenty of time. I'd love to see you there!

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Dewdrop Beaded Bead

The final beaded bead in Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Series is now published; the Dewdrop Beaded Bead, by yours truly.

This design features Miyuki's two-hole tila beads as well as two sizes of drop beads, which can also be substituted for round seed beads for a more sleek look to this design. Melinda writes about this and other variations on these beaded beads in her Editor's Note in the same issue of Beadwork Magazine, and Pixiloo already wove a gorgeous red version using this substitution. You can see images of it on her blog.

I wove one of these Dewdrop beaded beads in the silvery metallic color palette that I've used for the other four beaded beads in this series. I went with some matte metallic grey tila beads for this particular beaded bead, however Miyuki recently released a bluer shade of this tila bead which I think would look even better in this color palette.

Here's my complete set of all five beaded beads in this series (I tried weaving Gwen's Cube Cluster with triangle seed beads instead of 3 mm fire polish beads, but I'll switch back to the fire polish beads the next time I weave this one; the triangle seed beads don't fit quite as well).

I'm busy working on several kits for this design, which will be available on my website very soon. The kits will feature an expanded pattern, as well as a special surprise :).

More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, here, and here.

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Sneak Peek!

For those of you who have been following Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Series, I received permission from the magazine's editors to put together a special sneak preview of the fifth design in the series! Now presenting... The Dewdrop Beaded Bead:

This design came about after I created a related bracelet with tila beads and drop seed beads. I thought the bracelet pattern might look nice as a beaded bead, so I wrapped a small portion of it around a round core bead and joined the ends together. Then I wove in some netted caps to each side, and this barrel-shaped tila-and-teardrop design was born.

The Dewdrop beaded bead uses the three standard sizes of Japanese seed beads, Miyuki's two-hole tila beads, and fringe drop beads in both the 3.4 mm and 2.8 mm sizes. I've woven it in several color palettes, and several other variations are possible which I discuss in the pattern.

The Dewdrop Beaded Bead pattern will be published in the October/November issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, here, and here.

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Treasure Trove Beaded Bead

Over the weekend I eagerly wove the next beaded bead in Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead series, Cynthia Newcomer Daniel's Treasure Trove beaded bead:

This design is quite different from the previous beaded beads in this series, in both symmetry and construction, yet I love how it fits so squarely in Cynthia's unique design style. If you've ever tried her Lagoon or Geode beaded beads, you'll notice a similar symmetry and a familiar construction strategy. I think this beaded bead would pair very well with her Itsy Bitsy earrings.

This design uses a lot of thread and several repeat passes through the same threadpath in each step, and justifiably so in order to achieve the correct tension to hold the beaded bead together without unwanted wonkiness. While this approach can lend itself to tangled threads, it has the advantage of requiring next to no reinforcement to make it solid and sturdy after the final seed bead is added to the design, which is quite satisfying if you get impatient like I do.

I also tried weaving this beaded bead with round crystal pearls for the large inner beads instead of fire polished beads, which led to a slightly shorter but wider variation.

I also used a few different colors of the smaller fire polished beads, but I think I like the original color patterns better.

The Treasure Trove Beaded Bead pattern can be found in the August/September issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, and here.

The last addition to this beaded bead series will be published in the October/November issue, and it was designed by none other than yours truly :). I can't wait to see it in print!

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Stargazer Beaded Bead

I finished my take on the next beaded bead in Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead series, Florence Turnour's Stargazer beaded bead:

This beaded bead showcases the cube version of Florence's stargazer technique, which uses what I'd describe as a modified lace overlay securely woven over just the faces of the beaded bead, showing off the round beads at the edges. This effect is especially nice with the round crystals called for in the original pattern. For my version, I used Swarovski crystal pearls for a more muted effect.

This technique can also be applied to other polyhedra as well. Florence also made the octahedral and (stunning!) dodecahedral versions and shared them on her blog.

The Stargazer Beaded Bead pattern can be found in the June/July issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here and here.

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Cube Cluster

I completed my version of the second beaded bead in Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead series, Gwen Fisher's Cube Cluster (check out my previous post in this series here).

This is a sister design to Gwen and Florence's popular Octahedral Cluster beaded bead; it uses the same lace overlay technique over a hollow cluster of beads, only with the geometry of a cube instead of an octahedron. The result is a slightly larger beaded bead (about 1 inch in diameter) which is a great size for focal bead, with a hole large enough to accommodate a cord or a chain.

After weaving together many Octahedral Clusters in the past, the Cube Cluster was quite fun to construct. My color palette was dictated by the 8 mm round beads and 3 mm fire polish beads that I had on hand, but I combined these brown and metallic beads with green patina seed beads for a near-neutral color scheme. I'm amazed the sturdiness of this hollow beaded bead; an inch in diameter and no squish!

This design can be challenging to construct if you're unfamiliar with the lace overlay technique. If you've constructed an Octahedral Cluster before, I think you'll be able to weave together a Cube Cluster from the abridged version of its pattern in the current issue of Beadwork magazine. The full pattern is available from beAd Infinitum in a 2-for-1 deal with the Octahedral Cluster pattern. Both beaded beads complement each other quite well (as you can see in this photo Florence posted in her Facebook album).

The Cube Cluster beaded bead pattern can be found at beAd Infinitum, and an abridged version can be found in the April/May issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website.

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Seeing Stars

Beadwork Magazine is celebrating their 15th Anniversary with a contest on my favorite beading subject, none other than beaded beads! The magazine will publish a total of five beaded bead projects in each of their 2012 issues. To enter the contest, create a piece of jewelry that incorporates all five beaded bead designs, and submit a picture of your piece to Beading Daily by October 26, 2012. More details about the official entry rules are available on the Beading Daily website.

I'm honored to be contributing a design to this series, which will be published in the October/November issue later this year. While I can't enter the contest myself, I'll still be playing along by making at least one beaded bead from each design in the series. The first beaded bead, "Seeing Stars" by Beadwork editor Melinda Barta, was published in the February/March issue.

This design uses 15° or 11° seed beads to create eight little stars over a round or roundelle core bead. I decided to weave this one with silver- and gold-plated seed beads over a round red bead.

I made another one of these beads in a different color pattern, using metallic green and silver-plated beads. The stars in this color pattern are less distinguished, but the coloring is more uniform over the entire beaded bead:

I must admit that I'm very intrigued by the symmetry of this design; many star- or pentagon-faced beaded bead designs use the symmetry of the 12-sided dodecahedron, however this more economical design uses only eight stars instead of 12.

That being said, I'm sure a dodecahedral version of this beaded bead is possible. Will you be the one to create this variation?

The Seeing Stars beaded bead pattern can be found in the February/March issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. I hope that you'll decide to enter!