Coffee Table Book - Beady Girl

'Beaded Jewellery by Beady Girl Volume 1' showcases Beady Girl's beaded jewellery of all categories. It is a collection of projects she has taught during the 4 years in Singapore. The photo journal is now available for viewing at Beads Cage (#02-24A Centrepoint) or you may visit our site for online viewing.

Here's wishing all a very Happy New Year!

"Closer" Necklace

In 2004 'Closer' film, Julia Roberts wore a necklace at the gallery scene. My husband pointed it out to me that I should make a similar necklace to sell. While it was easy to imitate, it was not exactly easy to find the right materials. I created an inspired one using red horn beads with black-lip shell leaves, and sold it at the Redwood City Farmers' Market then.

Recently (6 years later), while clearing up my stuff, I came across the poster with the photo of Julia Roberts wearing the necklace. I started to have thoughts of recreating the necklace. I looked through my pile of beads and came up with Swarovski Coral pearls with some bronze metallic leaves. The completed necklace has almost similar colourways as JR's necklace but still doesn't look close. I am not completely satisfied with it and shall continue my quest to look for the perfect beads!

3-tier Necklaces

I love to wear long necklaces whenever I can. I like the way it dresses up my outfit instantly while my baby used to hold on to it like a "lifeline"! I was at The Shophouse Fair last November and saw a vendor selling beaded jewellery from Indonesia. I spotted this 3-tier black pearls necklace strung with metallic silver string. It is very simply made but makes a huge statement. Costing only S$15, I bought the necklace.

With the inspiration from this necklace, I used Spiral Rope technique to create the bone of the necklace and attached 3 layers (6 strings in total) of seed beads and 4mm, 6mm beads. The Turquoise Silver was created with opaque turquoise and picasso turquoise rondelles while the Golden Emerald was a luxurious spread of Swarovski round crystals. The formulations of the two necklaces are slightly different.

The variations to the design are endless and different beads give you different looks. The Turquoise Silver is more for smart casual because of its picasso finish while the Swarovski crystals give a more glamourous effect on the outfit. I will be trying other beads/colour combinations when I get a chance!

Seasons Greetings!

The idea to create this "Tiffany" inspired bracelet came after I watched the Tiffany & Co's romantic holiday commercial. It was stitched with the Right Angle Weave, using 6x4mm Opaque Turquoise rondelles, Swarovski crystal chatons in 4-hole setting, Size 15 seed beads and a rectangular Swarovski crystal button.

There is nothing fanciful about the stitch, just the good old RAW technique. The only difference is to incorporate the chatons and Size 15 seed beads as you weave the rondelles together. Rondelles, when stiched in a RAW form tend to show the connecting thread, so stitching with the seed bead helps to conceal the thread. The most challenging part has to be weaving with the chatons because the needle goes through the holes from side to side. If you encounter one (many you will find) with uneven holes, you may either have to forsake the chaton or unravel your work and start again because it could be up to the last hole where it simply refuses to accomodate the bulk of the the threads (Fireline 4lbs)! And yes, prepare lots of needles. I broke countless along the way.

This RAW bracelet probably took me the longest time I have ever worked on a single project! If you like to try the project, do hand-pick the good chatons first and this would cost you less frustration.

Thank you all who have left lovely feedbacks, makes it all worthwhile to create this bracelet!

Back to Basics

When I first took up jewellery making, it was basic stringing that I learnt from Tanja Sadow (of JDMIS). It was also the class that got me hooked onto jewellery making.

So, on this lazy afternoon where my boys are napping and I have "nothing better to do", I decided to string up a necklace!

This necklace measures about 15.5" long when worn and comprises of ceramic beads in turquoise (with raku finish) and red glass rondelles.

I know I am boring, always working with turquoise and red but that's my colour! :) The best part of this project is that it took me only 10 mins to complete!

Bling, Bling, Bling!

I find the most daunting part about beading is to decide the colour palette for my beadwork. I always believe less is more so my palette is usually monochromatic. The chance to experiment with more colours came when Helena (of manek-manek.com) recommended me a specially coated Swarovski crystal rivoli. This dazzling 27mm Peacock rivoli was specially coated (not by Swarovski) with peacock eyes design. With such a charismatic piece, I decided to go all out to complement with “peacock” coloured beads (6 colours in total).

I used Peyote Stitch to create a bezel for the rivoli, alternating with 4 different colours of seed beads. As for the fringes, the technique was taught by Rachel Nelson when I took her class in US. I completed the necklace with a herringbone chain, stitched with Size 15 Metallic Gold Hex (for the sparkle) seed beads. I didn’t want the chain to over-shadow the centrepiece, so having a slim chain is more appropriate. However, stitching an entire chain with Size 15 beads sure took me a long time!

The completed necklace may look glam but it is appropriate for both smart casual and formal wear. If you pair it with a plain white shirt & jeans, it would brighten up your outfit instantly. For a formal look, you can wear it with a little black dress and the accessory just speaks for itself.

New Project Kit - Pearly Intricate Links

There are many ways to create circular rings using Peyote Stitch. Our new Pearly Intricate Links bracelet is my latest addition to my Links fanaticism. While it looks very similar to my previous Intricate Links, the formulation for these circular rings is different. Here is a rundown on the differences.

Pearly Links take lesser time to create and the formulae of beads is less confusing than the Original Links. You can embellish the edges of Pearly Links luxuriously with Swarovski Crystal Pearls or 3mm beads. For an economical alternative, Size 8 seed beads work as well. This new formulation also enables you to create oval rings but yields a different effect from its predecessor.

On the other hand, the structure of Pearly Links’ rings are flatter than the original links’ because they have not been expanded as much.

The photo shown above is the main project inside the manual where the rings are built in gradual sizes, using Toho Gilded Turquoise seed beads and Swarovski Crystal Pearls. Other design variations will also be discussed.

The full project kits will be on sale at Beads Cage from 2 Dec onwards. You may purchase the pdf file of the manual at our new online Etsy shop (from 2 Dec onwards).

Full Kits include:
1. Manual
2. 30gm of Size 11 seed beads
3. 412 units of 3mm Swarovski Crystal Pearls
4. 2 units of #12 Beading needles.


Choices of Materials:
1. Toho Gilded Turquoise with Bronze ($76)
2. Toho Hybrid Jet Black with Mystic Black ($68) as shown above
3. Supra Gold with Bordeaux ($76)

New Project - Green Agate

This was a long overdue cuff which I completed recently. It was meant for my last Embroidered Cuff class but I didn't complete the finishings then.

The focal centerpiece is a Green Agate cabochon, very nicely carved with patterns on it. To be honest, when I first bought the cabochon, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the look of it and kept it in the cupboard for a long while. I found some leftover Aventurine cabochons and thought they complement each other nicely, hence the creation of this cuff.

I like the way it turned out so I am keeping it for myself!

New Project Kit - Doilies

Our Doilies Kits in original colours (Picasso Turquoise & Dark Red with Supra Gold) are now available for sale at Beads Cage (#02-24A Centrepoint).

Level : Intermediate (Knowledge of Peyote Stitch & Right-Angle Weave is required)

Project Kit with manual - S$64

Materials Kit - S$49

A Collaboration

Izel's Sun-Drop Pendant first caught my fancy when it was launched as a class project. I finally got around to order one from the master recently. The green stone (oops, sorry Izel, I forgot the stone's name) was intricately wired around and embellished with Swarovski crystal pearls.

Next, I had to decide which beading stitch to go with the pendant. I didn't want the chain to be too loud as the focus should be on the pendant so I thought of all the stitches I know and finally settled on St Petersburg stitch. I used the TOHO permanent galvanised silver and olive green seed beads to do the beading.

The photograph on the right was taken by the expert, Mr Cliff Lim, at the photography workshop.