Candy Corn Peyote Bracelet

This is the first of my Halloween tutorials! Although candy corn isn't easily accessible in Europe, as far as I'm aware anyway, I remember trying some when I was 17. It tasted a lot like honey and I thought it was delicious :) I made a peyote bracelet with a similar pattern to this when I was into making my peyote name bracelets, but I decided it would be fun to turn the geometric shapes into cute candy corns! The pattern isn't too tricky to do so and it's made using odd count peyote, which is my new favourite stitch for making bracelets!

Anyway... You don't come to this page to read my waffly descriptions. Here's the pattern:

Colours I used:

All Miyuki Delica size 11 beads.

DB010 - Black
DB200 - White
DB-1132 - Canary Yellow
DB-651 - Opaque Squash (Orange)

Cute Ursula Beading Pattern

I like Disney villains. They're always scary, but mysterious. I often wonder what made them evil and why they dislike the "good guys" of the film. When it was suggested by CraftGyver that our collaboration video should be The Little Mermaid, I knew who I had to make!!

One of my Instagram followers was kind enough to tell me about a computer program on which you can design patterns. It's free to use and, even better, you can save the patterns!!

Here is my pattern for a cute Ursula beaded charm using square stitch.

If you're new to square stitch, I recommend checking out my Square Stitch Basics tutorial! It explains everything you need to know to make this adorable sea witch.

Who's your favourite character from The Little Mermaid?

How Do I Make Seed Bead Bracelets?

There are SO many different ways to incorporate seed beads into bracelet making, and not all of them involve bead weaving! I was asked on one of my recent videos to make a tutorial demonstrating how to make a "seed bead and wire bracelet", so I naturally obliged. The thing is, I didn't want to just do a basic stringing bracelet, I wanted to spice it up a little bit.

I made three different bracelets, that all use very similar techniques, but look different from each other. And, much like with many of my tutorials, they look a lot more complicated than they actually are, which is a delight!

The first bracelet, I think, is the easiest of the three. It only requires basic stringing, attaching necklace ends and then adding chain. Don't be intimidated by jewellery making! If the first thing you make doesn't look perfect, then persist! You'll get the hang of it :)

The second bracelet I saw on Pinterest and just knew that I had to make a tutorial on it! It's super cute and looks a little like an infinity symbol. Once again, this bracelet uses the same techniques listed above, but they're then looped together to make the knot in the middle. So effective, and not difficult at all!

Pinterest is clearly the place where I find all my inspiration, as this bracelet was found on there too! A tutorial had been made on how to made a necklace with a portion that was plaited seed beads, and I decided that I wanted to make a bracelet version! It does follow all the same steps as above, but with some added braiding. It looks so good! I wore it to work and received so many compliments :)

What's your favourite way to use seed beads in jewellery making?

How I Got into Bead Weaving

When many people think about "bead weaving", it conjures up images of intricate, but sometimes, garish pieces, usually done by middle-aged women. There is nothing wrong with this image, but my friends at the place where I work were amazed when I, as a 24 year-old with blue hair, discovered a love for brick stitch!

I work at a bead shop and hadn't done much jewellery making before I got the job. (I know... I don't know why they hired me either!) After hearing about bead weaving and the stigma attached, I didn't attempt it at all. It seemed unnecessarily complicated and fiddly, then I was browsing a magazine for ideas for another project, and came across a gorgeous bunting necklace that was made using brick stitch! I love bunting... There's something about it that's just so cute and makes me think of tea. Yum!

Now my first attempt was awful. At the time, I thought it was really good, but looking back, no. It was awful. I even made a pair of brick stitch triangle earrings that were for a magazine project (and were featured in the magazine!) and I'm so ashamed of them now! From that moment on, I developed a delica-addiction. It's not healthy the number of tubes of beads I now have! They are useful to have though.

Look at those terribly wobbly triangles!!

It took me a while before I started to create my own patterns. I used to copy other people's and give them to my friends and family members. I didn't realise how easy it is to  make your own pattern! With the help of Bead Tools, it's so easy! I tend to make them with a reference picture open next to the pattern page. It does take a lot of trial and error though, and I'm often not in a patient mood!

This panda is made using a pattern I made myself.

I heard about square stitch thanks to Pixelosis. She creates amazing pixelated pieces of jewellery using this technique. I knew that I wanted to give it a try! I'm still extremely new to this stitch and have only recently mastered the art of increasing! I really want to make tutorials on this stitch, but it takes a very long time to make charms with it. Definitely one for people with patience. With square stitch, it's possible to make things using Perler/Hama bead patterns, and there's lots of them all over the internet!

I need to master Peyote, then I will have three different stitches under my belt! There are so many bead weaving stitches out there! I'm excited to see what things I can create with them.

My favourite stitch is definitely brick stitch. Do you have a favourite? If so, which is it?

Spooky Sundays

I'm sorry I've not posted in so long! Life has caught up with me a little bit. Working full time and maintaining YouTube is proving more difficult than I thought it would!

I've decided to start Halloween videos, now that October is here and Autumn is upon us. I'm terrible at thinking of catchy names, but alliteration is always a good move...

I've only done 2 Spooky Sunday videos at the moment, but they're a great way to get started with preparing for Halloween! They're also relatively straight forward to do, which is always a bonus.

First up is this skull bracelet, made using plastic skull beads with leather cord.

The technique used is common amongst macramé; the square knot. If you're interested in starting macramé, the square knot is a great place to start!

The second video I made is for this 3D beaded spider! I found the pattern on this blog and knew that I had to give it a try! I was chatting to Sarah from SoCraftastic, and we said that we wanted to learn to make 3D beaded animals. Spiders were perfect for this time of year :D

I can't wait to learn to make other types of animals and other techniques to make 3D beaded animals :D

How to Make Bead Loom Bracelets!

Creating beadwork on a loom is something that has been done for centuries by the Native Americans, along with others. It is a quick and easy way to create intricate designs to use for bracelets, necklaces and even headbands!

You can use any size bead you like on a loom; the larger the bead, the quicker it will grow! Here is a video tutorial on how to make your very own beaded bracelet on a loom!

In this video. I use size 10 glass seed beads, thin crochet cotton and Nymo beading thread. Of course I use a loom too! The loom I have is the Jewel Loom by Beadalon.

Let me know if you enjoyed this tutorial and don't forget that you can show me pictures of your own bead looming creations on Instagram, using #TheCornerofCraft!!