Wednesday 21 July 2010

Full circle

My first experience with beads was around the age of 8 or 9 when my babysitter taught me how to make a loom out of a shoe box and how to bead on that loom. I remember making bracelets with names on them… I even used to sell them on the beach…. then, I’m not sure why or how, those beads were forgotten and only 30 years later did I pick them up again, but this time off loom.

I guess I wanted to relive my childhood… so I bought myself a loom!!!! a gorgeous wooden one!!!!!! from BeadLooms.com

image

I bought the biggest I could find… eventually I would love to make some beaded bags…

Let me just tell you I was so pleasantly surprised by the quality and construction of this loom!!! and by the super-professional dealings of this company!!! The loom is simply perfect!!! I love everything about it but specifically the shelf which holds all my beads underneath and allows me to move my project around my flat without any inconvenience!!! LOVE it!!!!

So, what could I have been doing since I got my loom??? beading on it of course!!!

My nephew is a guitar player… and he will be turning 18 in November, so I decide to make him a guitar strap for his birthday…. Ok, so maybe I should have started with a smaller project… like a bracelet, perhaps! :-)

here is my first attempt using Delica:

delica 01
Really hated working with the Delica beads!!! I don’t mind using them when I’m off-loom beadweaving but on the loom I found it slow and painful to weave them + I wasn’t getting that rock & roll feeling… so I scrapped this one and started on a new one… using Japanese and Czech seed beads…. much better and quicker!!!

and this is what I got up to:

IMG_4430I’m so pleased with how this is turning out!!!! since taking these photos, yesterday, I’ve actually done some more and have finished the length of the loom… didn't know how to wrap the threads in order to make it longer, so I’ve decided to make 3 pieces and somehow connect them together once I sew them on the guitar strap… wish me luck!!! :-)

So, one part down… 2 more to go!!! :-) If anyone out there in beadyland has any suggestions for making guitar straps in 3 parts, I would really appreciate hearing them!!! :-)

For now all other projects are on hold till I exhaust my excitement with this new bead toy!!! :-)

I will post more of my process as I go along… till then… happy beading!!! :-)

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Posted by Unknown at 19:36 Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

10 comments:

  1. Belinda Saville22 July 2010 at 02:06

    Oh wow, what an fantastic project...you've certainly set a challenge for yourself, Triz ;-) The guitar strap is looking AMAZING, I love it and can't wait to see it finished!

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  2. Unknown22 July 2010 at 05:21

    Thank you Belinda! Yes definitely a challenge!!! :-) and I can't wait to see it finished too!!! I'm hoping to have at least another 1/3 done by the end of this weekend...

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  3. Brenda K24 July 2010 at 14:14

    That looks SOOOO GOOODD Triz!! A challenge but you seem to have it under control. Waiting excitedly for the rest. ;)

    PS what size is that loom? I'm thinking a 10x16 or 12x12 for now......

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  4. Unknown24 July 2010 at 15:15

    Thank you Brenda! :-)

    The loom is 12 x 18

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  5. GrandmaMarilyn30 July 2010 at 06:10

    You are doing great. I have a loom but can't figure out how to warp it. LOL I guess you could say I am afraid of it also.

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  6. Unknown30 July 2010 at 06:51

    Thank you Marilyn!
    Here is a link on how to warp a loom: http://www.beadlooms.com/visual.html I hope it helps... also this is a wonderful site by an amazing bead artist (Erin Simonetti) http://www.beadsbeadingbeaded.blogspot.com/ apart from her work being incredible, she gives really good tips on bead looming - good luck! :-)

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  7. BeadsForever1 September 2011 at 19:46

    Thank you Triz! I'll definitely check out this loom.

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  8. Anonymous21 March 2012 at 04:20

    Beautiful work TRIZ , I'm thinking about putting together a guitar strap for my self , but the "getting to the part of end and and knotting it off, the last three "rows" of bead keep coming apart,? why is this??the making the loom home made I'm scared it might turn out so hot, any ideas,
    a wondering sewlery....

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  9. Anonymous21 March 2012 at 04:23

    Beautiful work TRIZ , I'm thinking about putting together a guitar strap for my self , but the "getting to the part of end and and knotting it off, the last three "rows" of bead keep coming apart,? why is this??the making the loom home made I'm scared it might turn out so hot, any ideas,
    a wondering sewlery....

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous2 September 2013 at 21:59

    that looks beautiful. I myself am making a guitar strap for myself, I am trying to learn how to play. but I don't have such a wonderful loom or that big lol. I have a single way smaller and how I thread it to make the string longer is I cut each strand the same size and then I tie the ends of them separating them. example is if I have a project that's 25 beads long my strings are 26 so I divide them, so 13 strands on each side then I put them on the loom. and after each row is finished I loosen the holders and turn it so the beaded part rolls over where the little screw is. umm I hope these descriptions helped lol. I wish I had a picture for you to see exactly what I mean. I only have them on my facebook page. but good luck with your project.

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