Once upon a time, I thought I might like to get into beading. It didn't take long for me to realize that I hated itty bitty things that had the potential to roll away or bounce off in every direction. I wasn't particularly adept at stringing things on thread, wire, fishing line, or stretchy elastic string. The items you need to turn beads into jewelry - clasps, jump rings, earwires, head pins, crimp beads - are expensive. A finished necklace or bracelet made from glass spheres and some sort of base metal can easily cost more than a tasteful item wrought in 920 silver.
I recently saw some bookmarks made from beads and beading thread. This seemed like an good way to use up some of the beading supplies I had stored away in a plastic bin.
I used C-Lon Tex 400 bead cord. This is a heavy weight cord that works well for bookmarks. I used any combination of beads from my stash that looked pretty when strung together. This is some of what I produced:
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| I cut some bead cord about 14" long, maybe a little longer. I dipped the ends in clear nail polish and hung the strings to dry. Once the ends were dry, I used some really sharp scissors to cut the tips on an angle. This cutting produced a sharp point that was stiff from the nail polish, a sort of self beading needle. I strung a few beads on each end, knotting them at the top and bottom to keep them in place. |
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| See how the knots work? I'm sorry that the enlargement is blurry. |
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| I had a package of puffy hearts, so I created the "Heart Collection." That sounds almost nice enough to sell at Jared. |
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| I also had a package of fish beads. I don't know whether to call this bunch the "Beach Collection" or the "Ichthus Collection." |
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| This is a pretty way to mark your place when you read a real book. |
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