"Tara" - Kumihimo bracelet in pink and pink

This is another variant of Kumihimo, where you use two different sizes of beads — in this case, 4mm oval crystals and size 15 seed beads.  There are four seed beads to every crystal.  I only had enough crystals to mae a bracelet, but sometimes that’s just how it goes.

It’s finished off with a chain and a lobster clasp, which I hardly ever do, but the bracelet was so delicate I felt it needed a delicate closure.  I also wanted it to be easy to fit different-sized wrists.

This is honestly one of my favorite pieces that I’ve made so far.  And I don’t even like pink!

It’ll be up on my etsy shop soon — I’m going to have a big etsy-shop-listing-extravaganza this weekend!

Whoever first realized that 8-bit and 16-bit video game images make great craft patterns was a genius.  A simple screenshot gives you a pattern for needlepoint, cross-stitch, quilting, and even that thing where you set little plastic beads on a pegboard and iron them so they fuse together.  (I may or may not have made my ex-boyfriend a set of coasters of original MegaMan characters with said plastic beads.)

The Super Nintendo was my first video game system (thanks, Grandma!) and Super Mario Brothers was my first video game.  When I bought a Wii, it was at least as much for the downloadable classic games as it was about the nifty new controller system.

So naturally I had to make these earrings.

Wait, where's Yoshi? Dammit!

The earrings are stitched onto black congress cloth* with shiny rayon embroidery floss.  Then I thoroughly coat them in Mod-Podge to seal them, and when it has fully dried, I cut them out and attach them to earring wires.  Next time I’ll probably make some that dangle, with a string of beads between the character and the earring wire.

*Except for the music notes, which are on white congress cloth.

Here's a nifty closeup.

I think the triple mushroom-flower-star ones are my favorite.  I also have plans for Raccoon Mario and Flying Koopa and several other larger ones.

I’ve also begun a sampler based on these designs (why? because I’m entirely crazy).  It’s done in a historically authentic Pennsylvania Quaker sampler style (why? who knows, I was reading an article about them).  And it’s fully-reversible (why? because apparently I’m a masochist).  I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it, but it’s kinda fun, even as a work in progress.

I just discovered a form of japanese braiding called kumihimo, and I am in love. When you add beads, it looks just like bead crochet.  Gypsy pronounced this to be “kumibeado” and I think that’s just perfect.

This is a simple kumibeado necklace, done with all size 8 seed beads in two colors of red.

"Amy" - kumibeado spiral in red

"Amy" closeup

I just love the way it drapes!

This chunky bracelet is a variation of spiral peyote called a Cellini Spiral.  It uses seed beads in sizes 15, 11, and 8: three rows in size 15, two rows in size 11, and three rows in size 8.  Originally I thought I’d need much bigger beads for this project, and I bought sixes and even a tube of fours!  That didn’t work out so well.

Even a chunky bracelet doesn't need to be much bigger than this.

There’s no closure.  You have to make it just the right size — big enough to slip on over your hand, small enough that it doesn’t fall off all the time.

It takes a while to stitch, but the stitching is surprisingly simple, and the result is really striking.

I’ll have an e-book tutorial up in my etsy shop soon!