Funky Loops - a fun FREE project from the cows..

This beautiful loopy bracelet was made for madcowbeads.com by Claire Pearcy of www.elderberryarts.co.uk
It's really satisfying to make, and suitable for beginners / improvers.

It's easy to make co ordinating earrings and a necklace using this simple but effective technique

Ring the changes by making one with gold rings and neutral tones!

View and print off your totally FREE project here

Happy beading!

Charmed Life Bracelet

This weeks' project is really original! It's made for madcowbeads.com by Veronica Tinkler.
Alongside designing some super feminine jewellery, Veronica also teaches jewellery making. So, if this free project leaves you inspired, have a look at Veronica's  website: www.udelovichdesigns.vpweb.co.uk

The 'charmed life' bracelet looks intricate, but is suitable for improvers, or even beginner jewellery makers if you have some crafting experience. So, don't be shy - give it a go!

The chainmaille weave is very versatile and will work with lots of different size jump rings. You could try it in the jumbo 16mm size for a chunkier look. It's a great twist on a charm bracelet.

All materials from www.madcowbeads.com 

You can view, download and print off the free instructions here


Enjoy!
Georgie

New Beady Projects for Instant Viewing!

Well, first I must apologise for my absence.. Sorry!

I've been putting 2012 beady plans together, and in the meantime - forgot to update this blog for 6 weeks. Oops! I hope I am forgiven.

As promised, we've assembled some great designers for our new free bead projects, and also a really convenient way for you to receive them. Gone are the days of emails with attachments, or trying to read instructions off the blog while you bead - you can now access the project instantly, and download, or print off at your leisure!

So.. with no further ado - here's the first project. Designed by the lovely Janet Sherret and called...

Heart of Ice necklace

This multi strand design is suitable for beginners / improvers and shows off a great technique to make any large focal bead work as a pendant! Using a mix of 4mm Czech fire polish beads, spring cone caps and a matte frosted focal heart. All materials are available from www.madcowbeads.com

This design would also look amazing with a 20mm round flat focal  and a mix of amber toned Czech beads.

You can view and print off this project here - 

This is the first in an ongoing series, drawing from the wealth of talent amongst our customers and friends. 

Please let me know what you think :-) 

Bead & Craft Books and how to get yours free.. or cheap(!) this Christmas...

We've just taken delivery of some lovely new bead and craft books. They're deliberately not ALL beady - I like to look at other crafts and some of the most original creations come from those clever peeps that 'fuse' techniques together. Ok - I'm not convinced that a knitted oil painting is the way forward, but knitted earrings or rubber stamped jewellery components are probably a go go!

All the books are £10 or less, and the smallest saving off list price is 29%.. the biggest is a whopping 60% saving!

And that, my cows, is not all! To celebrate our first 'real' (ie not through Amazon stores!) book range we have a great offer on. The offer runs strictly until midday on Tuesday 20th December 2011 (this is the last posting day for Christmas delivery) but if we run out of books we'll have to stop early, so please order as soon as you can!


To give you maximum choice and flexibility, this isn't just a FREE BEAD BOOK offer... what you get is £5 off *any title* in the book section. Lots of the books are £5, and the most expensive are £10. You can choose any title and get a £5 discount.

This is how it works..

• Shop on www.madcowbeads.com - you can shop in any section - new items and clearance included, but you need to spend at least £15 (excluding p&p)
• When your total is £15 or more, visit the new bead and craft book section and select any book. If you want a 'free' book - just choose one that is priced at £5
• Go to the checkout and use code books4xmas and your £5 discount will appear

If you check out the book section you'll  see there are lots of titles for beaders, scrapbookers, card makers and we've not forgotten candle making and knitting! These are all brand new books and would make a lovely treat for yourself for Christmas, or give one to a creative friend for inspiration.

We can offer these amazing discounts because we commit to large quantities. You can really help us to continue the offers by sharing this offer on your Facebook pages, on Twitter or in your craft groups. More customers mean we can source better deals as our buying power increases. Please 'spread the word about the herd' - it means a lot to us

Best wishes Georgie, Hannah & the Christmas Packing Elves

Ribbon & Button Beady Angels

I made some homely little angels - some with heart button wings and others with organza ribbon wings - I hope you like them! The instructions are below. These are quick and easy to make and are a nice Christmas project for children (you'll need to do the crimping and gluing with younger children)

I'm going to use mine to decorate special gifts,  but they're also great for a 'table tree' or hung in windows, or even on cards.


Tools
Flatnose or Chain nose Pliers
Scissors or Snippers


Supplies

• Nylon monofilament thread, or tigertail or any fine cord - whatever you prefer
• 4 small crimps
• 3 silver 3mm round beads
• 1 floral cone
• 1 8mm bead
• 2 daisy spacer beads
• Scraps of ribbon for wings or Heart buttons

Method

• Cut approx 20cm thread and thread on 1 crimp, 2 3mm beads and another crimp
• Get the crimps as close as possible to each end of your thread and squash them flat
• Trim any excess thread
• Push 1 3mm bead against each crimp (these are the angel's feet)
• Fold the thread in half - make sure the angel's feet are level, a wonky angel just won't do!
• Thread a 1 crimp, 1 3mm bead and a floral cone over both threads (see pic)

• The crimp and 3mm bead hold the angel's body (the cone!) at the right distance above the feet. Measure around 3cm from the top of the feet, depending on how tall you'd like your angel and then squash the crimp flat
• Push the cone and bead down into position. 
• Thread a daisy spacer, 8mm bead and another daisy spacer.
• Thread on the final crimp and squash flat
• Either tie on a scrap of ribbon and snip the 'wings' into shape, or glue on a heart button
• Your homespun angel is finished!

Other Ideas

• Make Snowmen with a similar method - an 8mm white pearl for the body and a 6mm pearl for the head! These also look great in Crystal AB Czech firepolish, but do make sure your thread is clear or they look a bit odd!
• Fairies are another variation - an acrylic flower makes a fairylike 'skirt' 
• Pretty up the button wings with a bit of glitter
• Stitch your homespun figures to a wide ribbon and drape along the top of a mirror or window.
• Use silver thread for easy extra sparkle
• Loop the figures onto bookmarks for stocking fillers and thankyou gifts.

Hints and Tips

• It's tempting to try and make these from the halo down - don't do it! It's much easier to start with, but then it is impossible to get the 'body' crimp in the right place. Always start with the feet :-)
• If you have too much hanging loop left, thread on a crimp to make the loop the right size, squash it and cut off the excess - no one will know :-D

A beaded bridal bangle for Rosie

I made my friend Rosie a beaded tiara for her wedding a couple of weeks ago (photos of that soon - she's on her honeymoon and I didn't get a pic of it DOH!) and she requested a bracelet.. 'something plain, maybe a stretchy pearly elastic bracelet'. I blinged  a stretchy bracelet up as best as I could, but I realised that a wedding dress REALLY needs far more beady bling than you would imagine(!)


So, without telling her - I beaded up a looped bangle, in a very similar design to the tiara, and gave her the elasticated bracelet she'd requested (which was nice - but a bit plain!) and the sparkly blinged bangle  below - and said she could decide, and I wouldn't mind which she chose. (I was prepared to *really* try not to mind that she prefered the plain one!)

I didn't need to pretend - because the bangle won her over and she looked gorgeous. It *looks* quite complex, and I'll admit, does require a bit of 'wiggling' when you start up, but once you have the hang of the twisty groups of 3 beads, it's ok :-)


A beginner can manage it,  but it's probably better for a 2nd or 3rd go at a wired project. 


If you'd like to have a go - here's the materials list and instructions. I'd love to see your versions too!


Materials - these are the absolute most you need, for a 6" bangle - exact quantities depend slightly on your spacing, and preference:


30 6mm Czech fire polish beads (we used aqua) 
30 6mm Jolie Vache pearls (we used white)
20 6mm silver stardust beads
24 ga non tarnish silver craft wire 
1 looped bangle

Tools
Wire cutters
Chain nose pliers
Flat nose pliers (not essential, but handy)


Method

• Start off - hold the wire against the bangle between 2 beading loops. Ideally, you use the beading loops to secure most of the 'triple groups' of beads (see pic) as this stops the beads twisting on the bangle - so bear this in mind when you position the first wire and bead.
• Wrap the wire tightly around the bangle 2 or 3 times and squash it flat with your flat nose pliers to secure against the band
• Slide on one stardust bead and position it on the band.
• Pull the wire tight and then wrap the wire around the band twice - as tightly as you can
• You should be close to a beading loop. Thread on 3 firepolish beads and curve them into the triple group pattern (see pic) bringing them into a tight loop as close to the band as possible and then twist the wire together at the base of the group to hold.
• Position the triple group flat against the band and if you are on top of a loop, wiggle into position covering the loop and then thread the wire through the loop before winding round the band twice. (if you're not near a loop, then lie the group flat and then wrap the wire round the band twice
• Slide on one stardust bead as above method
• Slide on 3 pearls and repeat the triple group.
• Continue this pattern - stardust - triple group czech - triple group pearl  around the bangle
• As you get nearer to the end, adjust your spacing so that the pattern is correct. It fits on almost exactly, but this will depend slightly on how you space the beads.
• Once the bangle is beaded, wrap the wire around the band 3 or 4 times and squash the wire flat with pliers to secure. Check there are no sharp ends to snag dresses(!) If there are, squash the wire again. 

Enjoy :-)

Release your Inner Witch this Halloween...

I hope you like my latest creation - I've been playing with some giant hibiscus flowers and Jolie Vache pearls to make a funky Halloween hair slide - perfect for a party, or maybe a bit of 'trick or treating'

If you're more 'Hula Girl' than 'Witch' -there's another colour scheme idea below.

Easy to make, and no tools, so give it a whirl tonight. Suitable for beginners, and takes less than 30 minutes.

Supplies:

• 3 28mm Lucite Hibiscus Flowers 
• 3 6mm Jolie Vache Pearls (I used black with the orange hibiscus and royal purple with the pink Hibiscus)
• 1 14 loop metal haircomb (I used gold with the pink, and silver with the orange)
• Fine nylon monofilament thread, or fishing line. You could also use fine craft wire

Method:

Cut a manageable amount of nylon - about 18"
Thread it through the first loop on the haircomb and tie it to itself in a square (reef) knot, leaving about 2" on the tied end
Thread on a hibiscus and then a pearl.
Thread back through the hibiscus and pull tight against the haircomb
Wind the nylon around the haircomb and then over the petals if needed to secure the hibiscus in place.
Repeat with the other 2 hibiscus
Weave the nylon thread in and out of the haircomb teeth as near the top as you can manage, working back to where you started
Tie the end to the 2" length you left at the beginning. Tie a reef knot and pull really tight.
Secure with a dot of clear nail varnish or a dab of glue.
Snip the ends very closely once the varnish or glue is totally dry
Wear :-) Enjoy admiration!

Have a great weekend!
Georgie