Beadilicious 2

Yesterday we were busy making beads at QOTR, Quilting on the River, at my house.
Tomme Fent asked that I post a tutorial.  Let's see if I can do that.

I orginally read about these in either Cloth Paper Scissors July/August several years ago.  This is our second go round at making them, and we will be making more next week if you want to join us. Just let us know!!

We have used the beads for embellishments on art of some kind or other or books.  Never used them on clothing so I dont know if they would wash.  They are extremely hard when you are done with them.

These are some of the beads we made...they look alot like lampwork beads or old glass beads. A few even look like cocoons.

You can make various shapes of beads but so far we have either made the cocoon shape or the barrel shapes.

What you need:  
Paper - Pretty ones, think is better but you can roll thick papers if you are persistent. Magazines, card stock, scrap book papers, old wall paper books would work.
Heat Gun
Scissors
Ruler - Optional
Barbeque bamboo skewers
Glue/glue sticks
Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel
Clear Embossing Ink 
Shiny threads, Thick threads or Yarns (experiment!!)
Dishes to catch the Utee, beads, glitter in
Deli Wraps or Parchment Paper

Otionals: Fun additions but you don't need all of them.
Other Embossing powders -Pearlescent, Opalescent or Shimmering ones are best.
Ultrafine glitter in various colors
Gold and or silver leaf
Assorted microbeads
Pearl Ex powders
Beads?  We have only used microbeads but I think they would work.
The Big Book of Paper Beads by Kimberly Clarkson - there are a myriad of shapes in this great book on paper bead making...no UTEE additions to hers but they are beautiful.

Portfolio Papers

I use an assortment of thinner papers that I bought at Michaels years ago.  They are Indian papers from Portfolio.  I have searched high and low for more but never found any. Let me know if you find any!!

Multicolour India 1 LB Scrap Paper 

I did get some recently at JoAnns - They are not as nice or as large as the Portfolio -  smaller pieces and some are just too thick to roll.  Great for collaging but NOT all are great for paper beads.  These papers are called Multicolour India 1 LB Scrap Paper with a number 1201-5079 on them.  I got them in the scrapbook section at Christmas and used my handy Joanns app with a coupon to get them for $5.

Other papers....Scrapbook, card stock.  We used to make them out of old magazines as kids and that works well too. Any paper that can be rolled should work.  I do like a pattern on the paper and some glitter or gold...it does show thru the layers when you are done but if you can't find any or its not in the budget, go with what you have.

1.  Cut strips of paper to roll.

Wedge shapes make the cocoon shapes, straight strips make the barrels.

Strips cut for small cocoon beads.

The longer the paper strips are the thicker your bead will  be.  You may need to experiment to get the size bead you make.  Some of the wedge strips are as wide as two inches at the start.

2.  Roll around a bamboo skewer.

 I put a little glue about 1" from the end I started rolling first. I also added a stripe of glue on the whole bead to hold in place.  The layers tend to slide if you don't. When you finish rolling be sure the ends are glued down well.

These are barrel beads I made last nite as I watched tv. 

Coccon shapes that still need some yarn or thread added.

3.  Wrap bead with string or yarn.   Add a dab of glue to hold in place.
You can also leave plain.

 4.  Coating the beads.  Use a pan or styrofoam tray lined with deli wraps or parchment paper.

Place a bead on a LONG skewer. 

Cover the bead with Clear Embossing Ink.  It will change color slightly unless you have dried glue on it.

Dip them in the UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Powder).  Blast it with your heat gun.  Be careful to hold the gun upward or you can backwash the heat into the gun and burn it up...ask me how i know?!

Dip again in the UTEE and repeat with heat gun.

Now for the fun!!  At this step you can add gold leaf while its still warm.  BE CAREFUL you may burn your fingers if you do it to soon.  If it doesn't stick heat it up again.

When it cools add some more clear embossing glue especially to the gold leaf sections.

From this point on add what melts your butter!

We have added everything on the optional list.  Not all on the same bead, of course!!!

Another look at the finished product.

TIPS: 

Add light to a dark bead and dark to a light bead.  Contrast works everytime.

We love anything opalescent or shiny.  Opalescent or glittery or shimmery embossing powders are great to add.  Plain colors can be interesting but shiny is better!!:>

Add glitters toward the end or they can get lost in the  layers.

Watch out they drip!

Work on more than one bead at a time.

Plasticy threads, papers will melt.

My favorites

The beads that I call my favorite were made by rolling in the accumulated multiple colors of beads glitter and embossing powders on my deliwrap.  I just coated the beads with UTEE and rolled in the leftover assortment in my tray.  These took minutes to make compared to 10 or 15 minutes each some of the others took.  They are also rougher.

Get going.  Get your supplies together and get busy.  You will LOVE these beads!!

More posts on the last paperbeads we made. Here's another.  And another. And the last!

Email me if you have any questions at m c m h u n t @ m e. c o m.