Beads and Wires

My sister asked me to make her a ring, to be a gift for her friend who helped her to find the Bead Shop at Covent Garden. So I made this one, using the ring frame that she bought from the shop and some shiny (fire-polished?) plastic beads that I bought when I was still in Penang.

Looks funky, huh? Good for a disco night out, haha!

Ring on my finger… recently I realized that I don’t have nice fingers for rings.

There’s nothing difficult about making this ring; it’s just about linking the beads to the holes of the ring frame using T-pins. There are altogether 10 holes (ie, 2 rows, 5 holes on each row). I attached 1-3-2-3-1 number of beads onto each row of holes. The beads tend to move as my hand moves. I suppose if there are more beads, or if I tie some other beads at the center of the ring, it will prevent the beads from swaying around too much. Anyway, it still looks nice, especially under the light.

Yo! Let’s go to a disco party!

Here’s the beaded crystal ring that I made using the steps as demonstrated in the step-by-step video shown in my previous post. Instead of 10 large round beads, I used 5 large clear round crystals and 5 smal lime color round crystals. Quite cute, isn’t it?

I didn’t do a good job on the ending knot though. It’s quite a mess, really. (You can test your eyes and see if you can find the ugly knot, haha!)

I might have not used the right kind of beading thread. I was using nylon fishing line, which is sort of stiff and doesn’t allow you to make a tight knot. I read that many experienced beaders use beading threads like Nymo or Silamide, which are flexible and come in a variety of colors. I can’t seem to find any local merchants selling these types of thread.

As seen in the video demo on how to make a beaded ring, the thread that the beader was using looks flexible and is  easy to handle. Nylon fishing line is so ‘naughty’! It curls, it springs, it kinks… it’s quite ‘uncontrollable’. Sometimes it just makes me growl and want to pull my hair out! Haha!

I think eventually I will have to get Nymo threads from international eBay sellers if I want to do lots of bead weaving type of bead work. For now, I have to think how to make a tidy knot with nylon fishing line, and hide it as much as possible for a piece of neat looking jewelry.

Thanks to Pat of Silver Surfer Tenerife, for sending me a YouTube video link that demonstrates step-by-step how to make a beaded ring. Thanks Pat!

I’ve watched the video and even practiced making one using some cheap beads. It’s really simple and requires minimal beads. Actually, you’ll just need three things: 10 large round beads, some seed beads (didn’t count how many were used though), and beading thread.

I think I will make one again tomorrow, using glass beads perhaps.

For visitors who drop by this blog, I’m embedding the video here for your viewing convenience. Or you can click on this link to go to YouTube to watch.

The video is around 10 minutes in length. So be patient while you watch. But I’m sure you can’t wait to make the ring yourself after watching this video!