Friday, September 9, 2011

Have you ever done this?


Good morning out there.

One day I had painted some papers for use in my artjournal, the colours reminded me of something I did (or was trying to do) as a child. I wanted to make paper-beads back then, but I had nothing to use doing it. Just a newspaper, and my glue was made of flour and water. No wonder it went wrong.

As I saw my papers the other day I thought of this childhood try and the idea started to roll. Now I've made quite a few beads, and now they look like what I had in my dreams as a child.
It's not a new idea, and I'm sure many of you have been doing this but it's fun anyway.

The real reason for doing this was that a friend of mine is going to have her son married in a few months, and she needed something colourful to match her dress. That's what made me think of these beads.
Now I've made a few different sizes and and I clearly see that the smallest one are the best if I'm going to make some "jewelery". The largest are the nicest to look at but they are difficult to use because of the size, at least for my purpose.

The photo below shows the different beads and sizes. The largest one is 3 cm across (1.2 inch) and the lenght of the paper used is the shortest lenght of an A-4 sheet.
The next two beads are 2 cm across (0.8 inch) I was very exited when I tried to make the black and white one. I was not sure I could do it but as you see I could.
The last two beads are 1.5 cm across (0.6 inch) These are the ones I think will work the best for my purpose.
I'm looking for the right material to combine with the beads, and it has to look great as well.




The last photo shows some small items I've made just as tries to see if it's possible at all. It was when I did these things I learnt that the largest beads is not that useful for this purpose.



Today I'm going to experiment using the smallest ones. I might come up with something smart at the end.

Take care everyone.

3 comments:

  1. I've made paper beads in the past and I like the look of them. Yours are so pretty and you made such interesting jewelry with them. The crochet is a wonderful way to make them into jewelry.

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  2. This is very strange - I have been experimenting with making paper beads this very week. I suddenly got an idea to make them out of old maps. Its worked beautifully, you get all the lines and the place names showing - it makes a very interesting bead. this weekend I hope to string them into a necklace.

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  3. I love your beads and what you did with them very much! Wonderful colors!
    I also used paper beads this week, not made by myself but by African woman.

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