Crystal Cluster Ring Tutorial

Today I listed my new tutorial in my etsy shop, Crystal Cluster Ring. It was a long time in the pipeline, and has been a work in progress for a while. I am a bit of a ring'a'holic and make them any chance i can, and of course, if it involves a bit'o'bling then I am there like a shot ;)

I have made quite a few rings using bicone crystals, but after a few hours of wearing and fingers swelling on hot days, I would find that the edges of the bicone crystals would leave an indent in my finger and I would end up taking the crystal ring off as it was hurting. So I came up with a design with a solution to his problem, and made a beaded 'setting' on the back so the bit of the ring that sits next to your finger is comfortable to wear.

If you would like to make your very own Crystal Cluster Ring, you can find the tutorial in my Etsy Shop. The tutorial has step by step pictures, and instructions to guide you each step of the way. You will need to know right angled weave, and the list of components are on the listing. You can substitute the 4mm bicone crystals for any 4mm bead.

Happy Beading

Carol x

The Awesome Spiral Rope

So many of the beaders in the beading community whether a beginner or a pro love the spiral rope! You can totally change the way the design looks by only changing the beads used and the bead count you use.

I am fascinated by this stitch and just totally love it's versatility. You can make a basic spiral rope and wear it with jeans and a t-shirt or bling it up with some tiny crystals or pearls and make it look like you bought it at a designer store. It is such a wonderful stitch and works up pretty quickly too.

If you are reading this blog post and have no idea what on earth i am talking about... Take a look..

This is a Basic Spiral Rope tutorial over on the Operation Tackle That Bead Stash blog which was very kindly made by the very talented Liz Reed at The Crimson Moon and below is a picture of one of the many basic spiral ropes i have made. As you can see you have a lovely contrasting colour scheme of glav silver and gunmetal and it looks fabulous when worn.

Here is a spiral rope made with 11'0 seed beads and miyuki drop beads that i made for a very dear friend.

Since buying Jill Wiseman's book Beautiful Beaded Ropes I have learned to play around with spiral rope and make lots of different types. One of the projects in her book is the fabulous 'Falling for You Necklace' which i just had to make. But being on a limited budget i had to improvise and as i didn't have lampwork focals that even slightly matched for this project and colour scheme i made some of the Rings from Nikia Angel's Book Easy Crystal Stitching (another fabulous book that i have made LOADS of projects from, but that is another blog post).

So here is my version of Jill's Wiseman's Falling for You Necklace...

A spiral rope using 3mm crystal rounds...

Another using 3mm Rounds in a different colour scheme but longer in length..


This is my most recent spiral rope for which i used 3mm firepolish beads, 4mm czech glass pearls & 11'0 seed beads with an 8'0 seed bead core and it is a whopping 40 inches in length.

There are so many ways to totally change the look of a spiral rope it really is a under rated stitch.

I would love to find out who 'invented' the original design of the spiral rope, but my searches have not come up with anything of much help. Whoever it was you are a genius!

Happy Beading...

Carol xxx

Bead Tour Newport South Wales

Yesterday i got to meet up at a little bead fair in Newport, South Wales with my 3 bestest beady buddies from the group Operation Tackle That Bead Stash!

What a fab day it was too. We managed to catch up and have some beady fun. There were only 5 stalls at the fair but we managed to spend lots of money : )

Here is what i bought...

Here are some freshwater pearls and 2x3mm crystals from Monty's Beads

Here are some lovely seed beads and copper lustre firepolish beads from Oaktree Crafts

 Here are some lovely drops and briolettes from Totallybeads

Some lovely chinese crystal rounds, rondelles and flat bicone beads also from Totallybeads

I also got some lovely 3mm & 4mm Pearls again from Totallybeads

Now i have to come up with some lovely beadwork designs to use them in : )

I hope you all had a lovely weekend too.

Happy beading...

Carol xxx