Expanding my Flat Top Casket's Colour Palette
My Flat Top Casket has been gently tugging at my heartstrings all summer....poor thing had to be set aside for me to get my class workups done....and the new 2018 ornament done. (so be watching for it!!!!) ...but.....even tho I had to set it aside, it has still be on my mind....just about every day I would say. I did finally decide what panel to work next....I think....maybe I will end up working on them all at the same time and skip around....in any case, I cant wait to get my bead needles out again...as in, my tiny. weensie. teensie. bead needles!!!! WOO HOO
Just look at these beads! I have had a banner summer this year for finding beads....after years literally, of not finding anything. I do love the tiny beads for stumpwork, because they are so tiny, one can get great details. I prefer the microscopic sable beads....40-50 per inch, of which nearly all of these above are that tiny. The whole bead will fit thru the hole in the size 15 Miyuki beads I am using for my classes next year!
The only negative aspect of working with beads, is that one is limited to the colors of beads that they have on hand. I have been collecting beads for at least 35 years....perhaps a little longer, so I do have quite a few colors...but it always amazes me how I will have a thought in my head of what I want something to look like, and I still will not have just the right color. Husband says it all the time..."more beads? you need more beads??" He also calls me a hoarder, to which I vehemently deny...unless of course, we are talking about beads, and then the answer would have to be a huge yes. I cannot pass up tiny beads. no I just cant! The more colors I can find, the free-er I am to be with my designs and ideas. My casket is going to be awesome!
I was ecstatic earlier this year when I got this box of beads from a yard sale down in Placitas NM....couldn't believe it! There are pounds of weensies here!
These beads, from the top picture, I have been truly blessed to find this year. I go years, literally, without finding any new beads...I think I said that already, but its true. The little buggers are so blasted expensive now days, I literally spend all my pennies on beads! I have had to pick and choose, and have been focusing on colors that I was void of in my palette.
There is just something about these little balls of molten sand that make my heart skip a beat when I see them. And some of these, break my record for tiny.
The reds next to my finger here...count 65+ to the inch!
Both my front and back, and well, one side panel too on my casket, have water on them...so I have been searching for different watery colors of blues....
I got my lil mudhead out...he is lounging in a sea of beads...but I like to think of him as me...I would love to swim in an ocean of beads! I see endless opportunities with all of these colors, I cant wait to see what I can make from them.! I got some really nice skin tones and fleshy colors, so much so that my mind is racing on a new beadwork box...but I have to get my flat top done first!
4 comments:
I've never even heard of beads that small. Who makes them and where can we buy them?
I share your love of beads, especially the tiny ones. I have never heard of the term "microscopic sable bead," however. I Googled it and didn't get an answer that made sense. Can you tell me what it means? And what is the actual bead sizes are you displaying in the photos?
I covet your great selection of colors!
Thanks, Ann
Oh MY!!! Fun, fun, fun!!! I know you're just popping to get started! Enjoy your work, Darlin'. :-) LY, Mom
I apologize for not answering these earlier~ blogger did not email me the comments! D1-D2, these are all antique beads. This size has not been made since 1910s era.
Ann, Sable Beads are a term used in 18th c for the tiniest of beads used for embroidery and knitting. Size of beads, on a general note, as all sizes are different and relative to their particular manufacturer, 24/0 and smaller.
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