Erin's Beads

Yep, this is a brand new blog and for those of you who used to visit me at Inked Art, it has gone to blog heaven. It is always fun and exciting to have something new though and I kind of like the look of my new blog :). The other exciting news is that I signed back up with Close to my Heart! I got my kit the last week in December. I have been looking foward to playing with my new stuff ever since it arrived but I've had to finish a digi album I was working on first. Well I finished that project last weekend, so the plan was to create create create this weekend .... you know what they say about the best laid plans! On Thursday, of all things, my back went out. I'm talking lay in the bed and not move an inch out! Every little movement feels like an electric shock up my spine ... ouch! Today, my DH rigged up a way for me to use my laptop so I was able to accomplish a little bit today but until I'm up and around again, my plans for playing with my new stuff will just have to wait.

While catching up on friend's blogs today, I saw that Erin over at Inky Smiles has a wonderful tutorial on making paper beads. Haha, I bet you were wondering why I titled my first blog post the way I did :). Well while checking out her tutorial, I discover that she has a little bonus thrown in there and I'm thinking ... the only blog I can post to is the brand new one that hasn't even made it's debut yet which I wanted to do when I had artwork to share. Well it just so happens I do have a card I made a few years ago with handmade beads on it :)!

So back to the beads, If you have never made these, you should give them a try because they are really fun and easy. In addition to using them for jewelry, you can also use them as elements on cards or scrapbook layouts and even make them long or short ... just play around to get the size and thickness you need for your project.

Another variation is instead of cutting your paper triangular, cut it the same width all the way down and dry emboss just the final end to create a textured look. Try rolling it with the raised embossing up or down to see which way you like it best before you add the UTEE.

Here's the card I made a few years ago. The beads on it were made from paper that was cut the same width all the way down vs. tapering one end. In case you are wondering about the stamp set used on the card, it is a retired set called Out of Africa. Hope you have fun making some beads!