How to Use Katiedids™ Creative Components

Q. Once I've made my circle of beads on beading wire, how do I secure the beads in the channels? Will they stay flat in the metal piece without glue?

A. There are several ways to place beads in the channels. Here are three:

For this pendant, I passed a head pin outward through the drilled holes on each side of the component. Then, I placed crystals on beading wire and laid the beads in half of the channel with the beading wire passing under the head pins. Next, I filled the rest of the beading wire and crossed the beading wire ends inside three or four of the beads. Use your fingers to press the crystals in place in the channels. You could glue an image or a button inside the bezel cup in the center.

Alternatively, you could pass a piece of beading wire in through a drilled hole, make a beaded ring to fit inside the channels, then pass the same beading wire out through the opposite drilled hole.
For this charm, I passed a head pin outward through the outermost drilled hole and made a wrapped loop to attach it to the bracelet. Then, I strung 6/0 seed beads onto thread and tied them to form a beaded ring. I used glue to attach the image to the center and the beaded ring to the empty channel.

Beads, Baubles & Jewels

Here are a few pictures from the recent taping of Beads, Baubles & Jewels. Check out our new look! The new season will be available on public television this fall. See more pix in my Facebook photo album and be sure to join the Beads, Baubles & Jewels FB group for updates.

Behind the scenes on our new set.

This is how it will look on TV.

Coudn't have asked for a better group of guests on my first day as the host. Look at this powerhouse group of gals! Kerry Bogert, Susan Lenart Kazmer and Candie Cooper.

Had to take a picture of my celebratory fire dragon roll. Yum!

Sunday Bead Blogger Links

Andrew Thornton is selling treasures from his dragon's horde and he's doing a Thursday giveaway on his blog, courtesy of Suebeads.

Jean Yates is totally WOWed by the fabulous Margot Potter's latest book: Bead Chic. Read her review at Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!

Tammy announces her first video for About.com Jewelry Making.

Do you like to mix crafting with jewelry making? Lisa from A Bead A Day is looking for crafty ideas for using a filigree pendant to create a unique piece of jewelry.

While Art Bead Scene Editor, Cindy Gimbrone is on vacation, she's left us a gem from Studio Saturday - her box of inspiration!

After receiving a wonderful package of crystals from Auntie's Beads, Cyndi from Beading Arts set out to make a bracelet that would show them off!

My new Katiedids™ Creative Components are responsible for Carmi's lovely pearl necklace design. Check it out at Carmi's Art/Life World.

Peek inside two shopping bags from BeadFest Philly: Melanie shows off her treasures at Earthenwood Studio Chronicles and Lorelei shares Inside the Studio.

Photo from Crafts 'n Things, June 2010

Crystal & Pearl Jewelry Ideas

Pearls are always hot for fall, and this year is no exception. Here are a couple of ideas to get your creativity flowing:

I made this simple necklace to show off my friend Jill Mackay's pendant and chain from her Mackay Collection line of jewelry components. (Find them at ConsumerCrafts.com). Almost all of my recent jewelry designs have a stringing section in the center with chain or ribbon on the ends. Hmm...I do love that look!

And, check out this necklace my bead blogging pal Carmi Cimicata made with my Katiedids™ pendants! The steps are on her blog, Carmi's Art/Life World. Carmi has a knack for the vintage look. I love the coat badge she made, too. You can click the link above to see it.

This week, I used Randomizer.org to select a winner for my jewelry storage giveaway: Christina. She said, "I hang up my jewellery on a decorate hooks and rotate those by season and colour. I have several jewellery hangers that are colour sorted with bracelets and necklaces. I hang earrings off of vintage egg cups and in vintage china (thrifted of course!)." Christina, please send me an email with your mailing address: katie@katiehacker.com.

Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment!
I love hearing how you organize and store your jewelry.

Designing Jewelry: Monthly Kit Club

This week, I've been making jewelry designs for my monthly kit club with PaperWishes.com. Katie's Jewelry Personal Shopper is part of a whole collection of Personal Shopper programs that deliver crafting projects right to your door.

From a design standpoint, creating the kits is a true creative challenge. I want each kit to be meaty enough to appeal to the beader who needs a creative jumpstart but also a good starting point for someone who is getting started making jewelry.

One of my CHA workshop students brought her finished jewelry to show me and mentioned that she enjoys "the excuse to sit down and make something." She uses the jewelry for gifts or donations to charity fundraisers. Good ideas, Pat!

I like to use a variety of materials, techniques and styles for each kit so people are being introduced to something they've never encountered before, whether it's an interesting pendant or a new use for a particular finding. September's kit uses some beautiful aqua opalite beads from Beadtrust.com with chain to create a vintage-style, opera length necklace.

Now, it's back to the design studio. Come over and see what I've been cooking up! You can check out the previous kits, find out more info and subscribe.

Knotted Pearl Necklace

I made this knotted pearl necklace using my Katiedids™ Creative Components; Crystallized - Swarovski Elements crystals and pearls; black silk cord; and a knotting tool.

Knotting is a traditional technique that's seeing a resurgence in popularity right now. A lot of people learn how to knot so they can repair knotted pearl necklaces, then become addicted to the technique!

Pearl knotting is easy once you get the hang of it, but I admit that it took me a long time to learn how to do it. When I was learning how to use a knotting tool, I would practice, then put the tool away and forget about it, then have to learn it again. Practice is really the key because it's easier if you follow the same steps in the same order every time.

Here are a couple of my video segments about making knotted pearl necklaces from Beads, Baubles & Jewels, along with instructions:
Easy Knotting
Knotting Pearls

Storing Your Jewelry

Recently, one of my friends said, "Katie, you make so much jewelry. You must have a great system for storing it!" Readers, I've shared my (dis)organizational habits here before. You'll be pleased to know that I do actually have a storage system for my finished jewelry. Before my oldest child started unloading the drawers in this flea market find cabinet, I stored jewelry (by color!) in the drawers. Now, I keep all of my jewelry in a hard-to-reach dresser drawer.

A drawer is ideal because it's important to store jewelry flat. Hanging can cause unnecessary abrasion on necklaces and bracelets. Hanging also exposes jewelry to air, which can cause unwanted tarnishing. I store most of my jewelry in sealed bags.

If you're looking for ideas, check these out: For the recent taping of Beads, Baubles & Jewels, Rio Grande provided a storage case from their line of beautiful, vintage-style boxes for organizing supplies or finished jewelry. I'm also a sucker for library card catalog boxes, which you can find at antique markets and on eBay.

Leave a comment with your storage tip to be entered in a random drawing to win this fun Jolee's Jewels storage case from EK Success, along with a Beadalon tacky mat and a sample of my new Katiedids™ Creative Components. I'll collect comments for one week, then I'll do a random drawing and announce the winner here on the blog.

This Week's Linky Love

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Offered up in this week's Thursday Giveaway is a pack of Katiedid Creative Components by Katie Hacker.

Strands of Beads Melissa is giving away one of her new fine silver charms this week. Enter now!

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene gets creative with storing supplies.

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has spotted several celebrities who have new jewelry lines and wonders what you think about this.

A Bead A Day Lisa's exloring the concept of "happy jewelry"! Stop by and share your thoughts on expressing happiness in your jewelry designs.

Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi whips up a one hour brooch project with left over chain.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy learns that the fourth time can be a charm.

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles Melanie's friend David Erk Nelson shares a free project from his upcoming book Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred...a stuffed Cthulhu sock toy!

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei visits a cool lampwork artist in Atlanta, and tries her hand at making a bead.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Jean explains a bit more about "The Jean's List", an ongoing selection of her favorite jewelry designers selected from all types of jewelry!

Beading Arts Metal clay is a great material to have in your jewelry-making repertoire!

3 Ideas for Katiedids™

One of the best parts of producing my new line of Katiedids™ Creative Components is seeing all of the creative ideas that other people envision and then make real. Check out these ideas from three of my bead blogging pals:

Michelle Mach, author of the Beads & Books blog amazed me with this painted and seed beaded version of my 25mm bezel component. The component starts out with shiny silver channels but Michelle worked her magic to make it a colorful, graphic pendant. She also shows an example on her blog using teardrop beads, which adds fun texture to the piece.

Lisa Crone, who writes ABeadADay.blogspot.com and is the author of A Bead in Time (F+W 2010), made this sweet bracelet using my 35mm rectangular component. She said, "It is simple, but what I love about it is how the crystals sit on top of the channel and they look like art displayed on a pedestal!" I love it, too, Lisa!

Heather Powers of Humblebeads used my 25mm 5-hole component to make this vintage looking toggle featuring her Van Gogh inspired polymer clay. She says, "First, I textured them with my ball peen hammer and then antiqued them with silver/black solution. My word of caution – the findings held up to my abuse, but the copper shows through if you use steel wool to highlight, so use a cloth instead." Great idea, Heather!

I'd love to see what you're making! Send your pix to Katie@KatieHacker.com and they might appear here on my blog or in my Facebook photo album.

Matchstick Earrings

This is one of the projects from my CHA workshop last week. Candie Cooper helped with my workshop and dubbed these my matchstick earrings (thanks, Candie!). You can use them to strike up some creativity!

1. String a 4mm light Siam crystal and a 7/8" length of thin, frosted rubber tubing onto a head pin.

2. Cut a 1" length of silver or gunmetal 24-gauge wire and coil it around the tubing ¼" from the top of the tubing as shown. To coil around tubing, place the wire centered across the tubing and wrap it in opposite directions.

3. Pass the head pin through a hole on the 35mm rectangular Katiedids™ Creative Component and make a wrapped loop.

4. Open the loop on an earring (this one is a round, hinge back earring from Beadalon) and attach it to the wrapped loop.

5. Repeat the steps to make a matching earring.

One of my crafty students tore her foil chocolate wrapper and pressed it inside the rectangle to add some color! If you don't have a wrapper handy, you could trim a piece of paper or fabric to fit and glue it in place with resin, Diamond Glaze or Mod Podge.