Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Who doesn't love donuts!?

Before I ever thought of myself as a beader, much less a jewelry maker/designer, I was a donut lover.  It wasn't a very healthy or rewarding love, but it did have lasting effects...on my scale.

When I discovered beads, I discovered a new kind of donut to love:  those made of glass, clay, gemstones, wood. Oh my!  

The absolute simplest thing is to use a lark's head knot to attach the donut to a chord or ribbon. It's simple. It's effective. It's quick.





















But that doesn't let me play with seed beads . . . The easiest way I know to create a beaded bail is simple strip of beading (in peyote or right angle weave or square stitch or brick stitch or herringbone) that goes through the donut hole and then gets sewn up.  The example below is in peyote because peyote happens to be my go-to stitch.


It does the job, simply and effectively.  Here's an example in square stitch from my early days at Sand Fibers, in a strung piece.  (Back when my scanner served as my camera...shhhhh! Don't tell anyone!)


One way to give that simple bead woven bail a bit more "design" quality is to attach it to a beaded tube (like the ones I showed you how to make last month).


But you can take that idea one step further and have that same simple bail go OVER the beaded tube for some great added texture.

(Now imagine the two beadwoven elements in different colors.)

I really really love working with donuts and seed beads and have been known to go on a binge or two over the years.  I hope these will inspire you to play a little on your own:






Be well and get going!
Carol Dean

7 comments:

Cynthia Newcomer Daniel said...

Those are wonderful! I'm really loving the second-to-the-last one - it speaks to my inner hippie.

LisaS said...

Woo hoo! How inspiring -and I just got some donuts in the mail today ;)

Sally Anderson said...

Thank you for this post. When I first started beading & didn't know what I was doing (which I still don't) I bought a bunch of donuts. Now I have ideas for what to do with them!

baymoondesign said...

Great ideas!

Artisan Beads Plus said...

I love all of the ideas! I am creating jewelry now for a gallery that I will be in and a show that is coming up. Thanks for getting me thinking of a new ideas!

stacilouise said...

You had me at donuts! You and I share a love of them, I used to use them in all my pieces!!!!!!!!!!!! (still use them a lot for sure!)

sandi m said...

I, too, have unfinished donuts. Will have to look up your tut and try seed bead stitching. So many options.... Thanks!

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