Beading and Bead-weaving for Children

As a maths tutor, I have been using beading as a tool to make my classes more interesting for many years with great success. I found beading compliments mathematics in many ways and improves a child’s concentration. Each child’s ability vary and the guidelines I give here may differ for different children. Age 4 to 6: Patterns are an integral part of mathematics. It is advisable to use beads that are not round such as square beads or bicone shaped beads with flat faces. This will make it easy for the child to arrange the beads before stringing them. Stringing beads in a consecutive pattern, is not only good for hand-eye coordination, but lays a foundation for the recognition of number patterns from even numbers to complex algebraic equations. One would start with a simple 2 color pattern such as 1 red, 1white, 1 red, 1 white, …. After that, introduce more colors and then more of one color for example 1 red, 2 white, 1 blue, 2 white … Beads at this age can also be used as a counting tool by asking questions such as “how many white beads did we use?” Age 6 to 9: At this age one can introduce symmetry to the child. It will be handy if you could give the child a bead-stringing board to help with the laying out of the beads. One would start in the middle and arrange the beads one by one around this middle bead for example: l large red in the middle, 1 yellow on each side, one blue on each side and so forth. The pattern could be made more complex by introducing more beads of one color for example 1 large red in the middle, 3 small white on each side followed by 2 green on each side. Age 10 to 13: Reading a pattern and executing the instruction is a skill that will benefit a learner greatly in mathematics, science and in general things such as following a recipe when cooking or reading instructions for a new appliance. One would start with a very simple pattern such as 2 thread RAW (right angle weave). After that I would do something like a herringbone rope. Age 13+: Learners have now been introduced to 3 dimensional shapes called regular polyhedra or platonic solids and will enjoy making them with beads. These are commonly known by beaders as beaded balls. There are 5 shapes that are most commonly known. They are: a) Tetrahedron which has 4 faces which are triangular shaped with 6 edges which is the number of beads that are required to make them. This is a very easy shape to make with beads. b) The cube is also easy to make. The learner would need 12 beads to make this since a cube has 12 edges. c) The octahedron has 8 triangular faces and also has 12 edges so again the learners will need 12 beads to make it. d) The dodecahedron has 12 pentagonal (6 sided shape) faces and requires more skill to make. It has 30 edges therefore uses exactly 30 beads to make. e) The icosahedron has 20 triangular faces and also 30 edges. The learners would have learned about the nets of these shapes which I use when teaching them to make these shapes. Although boys enjoy making these as well, I find it particularly useful in teaching girls to visualize 3D shapes of drawings in books.

How to beat the beading blues.

As a designer I often get the beading blues where I just want to get into bed to do nothing. Through the years I have learned some skills of how to get through these times and would like to share some of these skills with you. What not to do: 1. Try to avoid getting into bed and do nothing. 2. Avoid binging on sweet or unhealthy foods. 3. If you are down because someone criticized you, try not to dwell on it for too long. 4. Don't isolate yourself. 5. Avoid spending money you do not have or buy stuff you do not need. 6. Avoid spending too much time on Facebook. How to turn your blues around: 1. I am actually sometimes glad for the blue times because these are the times when I get my administration done. During these periods I do my tax and accounts which are usually grossly neglected in my creative periods. 2. Another activity that helps me, is tidying my studio or the house in general. I always feel better when my studio and house is clean and tidy. 3. Something else I do is to unpick all my failed projects to recoup the beads. This can also be an inspiration for a new project. 4. There is nothing like talking to a good friend who understands what one is going through. The friend that I rely on to help me get out of the blues, lives far away and I have to talk to her on the phone most of the time. Going to visit this friend is even better. 5. Vigorous exercise and deep breathing also helps. It will be even better if done with a friend. 6. I make a point of buying and preparing some healthy food to nibble on when I get the binging feeling. I also don't buy sweets and things that could lead to temptation. 7. When I battle to get out of bed, I select a couple of beading books or magazines and page through them while in bed. 8. Something else that helps me, is to watch a romantic comedy. 9. I also find weeding the garden can be therapeutic. Let me know if these tips helped you.

Getting Creative with the Herringbone Stitch

I have been in a herringbone stitch mood. With my last two designs, I played around with this stitch to see what the stitch will allow you to do. I wondered if one could create a type of free form herringbone project like the free form peyote projects. I discovered that it is actually easier combining different sized beads with the herringbone stitch than with the peyote stitch. Your bead work do not warp as much with the herringbone stitch when you combine different sized beads. I even found that when I added bigger beads in one column where the rest were smaller beads, I could simply compensate for the bigger bead by skipping to add to the bigger beads in a row or two. I discovered that one gets interesting effects when you add beads between your double columns. For example I made some bulges in the last bracelet I designed. Another technique that I discovered was to add fairly big beads into a double column. One could say this 'free form' herringbone is more structured and less 'wild' than the free form peyote. What is also nice about the herringbone stitch, is you can create shapes or patterns with vertical as well as horizontal lines which you cannot really do with peyote stitch. It is therefore easy to make squares, rectangles or chequered blocks. Here is a link to some of my latest designs: Cecilia's designs

Jewellery, Clothes and Fashion Shows

Another way to make money is to combine your jewellery craft with sewing craft. If you are not a seamstress, try to find someone suitable to team up with. There are many possibilities when combining beads with clothing. Here are a few ideas other than making matching jewellery for the clothing: 1. I love large pockets but the clothes I buy seldom have large pockets. I have made pockets for my clothes and embroidered it with matching beads with great success. You might even find you could buy a simple cheap piece of clothing and jazz it up with some beaded pockets. 2. It is very easy to make a lovely broach with a safety pin. Simply bend the safety pin right open, slip your beads on and close it again by bending it back around the way it was before. Note the holes of the beads must be fairly big to fit over the wire of the safety pin. These can be used to pin scarves up or simply to decorate a garment. 3. You could embroider directly on a garment by ironing stiffening onto the back of the garment. Make sure you use beads that will last with frequent washes. Glass beads will be fine. The embroidery could either be used to enhance the pattern in the fabric or you could draw your own pattern to embroider. 4. What also works well is adding a beaded edge to either clothing or scarves. Most women love fashion shows but seldom seem to get the opportunity to attend them. Most people seemed to think you have to have super models to have a fashion show who charge a fortune for their service. But that is not necessary at all. These models usually look anorexic which immediately disqualify their clothing as a consideration for me. I know for myself that I seldom see suitable clothing for myself at fashion shows. The shows are usually either for a shop who try to market their products, which I have already seen and find boring, or from a fashion house that are so way out that I would not be seen dead in it. I have also noticed that there are usually very little jewellery in these shows. I believe there is a great gap in the fashion market for fashion shows with hand crafted artistic clothes and jewellery. Shows that have artistic flair without going overboard and will appeal to the majority of citizens. Your models also need not be anorexic super models or need not even be that young. Anybody who has personality and confidence, can model. If you see with what success school concerts are presented by ordinary learners, one realise how easy it should be model. You might even want to combine a bit of acting or other talents with your show. There are many ways in which you could make money out of a fashion show. 1. You could charge an entrance fee. 2. You can sell your products. 3. You could sell refreshments. 4. You could have stalls for other hand crafted products and charge for the stalls or take a percentage of the sales. 5. You could make it into a package that could be part of a special occasion like a kitchen tea, stork party or just birthday party. The shows can be held at private homes or more public venues like school halls. You could combine it with a charitable occasion or a function to collect money for an institution like a school. This could be great fun. The possibilities are endless. Just think how many friends and clients you could get.

Wire work and Innocence

I met Innocence a couple of years ago at our local craft market where he was exibiting his wired craft. He is a Zimbabwean man who has mastered the craft of wire work very well. Initially he made me some things on commission and later became my mentor. Compared to Innocence, I am still a newbie and rather inexperienced. However. he is a good tutor and I am hoping to be able make some more professionally looking products and writing their patterns down soon. In this blog, I am posting some of Innocence's work. (This is with his permission.) I cannot provide you with patterns or instructions for these products, but my intention is to show you what can be done with wire and too inspire you to make your own designs. When I did some research on the internet on the techniques that he uses to add beads to his wired frame, I could not find much. The closest technique that I found, was French beading. The first image of the lizard with hooks, I had made to hang bags, keys and belts on. It is strong and durable. The second image is a lampshade with the South African big five wild animals. The third image is a rhino with hooks for my mugs. This one is my Christmas present this year.

Beading Classes or Parties

Although I do not get much chance to give beading classes myself, friends of mine have made some good money out of it. 1. It is crucial that you have the right personality to do this. You need to have a lot of patience. 2. There is so much information on the internet, that with hard work and research, you could become well enough skilled to be able to teach projects in a relatively short period . You need to have made at least one well made sample of each of the products you want to teach in. This is important both for the experience in the technique and as a sample to show your customers what they will be making. You also need to measure how long it takes to make the project to know how long the class will take. 3. If you do not have space to turn into a classroom, why not become a “Travelling Beading School” where you present your classes at the clients home. Arrange beading parties. I do that from time to time. They are great fun and very relaxing. You could suggest to clients that they have “beading” birthday parties instead of going to the movies or eat out (it might even work out cheaper). You could also have beading parties for children over the age of about 6. I recommend that you visit the venue before hand to make sure the lighting is good enough and that there is a suitable table to work on. If the weather allows, then outdoors work well during the day since the light is very good for beading outdoors. You could even have the function in a park. 4. To ensure that you have returning clients, you should preferably present classes in a broad range of techniques and at different levels of difficulty. With the internet, it is quite easy to to become skilled in a large variety of techniques. It is a good idea to team up with a beading buddy who specialises in other types of skills. You might like to recommend to first-time-clients, that they attend classes where they can finish the project they pick, during the class (they might not have the time to finish it at home which will discourage them). For beading parties you should choose easy projects like bead stringing and a matching set of earrings. 5. Your main problem will be to get a viable client base. Working people who are looking for a relaxing hobby, will make good clients. They will have the money to pay for classes. To accommodate them, your teaching times might have to be after business hours. It is a healthy way to preoccupy children during school holidays. Pensioners love these sort of activities if they have the money to pay for it. Make sure you remind the oldies to bring their reading glasses. Beading is also known for it therapeutic benefits. People with stress related problems will greatly benefit from these classes. I know that occupational therapists use beading in their treatment of mental patients. 6. You could try to start your business without spending money on advertisement by marketing it amongst your friends, family, on facebook, on a free internet page for local businesses etc. If this does not work, go to a craft market and market your classes in your display of the goods you intend giving classes in. You might have to go a couple of times. If you practise your craft while you are sitting at the market, you will most likely attract some interest. You could even set up a workshop there at the market. Just make sure it is within the rules of the market and get permission before hand to do so. If the managers of the market are reluctant, tell them it will attract clients for the market and could produce future stall owners. I find there is nothing as effective as the personal contact you make with your clients. Make sure you have plenty of business cards with you. Your last resort would be to advertise in printed matter. It is expensive and not always effective. If you do wish to go this route, advertise in a local paper or booklet where other professional people advertise classes. Make sure your wording will attract the right kind of people and stands out from the other advertisements by adding some unique features like “beading parties”. The advertisement must not be too small but need not be very big. I find a 5cmx5cm (2x2 inch) advertisement works fine for my maths classes. 7. This would be a relatively cheap business to start up. You might have some travelling costs and a bit of materials to buy. Make a list of the materials you will need for the project. This will consist of materials that will be in the clients package that they will take home like beads, thread and a needle. Make these into packages and have a few spare packages in different colours to choose from. If possible, ask the client what colour they would like for their project. Other materials will be yours that can be borrowed by the client, like scissors, glue, beading boards etc. Ask a deposit to pay for the materials you will be using in the class. That way you can ensure that you do not have excessive expenditure. You might want to start by giving a free “party” or class to a friend to see what you need. Expect to make one or two mistakes in the beginning. 8. Finally make sure you have the rights to teach for the materials you use. Teaching with bought patterns could infringe on the copy right laws with regards to those patterns. Some designers do not allow you to use their patterns to teach with at all. I do allow tutors to use my patterns for classes, if they buy a copy of the pattern from me for each client that attends the class. You do have to ask me for permission to do so. My friends are doing it and are still making a good profit. The pattern makes up about ¼ of the fees they charge which is little enough if you think of what you are making. Enjoy your beading. Cecilia Rooke

How to Succeed in the Jewellery Business

Since many of you are in the jewellery business, thought I would share some ideas on how to make money out of the jewellery business. The jewellery business in South Africa, and I suspect worldwide, is poor at the moment. The wholesale shop near me where I took my first couple of classes in beading, closed down last month because the market is so poor. On the brighter side, most businesses are battling at the moment. This just means you have to be smarter. Let me start with some pointers: 1. Try to do something a bit different from the other jewellery makers. This is how I started with bead weaving. The black people in SA did a lot of bead weaving, but most of their jewellery had the same style. The white people considered it a black art form and didn't really take an interest in it. This gave me a gap to experiment. When I did research on bead weaving on the internet, I found most bead weavers use tiny beads which are extremely time consuming to work with. Instead of using these small beads, I started to design with larger less time consuming beads. 2. Find a suitable market for the style of jewellery you are producing. If your style is for young people, try to market where young people are. I found my bead weaving style best suited to middle-aged middle class arty people. The very rich, seems to prefer diamonds, gold and silver. The youngsters are conformist and like to wear what the fashion houses sell. 3. Test your market to see which style, colour and price-range works best for you. Do this by making a range of jewellery and show it first to your family and friends that support you, then to your broader client base. Ask for sincere comments and listen to advice from trustworthy friends. 4. Evaluate your time that it takes you to make the jewellery. Bead stringing is much less time consuming than bead-weaving. For bead stringing, I found you could spend a bit more money on good quality beads (especially if you buy in bulk) and still make a profit. For bead weaving, your cost are mostly your labour. So your price will depend on what you are prepared to work for. I do most of my bead work in my spare time and find I simply cannot charge people proportionally what I charge for my maths classes. It would be too expensive. 5. The only advantage you have over the majority of shops that sells jewellery, is that you can custom make your jewellery. Make sure when you market your jewellery that you emphasize that the customer may choose the colour and style beads that suits them best. Provide your customers with a variety of choices and listen to what they have to say. 6. Advertising can be very expensive and could become a bottomless pit where your money simply disappear. Use cheap means of advertising and be prepared to make a concerted effort to market your goods. Carry a photo-album of your jewellery and business-cards permanently with you. You never know when the opportunity will arise to make a sale. You need business-cards. This is essential and relatively inexpensive to have made. Shops often want such a big cut on the price of your goods that it either becomes too expensive to sell or you make no profit. Crafts markets are a good place to market your goods. Pick a market where there will be a lot of feet of potential clients. Make sure your display is attractive. This need not be expensive. You need a simple table cloth that is properly seamed. I use a grey colour which display my bead-weaved jewellery best. What also works well is to have one or two overlays in contrasting colours. Drift wood or just any wooden stumps works wonderful for displaying your jewellery. I picked some nice stumps from our fire wood last winter which I use for my display. Tourist spots are also good places to market your goods. Tourist often want to buy memorabilia and have money to spend. 7. The quality of your beads is not as crucial as the quality of your work. If a necklace came undone while a client was wearing it, the client will be very disappointed. If you use cheap beads make sure the colour do not fade of come off on your clothes. Most of the cheap seed beads are made with glass and are fine to use, but I have had bad experiences with metal coated beads where the coating wear off. I have also had bad experiences with plastic beads that stained my clothes. Another problem with cheap Chinese beads are that they are not evenly sized. It can become time-consuming and costly to sort the beads into acceptable sizes and you have a lot of wastage (unless you do bead-embroidery where these come in handy). Test the strength of your jewellery and beads before selling it to ensure the quality is good and avoid disappointment. It is difficult making a living out of solely selling handmade jewellery. I strongly recommend that you look into other options as well. I will share some alternative products and sources of income in the next few blogs. Cecilia Rooke