Thursday, February 25, 2010

Advice for the newbie

It was probably about two years ago that I tried my first peyote bracelet. I had these super gigantic square beads and I was sitting at the dining room table and I remember being so frustrated because I could not figure it out, the beads would not stay where I put them and I thought Nymo was the devil.
Well, needless to say, I persevered and this bracelet was the result. I thought that I was THE STUFF....I thought I had arrived. I mean, yeah, don't get me wrong, it's a cute bracelet, but shortly afterwards I proceeded to buy Beadwork Magazine and had another "there's no way in the world" moment while my jaw hung open on said dining room table.
When I look back at that I think, wow, I've come a long way. I don't do much straight peyote anymore. I'm more enamored with shapes and creating something new, but every now and then I will wear a standard peyote bracelet, and I can't help but smile thinking about that evening at the dining room table.
It's come full circle. This year I will have two of my designs in Beadwork magazine as complete projects that anyone can try and I can't help but smile and think about some beader just starting out sitting at her dining room table looking at my bracelet having a "there's no way in the world" moment. I'm here to let you know that there is a way. It's gonna take a lot of practice (and a lot of Nymo), but it's doable, you just have to keep doing it.

Good luck to you if you're just starting out, and remember not to give up, and don't be afraid to contact the artist if you're stuck in a project that you just don't get, that's why their contact info is in the mag! Oh, and also, on behalf of the entire beading community, I welcome you to the little club, and I apologize in advance to you and your bank account.

7 comments:

  1. Congrats on the articles! Great new patterns, but I have to say I like your first one a lot, too, and it's quite impressive you used different sizes of beads in it.

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  2. son maravillosas todas Marcie,eres una gran artista!

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  3. Great advice for a newbie beadweaver...and a huge congrats for being published this year, you must be itching to see your work/name in print :-) You should be very proud of what you have achieved and how far you have come!

    I've been beading for a little over two years also, and I cringe (with a small smile too) when I look at my first project. I've never made someone else's design, I've always invented my own designs. My advice to newbies would be the learn the basic stitches and then bead fearlessly! Have a go...you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. The worst that will happen is that you will learn something :-) And you can always cut the thread and re-use the beads...that's the beauty of beadweaving ;-)

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  4. Wow - you made it to Beadwork Magazine - I am impressed. But your creations are truely pretty. When you do such a large piece as a breacelet, do you use shorter pieces of nylon and knot them together? I have tried it but I am struggling with the long threads, and when I use shorter ones and knot them together, I am always worried that the piece will open.... Advice for a newbie?

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  5. I hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes now...

    To Nicki: If you're making a simple peyote piece, it's not necessary to tie the threads to each other, if you thread the ends in to the piece, and change the direction a few times. If you do knot them, and weave the ends in the piece like I discribed, there shouldn't be a problem with the knots opening. In my opinion, it's hard to get peyote to open by itself - especially if you're using Delicas. There are also different ways to make a knot, but I will not try to describe them, because I simply can't explain them... I use surgical knots (when I do knot), because I learned that in Vet-school :D

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  6. Thank you for your comment on my post. Do you want to enter the giveaway, too? I realized I posted it right before the link to Emanda's and I am not sure if you have seen it. Thanks. I will let you know if I ever get to do such a wonderful bracelet.

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  7. Hi Marcie, thanks for visiting my blog and leaving some feedback! This is a brilliant article, and I know exactly what you mean - every time I go into the shop for a beading class, Tish has made something wondrous which looks unbelievably intricate and impossible to make! I'm still experimenting in straight even count peyote but look forward to moving it on a bit, fingers crossed it won't take me too long to get a grip on it :)
    Laura

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