Wags Wicone, what a great name! This clever little tool was invented by the husband and father of two jewellery makers. As with so many of the best designs it is very simple, but very effective. It is perfectly possible to wrap wire around any number of household objects to create interesting shapes. A knitting needle makes a very good …
Last month’s challenge over on the Kumihimo Challenge Group was to create a design using 16 cords (or warps if you prefer). By using 16 slots on the disk a whole new area of design possibilities open up and there are several websites offering pattern generators. Flowers, strawberries, cupcakes, watermelons can all be depicted in the braid, to name just …
I picked up some of this super shiny waxed cord at the Knitting Show on Thursday. Regular waxed cord is great to use with kumihimo. It works up into a tight, regular braid with a casual, natural texture. This new cord works up just as well, but has a lovely glossy surface, which gives a more ‘finished’ effect and is …
Malachite is one of my favourite gemstones. I love the swirly, sixties vibe it conveys and the stunning range of green tones in every piece. In this Chips’n’Mags bracelet I have tried to give the random chips a sense of order by introducing Long Magatama beads, all threaded in the same direction. A splash of silver here and there along …
One of the great aspects about jewellery making is the constant development of new bead shapes and sizes. Experimentation with new products is the greatest fun. However, most new glass beads are developed for the bead weaving and bead embroidery market, so they are not all suitable for kumihimo. The size of the hole is of particular importance in kumihimo. …
This was my entry into the Mardi Gras Kumihimo challenge. I used these super shiny 6mm beads in purple and gold and added some Rizos and size 8 seed beads for contrast in scale. Members of the group can vote for their 3 favourites and my entry was voted into third place. Thank you very much for all the votes. …
This is On the Edge, the lastest tutorial to hit my shop. This design was first seen in Digital Beading last year and it has now been rewritten and expanded into a full tutorial for my site. The braid used is Round Braid and to get the drop beads to be positioned only along the sides of the braid, it …
I hope everyone is having a very happy Valentine’s Day. This is a more traditional style of Valentine necklace than the one I posted yesterday. Half Round Braid is just perfect for getting lovely red hearts into a braid. I have based the design of this piece on the Ribbon Pendant. There are two differences. First of all I finished …
This was my entry into a recent Valentine’s challenge. I always try to take the wordchallenge literally and really aim to come up with something different. Perhaps I tried too hard with this one! It wasn’t at all popular! Some people commented that although they liked it they found the fish on a hook a bit too much. Oh well, …
It is time to set up a new page on this website for all the publications my work has found its way into! These are the three front covers from 2013 which featured my designs, but my work has been appearing in print since 2009 and I would quite like to get it all together in one place. That’s my …
