Sunday, January 11, 2009

Pumpkin Seed Beads


Hello! I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! It was definitely a good one for hibernating!

I wanted to share some unique seed beads with you since I know some beaders don't use them a whole lot because they are so tiny. I have done my fair share of stringing LOTS of seed beads and admit it can be tedious at times. It might be necessary to bring out the magnifying lamp!

However, I wanted to sing the praises of these tiny beads for their versatility. Considering their size, they can provide a dramatic impact to a piece even if they are just used as spacers.

I use them in the majority of my strung jewelry to seperate each of the larger beads. It helps to set them off, similar to a knot on a traditionally strung pearl necklace. They can also be used to bring a little sparkle to a piece that uses beads such as pearls or matte glass. They come in just about any color you can think of and quite a few more than you have even imagined.

They come in matte finishes, clear with metallic lining, round, triangles, hex cut (which makes them sparkle as nicely as crystals), rainbow finish, etc. Japanese TOHO beads are highly desirable because they are all uniform. I love the color of these galvanized pumpkin rounds and think they would be great in a design similar to the one posted yesterday, but with a larger bright copper focal bead.

As always, let me know what you think.

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