Have you ever seen such adorable tubes? I found these at a one-day bead show that was passing through town.There was a section with all the usual tubes and sterling spacers, but when I saw these my hand immediately started reaching for them!
Was it because of their macaroni-ness or the unique, playful effect? I try to always trust that instinct and figure it out later.
I just love these little curls, but have not perfected an appropriate use for them yet. I've tried a number of different materials and have found that nylon coated beading wire might be the best way to go.
I'm envisioning these being used on a multistrand piece with LOTS of silver rounds and clear crystals.
I wish I had it made already so I could see what it looks like AND wear it tomorrow!! I'd love to hear some ideas and if anyone has used these or know of a project using these, PLEASE share!
Have a great evening! :)
18 comments:
Those are new to me - how cool. I completely agree with your vision, they'd be perfect, too, as part of a fringe-y collar style necklace, I bet.
Cool design, but I couldn't hink of a design. May earrings with a dangle hanging "inside" the curl?
I used these in a bracelet - turned out cool - but VERY HARD to thread with SoftFlex - it did NOT want to come out the end of the tube. Hope you have better luck....
don't ya just wish sometimes you could blink and the image that is in your head would print out so you could 'see' the design clearer?
Wow, love those. I could see those being antenna for one of my beaded dolls. Where did you get them?
Interesting...I've used sterling tubes not so "curly-q" but similiar idea...I made necklaces and bracelets with crystals.
Cheers
Check out past issue of Bead Style magazine, they have your curly tubes on pg. 71. November 2007 issue. AWESOME BRACELET. LOOKS EASY1
I love those! How about having some of them dangling down from the necklace (maybe several in a row)?
Years ago I make a necklace using the curved tubes with 7mm and 9mm pearls in two complimentary colors and 8mm Swarovski crystals.
I made wrapped loops with the beads and added a cluster of two size pearls and one crystal in between each tube. Your more than welcome to try it if it suits your fancy.
How about using them for a multi-strand necklace with some strands running through the holes in the tubes and others passing through the curly-Q shape itself!
I used the tubes for a bracelet, separated by bead caps for the ends of the tubes and with crystals and dichroic glass beads in between. The coolest thing though was this: I wire wrapped extra beads onto short pins and attached them to jump rings large enough to slip onto the curly tubes. Then I put three beaded jump rings onto each tube where they "float" along the length of the tube. The bead caps on each end of the tubes act as stoppers for each set. I like a lot of movement and sparkle, so this worked for me.
I had seen these in Bead Style, too, in 2007. And like Coolmoon said, it's almost impossible to get the beading wire to pass all the way through, but it can be done with a lot of patience.
Patience is key. But I found that if I bend the tip of the soft flex or other beading wire with my thumb nail so it has a very slight curve, it comes out the end better.
I would make these into some really elegant earrings. If a thin wire would go through you could make a wrapped loop at the bottom and dangle some pearls or crystals. DO let us know what you come up with! Enjoy the day!
Erin
I have seen these used with Italian Venetian glass beads, eg, tube, 4mm crystal, Venetian bead, 4mm crystal, tube, etc. - just falls at your collar bone. Looks spectacular!
i get these from artbeads.com... have made lots of necklaces, but when multistrand, make sure the lengths are staggered or they end up laying on each other and completely losing the great effect... i third the motion on a bit tough to string, but doable with patience...
Isn't having patience a virtue which makes beading creatively so worth the journey? The pursuit of these challenges separate the artist from the imitator.
hi lisa... i love beads... but i don't have the patience for it hehe... i like the layout of your blog... somehow i can't figure out how to do all of this.
if you could give me a couple of hints that would be nice (=
by the way, this pink bag is one of a kind made from reclaimed fabrics.... sooo good for our earth.
let me know if you like it ?
www.kasacollection.etsy.com
You can get the curly tubes at www.beadfx.com
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