Beaded Jewelry that's More Than just Beads

Ok, so maybe it's hard for you to consider making something that can't be worn. That's OK, because there's lots of ways to work outside the (jewelry) box using mixed media. It's still jewelry, just not in the most traditional sense.

Start by going through any boxes of various junk, bits, odds and ends; you know, the stuff that eventually ends up in the "junk (or as my mother spelled it, "junque") drawer. That's where you'll find the good stuff. And if you have boxes holding the contents of junk drawers going back in time, you are one lucky beader with a potential designer's gold mine! Skate keys, old house door keys, clock keys, broken watches, busted jewelry, bits of chain, game pieces, marbles beach glass, rocks, tins - you name it, it'll be there.

If you don't have a lot of old stuff around, you can still amass a nice collection of goodies. Check this review article Altered Art Materials - The Search Is On and Creating Altered Art - A Roadmap for Collage & Decoupage both written by one of the pioneering bead and mixed media artists, Mary Tafoya, who has been mixing beads with other media long before it became popular, and whose classes, projects and patterns have caused this true beaded artwork to catch on and spread over not just the bead word, but over may other hobbyist as well, so that more and more artists are mixing it up, using the raw material from their various art media to make new and even more creative artwork.

Adding a little hand-stamped piece of shell fragment to a necklace is a great start. And while you've got the stamps out, stamp the back of a smooth plastic domino with some alcohol-based inks and them color in the picture with some felt tip pens. Let it dry well and give it a couple of coats of Krylon brand sealer, then bed a bezel and attach it to a beaded neck strap.

Beaded knitting is a huge favorite of mine - from the stands. I love to look at it, to touch it, to marvel over it, but I simply cannot make myself use those tiny little size 0000 needles and the world's finest thread to do so. There is one artist, Julia Pretl who not only can, but does do this type of beadwork, and has published books, written patterns, designed projects and has lots of great inspiration on her for the new bead knitter.

Unfortunately, I'm not so sure I'm ever going to get that far with bead knitting. But that's OK, because the women at Earth Faire have come to my rescue with their amazing Bead Soup Knitted Bracelets and Bead Stew Knitted Bracelets not to mention the luscious selection of bead knitting and bead embroidery selection of beads I almost swooned. It was when I read, and then confirmed, that the size of the needles used with these designs really doesn't matter. They recommend a size zero or a size one, but as large as size two, and even three could be used, to no detriment with these patterns. That's when I hit full swoon. It's a dream! I can actually knit something with beads and thread using those wonderful non-slippery bamboo knitting needles? I am in heaven and as soon as I have a few moments to cast on the first stitches, will report back in full.

So you can see, it's not a long leap from straight beading to beading with mixed media. If nothing else, add a strand of yarn to a multi-strand necklace with a big, openwork filigree pendant, or a paper tag that you've collaged or doodled or otherwise altered to a thin strand of multicolored Charlotte or size 15/0 beads, interspersed along the way with some size 8/0s for a cool, textures necklace.

Keep this up, and soon you'll find yourself creating mixed media pieces without even realizing what you're doing! It will become a part of your bead art skills inventory, and even if you do still want to work with seed beads only from time to time, no problem. The mixed media exposure can only help expand on your ideas, designs and stitch combinations. So break away from the jewelry box and come join the mixed media beading revolution!