Links - Beading
It's been too long since I've posted a "links" post!
Todays topic ~ Beading, with a focus on peyote stitching.

To see what you can create with tubular peyote stitches, check out these links ~
Enchanted Tree - Peyote (and ndebele) stitched necklaces
Mountains of the Moon - lovely dread beads

Beautiful!
Peyote stitching strings together beads so they are stacked on top of each other like bricks. There are a few different kinds (even & odd count flat) which allow you to create a sheet of beads. (Tubular peyote is very similar to even count stitching, but links the two sides together, to create a tube shape)
Tubular Peyote Tutorial
Ndebele Chain Directions - this stacks the beads one on top of another.
(Easily create designs charted on graph paper)

To create the beaded river rocks you may remember from my journal ~ The first tutorial shows you how to wrap a rock in peyote stitching. You create a circular disk for each side, then connect the two disks. Sead beads come in differing sizes, and the circle pattern used in the rock tutorial came out warped for me. The second link is another circle tutorial that worked perfectly for my Czech beads (and then I connected the disks following the first tutorial).
Peyote Beaded Rock Tutorial
Circular Flat Peyote


Unfortunently, the craft store will not be your friend if you are looking for supplies. I tried numerous needles & thread from the store, but both were too large to run through the beads as many times as I needed to. I asked for help on All About Beads (on Delphi Forums) & got great recommendations on what sizes I needed. I did not want to waste any more money on something that *almost* fit. Very helpful girls! (For the size 11 beads I used a #10 needle & size B Nymo thread, but there are a few sizes that will work)

Also, the beads need to be very standard sizes to interlock nicely. You can't just use the cheap beads from the craft store. There are lots of varieties of Czech & Japenese beads that are created to be nice & uniform. I bought all of my supplies from Whim Beads, which is run by the same lady who started All About Beads. They have a huge selection & cheap prices.

My only complaint would be the minimum order price, which I think is $15? Fine if you are ordering a few supplies, but not great if you run out of just one color & don't need anything else.