Handmade Monday: Beaded flowers

An exciting time for Blue Forest Jewellery, as my wire rose necklace and earrings were featured in Bead Trends this month.  I'm waiting for the hard copies to arrive so I can show it to you, as the mag is only available in the States.





While I was thinking about that, I started to list and make some more wire rose items

 I took these to the filming of the BBC show 'Handmade Revolution' in Hanley at the weekend, but was too chicken to show them in the end! 










And while I was making those, some daisies popped into my head as well!

 I've been mad on flowers for a while now, and thought I'd share the technique for these beaded beauties.  I've been turning them into rings.

 Here's a quick run through how to make them.

You will need:
Monofilament
5 4mm beads in your main petal colour
1 4mm bead in your chosen centre colour
Jewellery glue (optional)

Thread three of the beads, including the centre one, on to a length of monofilament.  Cut more monofilament than you think you will need so that you have enough to feed back through the flower for strengthening at the end.

Take one end of the monofilament (it doesn't matter which) and thread it back through the two main colour beads.  Pull tight to form a triangle of beads.

Thread the other 3 main colour beads onto one end of the monofilament.  Again, it doesn't really matter which end.

Take the other end of the monofilament and go back through the 3 beads you just added.  Pull the thread tightly and the flower forms.

When you pull, the centre bead will automatically become raised as it get pushed up by the other beads.  Go through all the main colour beads as many times as you can with the monofilament and the flower will gradually strengthen.  Knot the ends or continue to work them, and add a spot of jewellery glue if desired.  Done!



Here's a link to see what other lovely crafty folk have been making this week.

Alison x