Sunday, October 12, 2008

Paper beads

I needed beads to add as an embellishment to some ATCs I'm working on. The colors in this Lovely Layers paper I made last spring are perfect for my project.
I drew elongated triangles on the back of the paper and cut them out.
Rolled the triangles onto a bamboo skewer starting with the wide end. I added double stick tape to the narrow end to hold the paper together on the skewer. This keeps the center of the bead without adhesive and easier to remove from the bamboo skewer when I'm done.
I would usually use an embossing pad to moisten the paper beads, but I've mailed it along with other art supplies to an art retreat I'm going to later this week. Improvising, I covered the paper beads with cheap white glue and rolled in UTEE and heat set. When the beads cooled I covered the beads in glue and heat set again. It was fun watching the glue bubble up and add texture to the UTEE, while still giving the beads a glossy finish.
I wrapped gold colored cord around the beads while remelting the UTEE to help adhere the cord to the beads.
You can see some other paper beads I made last year here and here. And some similar beads using metal flashing tape here.

1 comment:

Judiwithaneye00 said...

These are the prettiest paper beads I have ever seen!