K was a kite
Which flew out of sight,
Above houses so high,
Quite into the sky.
(From the Nonsense Alphabet
by Edward Lear)
Which flew out of sight,
Above houses so high,
Quite into the sky.
(From the Nonsense Alphabet
by Edward Lear)
I love tiny cube beads, so when I was able a few years ago to get a surprise assortment at a sale price from one of the bead shops I order from, I jumped right on it.
Then I remembered that as cute as they are, I always struggled a bit what to do with them. I loomed with them (the result is stiffer than with seed or cylinder beads) ...
... I wire knitted with them (so slinky) ...
... I did peyote with them, in the round and folded ...
... and I still had a box full of cube tubes (this wasn't even everything I made).
So when I came upon a quick tutorial for a beaded diamond kite shape, I thought I'd give that a try (this isn't the only tut for it, it was just the first popping up in my recommendation, but it works well) with cubes instead of cylinder beads.
I first made a test piece in Delicas and immediately decided that instead of the original design I wanted to make some variations, ripping up the test piece again.
These are the results so far.
The kite shape made me think of Art Deco patterns and inspired this design. Simple but with a bold color combination.
One theory is that kites have their name from the hovering birds of prey. In German, however, we call the bird "Milan" and the tethered flying object "Drachen" after dragons.
Inspired by the name, I beaded a smaller version of the design and added dragon charms. Readers who have been around for a while know I can't resist a nice dangle and I love these 3D dragons!
I also tried a pair of earrings using just the open V shape in a combination of clear, pearly white, and matte black cubes.
While I liked the color combination, I wasn't completely happy with the overall look and will be playing with that some more.
Delicas as used in the tutorial are very uniform beads, the cubes not so much although I cull the ones that are way too big or crooked. So it was a nice surprise how well it worked after all.
Cubes also stiffen the design a bit which isn't a bad thing for earrings.
These beads come in different sizes, so expect another post with some "big ones" (3 mm instead of 1.8).
I really like these, Cat! They are so unique and fun. I can’t imagine knitting with wire, but I bet it’s a lot of fun.
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Thank you, Marsha!
DeleteI used to wire knit - haven't done it in a while because the wire is harder on my fingers - using a crochet hook (I only did one piece with knitting needles). There are different names for it, some call it wire crochet because of the tool, but I don't because the stitches look like knit and not like crochet stitches.
I have an old post on the topic showing the differences https://catswire.blogspot.com/2012/11/wire-knit-or-wire-crochet.html
I love cubes too! And never managed to make anything with them. Ha! (But it was before I started bead embroidery.)
ReplyDeleteAll of your cube jewelry - including the new kite earrings- is beautiful! They do remind me of art deco - designs that I find especially intriguing. I love the word play thoughts that led you to the dragon version of the design.
I rarely use them in bead embroidery, but have done it. I'm just so in love with the colors and the different look.
DeleteI wonder if I can also turn them into something even more Art Deco.
Thank you!
Wow, I'm impressed. You made some lovely things with these cube beads! Very creative!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, Nicole! For those who haven't seen my blog when it was still mostly about crafting these posts may be surprising.
DeleteYour creations are so beautiful. They remind me of something I would see in a museum, just so artistic!
ReplyDeleteYou're so kind, Erin, thank you! 😊
DeleteThese are absolutely stunning, Cat! You have tremendous talent!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Linda!
DeleteOh, that Edward Lear nod sets such a whimsical tone right away, and I am completely obsessed with how those tiny cube beads give the kite shapes that crisp, geometric Art Deco edge, especially paired with those 3D dragon charms once you went down the German Drachen etymology rabbit hole! It’s wild how much structural difference cubes make compared to smooth cylinders, giving the earrings that built-in stiffness without needing any extra backing, though I'm totally with you on tweaking that black-and-white V-shape pair until it sings.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Melody!
DeleteI'm still playing around with the V shape.
How beautiful! Such interesting beads!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gina! There are so many bead shapes these days, but I'm not getting tempted to go beyond the cube.
DeleteThe new earrings are gorgeous (as well as all of your older pieces). Beautiful!
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Thank you very much, Mireille! I missed my beads!
DeleteWow! Amazing. I have so many of those tiny beads and never know what to do with them. It must take a lot of patience to create such amazing pieces as these.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amy! Beads can get a bit overwhelming if you don't have a plan for them.
DeleteThere are a lot of things I have absolutely no patience for, but beads are not one of them (which never ceased to amaze my mother as I started crafting quite late) 😊
Lovely to see and to know that someone else is picking up these tiny things and doing lovely stuff with them! I'm sure I'd drop them everywhere ...
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I have dropped them everywhere before and I'm sure you could hear my scream into the next town. It happens to all of us at some point, I think.
DeleteThank you, Liz!