View entire thread: Looms
Posted by Beadbimbo on Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:15 PM Post subject: Re: Looms
Thanks Su! I'm not thinking of taking on anything too big, so a small loom would probably just right for me now. I
can always move up later. -- Jerri www.beadbimbo.com To subscribe to my mailing list, send an e-mail to:
jerri@beadbimbo.com with "Subscribe" in the subject line. [quote:a16399b73b] I have a really nice big loom,
the only thing it does that small looms don't is allow me to work on larger pieces. Buy something that is large enough
for your intended projects. Even those cheap bead looms for strapweaving that they sell for kids will work. The main
thing is proper tension, like any weaving, and proper stringing materials. I'm plotting to warp with wire this summer
and do some free-standing weaving. -Su [/quote:a16399b73b]
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View entire thread: Looms
Posted by Su on Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:11 AM Post subject: Re: Looms
Beadbimbo wrote: [quote:e39d54c845]The only loom work I've done is using a shoebox lid for a loom, but for those of
y'all that do this kind of thing, are the cheap looms good for a beginner? It seems like there's all kinds (and price
ranges) out there, and I don't have a clue. [/quote:e39d54c845] I have a really nice big loom, the only thing it does
that small looms don't is allow me to work on larger pieces. Buy something that is large enough for your intended
projects. Even those cheap bead looms for strapweaving that they sell for kids will work. The main thing is proper
tension, like any weaving, and proper stringing materials. I'm plotting to warp with wire this summer and do some free-
standing weaving. -Su
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View entire thread: When, and how, did YOU start beading?
Posted by Kalera Stratton on Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:51 AM Post subject: Re: When, and how, did YOU start beading?
Dr. Sooz wrote: [quote:99a75cbcfb]How long have you been beading -- when did you start? And how'd that disease creep
into *your* hapless veins? I know this Q has been done here before, but there are new people here. So I thought it
would be lovely if we all answered. It's a great way to get to know each other better. I'll step aside for now, and
let someone else answer first. Then I'll tell my story. Ready, Set ---Go! [/quote:99a75cbcfb] I have a "seminal
bead" story, which in a symbolic way marks the beginning of my bead obsession. Other than this, there's no
demarcation for the entry of beads into my life, because my mom and my sisters always had beads and bead looms around
the house. There was this moment, though, when I was maybe six or seven, and a cobalt-blue, perfectly round ceramic
bead about 1/2" in diameter strayed into my life. It was on the slag heap behind the ceramics studio at the
Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, where both my mom and my teenage sister were taking classes. I remember it as rolling
from the pile and stopping in front of my feet; whether that really happened or it is the embellishment of a child's
magical fancy, I don't know. I do know that the bead was instantly perceived by me as an amulet, a thing with a VOICE.
I picked it up and put it in my pocket... later I remember asking if I could keep it. I was told that I could keep
anything from the slag heap. That bead lived with me, in my pockets, for years. I have no idea whatever became of
it, because it's long gone, but the memory of it shapes how I handle all beads... not as ingredients to a finished
piece, but as individual stories. From then on, grown-ups knew I loved beads... they would take me to bead stores, or
bring me a single lovely bead as a gift. It was many years before I would ever make a piece of jewelry, and the first
ones were exceedingly simple, rudimentary bits strung on sewing thread... I've become a lot more sophisticated in my
stringing techniques, but even now the strongest allure beads have for me is as individuals. C'mere little pretty,
tell me your story...
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