Insert beady-eyed pun here…

I’m such a fan of hybrid crafts – combining one kind of making with another to get something new. So I was excited to see this bead quilling on the cover of the June Bead & Button.

Are you familiar with quilling? It’s an old craft where you twirl thin strips of paper around a needle tool to assemble lacy images. This image is from Erica’s, where you can also look more deeply into the subject.

So, beader Kathy King has developed this cool method of building these long chains of seed beads, and then using them like long strips of quilling paper. (Follow that link to see some crazy-amazing seed bead work.) I like the look – especially as combined with the felt on these bracelets.

For you wire crochet enthusiasts, there’s also a piece in this issue about this twisted beaded crochet chain. Brenda MacLellan has written very good instructions for working the wire and hook.

. . . And hey! Look at this! Glenda Paunonen has a tutorial for making beaded buttons from scratch. As in, not beaded on a button base, but constructed entirely from beads. Cool, eh?

Okay, and if you don’t have your beady fix quite yet, I have two copies of this magazine to give away, courtesy of the nice people at Kalmbach. Just leave a comment on this post (go for it, you international readers), and I’ll pick two at random on Tuesday.

If you’re within teleport distance of Milwaukee, don’t forget that the Bead & Button Show is coming – June 1-8!