Craft Diva

Seed Bead Sculptural Flowers

 

Sculptural peyote stitch beaded flower by Lynn Smythe. I attached a pin/necklace finding to the back of the flower, which is covered with a scrap of suede. You can wear the flower as either a pin, or attach a gold or silver chain through the finding to wear the flower as a necklace. I used size 11/0 Japanese seed beads for this project. The leaves are made using the brick stitch technique.

Sculptural Peyote Stitch
Peyote stitch is one of my favorite techniques to use along with seed beads. Sculptural peyote stitch, is a kind of free-form technique that uses various bead sizes and bead counts. Sculptural peyote stitch can be used to create an organic, 3-D beaded effect, which is perfect for making beaded flowers.

Here are a few pictures of beaded flower projects I've created using the technique of sculptural peyote stitch.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch flower necklace by Lynn Smythe. The neckstrap also uses the sculptural peyote technique. Each row of peyote stitch has slightly more beads than the previous row, causing the beadwork to ruffle and undulate, which creates a very organic looking project.

 

Closeup of previous seed bead flower necklace. Size 11/0 Japanese seed beads. Brick stitch used for the leaves.

 

I call this necklace the sea anemone. I created this project as a bead sample for a multi week class I used to teach when I had a bead store. Besides the sculptural peyote stitch technique, this necklace also uses tubular peyote, beaded fringe, spiral rope chain and tubular African helix.

 

Close up of beaded sea anemone. I used a combination of size 11/0 Japanese seed beads and Czech seed beads.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Start a Craft or Jewelry Business

Former Bead Store Owner
I used to own a bead store, called Dolphin Crafts. While I loved having the store, my children were much younger when the store was open, and it proved to be too difficult to be a full time mom and a full time store owner. I closed the around 8-9 years ago, and temporarily put my arts and crafts on hold, while I raised my children.

North Carolina Craft Studio
Now that my children are older, 18 and almost 14, I am thinking about opening a craft gallery/artist studio. I'll probably wait until we move to North Carolina, as I really don't want to be in Florida anymore. It doesn't make financial sense to start a new business that will be moved out of state in just a few years.

We purchased land in western North Carolina a few years ago. Our plan is to sell our house in Florida, and move to North Carolina within the next few years. I would like to have a craft studio, on our property, that is separate from the house. I can have my workshop setup, without having to worry about making a mess in the house. I can teach classes and have open studio days a few times each year.

Books for Starting a Craft or Jewelry Business
I have been researching a few books that contain information on the kind of shops and businesses I admire, to get ideas for my own boutique. Here are my book recommendations for anyone looking to open their own boutique, shop, craft studio or gallery.

I own all five of these books, and have read them all many times. While these books are probably available in paperback, I like to purchase hardcover books whenever possible. Hardcover books hold up better to repeated reading, compared to paperback books, and I just think a hardcover book, with it's dust jacket, adds a bit of class to my bookshelves. You may be able to borrow some of these books from your local library.

1. Turn Your Passion Into Profits; How to Start the Business of Your Dreams. By Janet Allon and the Editors of Victoria Magazine. Published in 2001 by Hearst Communications, hardcover, 219 pages.
2. The Specialty Shop; How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business. By Dorothy Finell. Published in 2007 by Amacon Books, hardcover, 226 pages.
3. Specialty Shop Retailing; Everything You Need to Know to Run Your Own Store. Third edition, by Carol L. Schroeder. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, hardcover, 412 pages.
4. The Business of Bliss; How to Profit From Doing What You Love. By Janet Allon and the Editors of Victoria Magazine. Published in 1999 by Hearst Communications, hardcover, 222 pages.
5. A Shop of One's Own; Women Who Turned the Dream Into Realty. By Rachel Epstein and the Editors of Victoria Magazine. Published in 2002 by Hearst Communications, hardcover, 223 pages.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Heart Themed Jewelry

 

Necklace by Lynn Smythe, featuring art clay silver heart pendant by the artist.

Heart themed jewelry can be enjoyed anytime of year, not just on Valentine's Day. This post features some of my beaded jewelry creations which feature one or more heart components.

 

Beaded necklace by artist Lynn Smythe.

 

Beaded necklace by Lynn Smythe, featuring amber heart pendant, lampwork glass beads, vermeil bead spacers, and swarovski crystals.

 

Beaded pendant by Lynn Smythe, featuring Venetian lampwork glass beads.

 

Beaded bracelet, featuring fused glass hearts created by Lynn Smythe.

 

Beaded bracelet by Lynn Smythe, with vintage German heart beads, seed beads and vermeil clasp.

 

Close up of beaded bracelet created by Lynn Smythe. Featuring new Czech glass beads, vintage German glass beads and Venetian foil-lined glass beads wire-wrapped with copper wire onto copper chain.

 

Heart necklace and earring set by Lynn Smythe. Featuring lampwork glass beads, swarovski crystals and sterling silver.

 

Heart themed necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring lampwork glass beads, swarovski crystals and sterling silver.

 

Beaded heart watch created by Lynn Smythe.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Fused Glass Pendants and Cabochons

 

Fused glass cabochons by Lynn Smythe

A few years ago, I became interested in fused glass. I purchased a small, bee-hive type kiln, by Evenheat, a few books on basic glass fusing, and a bunch of glass and glass cutting tools. I taught myself the basics of glass fusing and started making a variety of fused glass beads, cabochons and pendants.

 

Close-up of fused glass beads, created by Lynn Smythe, used as a focal point in a beaded necklace.

As my interest in glass fusing grew, I bought a bigger kiln, so I could start making larger glass pieces such as plates, bowls and vases.

 

Fused glass pendant by Lynn Smythe. This piece required two kiln firings. A basic, square shape was fused in the kiln, the piece was shaped with a diamond band saw, then the piece was fire polished in the kiln.

Here are a few photos of my fused glass cabochons. Glass cabochons can be used in beading and applique projects, silversmithing, art clay silver and wire wrap pieces.

  

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Sculptural Peyote Stitch Beadwork

 

Close up of sculptural peyote necklace featuring fused glass donuts by Lynn Smythe

I got into sculptural peyote stitch a few years ago. It's a free form method of bead weaving, which can be done with a variety of bead sizes. You can also embellish free form, or sculptural peyote stitch pieces with a variety of buttons, sequins, nail heads and other decorative accents.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch bracelet by Lynn Smythe

Free Form Peyote Stitch Classes
I used to teach sculptural peyote stitch as a two day class, back when I owned my bead store, which was called Dolphin Crafts. I'd like to get back into teaching bead and jewelry classes someday, my dream is to have a craft studio, which is separate from our house, when we relocate to North Carolina.

 

Sculptural peyote stitch bracelet by Lynn Smythe

Fun With Color
Sculptural peyote stitch projects are a lot of fun to create. I always decided on a color scheme, using three main colors, then set up a work area with all my beads and embellishments in those colors. For instance, jewel tones, would be beads in the emerald, amethyst, topaz color range, as shown in the first bracelet pictured in this post.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Beaded Needle Cases

Three beaded needle cases by Lynn Smythe

Beaded needle cases were all the rage a few years ago. They are a bit like a larger version of a beaded bead. Beaded needle cases are popular among beaders, quilters, sewers, and anyone else that uses a variety of sewing needles in their craft work.

Beaded turtle needle case by Lynn Smythe. I created a pair of matching earrings, using size 14/o seed beads. View my Turtle Powered Beadwork post to see a picture of the earrings.

 

Detail of turtle needle case

Wearable Work of Art
Both the body and the lid of the needle case are beaded. Decorative fringe is usually added to the bottom of the needle case. I liked to add a beaded strap to many of the needle cases that I created. That way you can wear your needle case as a piece of decorative artwork.

Pretty cool, a functional craft tool become a one-of-a-kind work of wearable art. Here are a few more pictures of my beaded needle cases, which feature my own designs.

 

Patriotic needle case by Lynn Smythe

 

Detail of patriotic needle case

 

Long and skinny beaded needle case by Lynn Smythe. Featuring size 14/o seed beads. Fringe beads include copper, freshwater pearls and goldstone beads.

 

Beaded needle case by Lynn Smythe. Featuring a citrine cabochon on top of the lid.  Fringe beads include Swarovski crystals, copper, freshwater pearls, tigereye and amazonite.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Beaded Beads

5 beaded beads by Lynn Smythe. I used tiny, size 15/o seed beads and decorative glass nailheads to embellish the base wood bead.

Beaded beads were all the rage a few years ago. I used to be quite the seed bead addict and made tons of beaded jewelry projects using tiny seed beads.

Small beaded beads are tiny, self-supported beads, made out of seed beads. Larger beaded beads have some sort of support structure, such as a plain wood or plastic bead in the center, to prevent them from collapsing in on themselves. If the base bead is decorative enough, various techniques, such as netting, can be used to let part of the base bead show through.

 
Four beaded beads, with 3-D embellishment, by Lynn Smythe. Miyuki delicas were used to cover the base wood beads using peyote stitch.


Beaded bead by Lynn Smythe. Tiny size 14/o seed beads are used to cover the base metallic bead using the techniques of peyote stitch (on the ends) and bead netting.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Designer Glass Bead Assortments

 

Cool Hues glass bead assortment

I like to work with certain color schemes when I'm creating a new craft or art project. I find staring at hanks or containers filled with one type of bead a bit boring. Whenever I start planning a new project, my first step is to decide what colors I want to work with. Then I get out all my supplies in those colors and start making custom bead mixtures.

 

Ocean Breeze glass bead assortment

I decided to offer some of my custom bead mixtures for sale on the Etsy.com website. The bead mixtures all contain a mixture of vintage German glass beads and new Czech glass beads. The vintage German glass beads date back to 1970 or earlier.

 

Tooty Fruity glass bead assortment

The glass bead mixtures are packaged in a round, aluminum tin which has a clear plexi-glass lid. I currently offer the glass bead mixtures in 28 different color schemes. To view all my designer glass bead assortments, that are currently offered for sale, visit my Etsy store: lynnsmythecreations.etsy.com.

 

Sugar Plum glass bead assortment

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

 

Patriotic glass bead assortment

Beaded Amulet Bags

Close up of my Dolphin amulet bag. This bag is featured in the book The Sea, Selections From the First International Miyuki Delica Challenge (Caravan Beads, 1998).

Yesterday, I blogged about my miniature, beaded amulet bags. As promised in that post, here are some photos of my full size amulet bags. These bags are large enough to hold a credit card, driver's license and/or a few business cards.

Dolphin amulet bag, featuring 4 of my beaded beads in the neck strap.


Hummingbird amulet bag, featuring vintage German glass beads in the fringe. This bag was featured in an article I wrote for Beadwork magazine.


Iris amulet bag. Beaded lid slides up and down the neck strap.


Seahorse amulet bag. Larger beads are new Czech glass, vintage German glass and Venetian foil lined lampwork beads.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Miniature Amulet Bags

When I first became interested in seed beading, amulet bags were all the rage. I'll post up photos of some of my full size amulet bags in a future post. Today's blog post showcases some of my miniature amulet bags. They go together a lot more quickly than the full size bags. The miniature amulet bags are just big enough to hold a lucky coin, or a favorite gemstone.

ABOVE: Star of David miniature amulet bag. This design was featured in a past issue of Beadwork magazine. The fringe includes bronze freshwater pearls and gold plated feather charms.


ABOVE: This was the second miniature amulet bag I ever created. Fringe features rhodochrosite and turquoise nuggets.


ABOVE: this was my very first attempt at creating a miniature amulet bag. The fringe features turquoise heishe, malachite chips and silver plated feather charms. The strap is macrame using 4-ply waxed linen.


ABOVE: the rainbow miniature amulet bag was featured in a past issue of Beadwork magazine. The neckstrap includes two of my beaded beads. I used tiny size 14/o seed beads to create the twisted fringe.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva