The Fine Art of Knotted Beads

I bought myself a little treat last week for my birthday. Two lovely strands of Blue Apatite Beads. All. For. Me! I thought the best way to string those beauties would be to knot them. I love to knot. It adds so much flair to a simple strand of beads.

I thought I would share what I did with you. Here is the story:

I used two 16" strands of apatite beads, size 2 nylon thread with needle attached, a clasp, a black skull bead,  4 small spacer beads and a rhinestone bead all from my local bead store, Baubles and Beads in Berkeley, CA.

Start by tying a knot at the end of the thread and slide on an endtip (photo 1). Pass the tail through the loop of the knot several times to make a bulky knot that will not slip off the strand. Then string your beads, one by one, and tie an overhand knot after each. Use a fine-tip tweezers if needed to slide the knot into place.

Finish by sliding on an endtip, cutting the needle away from the thread, unravel the threads so there are two ends and tie a square knot into the cup of the endtip (photo 2). Make a bulky knot so that it does not pull through. Seal the knots with clear nail polish and let dry so they won't unravel when the tails are cut away.

And that's it! You can find my tutorial on making an endless knotted strand at this link. And all about how to choose the right necklace lengths here.

You can see that the rhinestone and skull beads are near the clasp. I can wear those in front or scoot them around to the back. The necklace is long enough to wear as a double strand around the neck or wrapped five times around the wrist. It's also a great piece to wear long and layered with other pieces in my jewelry box. I love it!

JTV Adventure

Hi Everyone! It's Kate's cousin, Zoe. I am the acting Social Media Manager for Kate during this fun trip to Knoxville!

Well, it was a long trip from the Bay Area to Knoxville (plane maintenance issues, re-routes and delayed luggage arrival), but we made it!

We arrived at the JTV studios bright-eyed and excited this morning and Kate just finished setting up her samples. She's ready for her close-up. :)

I am a huge online shopping and Jewel School fan, so you can imagine my excitement this morning. In fact, I just had the pleasure of meeting Kim Prentiss, my favorite JTV host!

One of Kate's favorite people, Katie Hacker just arrived. She is scheduled to appear on Jewel School this morning too!

Make sure to follow Kate on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow the hashtag #JTVfun on Twitter to experience the adventure. Trust me, you won't want to miss it!

Class at BABE 2013

Hello September!

September means a lot of things to me. Summer in San Francisco, my birthday, slowing things down a bit... AND preparing for a great bead show that happens in the Bay Area in November!

That's right gang... BABE 2013 is just around the corner. One of the biggest bead shows on the west coast is November 16-17 and I am teaching three classes there.

I just received notification yesterday that my classes are filling up fast, so I just wanted to let you all know in case you are planning to attend, you had better jump on it quick.

It's a great show. A lot of wonderful bead vendors and really great classes. What could be better? (Well nothing, in my humble opinion. Okay, a FEW things maybe. Like a vacation. Or desert. But I digress.)

Here is a rundown of my classes:
Things get started before the show on Friday, November 15 with my Simple Soldering Boot Camp. This is my most popular class, perfect for those of you who want to get started with soldering but need a nudge in the right direction. Based on my popular book Simple Soldering, it's the perfect way to remove your fear of the torch and jump right into making soldered jewelry.

Next up on Saturday, November 16, I am teaching a NEW class on tube setting, Tube Set Flower Pendant and Stack Rings. For the student that has some (not a lot) of experience with soldering and is looking for a new challenge. Plus, they will make great holiday gifts! (Who mentioned holidays?? I gotta make a Christmas list!)

And on Sunday, November 17, we wrap things up with Patinas and Cold Connections. A great class to learn all about riveting and coloring on metal. And since the class is local... I am going to add a special bonus... how to use a rolling mill to pattern metal and wire!

You can read all about how to enroll, here on the website. So start planning now and I can wait to see you in class in November!