Delica Beads

I thought I would share a little of my experience with these magic little beads as they were part of my initial enthusiasm for beadweaving and I was fortunate to begin with them so didn't have to struggle with round seed beads and peyote stitch. The magic of delicas is that they are a very uniform cylindrical shape and knit together with great ease. Check the pic out that I copied from the Miyuki site.

Miyuki makes these beads as well as a variety of other seed beads. They are not as cheap as alot of other seeds but the xtra cost is worth the price as you don't end up throwing so many out. The colours last well and come in a great range. Delica beads are about twice the price of standard size 11 seed beads but they are slightly smaller so you get more for your dollar.

My first ever project was a mammoth task as I got it in my head that I wanted to make a picture of my youngest daughter as a baby. I had purchased a program called Beadcreator that you could design your own patterns with or use photos that converted to a bead pattern. I wanted to do a photo conversion so off I went. I learnt alot! Computer programs are clever but they cannot deal with the finish of beads effectively and I just took what the program gave me and went to it. The end product is kinda cool (see badly taken photo) but its mismash because different finishes lead to some parts jumping out and some parts receding in the pattern. It is also very hard to photograph with light hitting the piece and refracting off all over the place. This piece took a LONG time...even at several hours a day. This is where I built patience and branded myself with some sort of crazy compulsive disorder!! The piece is about 50 cm high and 45 cm wide and my favorite aspect it that it feels like fabric and I can just roll it up...glass that can be rolled is pretty cool!

I now use the delicas to make mi nature kimonos after being inspired by Madelyn Ricks and Sharmini Wirasekara over at mostlyglass

This is a quarter of the back of the current piece I am weaving - a gift for my spiritual teacher based on the Taj Mahal.



And here is my teacher in delicas



So its really cool what you can do!

I started importing the delicas along with size 11 Miyuki seed beads when I could not get what I wanted in New Zealand for the price and quality beads I wanted. There are hundreds of delica colours and I stock just over 100 of them so it makes it really hard to choose colours. I want to start playing more with blending finishes so I can get an artistic 3D look out of a 2D image but I also like making 3D shapes such as woven flowers and the beading around cabachons.

If anyone wants to know more about these magic beads please feel free to ask and I will do my best...Cheers...Lynne