I’m always fascinated by the different techniques that bead makers develop when left to their own devices. In my own experience I have only had three formal classes and that was within the first 6 months of my almost 16 years of bead making. Oh, I’ve seen demos at the various conferences I’ve been to but I am really a “let’s see what will happen if I do this,” kind of gal. So I’ve been looking around at the various tutorials out there and am always looking for what each bead maker does differently. Most bead makers use glass rods to make their beads, as I do. But Lorraine Allan of Glass and Splinters Lampwork Beads in Australia, uses strips. Check out her tutorial on how to make flower beads. It’s pretty cool. And check out her entire web site. Nice glass eye candy.
Have you read?
How to Make a Tri-Fold Spring Bird Card
Add some interest to your card making with a tri-fold design. A tri-fold card has three sections that overlap in a zig zag to create dimension and a little extra interactive element to the design instead of a traditional single fold card. Ilina used new stamps and dies from Hero Arts to create her Tri-fold Spring Birds Card.
The bottom layer of her design is the first flap and it’s got die cut grass, purple flowers and the heat embossed white sentiment, the next layer has different pink flowers and the two birds sitting on a hill, the last layer is the inside of the card with a hedge of greenery where you can add a hand written or stamped sentiment inside. She used markers to add additional color to her images. You can watch her video tutorial over on the Hero Arts blog.
-Heather