Striped Paper Beads

I love the way these striped beads came out. (I know, I always say that--I'm not posting pictures of the ones I didn't like the way they came out!)

I made these with a 12x18 inch piece of paper. I loaded my paintbrush with the blue-green paint and painted in a paintbrush-width column down the page. In practice, what that meant was that I had lots of color at the top of the page and next to nothing by the bottom. I did that all the way across the page.

I cut strips that were 5/8 inch on the bottom up to 5/16 at the top. This left triangles between them that were 5/6 inch at the top down to a point at the bottom. When I rolled a bead, I rolled the fatter strip first, then continued with the thinner strip. This meant the paint went from green to white and white back to green, which made these lovely stripes.

As always--have fun experimenting!

Purple Paper Beads

I love the way these colors came out! These were just a simple, traditional paper bead shape, but the handpainted colors on them make these paper beads pop.

I used 12x18 inch paper and painted it with a mixture of purple and red acrylic paint. Once it dried, I cut it into 1 1/2 inch triangles, measuring along the longer side of the paper so my triangles were 12 inches long. Then I rolled them and gave them three coats of polycrylic, as always, and--wow! Paper beads with pizazz!

Paste Painted Paper Beads

I love the way these beads came out. If I had used red rather than orange, they'd look like little barber shop poles...

I painted these beads with tinted cornstarch paste. That gave me the ability to craw designs in the paint before it dried, which gave a nice texture to the paper. Plus it was a lot of fun! Here's how I did it.

I made a cornstarch paste by mixing 1/4 cup cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Once it was well blended, I added another cup of water and heated it until it was thick. I stirred in a final 1/2 cup of water, then let it cool.

Once it was cool, I stirred in some acrylic paint in the color I wanted. Then I used a big, thick paintbrush to wet my paper, then painted a thickish layer of the colored paste over the whole page.

Once you're at that stage, let your imagination run wild to choose an implement to etch a design in your paint. I did these by drawing a silicone basting brush in diagonal lines across the paper. I did another page by scrunching up waxed paper and dabbing it over the paper.

Once the paper was dry, I ironed the back side at low heat before I cut and rolled it into beads. These strips were 3/4 inch at the wide end and 3/8 inch at the narrow end. I also did some 3/8 inch little round beads with the triangles that resulted from cutting the paper into blunt strips. My paper was 12x18 inches to start with.

Again, I encourage you to experiment in your own art. Don't be boring!

Handpainted Paper Beads

We've had 12 inches of snow in north Texas--a genuine record amount!--and that means it's great weather to stay cozy and make beads (with plenty of hot chocolate, of course).

So here's the pictures I've been promising for the last couple of posts. This is my first set of truly handpainted beads. The pictures are of the paper after I'd painted it, then the finished beads. I love the way these came out! I keep running the strand of beads through my fingers, marveling that it was just a sheet of typing paper a few days ago. They are so pretty and shiny and glossy.

I anticipate lots of fun making these in different color combinations and different shapes. They make me feel so creative and artistic--it doesn't matter that I can't draw a recognizable person for this kind of art. Playing with colors speaks to something in my soul.