HOME | DD
Crimefish — Painted Paper Bead Tutorial
Published: 2012-12-12 15:12:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 78305; Favourites: 638; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Exactly how I made this:SO SIMPLE.
Simple is as simple does.You can make the beads as wide as you want. I only used
1cm width because if they were any wider, they wouldn't fit
comfortably on memory wire, or worse, the memory wire
could dig into the beads and damage the ends.
It depends what you plan to use them for!
I copied some of the text from one of my other tutorials,
since the methods are similar.
Credit for the arrow brushes goes to ewanism.
My other paper bead tutorials:
And FAQ:
Paper Bead FAQQ. Why do you make jewellery out of paper?
A. Paper is my precious, and we wants it, precious, we wants it. My sister showed me how to make paper beads when I was a child, and a couple of years ago, I remembered and felt like trying it again. And now I'm an addict, YAY! I love jewellery making using any and all materials, but I like the challenge of making a material as basic as paper look elegant.
Q. How strong are paper beads? Don't they fall apart?
A. This depends on if and how you seal them. I varnish all my paper beads to make them hard, glossy, and long-lasting. The Japanese are famous for making furniture out of paper. It
Related content
Comments: 47
Thank you for inspiring me to make my own paperbeads!
Before I had seen your artwork I thought making paperbeads is something for little kids .
But you make the beads look so beautiful I have to try them.
Thanks for the Idea using metallic nailpolish!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
So, just to be clear.... do you have to glue the paper as you're rolling it? If not, when do you make sure the paper stays together?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You glue the end and when you paint it it holds the bead together
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Love your paper beads! And just started to make some using your tutorial. Must say I am far away for mine looking the same as yours and maybe the will never which is fine 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hi!
I liked your tutorial very much and I'd like to translate your tutorial into Russian, so that people from Russian-speaking countries can also make such beautiful things. May I translate it?
I'll write that it's your tutorial and give a link on this page of course!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! Of course you may.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hi there, your stock has been featured here: [link] hope you don't mind
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I tried making these beads for earrings, and they turned out okay. But after I take them off the stick, are they supposed to be slightly squishy? I was under the impression that they would be solid (like, plastic-y) when the polish dried, but they weren't. They were definitely solid, though. Did I just not wait long enough for the beads to dry?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
I usually give them a polyurethane coat before and after painting my beads because nailpolish can be acidic and eventually wear down the paper. Also I let mine dry fully overnight before adding another coat or taking them off the stick. It is more time consuming, but I feel like the beads come out a lot better. Another tip is to use scrap booking paper. sometimes i am too lazy or do not have enough time to paint my beads so I use the paper and just top coat with polyurethane to keep them sturdy and more weather proof.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
These tiny ones are quite delicate and should be a little squishy before adding any varnish, but the varnish should harden them. Mine feel like frozen peas. Most of the time, the only difference I've found in leaving to dry is ensuring the finish doesn't get dented by anything while it's still tacky. But there's always a chance that drying time affects their hardness, too.
There are other factors, ie. how thick the paper is and hence how thick the beads are, what kind of polish you use. I find if I'm using a thinner nail polish, or acrylic gloss varnish, the first coat soaks into the paper, and the second and third build up to form a hard shell. For all I know, using very glossy paper may keep the varnish from soaking in and hardening the beads properly.
I'm afraid I haven't tried enough variation in materials and so on, to be very reliable help with troubleshooting.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Every Christmas I try to make a gift for the adults in my family. These are what I will make this year. Thank you.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
All your paper bead tutorials and creations are so beautiful! Thank you for showing us how to make them. (I can't wait to make a bracelet for my aunt. She makes jewelry but she doesn't have something made from paper yet.)
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I've never even thought about making something like this. Sounds very creative and fun... I have to try it sometime. Thanks for the tutorial and the tips.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
=/ I just can't figure out what to do with tiger wire X_X; it just seems so useless!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's not! Memory wire is springy, whereas as far as I can tell, tiger wire is limp noodle. It doesn't seem to serve the same purpose as most jewellery wire. It doesn't hold its shape at all. As far as I can tell, it needs to be used more like cord. I have a tiger tail necklace / bracelet like this: [link] where the ends are fixed by crimp beads, and there are magnets along the length of the bracelet to help it keep its shape. I've also seen people use very thin tiger tail for earrings and necklaces, where they want something thinner and more delicate-looking than cord, but as strong as possible.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's been a lot of fun, just wish I knew the actual use of half of this stuff :S
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Super interesting. I know what I'll ba making one of my dear friends for next Christmas~
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nice I used this, the picture beads and the charm bracelet tutorials for bracelets for a friend and my sister. They loved them
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Yup, I still don't understand where you get the patience for this. Amazeballs. <3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Considering you need approximately a million beads for any project except earrings... yeah. I don't know, either. I mostly make them while I'm watching TV, 'cause if I don't have something to keep my hands busy, I feel like I'm not doing anything, and wasting the entire day.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You're so welcome! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
You should sell these, if you don't already. I would buy one
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well if you were to sell them, the best place to start would be to take them to art/craft fairs. Find out when the next craft fair near you is, start making some in advance, and bring them to a fair and show them off. Or you could give a few to someone else selling at the craft fair and offer so much percentage of the sales to them. Make sure you have some sort of business card to give out with contact info. If sales go poorly....well you can either keep trying or do the alternative.
Another suggestion is approaching some store that sells gifts, showing them the item, and asking for space to display the jewelry you make, and once again offering them some sort of percentage of money from the sales. It would have to be some mom and pop store, not a chain like Claires or Walmart who have no control over what items are displayed. But I have heard stories of people that have done this.
Both of these ideas would be a lot of work, it's just a suggestion that you try one. If its something you are interested in, you might want to try it. Like I said, lots of work, so I would only consider it if its something you really want to do.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wow awesome!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
awesome!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I have a book on how to do these but was never sure quite how I wanted to paint them!!! This just gave me a great idea for my own jewelry 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Oh wow, that's so cool?!
I never thought of making these for myself, thank you so much!<3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you, glad you think so!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
can you use any kind of wire for this? the only thing I have access to is like wire sculpture wire... the stuff thats basically coated in oil 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't see why not, but then I've never used any other kind, so I'm not sure of the possible drawbacks. There's also no reason not to use cord or elastic.
The reason I used memory wire is because it's practically impossible to accidentally bend it out of shape. You can tug and twist as much as you need to get it on and off of your wrist, and it springs back into a perfect circle.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
that's what I thought, thanks
👍: 0 ⏩: 1