You can use my designs to make bag charms, necklaces, card toppers, scrap book embellishments and cute little fridge magnets or to give people you love/like.
To create a simple fridge magnet…
…just follow the YouTube tutorial but instead of puting the glassed design into a pendant tray, just attached a piece of self adhesive magnetic strip to the back and voila! A fridge magnet to slip in someone’s pocket as a surprise on Valentine’s Day!
A fridge magnet made with my free printables
And if you are making pendants, don’t worry if you don’t have pendant trays or glass cabochons…
I made a video a while back showing how to make a DIY pendant bezel and glaze it if you don’t have and glass cabochons.
You can adapt what you will learn in that video to use these one inch square designs.
Glass pendant made with my free printable and glass cabochon/metal pendant tray.
After Jan 31st 2021, it will also be available in my Etsy shop for people who don’t visit my channel.
If your eyesight is poor, you may prefer the other template in my Etsy shop which has the strips space further apart.
The previous template in two parts, which prints on two sheets of paper, will be easier to cut for some people.
But if you have good eyesight and can cope with the lines close together, this new template is more economical to use.
If you are a Silhouette Cameo user – I have good news for you!
This European style paper bead template is now available in my Etsy shop so you can cut your bead strips with ease in only a couple of minutes.
European Paper Bead Template for using in a Silhouette Cameo machine. My files also work in Cricut machines but you must know what you are doing as I am unable to advise on after sale Cricut queries.
This is how easy it is! After you have bought the electronic cutting template from my Etsy shop, you can open it in Silhouette Studio and cut your strips perfectly in a couple of minutes.
And if you want to get hold of craft supplies such as the clear gloss I use to glaze my beads, visit my Amazon shops.
I’ll be back again soon with some lovely freebies I am designing for Valentine’s Day – so subscribe here and make sure you don’t miss the free printables I give away.
And have fun using the template for making European style paper beads.
There is a story behind this design. The image is actually part of a photo I took of the Christmas tree in our town of Felixstowe.
It may not be the best tree in the world but it lights up the cold night in Felixstowe – so leave the poor thing alone you unkind people!
And thank you to the Lion’s Club for our tree, regardless of it not being good enough for some people – thank you. 💖
This free paper bead design features one of the ‘worst Christmas trees in Britain’!
Well that was according to the Sun newspaper which is, ironically (and of course only in my opinion!) the worst newspaper in Britain.
So not sure why they are poking fun at our Christmas tree.
Anyway, I had no idea of this when I went into town one night to have a look at the Christmas decorations and take a few pics to show my 92 year old mum.
Imagine my surprise when I heard we had made the national news (albeit The Sun) for having one of the ‘worst Christmas trees in Britain’.
Juest scroll down the free printables page until you see this image,
The links for US and UK sizes are directly below it.
And if there are any resources in my YouTube video you don’t know where to buy, try my Amazon shops. I always try to have most things in there although it isn’t always possible. Worth checking though.
Everyone is running around getting ready for their holidays so I won’t keep you.
I will be back very soon with a tutorial and access to a free printable (and Silhouette Cameo cut file) for a limited time only to make these European style beads.
Getting this precise European style bead shape isn’t easy but you can do it with the new printable template I have just finished working on.
The template was designed primarily for sale in my Etsy shop but I will have a two day window when it is free for my readers and YouTube subscribers to download.
After that, people will have to buy it – so watch out for my next post to grab it quickly!
Thanks for reading/watching – Happy Holidays wherever you are and whatever you celebrate.
Enjoy the free paper bead design and love that poor misunderstood tree!
by Gilly·Comments Off on Great News!All my free printables past and present, are on one easy access page now – no passwords needed.
And I will be adding all my future free printables here too – so subscribe today and you won’t miss anything.
Above you can see three examples of the kinds of designs I give away – there are many more than this.
Those of you who watch my YouTube craft tutorials will know I regularly give away printable designs to use in your crafts.
You will also know that during each tutorial, I always used to give you a password to access the pages where you could download the designs.
From today, that has all changed – I now have one page where you can scroll through to find a design you want, click on the link to download the full res image and also, click on the YouTube link to see the tutorial that goes with the free printable.
To get access to all the free printables that I currently have, click here.
And if you want to know as soon as I put more designs on that page, simply subscribe to either this blog or to my YouTube channel.
by Gilly·Comments Off on More Free Christmas printables for you!
(Plus some paper bead news and the free printable coming next – read on!)
News flash – I have now created a special page where will find all my free printables in one place. You no longer need passwords to access them and I have also put in the YouTube tutorial links showing you how to use most of the free printables. Click here to go to the page.
As promised, here are four more free Christmas printables for you.
You can get the previous set of free Christmas printables by clicking here.
Free clip art is always welcomed by crafters, so I have been busy creating some nice cosy Christmas images for you to download and use.
You can use them on cards, tags, gift wrap, scrapbooking, journaling – the choice is yours.
All I ask is that you abide by the Terms & Conditions of using my images – there aren’t many but I would appreciate it if you would respect the ones I do have😍.
The image of Santa giving out presents is actually an old 1911 pic that I have altered and added snow to give it a real wintry feel.
There are more free Christmas printables in the pipeline…
I will be giving away the design for making these beads very soon.
If you are a paper bead maker you may enjoy using the free design I am giving away in my next post.
One of the free printables coming next time – see previous pic for the beads you can make with it.
I’m not sure which day I will be publishing, so if you want to make sure you get notified, just subscribe to this blog and you will be notified of new posts as soon as they come out.
My next post will be about how to use the design and I will be showing you exactly how I made the beads in the picture.
And if anyone is interested in making pillow paper beads, you will love my latest discovery!
It’s been more decades than I want to admit since I discovered the joy of paper beading and in all that time, I have managed to never make pillow beads.
So I was really excited when I discovered a crafter with a channel called Wokos Crafts on YouTube
Woko has some beautiful videos on paper beading, especially the one showing how to make pillow beads.
My first attempt at making pillow beads – I’m sure I’ll get better with practice! Watch Woko’s tutorial if you want to learn.
If you want to learn how to make pillow beads, click the link above for Wokos Crafts and you will see how it is done.
It is a very simple technique and you don’t need a bead tool. Woko is very softly spoken and relaxing to watch.
And if you want to use the same colors that I used, you can download and print my designs onto glossy paper, by clicking the links under the pictures.
And in case you are wondering, there are stringing holes in pillow beads beads but they are in the corners.
If you liked my free Christmas printables, keep coming back because there will be many more free printables in the coming months.
And if there is anything in particular that you would like, maybe a certain colour scheme or pattern, let me know.
A typical paper bead design – suggestions for colors are welcome.
I do have an etsy shop where I sell paper bead templates but as life is way more than just about money, I love being able to give away some designs on this website too.
I also sell paper bead making tools in my shop for making small hole beads (3mm) and large hole European style beads (5mm).
But coming up very soon, I am going to show you how I make beautiful European Style paper beads without using my bead tools.
I will be demonstrating how I get the core holes to the perfect size for the bead cores to fit.
I will be showing you how to make these beads using my template very soon.
Enjoy your crafting projects and please consider subscribing here so you don’t miss any free printables.
And enjoy the free Christmas printables – ’tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la, la la la la!
by Gilly·Comments Off on Free Christmas Clip Art For You!
News flash – I have now created a special page where will find all my free printables in one place. You no longer need passwords to access them and I have also put in the YouTube tutorial links showing you how to use most of the free printables. Click here to go to the page.
(If free Christmas clip art is not your thing because you celebrate different holidays, read on to the end because I may be able to help you too.)
Are you looking for free Christmas clip art?
Not long now until the various seasonal holidays – Christmas being one of them. If you are looking for last minute free Christmas clip art, you might like these colorful images I have created.
You are welcome to download them and use them in your Christmas projects for cards, scrapbooking, journalling and any thing else you might want free Christmas clip art for.
by Gilly·Comments Off on Paper Bead Techniques – Transform Your Beads With a Touch Of Gold!
King Midas paper beads with a touch of gold
In this post about paper bead techniques you will find the following:
A link to my YouTube video showing how to make gold tipped paper beads.
The free printable downloads I have for you in this post and the links to download them.
A brief outline of why I created this technique and how it benefits your paper bead making.
Links to my Etsy shop where you can buy my paper bead making tools and bead strip template I use in the video.
Links to my Amazon shops where you can buy many other craft tools and supplies.
(If you want to jump straight to the video, click here.)
Paper bead techniques, if used creatively, can add something very special to your finished paper beads.
The thing that has always bugged me about paper beads is leaving the ends unfinished.
Depending on the shape of your bead, you can sometimes use metal bead cores to finish them off nicely and give your beads a bit more strength and rigidity, as with the pink European Style paper bead in the image below.
But what if you are rolling tapered beads? Most tapered beads are not suitable for bead cores, as you can see in the image below of the blue bead.
The bead on the left does not have the right shape to accomodate a metal bead core.
So I spent ages trying to think of a paper bead technique that would address the issue of unfinished ends/core holes.
And BAM! It finally hit me a few weeks back how I could strengthen the ends of tapered beads while giving them a really finished, professional look.
Developing and trying out new paper bead techniques keeps crafting interesting and fresh.
So I was pleased when I tried my idea out and it really worked well. I’ve called these beads my Midas beads because it’s just as if King Midas touched the ends to give them a touch of gold 😍
This is what I made with them.
You can see how to string a necklace like this in the video.
This technique gave a lovely golden glow to my bracelet – you can see how to do it in the video.
But I didn’t stop at gold!
When I designed the free printables that I wanted to give away with the post. I did one of the designs in various blues.
That was for Allison, one of my subscribers who lives in Australia with her cat YumYum who also likes my videos 😻. We chat sometimes online and she told me she likes all shades of blue and pinks.
So what did I do? I forgot to add in some pink to the design! Anyway Allison, at least I remembered the shades of blue! Hope you like it.
And as blue is a cooler color, I made the ends of the beads silver which works pretty nicely.
I made these using the free printable and the paper bead technique shown in my video.
So here are the two designs I did for crafters to download, click the links
If you are new to paper bead making, you can find out how the process works by watching my video.
News flash – I have now created a special page where will find all my free printables in one place. You no longer need passwords to access them and I have also put in the YouTube tutorial links showing you how to use most of the free printables. Click here to go to the page.
It’s unusual for me to cut my paper bead strips by hand now.
I used to use my plastic paper bead template to mark out my paper bead strips on the printed designs and then I would cut them along my drawn lines using a metal ruler, cutting mat and craft knife.
And that is fine for most people. But as I cut so many paper bead strips, I now use my electronic cutter, which I touch on briefly in the video.
It is so much easier and quicker to let the cutter do the work. I use the Silhouette Cameo machine.
My Silhouette Cameo cutting machine
You can check out this machine in my Amazon shops.
I have also added the Arteza Irridescent paints that I use in the video, to my UK Amazon storefront. Unfortunately, the same paints are showing as unavailable on Amazon.com right now so I added a set of metallic paints that I know are very good for people who shop on .com.
Paper bead tools and templates.
If you don’t want to go to the expense of buying an electronic cutter, check out my bead strip templates in my Etsy shop. You will find my paper bead rolling tools there too.
by Gilly·Comments Off on Paper Bead Ideas – Make Paper Beads From Your Gelatin Prints!
(Note: if you are here from my YouTube Channel, details of my Esty, Folksy and Amazon shops can be found at the end of this post. You will also find the link to the free digital design at the end too.)
News flash – I have now created a special page where will find all my free printables in one place. You no longer need passwords to access them and I have also put in the YouTube tutorial links showing you how to use most of the free printables. Click here to go to the page.
Paper bead ideas come to me all the time as I have been obsessed with paper beads since the 70s.
And as someone who is also obsessed with sploshing paint around, despite having no particular talent for it, I always have hundreds of ordinary but colorful abstract paintings laying around begging to be turned into paper beads.
One of my favourite ways of making abstract art is by using a Gelli plate with acrylics and like many gelatin print enthusiasts, I have literally hundreds, if not thousands of fairly mediocre paintings stuffed in portfolios and drawers.
Many people use their Gelatin prints to make beautiful cards but making paper beads is another fantastic way to use your art to save it from being shut away forever.
It’s exciting to actually use all the hundreds of gelli plate prints we produce to create truly unique pieces of jewelry from paper beads
A few of the hundreds of mediocre Gelli prints I have.
Paper bead ideas in action! This is what I made from a single Gelli print that was hiding away in my stash of ‘nothing special’ prints.
A necklace made using one of my Gelli Plate prints.
For those who don’t know what Gelli/Gelatin Plate printing is, it’s a very easy and exciting way to paint using a thick, floppy rectangle of what looks and feels like Jello (jelly if you are in the UK).
It’s used in conjunction with a small roller or brayer as it is also known.
The exciting thing about gelatin printing (also called mono printing) is that while it is used byprofessional artists to produce stunning pieces of wall art, it can also be used by amateurs and hobbyists to experiment with paint in an easy way that enables them to produce beautiful, unique work.
Journal pages very quickly created using a gelatin printing plate and acrylic paints.
If you want to see how I create my gelatin prints for journals, click here to watch.
And later in this post, I will introduce you to professional artist Miranda Grayling who combines Gelli plate with mono printing and silk screen printing to produce stunning artwork which sells really well.
Paper bead ideas come thick and fast when you go though your stash of ‘unremarkable’ prints.
And lets face it, unless we are professional artists or highly competant amateurs, us Gelatin printers do have stacks of so-so prints that we don’t quite know what to do with.
No I have not saturated the colours in any of these images – the brightness is because I used some fluorescent paints alongside the ‘quieter’ ones.
We all play with Gelli printing for different reasons. My reason is definitely because it is a source of calm when I feel stressed.
For me, the act, or process of creating the prints is the main reason I create that way.
The end product is not the focus of each session. I think this has become even more obvious to me during this awful world crisis where we have all been locked up.
Out of all the arts and crafts I do, Gelli plate/Mono printing has been the activity I have gravitated to the most when I have felt unusually stressed and low during the last few months.
I haven’t really been thinking about what I am producing. The real purpose was to simply do something creative and enjoy the time while I was doing it without worrying about the end result.
And so now I have an even bigger stock of Gelli print paintings/stroke backgrounds to use for my paper bead ideas.
The many paintings I produced over the last 7 months, while feeling upset and worried like millions of other people, kept me busy while my emotions were up and down.
It was an escape because sometimes I would spend hours and hours just doing print after print after print to keep from going mad.
I have now paused the printing and am slowly begining to cut the prints up to make jewelry.
While I have been having fun cutting up my Gelli prints, my friend Miranda has been busy selling hers at an exhibition in Denmark.
Miranda Grayling is a UK based artist who regularly sells her work at exhibitions both here and abroad.
I highlight her work here to show the spectrum of ability that the Gelli plate printing supports.
Anyone from an absolute, ‘never done it before’, beginner to a pro like Miranda can use the Gelli plate to explore their creativity and grow as a creator.
It should be said though, that Miranda does also combine her mono-printing with silk-screen printing to create her beautiful collages but for hobbyists who are learning, the Gelli plate alone does hold a myriad of possibilities for making wonderful layered images.
Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you have a ton of fun exploring these paper bead ideas – pop over to my YouTube channel and leave me a comment.
