Paper bead techniques are many and varied – this is a new one I devised to add pizzazz to my paper beads.
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.
- Information about 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.
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.
You can see the video showing how I did it by clicking here to go to my YouTube channel.
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.
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.
So here are the two designs I did for crafters to download, click the links
To use the free printables, you will need to print them off, cut the bead strips and use a paper bead tool to roll the strips into beads.
(Please click here to read the Terms & Conditions of using any of my free printables.)
If you are new to paper bead making, you can find out how the process works by watching my video.
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.
You can check out this machine in my Amazon shops.
These items were available at the time of writing but that may have changed with time.
https://www.amazon.com/shop/rainbowlane
https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/rainbowlane
You can read my Amazon Affiliate statement here.
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, you might like my paper bead strip stencil.
I no longer sell my stencils or tools in my etsy shop but please contact me via Instagram instead.
My paper bead digital downloads are still available in my etsy shop though.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ImagesForCrafts
Have fun using the free printables, there will be more in my next post.
If you have any questions, either leave a comment here or go over to my YouTube channel and leave a message in the comments section.
Thanks for being here and watch out for more paper bead techniques in future posts.