Is Threading Beads Delightful? Maybe! You be the judge.

So I have a video on how to crochet hoop earrings and in that video I used beads with my thread. Now if you use beads when you crochet then you know that sometimes it.s difficult to find. Well in my internet surfing endeavors I came across a Nice lady, Brenda. She commented on the video about a certain needle we could use. My interest was peaked and so I went to her blog and looked at what it could be and this is what she was talking about.

The product she bought was GUM ease. It is a threader for your floss to clean between dentures or braces. Here is a picture of what they may look like.

This is fantastic, I think, since I always have trouble getting my thread through my beads. I have not tried it yet but will definitely be purchasing some in the very near future. For now this is what I also found useful is Beadalon. This is just regular beading wire used for jewelry making. I cut off about 6" piece and crease it in half. Then open it back up and slip in my thread between the two pieces and start threading on my beads. 

I got mine at my local Walmart and it is inexpensive and now has multiple uses. I keep it with all my other needles in my magnetic needle case also from Walmart. (Are you noticing the theme here) Here is a picture of what I have.

Give these two ideas a try and let me know how it goes. Do you prefer one over the other or do both serve equally as well? Until next time. Have a wonderful day.

Wonderful Designer - Robyn Chalula

I wanted to talk about a wonderful designer who I love and aspire to be like
Robyn Chalula. But first a little rant on sharing:

I recently came across a conversation between an artist (not Robyn Chalula) and one of her fellow follower. The artist was going on about how low people were in trying to "copy" her and why couldn't they be unique like she was? Needless to say her comments rubbed me the wrong way. I  started thinking about how I get into this type of mentality when I make or create something and how I start to think that I am so smart for making something so unique, then having the wind blown out of my sails two days later when I see someone else has posted the exact same thing that I just made. So that got me thinking about this particular artist and how annoyed I was at her comment. It wasn't only  because she didn't  want to share her pattern, either purchased or otherwise, but I just couldn't believe that she was the only one on God's green earth that had thought of this technique. So I started looking and searching the Web for this technique and I found it. I found another artist who had done this technique two years before her. This new artist was even kind enough to sell her patterns on Etsy! So my search was over and I did not confront the artist who posted the comments because I didn't think it would make a difference to that person but only took on the chore of doing so to prove something to myself.
Humans have been on this earth for thousands of years, and yes some people are still inventing new and glorious thing, but for the most part man can only improve on what is already out there. So let's not think we are the only ones out there that have thought up of a concept and have "reinvented the wheel",so to speak and instead let's try to be a more kind and giving people. Lets make things better and share the love!
This is one great example of sharing the love. Here I found a wonderful new book by Robyn Chalula.
Crochet Month Designer Interview Series: Get to know Robyn Chachula! | Bernat Blog
I especially like the fact that she gives us a free pattern just to wet our pallets. If it's one thing I love is people who share their creations freely.
Don't get me wrong I know artist need to make money, but for those of them who freely share some of their work, I admire them for their generosity and kindness.