Paper Beads

Yesterday, I had someone come up to me at our dulcimer gig at a local church and hand me a bracelet. She wanted me to guess what it was made out of. I knew right away, as I have been messing around with making the same type jewelry.

Paper bead jewelry! She was surprised I knew anything about it, and then I told her I've been learning to make paper beads. This bracelet is made of some of my first beads along with hematite. 

If you look real close, you can tell I got the paper from a Thirty One Catalog. You can also tell these are probably not my best beads, but heck, they are one of my first...and I think I'm getting a little better.

 Today, I've been making some big beads. This is how I dry them after I coat them with a heavy glaze. They get three coats, so it is a little time consuming.

These are going to be earrings, I think; two sets. I really like the color. I hope to be able to perfect them, because as soon as we get moved and settled in our new home, I think I might be opening an etsy account with some of my jewelry. If I can get the paper beads looking nice, I hope to have them on there.