Now we spell LOVE- Letter E by Marcia DeCoster

The final in the four letters you'll need to bead love!

Quick note, many of you are posting your LOVE letters on Facebook and we've  been collecting them up and adding them to collages.  Please do us a favor and post a photo of your E and your LOVE separately.  This gives us less editing work to do so that we can share everyone's beautiful letters with you.  Please try not to include distracting backgrounds or text.  Thank you!

If you've already beaded L, O and V the E will be super easy.  Basically it is the same as L with both a bottom and a top.  The mid-point has 2 cubes, one cube wide.  The letter was purposely designed with an odd number of rows so there would be a mid-point.

Notes: If this is your first letter, you may want to check back on the L post here to see what I say about thread.  Basically I am a double waxed fireline girl because I think it gives the best results in this design.

Supplies:  You'll need small amounts of a main color in size 11º and an even smaller amount for the serif.  Some size 15ºs will come in handy for adding the embellishments.  Make a nice collection of some O beads, 3 and 4 mm crystals, pearls, or fire polish, a few crystal sequins if you have them and whatever else strikes your fancy.

If you're not familiar with CRAW this video from Heather Collin is a good one to watch.  To be successful with the letters you should have a pretty good grasp of cubic right angle weave.  In this project you will be weaving not only a cube on top of a cube but cubes next to cubes as well,  to make a column that is 2-cube wide.


CRAW: Pick up 4 size 11 beads and tie in a circle. These are the floor beads. Pick up 3 beads (side, ceiling and side beads) and pass through the floor bead you are exiting from the opposite side (this forms the first wall) and the next floor bead. Pick up 2 11’s and pass through the side bead from the first wall, the floor bead and the next floor bead (this forms the second wall). Repeat for the third wall, adding 2 beads. Pass through the last floor bead and the side bead from the first wall. Pick up 1 bead and pass through the side bead of the third wall, the floor bead, the side bead of the first wall and the ceiling bead of the first wall.

Make a second CRAW cube attached to the first one by repeating all of the steps above. The ceiling of the first cube will become the floor of the second cube. Turn the two cubes horizontal and weave to exit a ceiling bead on the left of the 2 cubes as shown. (This was previously a side bead, when the work is turned it becomes a ceiling bead of that cube and a floor bead of the cube about to be built.)

When weaving cubes side by side you will be weaving 7 walls. The interior wall between the two cubes is a shared wall. Begin by picking up 3 seed beads and passing through the ceiling you are exiting.

The illustrations below show how the face of the cube has side beads as well as a floor and ceiling. Use the arrows to see in what order to build the walls. See below for how many beads each wall should have.

Wall 1: 3 beads

Wall 2: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 3: 2 beads (side bead is shared with Wall 2)

Wall 4: 1 bead (Pass through the shared floor bead and up through the first bead of wall one. Pick up the one ceiling bead and pass through the side bead of wall 3, the shared floor bead again and then through the floor bead for wall 5)

Wall 5: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 6: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 5)

Wall 7: 1 bead (Pass through the floor bead of 7 and the shared side bead from Wall 3. Pick up the one ceiling beading pass through the shared side bead from wall 6, the floor bead from wall 7 and up through shared side bead from Wall 3 and 7, shown as arrow 8 in the illustration)

.

With the work turned so that walls 3 and 7 are facing you, pass through the ceiling bead on the left. Repeat these steps an additional 11 times for a total of 13 rows of 2 cubes each.

Turn the work so the cubes you just finished are at the bottom and weave to exit an edge bead on the second row of cubes as shown. Build 4 rows, 2 cubes wide for the bottom of the E.

Weave up to the middle cube, 7th from the bottom.  Bead two cubes here. as shown  Weave up to the top of the E and weave 4 rows, 2 cubes wide the same as the bottom of the E.

Serifs: To add the serifs, in a contrasting size 11º weave to exit an edge bead. Pick up 3 size 11ºs and pass through the edge bead from the opposite side. Weave through a ceiling bead in that cube and pass through the corresponding edge bead on the back of the L. Repeat the 3 bead picot. Pass up through the first and second beads to exit the middle bead of the picot. Pass the thread through the middle picot bead on the front picot and back through the middle picot bead on the back. Weave to the edge bead for the next picot. If I have a lot of thread left I will pass the thread through the middle of the cubes up to the where the next picot needs to be placed.

If you need to stabilize the inside corners of the E you can run thread through the two edge beads on either side of the corners in both the front and the back.


Embellishments: Make yourself a pretty little pile of coordinated accent beads and choose a location on your letter to apply them. Use the working thread or weave in a new thread if necessary. Exiting a seed bead on the base of the letter, pick up an accent bead, a size 11º or 15º turning bead and pass back through the accent bead and an adjacent bead on the base. Repeat until you have a pleasing assortment of beads arranged on your letter.

And now for a a little surprise....I heard mentions more than once that perhaps HOPE would be a good word as well.  Well you have an O and an E and below I will give you some guidelines for creating an H and a P.

To create the H, use directions above to make two,   2 cube wide columns of 13 rows. Weave to exit and edge bead on the 7th row of one of the columns.  Bead 3 one cube wide rows and join to the 7th edge cube of the second column.  Add serifs and embellishments as you did for the LOVE letters.

For the P, use the directions above to make one, 2 cube wide column.  Weave to exit a floor bead on the top cube so that your first wall will be on the edge of the column. Make cubes as follows:  Note:  the first and all interior walls will be size 15's (aqua beads).  Make 4 cubes with 1 bead on each ceiling.  Make 3 cubes with 2 beads on the front and back face ceilings and 1 bead on the edge.  Make 3 cubes with 1 bead on each ceiling.  Join the last cube to the edge of the 5th cube from the top.  Add serifs and embellishments as you did for the love letters.

 

Struggling with the P?  Here is a little write up I did to help out. This is for the 3 cubes which have 2 ceiling beads on the front and back face.

Take it one cube and then one wall at a time. I try to think of picking up sides and ceilings where the front face and back face ceilings are the multiple beads. Start on the interior wall, which is the one with 15's. So Wall One, 3 size 15 beads = 1 side, 1 ceiling, 1 side. Wall Two (front face of the letter), 3 beads = 1 side and 2 ceilings. Wall Three (exterior edge of the letter), 2 beads = 1 side and 1 ceiling. Wall Four (back face of the letter) you only add the ceiling so only 2 beads. Just take it slow, one wall at a time starting with the interior wall of 3 size 15's and you should be able to see what is going on.

Stay tuned for next week where I'll have a few ideas of how to use your LOVE letters!

If you want to be sure to see new content, sign up for email delivery!  

Blogpost written by Marcia DeCoster

For a printable version click here.

Beautiful V's, third in the LOVE letters

Thanks to everyone who is following along and sharing their beautiful letters.  So much originality.

Tomorrow I'll publish E and a little surprise as well!  We look forward to seeing all the LOVE spelled out.

If you need to find the directions for any of the letters you can always click on the project tab at the top of the blog and you'll find a link to all the patterns.

Please forgive us if we missed your V, we do our very best.  Thanks this week to Wendy Heitzman for all the help collecting and cropping the V's for publication.

The Love Letters V by Marcia DeCoster

If you've been following along you may have an L and an O, if not and you'd like to, click on the letter and you'll find the directions.

The response has been fantastic and we are so pleased you are enjoying the LOVE.

To see a gallery of some of the O's we've seen posted, click here.

If you did an L you are familiar with two things....I like double waxed fireline and how to create two cubes side by side.  If not you might want to visit that post and see what I have to say.

Notes: What's a little different with the V is that on the interior wall of the beginning of each arm there are 2 beads to a side on the front and the back.  This forces the arms of the V into the slight slant that is necessary to create the V.

Supplies:  You'll need small amounts of a main color in size 11º and an even smaller amount for the serif.  Some size 15ºs will come in handy for adding the embellishments.  Make a nice collection of some O beads, 3 and 4 mm crystals, pearls, or fire polish, a few crystal sequins if you have them and whatever else strikes your fancy.

CRAW: Pickup 4 size 11 beads and tie in a circle. These are the floor beads. Pick up 3 beads (side, ceiling and side beads) and pass through the floor bead you are exiting from the opposite side (this forms the first wall) and the next floor bead. Pick up 2 11ºs and pass through the side bead from the first wall, the floor bead and the next floor bead (this forms the second wall). Repeat for the third wall, adding 2 beads. Pass through the last floor bead and the side bead from the first wall. Pick up 1 bead and pass through the side bead of the third wall, the floor bead, the side bead of the first wall and the ceiling bead of the first wall.

Bottom of the V: Make 3 additional CRAW cubes for a total of 4.  

Turn the 4 cubes horizontally and weave to exit the ceiling bead of the last cube on the right. (This was previously a side bead, when the work is turned it becomes a ceiling bead of that cube and a floor bead of the cube about to be built.)

Build the first arm: You will be working two cubes side by side on top of the left two cubes.  When weaving cubes side by side you will be weaving 7 walls. The interior wall between the two cubes is a shared wall. Begin by picking up 3 seed beads and passing through the ceiling you are exiting.

Use the illustration below to determine the order in which you will be building the walls.  

Note:  Very important, On the fifth and sixth walls you build, the sides will have 2 size 11º seed beads.  This will create a slight angle in the remaining rows that you weave.  You will only do this on the first set of cubes.  All other cubes are done with 1 bead for each floor, side, and ceiling.

Note:  The cube from the 4 cube start counts as row 1.  The cubes just built with the 2 side beads on the interior wall count as row 2.

Complete the first arm:  Bead an additional 11 2 cube rows as follows for a total of 13 cubes.

Wall 1: 3 beads

Wall 2: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 3: 2 beads (side bead is shared with Wall 2)

Wall 4: 1 bead (Pass through the shared floor bead and up through the first bead of wall one. Pick up the one ceiling bead and pass through the side bead of wall 3, the shared floor bead again and then through the floor bead for wall 5)

Wall 5: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 1)

Wall 6: 2 beads (side is shared with Wall 5)

Wall 7: 1 bead (Pass through the floor bead of 7 and the shared side bead from Wall 3. Pick up the one ceiling beading pass through the shared side bead from wall 6, the floor bead from wall 7 and up through shared side bead from Wall 3 and 7, shown as arrow 8 in the illustration)

Build the second arm: Weave to exit the ceiling bead on the front face of the first horizontal row of cubes as shown.  You will be weaving rows one cube wide for the second arm.

Note:  As on the first arm, the first cube will have 2 beads as the side wall on the front and back interior edges.

Build an additional 11 cubes with 1 bead per floor, side and ceiling for a total of 13 cubes.

Note:  For simplicity sake I illustrate adding the serif embellishment all at once.  If it suits you, you may add them when your working thread is near to the correct placement before carrying on with the next step.

Embellishments: Make yourself a pretty little pile of coordinated accent beads and choose a location on your letter to apply them. Use the working thread or weave in a new thread if necessary. Exiting a seed bead on the base of the letter, pick up an accent bead, a size 11º or 15º turning bead and pass back through the accent bead and an adjacent bead on the base. Repeat until you have a pleasing assortment of beads arranged on your letter.

Note:  Since there is not much structure to the one cube arm, you may want to re-enforce that side of the V as much as possible.  You may also see that I added a little fire polish bead between the two base cubes to keep them together while still slanted.  Your results may vary, but be creative and re-enforce as necessary to get your V to behave.

Next week we'll complete the LOVE letters with an E!  What will you do with your LOVE letters?  Once we are done I will have a few ideas for you and don't forget, we have much more to look forward to with an entire schedule of other artists who will be contributing during the following weeks!

Blogpost written by Marcia DeCoster

For a printable version click here.

Oh my, so many O's

Once again there has been a fantastic response to the LOVE letters.  A big thanks to Beki Haley this week.  She collected all the O's and created the collages.

So much creativity.  I love that each person has brought their own excellent design sense to this project, and it shows!  Thanks so much for being here.

Tomorrow look for the V to carry on with the LOVE.  In the meantime we hope you enjoy O!

Content by Beki Haley

The Love continues...L.O.V.E. letter O by Marcia DeCoster

The response to our inaugural post and the letter L has been over whelming with so many joining in the fun.  Thank you for contributing to the LOVE.


This week I've documented the O in L.O.V.E.

LOVE Letters by Marcia DeCoster

If you made an L last week, you'll already know my recommendation for double waxed fireline to create a firm piece of beadwork.  With the letters this works especially well as they are free standing with no external support.  In the O  you will be using size 15 seed beads on the interior edge of the curves so you may want to use a size 13 needle.

Supplies:  You'll need small amounts of a main color in size 11º and an even smaller amount for the edge embellishment.  Some size 15ºs will come in handy for adding the embellishments.  Make a nice collection of some O beads, 3 and 4 mm crystals, pearls, or fire polish, a few crystal sequins if you have them and whatever else strikes your fancy.

If you're not familiar with CRAW this video from Heather Collin is a good one to watch.

In L we used Cubic Right Angle Weave to create two cubes next to one another.  In O the shaping is created differently.  There is only one cube atop another, but there are some tricks to the shaping.  The top and bottom curves are created by weaving the first wall of the cube with size 15º beads, and the rest of the walls with size 11º.

The sides of the O are created by using a different count for the ceiling beads of each cube on the front and back faces of the O only.  The interior edge and exterior edges use only the 1 ceiling bead as in a standard craw.


CRAW Cube 1:  Pick up 1 size 15º and 3 size 11º seed beads and tie in a circle, weave to exit the size 15º. These are the floor beads. Pick up 3 size 15º beads  (side, ceiling and side beads) and pass through the floor bead you are exiting from the opposite side (this forms the first wall) and the next floor bead.  Pick up 2 11ºs and pass through  the side bead from the first wall the floor bead and the next floor bead.  (this forms the second wall).  Repeat for the third wall, adding 2 size 11º beads.  Pass through the last floor bead and the side bead from the first wall.  Pick up 1 size 11º bead and pass through the side bead of the third wall, the floor bead, the side bead of the first wall and the ceiling bead of the first wall.

This will be the start of the top curve where you see 'Start here, First cube'.  Complete 8 additional cubes with the first wall consisting of size 15º beads and the remaining walls with size 11º.  By doing 9 cubes the top and the bottom of the O have a center cube. The size 15º interior wall will curve the length of cubic right angle weave.  (note for the eagle eyes.....the illustration shows 7 cubes with the size 15 interior, the text which reads 9 units is correct!)

On the 10th cube you will switch to using all size 11º seed beads.  You will be exiting a size 15 on wall one of the 9th cube.     This is where you begin using a different ceiling count to increase the width of the front and back faces of the O.

Pick up 3 size 11º beads (1 side,  ceilings and 1 side) and pass back through the floor bead you are exiting and the next floor bead.  This is the interior edge.  Pick up 3 size 11º beads (1 side and 2 ceilings) pass through the side bead of wall one, the floor bead and the next floor bead.  This will be the front face wall.  Pick up 2 size 11º beads (1 side and 1 ceiling) pass through the side bead of wall two, the floor, the next floor bead and the side bead of wall one.  This is the exterior edge. Pick up 2 size 11º beads and pass through the side bead of wall three, the floor, the side bead of wall one and the  ceiling bead of wall one.  This is the back face of the O.

 Repeat this cube once more.


Weave the next two cubes with 3 ceiling beads on the front and back faces of the O.
Weave the next two cubes with 2 ceiling beads on the front and back faces of the O. (Note if you are stickler for symmetry, the ceiling bead of the interior edge on the second cube should be a size 15º, but in the overall scheme of things it will not alter the shape if you use all 11's on this unit.)

 When you finish the last cube with 2 ceiling beads you will switch to weaving 9 cubes with a size 15º interior edge to create the bottom curve.

After completing the 9 units of the bottom curve, weave 2  cubes with 2 ceiling beads on the front and back face,  2 cubes with 3 ceiling beads on the front and back face, and 2 cubes with 2 ceiling beads on the front and back face.  Join the last cube with the first cube be adding a side bead to each wall.

The edge embellishments are optional, but since there are no serifs on the O I wanted to bring the same bronze color that unites the letters into the O.  Exiting a size 11º edge bead, pick up 1 contrasting size 11º bead and pass through the next edge bead.  Repeat around.  Weave to exit an interior edge bead.  Use size 15º beads to embellish the interior edge.  You can optionally leave the outside edge un embellished and use size 11's on the interior front and back edges.  This will 'tallerize' your O!

Embellishments: Make yourself a pretty little pile of coordinated accent beads and choose a location on your letter to apply them. Use the working thread or weave in a new thread if necessary. Exiting a seed bead on the base of the letter, pick up an accent bead, a size 11º or 15º turning bead and pass back through the accent bead and an adjacent bead on the base. Repeat until you have a pleasing assortment of beads arranged on your letter.

The response to the L.O.V.E. letters has been huge and the variety in color and embellishment styles has been fabulous to see!  To have a look at some of the wonderful L's that have been created, click here!

For a printable version click here.

Next week I'll post directions for V and in the meantime, Bead with Love!

Content by Marcia DeCoster

Dear folks of the love letters.....there are no guarantees, it's a tad bit of a time consuming task, but if you would like me to do a journal of the O's if you post your O on Facebook please tag me, Marcia DeCoster. If you have the skills and you want to be really kind to me, post a square cropped photo that is 2.5 inches. You don't need to do that, but if you have those skills it will speed up the process! I will include as many as I have time for, but if you hope to be included please post by Saturday night to give me some time to get the work done. Thank you!

Love Letters, a journal of L's - by Marcia DeCoster

So many wonderful L's have been beaded that I wanted to share.  Please understand I did my very best to include as many as I could and if I missed your L, know it was not intentional.  This is literally a labor of love!

Incredible workmanship and creativity has been shown.

If you missed the instructions for L, they can be found here.

Next up is O, Tuesday morning, January 17, are you ready?  O while still cubic right angle weave, has a few different skill sets.  I look forward to seeing all the wonderful creative variations!

  

Content by Marcia DeCoster