Yesterday, my Mirrix Loom-16 inch Big Sister with shed device arrived! If you thought I was bead weaving as soon as it arrived you would have been wrong.
My daughter and I were out when it arrived and after we returned home I was helping her with another (second) beaded creation; a bracelet for her grandmother.
Check out the above photo. I think my daughter did a great job for her second bead weaving project! She did all the bead weaving herself. I gave her some suggestions on what she should use for the outside strands and she listened. I imagine as she gains confidence, she’ll be doing more on her own.
No additional purchases needed
The loom is about the only thing I needed to purchase and at a price of $292.99 that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you agree? I still have a lot gorgeous beads, findings, and an assortment of jewelry tools to get the creative juices flowing. I look forward to migrating to a large loom for some of my big beading projects.
In an earlier post, I stated that I had enough beads to last me for a while, but I thought it would be nice to let my daughter pick her own beads since she’s really showing an interest in bead weaving. We headed downtown to Beadazzled and I let her choose beads for herself. My daughter was thrilled, and thanked me repeatedly for letting her pick out her own beads. Beadazzled was one of my favorite haunts when I lived downtown in my mid twenties; Almost twenty years later, most of the beads in my collection came from that store. Yes… I had quite the bead stash. 🙂 I still do!
Once I took care of her I started unboxing my Mirrix Loom-16 inch Big Sister with shed.
The concept is the same as the other beaded looms I’ve worked with, but the warping of the loom is a bit different.
There were detailed instructions included with the loom for that process. The above video, is found on Youtube and shows how to warp a Mirrix loom without using the shedding device.
Before long I was bead weaving! For my first Mirrix project I decided on a simple piece to familiarize myself with this loom. Shortly after starting, I realized that I really did not have to do this since the bead weaving was no different than the beaded looms I’ve worked with in the past. But since it’s been years since I’ve done bead weaving on a loom, I mainly do off the loom bead weaving, I continued my project.
By the end of the evening, my daughter and I had both made great progress. We would have gotten a lot more complete, but the time was spent talking with each other, and taking numerous breaks to be silly.
In our home, spending hours chained to technology gadgets is not an option. Sure, we enjoy them, but there’s balance since I know what’s more important is spending time interacting with one another.
Great pics and videos you’ve been posting! WOW! Love seeing them! Totally LOVE the bracelets! Tell your daughter I think they are terrific! I LOVE handmade beaded bracelets! I bought one from a regional crafter this past fall! I think I might wear it tomorrow or this week! I will try and post a pic of it soon! It kind of looks like that 2nd one in this post 🙂
Jennifer recently posted..For The Love of Music & Furkids
@Jennifer, As an adult the first beaded creation I was drawn to was a medicine bag that was at the store, Touch the Earth. I should have purchased it when I saw it, but I didn’t. I went back a few days later and it was gone. I remember the store owner saying, that the energy that I’d left with that bag through touching and admiring transferred to someone else and caused them to desire and purchase the item. Interestingly enough that medicine bag had been there for months… That’s how I got into beadweaving, because of that medicine bag. I wanted to replicate the bag that I did not acquire.
Aynaria recently posted..Crafty Christmas; making a beaded bracelet and loom woven cloths
Wow! That’s an interesting story and encounter!
Jennifer recently posted..Blissful Journey Outing ~ Trader Joe’s, Barnes & Noble, and Eats ~ In Buffalo
@Jennifer, It was, I became friends with the owners of that store. It was the next street over from where I lived when I lived downtown.
Aynaria recently posted..Knitting: Ann Yamamoto has free shawl designs available on Ravelry
Q – Beautiful bracelet for your daughter’s grandmother. Kudos to her! Love the start on your bracelet on your new loom.
curls and q recently posted..Bluer Than Blue
Thanks @curls and q, I’m still not sure what my necklace will be, I’m waiting for it to tell me, how it wants too look. 😉
It started out as a bracelet but has since morphed into a necklace. This morning, I took it off the loom and am mulling over what else will I add to the design. Perhaps I’ll add some bead woven flowers? I have the idea in my head on what I’d like it to look, hopefully the idea will look just as good on the finished object. If not, I’ll rinse and repeat until I get the right look. 😉
Aynaria recently posted..Crafty Christmas; making a beaded bracelet and loom woven cloths
They’ve a machine for this too? Gee!!! I think the ethnic people here do their beadwork by hand, all manually.
Happy New Year, 2014 to you, Opal and your little girl and all your loved ones. God bless, may the year ahead be a great one. Cheers!
suituapui recently posted..Eternally…
@suituapui, Yes there’s a loom. It’s manual it’s very similar to the ancient looms I see in Native American cultures. This is a smaller verson and made with metal instead of wood. I do another form of “manual weaving” also. Off the loom beadweaving requires needle, thread and of course beads! Off the loom beadweaving is my favorite way to create jewelry, but with my daughter showing such an interest in making jewelry on a loom I decided to purchase one. It will get plenty of use from myself for beaded and tapestry weaving.
Aynaria recently posted..Beadweaving images on a loom