Mikki's Favorite Things

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, we're all happy you are here.

In my last post I had mentioned my chart for beads per gram so I thought I would share that with you today aloong with some other tips about measuring and weighing beads for kits, for magazine articles, instructions and just for your own knowledge. There's nothing worse than running out of beads in the middle of a project and having to wait for an oline delivery to arrive. Also when you are buying patterns that give you a bead count this chart tells you how many grams you will need to buy.

You can buy gram scales from FireMountainGems.com and if you make kits they are definitely a good investment. Do remember to check the weights of the beads though...some finishes weigh heavier than others. I usually weigh a gram and then count how many beads are in that gram...then make adjustments as necessary.

Another way to go is to forget the weight and do a count.....once you have your count of beads pop them into a tube and mark the tube with a 'fill to' line and label it with the letter of the bead as it appears in your pattern.

You can do this for each bead in your pattern so you have a quick measure.

Label the tube with the name of the kit and keep it safe so you'll have it when you need it....believe me, it saves a bunch of time.

A great tool for counting larger beads are the counting boards these come in sets of four for 3mm, 4mm, 6mm and 8mm beads.

Well...those are a few of my favorite things when it comes to kit making and prepping patterns for publication. Maybe you will be adding one or both of those to your list to Santa:)

Tips on Organization From a Disorganized Beader

Sometimes when I try and think of things to write about I wonder what people will think because, what do I know? I'm relatively new to this bead weaving thing and many of you reading this will have years, even decades more experience than I.   But, as with my own blog, I try to remember that there are lots of people out there beginning beading, or beginning to sell their beading and struggling with the same hurdles I have over the last couple of years.  Encouraged by this thought I decided to write about organization....and anyone looking in my studio right now would definitely say "she's not qualified to do that!" But as I have spent the weekend organizing my beads I thought I'd share some things that help me.

Bead Storage
These nifty little wheels are the perfect packaging for a lot of my kits but I also use them to store my 2.5mm, 3mm and 4mm Swarovskis, crystals and pearls. They come in packs of two...a large one and a small one, both with 13 compartments from FMG.  For travelling these are indispensible! I write the code for the bead on the side of the wheel...they take a fine point Sharpie very well.
I also have some clear plastic thin trays with dividers for the rest of my Swarovskis.

My Delicas live in tubes in Bead Towers, each has it's identifying number plus what I paid per gram for the beads. This saves a ton of time when you're trying to price a finished piece or kit. I also created a chart to tell me how many beads are in a gram....starting at 0.25g and going up in 0.25g increments up to 15 grams, as I tend to know how many beads rather than the weight. When I pack kits or give amounts in instructions I round up to the next 0.25g...if it's just a few beads shy of the next increment I go up two.  My larger packs of Delicas have their own box.

For my seed beads, by far the largest part of my bead collection, I try to keep one tube of each color on display in these trays , I have a few of them.
The rest get packed away in boxes and storage containers ready for refilling and the tubes get a sticker when I'm getting low on a specific color.
Again these are all marked with what I paid per gram.

I also use the same flip-top boxes as my fellow Maven, Linda....mostly because Kandra of Kandra's Beads packs some of her seed beads in them...but as Linda says they store a lot in a little space.

The rest of my bead collection is stored in storage boxes which are marked for what they contain, eg. "Fire-polished, Pearls, etc."

To keep my Fireline in check I have one of these neat little fishing line spool storage boxes. It holds the large spools (125yds) of Fireline and if you add a dowel  (there's a place for it) it also keeps all the smaller (50yd) spools in check too.
I label the holes with the weight of the Fireline coming through it. Look for it in the fishing section of your local Walmart or K-mart. If you want to measure how much Fireline or any other thread you are using you can buy a fishing line counter and run your thread through it...especially good if you pack thread for kits.

For travelling I have one of these fabulous Train Cases. Mine has three top drawers on each side which I use for projects and beads and then a deep bottom for my finished 'show & tell' pieces. They are in stores now as they make great Christmas gifts, I believe I got mine at Walmart.

Reading this back it makes me look really organized, and when I take the time to put things away after each project before starting the next....I am. However....the creative mind does not always like to clear up after itself before rushing into the next project so my studio constantly looks like a bomb hit it. Morganna my muse is da bomb!

I hope you will find something here to help you organize and that your organization lasts longer than mine.