ArticleHub

Are you in a creative rut? Inspiration all dried up? Or maybe you're just looking for some new ideas to keep both inspiration and interest up! If any of those true for you, then you've come to the right place! If any of those apply to you, then you've come to the correct place! Below, you'll find 5 beading ideas that might help kick begin your imagination and get you creating again!

I am writing this list with beaded necklaces in particular in mind, but the beading ideas presented here could be easily adapted to most any project you've an interest in. That is among the magnificent things about bead craft as a hobby! Its sheer versatility. You can spy an idea that has been executed in one way (say, a ceiling fan pull chain), and with a little work and modification, easily transform it into something completely new and different (a bracelet, necklace, or even a matched set!).

1 - If you have fallen into the habit of making single strand designs, branch out into fun multi-strand or wrap designs for a fresh perspective! Multi-strand designs add layers of difficulty to your work, and can turn a rather common single-strand piece into anything really extraordinary. It is a little trickier to pull off, but you can even try a "hybrid design," one that starts off (at the clasp) as a single strand, branches out into a double, or maybe even a triple, and then, as it winds its way round the neck, re-converges.

2 - Commit yourself to incorporating a color or style of bead you don't typically use into your next design. This can be as simple as looking through your current stock for those beads you often "pass over," or taking a road trip to your local bead shop to see what's new!

3 - Try anything exotic! The ways about using some decorative Czech glass beads or Swarovski crystals in your next piece? It could take you in all kinds of new and different directions! (note: this also can get a little expensive, so use with care!)

4 - Commit yourself to learning a new system (i.e., "African Net") this month! Anything that breaks up your "usual" way of doing things is bound to spark a slew of ideas! - There's an almost endless number of ways to be learned, and each time Christina and I think we "know it all," we find something new to try!

5 - Instead of stringing your next piece, investigate chains, and find ways to affix your designs onto gold or silver chains for a totally new look! - This takes the idea of "mixed medium" to the next level!

As the five suggestions above demonstrate, there are all sorts of things you can do, all types of new ways of looking at even current beading ideas, to break out of a creative run, and they are really just the suggestion of the iceberg!