Cross posted from live journal posts done yesterday:
I started this with very limited knowledge, even though I had several DIY pages to guide me. I somehow got the idea you had to leave the beads on the stick/straw/whatever while they were drying, you do not have to leave them as long as you are careful to not get glue on whatever you are winding them around. This means you do not put glue on the first 1/4" or so on the widest end, where you start rolling, Glue should be applied only on the strip after you have it around the stick/dowel once. They slide off if wound just right, not too tight, not too loose. A toothpick would work great and give a nice small hole
A good quality glue stick is your friend... tacky glue or elmers, works too but a glue stick is less messy to work with. I only used a dab on the final end to make sure it was secured well. Using a glue stick increased the speed in which I could roll beads, and made them less slippery while rolling. They dried faster too.
Folk art acrylic paints has this clear suspension with metal flakes in it called Gems...sorta glitter in clear nail polish.... you can paint it on over the bead and the colors show through, but it adds glitz in a much easier way than wrapping this little boogers with metallic embroidery floss.... trying to do that just made me want to scream.
I am playing with the dipping process now using 3 different options including Triple Thick by Krylon, a sealing glaze by Sculpty, and I forget the third. I am thinking of stringing a bunch of beads onto a string running them through the glaze, separating them on the string and then thumbtacking the strand into a window opening for drying, if the beads get stuck to the string no biggie, the center will still be soft. The idea might not work the way I think it will.... and I may have to resort to dipping one at a time and drying them on toothpicks stuck into something... that would be very sad, and very slow. We'll see how it goes...
So I dipped some beads in the Triple Thick Glaze by Krylon. I cannot post them yet it says to not handle them for 24 hours. It did okay I guess, it is drying very glossy, but it looks more like paper beads with varnish on them than it does faux glass beads. I'm not sure if Triple Thick is suppose to be water-y or not... but I was a tad disappointed. It's gonna take several dips of the beads into this glaze ( and probably me dipping into some vodka more than once or twice) to get these looking like lampwork beads I can assure ya. Personally I would not use the words triple or thick in describing this product. I was expecting milkshake THICK when I opened the jar, what I got was ummm.... sorta antacid thick, so when one is expecting milkshake creamy and they get Maalox instead... I hope you can appreciate my dismay ;) The last time I remember being this disappointed was age 8, I spent months drooling over a purple Stingray bike with a banana seat and rainbow streamers flowing off the handle bars and on Xmas what I got was roller skates. It's just NOT what you were expecting or hoping for, even if it also has wheels. I was hoping for THICK, and one dip and I'd be done... like magic, it's just not happening with this product.
Testing the other two options tomorrow.... for now here are the paper beads done with "Triple Thick"
One coat results ( the only exception to this is the green bead in the bottom row, I coated it with Tacky Glue first, (because it IS thick). I let it dry and then did a coat of TT on top of that to test how it would impact the end results. The paper ridges are a lot less obvious up close on that bead and the Tacky Glue did not get milky when I added the TT top coat.
The next picture is of a bead that has 3 coats of Triple Thick on it, ( sorry for the blur) it's getting closer but still no cigar IMHO.
I am not discouraged from continuing, I will not be
beaten, I will figure out a way to make this deliver results that make
me happy without resorting to investing in a melting pot and UTEE.
I am getting closer:
BTW I found more paper bead styles and options, as well as some products to use the finished products in:
Round paper beads:
http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/paper-beads/
Paper bead and safety pin bracelet:
http://paintedfishstudio.com/?p=76
This artist is doing sorta paper bead mosaics:
http://www.cprincebatchelor.com/
Paper Bead wall art and a beaded door curtain:
http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/1151-Paper-Bead-Art
Another how2 for rolled beads:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_beading/article/0,2025,DIY_13745_5160420_02,00.html
Tyvek painted Beads:
http://carolclasper.blogspot.com/2006/10/beads-beads-beads.html
How I want mine to look, ( yay, eye candy):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxymephorous/2291072575/
Paper bead people/figure charms:
http://www.artfarm.com/dollpaperbead.html