My fingers ache... there are seed beads ALL OVER my house... and my back is sore from sitting hunched over a gourd for three days... But my lovely gourd is finished (or bitti)!
Ohhh...
Ahhh...
That's what you were thinking right?
Now that my gourd is finished, I know why I never see them made with seed beads.
First of all, none of them are uniform in size. They are all slightly different, which means a bunch of slightly different sized holes.
Secondly, they aren't spherical. Sometimes the hole is facing out, sometimes the side is facing out, and sometimes it goes in all wonky. Makes for a rough looking surface.
Thirdly, seed beads are SO SMALL! I probably had to use two or three times as many beads as I would have had I used the right kind of bead. And my fingers are really angry.
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| The bead on the left is the approximate size of the right bead. Notice that purple bead. This is the kind of random bead sizes I'm working with. |
If I ever make another one, I'll try to use the right beads, (and drill bit). That being said, I love how it turned out.
Sunlight...
Bulb light...
Candle light...
Gourd-geous.
This is amazing!! I am so impressed, Erin. I said ooh and aaah the entire time I read this post!
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea for a light fixture. Were you able to make it an actual light cover? If so could you post how you did? Thanks:)
ReplyDeleteMy gourd lamp.
DeleteActually, super sad story, but on the way home, with our luggage packed WAY TO TIGHT, we crushed it. But if you want to turn it into a light cover, there are two ways they do it in Turkey.
ReplyDeleteIf you want it to hang with the stem side up, you have to get a paper lantern style cord and bulb attached, and then cut the cord and string it through a slightly bigger hole at the top, before re-attaching. This sounds super dangerous, but my friend with electrition skills did it in a few minutes.
If you want it to hang with the big hole at the top, get some small chain, and clip them through the tiny holes at the very bottom and attach the chains to the light fixture. I'm some what foggy on how this one works, as I have never done it. And I like how the first way looks best. Good luck! Please send me some pictures if you ever do it!
You lamp is beautiful! How do you get the beads to stay in the holes? Do you use an adhesive?
ReplyDeleteNope! No adhesive. I just popped them in. Though this was obnoxious and painful on my fingers because the hole had to be tight enough to hold them in place. I considered adhesive, but was worried about the heat from the light causing problems. If you plan to use a bulb that stays cool to the touch, that would probably work well. Good luck! I would LOVE to see pictures if you make one.
ReplyDeleteI have laundry baskets of egg gourds, these would be gorgeous with those battery operated tea lights. Thanks, I know what I am working on this dreary rainy/snowy weekend.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great way to spend a rainy day. I'd love to see them!
Deleteyour gourd was gorgeous!! you mentioned using diff beads and diff drill bits. What types of beads/bits do you recommend? Are they usually made with beads or something else? Coud you use tissue paper and some kind of heat safe spray/coating? Id like to make this into a craft for older kids, Suggestions are appreciated!
ReplyDeletewhat was the reason for taking 3 hours to find a leather man , never read anything on that except took you 3 hours to find him ?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.leatherman.com/
DeleteWww.sukabakbodrum.com my gourd lamp
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