Tutorial - Making a Large Bead into a Fan/Light Pull

I've been asked how we attach the wire to the ball chain in the large textured tube beads in my Textured Tubes & More tutorial.

To make a ceiling fan/light pull you need some ball chain, couplings and adapters (in silver below right) that provide a way to connect your wire that is attached to your bead to the ball chain.

  

We had a difficult time finding the adapters and so I improvised a little and will show you a method that I use.

Supplies needed:

* A large bead with a large hole or one that you can drill a hole in at the top
* Ball chain
* Heavy 18 or 16 gauge wire in the same color to match your chain
* Two couplings that fit the ball chain
* Strong metal bead or bead cap
* Round nose pliers
* Wire cutters (heavy duty type)
* Drill bit - 5/32" or 4 mm (optional)


1.  Cut a piece of wire long enough that will go through your bead plus extra for finishing at the bottom end.  With your round nose pliers, make a small loop at the one end like you are making an eye pin.  You want a nice tight loop that will fit inside one of the couplings.  It doesn't have to look pretty as it won't be seen afterwards.

2.  Insert your wire into one of the couplings from the inside going out as shown:

3.  Attach the ball chain to the opposite end of the coupling

4.  You can make a large hole at the top of your bead before baking or drill it larger afterwards, whichever you prefer.   Make sure the hole is only large at the top part of your bead and not all the way through.  It should also be deep enough to hide the coupling end of the ball chain.

5.  Insert the wire through the top of the bead so the wire comes out the bottom end.

6.  Pull it all the way through until the coupling is hidden inside the top making sure it is nice and snug.

7.  Add a bead or bead cap to the bottom and then loop your wire.  The bead acts as a "washer" to anchor your wire and your bead on.

8.  Hang a decorative bead or dangle from the wire loop to finish it off.

9.  Attach the other coupling to the opposite end of the ball chain and your fan/light pull is ready to hang!

 Have fun and enjoy!

Textured Tube Tips

I have received a lot of positive feedback on the tutorials I've written and I'm always happy to answer any questions.  I've had some people ask if they can sell the beads or buttons they make using my tutorials and my answer is a definite "yes".  When you purchase any of my tutorials, you are free to make what I teach and sell it wherever you like.

I want to share with you a few new tips on making the textured tube beads from my tutorial.  Some people prefer not to have as large a hole in their bead and I explain in step 4 on page 3 how to prevent this.  Softer clays like Premo or Fimo tend to make a larger hole so if that is the case, then I recommend allowing your beads to rest for a few hours to firm up before texturing them.

The large holes are nice if you want to string them on thicker cords but if you want to string your beads on a thinner wire, you can "fill" in the hole at each end with some attached clay rondelles or embed some beads into each end before baking.

  

Here are a couple of examples showing finished pieces with metal and glass seed beads embedded into the end of each tube.

I've been experimenting with some new textures and if you find that a texture sheet is too flimsy, then try making a reverse texture plate from clay.  I had this scrap piece of fabric that was not going to work so I used the Sculpey Bake & Bend to create a texture sheet from it.  You can see my previous blog post on how to do this.   I am now able to use the texture sheet to create my tube beads.

I will show you my finished beads and more on this later...

Christmas Tinsel in Red and Green

We are in the Christmas spirit right now and created these coordinating pieces in a rich Christmas red and green.  The pieces sparkle and remind me a lot of Christmas tinsel.  The clay beads used are  textured tubes and our large pearl rondelle spacers in #52 olive green.

Learning New Techniques

I like to work with a variety of techniques and always open to learning something new.  I don't have a favorite but, after all, they say variety is the spice of life.

I'm constantly drawn, however, to textures and what you can do with them.   Helen Breil is a fellow Canadian artist who's work I truly admire.  She has a different style and I love how her jewelry art pieces are created from her own textured designs.  I purchased her recent Radiating Lines tutorial which I found very fascinating and couldn't wait to try it out.

This is the first pendant I made experimenting with my own texture plate I created.  I had the prettiest rivioli crystal in my favorite green which I used for the centre point.

I had a lot of fun making this pendant and I plan to explore this technique a little more and develop my own style.  I'm always looking for work that will coordinate with my double-sided and textured tube beads.  I will be sharing more on that in the future.

Basket Weave Texture

Ever since I discovered how you could create your own moulds and textures from clay, I've been on the lookout for any interesting object to use in this way.  Some time ago I purchased this toothbrush holder at a dollar store to hold some of my clay tools on my work table.  What really caught my eye was the cool woven texture on the sides.  It had been sitting on my clay table and I finally put it to use yesterday and made a texture sheet from it.  When I make texture sheets I like to use the Sculpey Bake & Bend.  If you make it as thin as possible where you still can get a good impression, it can hopefully fit through your pasta machine afterwards since it is very flexible.

I was wondering if this texture would work for the textured tube beads and couldn't wait to try it out.

They came out not too bad.  I created some with mica powders and the others I antiqued with burnt umber paint.  I wanted to see which effect turned out the best.  I think I like them both since they have two totally different looks.

For more ideas like these you can check out my tutorial, Textured Tubes & More...

Textured Tube Bangle Bracelet

I finally finished my first bangle bracelet using my textured tube technique.  (That has a ring to it, heh?)  I love how these ones turned out and are in my favorite color.  The amethyst Czech fire polished crystals I used match beautifully.  Both types of bracelets are strung with elastic making them extremely easy to put on and take off as well as comfy to wear.

This style has 5 curved tube beads which looks very nice but was too large for my very small wrist size.  It would look nice on someone with a larger wrist.

This is my second style when I was trying to find something to fit a smaller to average-size wrist.  I think it is my favorite one.  The black rondelles are clay I made myself as well.  I make a lot of these now and have perfected my technique so they are more consistent in size and shape and quicker to make.

Of course both bracelets match our beaded choker with the same but smaller tube beads:

Want to know what colors and texture I used to create the beads?  If you already purchased my tutorial, "Textured Tubes & More ..." then the recipe is already included on page 18 under "J".  When I created the larger tubes for the bangle I used the same technique as the ones shown in the necklace but slightly thicker and cut a little longer and then curved them before baking.

Textured Tube Necklace Designs

Had some fun putting this collage together featuring some beaded necklace designs using the textured tubes for some inspirations... They also make gorgeous bracelets!  All the color recipes for these beads are included in our Textured Tubes & More tutorial.

Textured Tubes & More Tutorial Now Available

I've had many requests on how to make our textured tube beads and pens and we now have a tutorial available for sale on ArtFire and in our Etsy shop.

In this tutorial you will learn to make tube beads with rich textures that are totally seamless!  I will also show you how to make larger focal beads (including the end caps) as well as covering pens and other tube shaped objects with this same technique.  The nice thing is that there is no sanding involved yet your pieces will have a silky smooth finish.

I've included a color guide and tips for using mica powders as well as texture ideas to use for your new creations.  As a bonus, I have added a color recipe sheet where I share with you how I achieve some of my favorite designs.

This tutorial consists of 18 pages broken down into 49 steps and includes more than 50 photos for easy and clear instruction.

This tutorial is also be available at Clay Lessons.