Thursday, October 14, 2010

TILA Beads and Long Magatamas!



New thingies!!

TILA Beads are really a new concept for seed beads - 5mm square flat tiles that are double-drilled, and come in a range of the usual luscious Miyuki colours and coatings. These little guys are stretching everyone's creativity in the rush for new designs. Think Right-Angle-Weave through two-holed beads! Think freeform Peyote! Even simple ladder stitch makes a gorgeous band! Or use them as splitters for creating fringe on a necklace. And of course, the normal two-strand bracelet or necklace. The holes are similar in size to a 6mm bugle hole and are suitable for beading thread, fine Fireline(R), Soft-Touch(TM) or fine Soft-Flex(TM), and size D silk.

Long Magatamas are very cool and easier to use in existing designs as they are closer to conventional shapes. Magatamas are like Drops (teardrop-shaped beads with cross-drilled holes at the narrow end) that were flattened in 1 dimension (2 opposing sides) so they fit closer on a string with less spiraling than Drops. Long Magatamas are about twice as long as regular Magatamas, but are also pointy rather than rounded at the non-hole end. Like a slice of a jelly-roll that was squashed a bit to be oval in cross-section, then sliced diagonally! Think tubular Peyote or tubular crochet - looking rather like a spiky hedgehog in gorgeous colours! Also from Miyuki.

They're available now at www.NLMGlassArts.com !!