Red Spice Deco - Toronto Bead Society 2026 Summer Challenge

This Summer’s Toronto Bead Society (TBS) Challenge “SpiceGirls" palette felt like it suited Autumn more than Summer!

Travelling back to Toronto, we bailed off the 401 Highway in Cambridge, ON. With the Summer Bead Challenge on my mind, I remembered there was Iguana Beads located on King Street in the heart of Cambridge. By the time I arrived to shop at the bead store, Iguana Beads was squished into one section of Mint Vintage shop at the same address. Plus everything in the Iguana Beads section was now 50%.

I started by finding a large lampwork bead that embodied the spice theme. It was one of a kind Art Deco-ish design with interesting colours inside gold rings. I really liked “Red Spice” and decided this would be my focal pendant. Next, I starting looking through jars for interesting beads for creating a spiral rope. Because the focal was large I could go for chunkier beads.

I was drawn to strings of 25 table-cut Topaz-Picasso coated beads with three cuts revealing the topaz core. I bought all 11 strings and ended using nine of them. There was one Topaz-Picasso window bead which I thought would be perfect for the fringe under the Red Deco lampwork pendant.

Then, I added two packs of 6/o transparent red pony beads. I figured a small tube of a Iris AB-coated black-lined transparent red 8/o seed bead would be perfect for the core of a spiral bead rope. All these goodies were purchased at 50% retail. The black-lined light topaz triangle beads and matte red 6/o will have to wait for another project.

AUDITIONING BEADS & TESTING THE SPIRAL LOOPS 

I love playing with texture by graduating shapes and colours of beads. To frame the thick cut Topaz-Picasso beads, I had a big bag of bronze-metallic coated ‘O’ beads.

They are thin slivers which in my mind mimicked the gold rings around the dots of color on the Red Deco focal bead. Next I strung 6/o transparent red pony beads, followed by opaque bright red 8/o seed beads from my stash. I thought a spot of green would tie in with the bottom of the Red Deco focal bead, but it was way too much in an ugly way. 

To start making the spiral rope, I tied on a stopper bead and went up the focal bead. Then I strung the full tube of Iris AB black-lined transparent red 8/o seed bead. I finished by going down through the focal and tied on another stopper bead.

Next I secured a new long thread and started testing the loops: How many beads per loop? How many core beads long? How many core beads apart?

The ideal loop graduated from the cut Topaz-Picasso down to the 8/o red seed on both  sides. GO UP 7 BEADS OF THE CORE. Sting an 8/o op. red, 6/o transparent red, bronze ‘O’, cut Topaz-Picasso, bronze ‘O’, 6/o transparent red, 8/o op. red. GO DOWN TOWARDS THE FOCAL. GO UP 9 core beads (7 for loop + 2 for distance).

Emerge. String next loop. Go downward outside and UP inside 9 core beads. Emerge. Keep repeating by placing the loops to the side so they are spiraling upwards.

SPIRALING ROPE 

Because all the beads are Czech glass, they are heavy. I found that by wearing the necklace, I was able to create looped sections because the weight was distributed. I used gravity to my advantage! I would just have to turn the completed sections out of the way and continue stacking the loops.

I was able to successfully layer the loops by consistently going up through the core 9 beads at a time. It was the perfect solution for this near-sighted beader!

This is a great photo showing the core versus the twisted rope. It’s amazing how many loops are needed to cover the 8/o core! The were 230 loops framed by 460 ‘O’s and 6/o  and 8/o seed beads. I know because I used 9.20 strings of 25 cut Topaz-Picasso beads.

Once I completed the last spiral rope loop, I went down through the focal bead, added a 8/o seed bead and tied around it to create a plug. All the loose thread tails were woven into the spiral rope for a clean finish.

Lastly, I created fringe by stringing 15 - 8/o red seed beads, 1-bronze ‘O’, 1-topaz lozenge and a red seed bead turn-around plug. I anchored the fringe up through the spiral loop and came down the focal to create a few more fringes.

I’m happy with my Red Spice Deco Spiral Rope. Since the weight is distributed it should be fun to wear without falling. It will be a fave going forward! 

Summer challenges are fun once you have an idea and a deadline. This is one way to do something out of the ordinary and enjoy wearing something new and original! Check out the Gallery to see what my fellow beaders created for the Spice Girls Summer Challenge.

Groovy Flower Power Toronto Bead Society 2026 Bag of Beads Challenge

This year’s Toronto Bead Society (TBS) Bag of Beads was a blast from the past! 

Thank you to John Bead Corporation for donating the two tubes of “Groovy Mix” 10/o rocailles featured in this year’s Bag of Beads. The Committee threw in a dash of lemon yellow and fuchsia-lined seed beads, a string of orange bugles, 8/o olive and 6/o orange beads; blue Super Duos; a few olive large-hole acrylic beads. For interest there were a few warped glass shapes, a rosaline glass heart, and a glass circle. Plus there was a square of very orange stiff-stuff foundation.

At least one of everything in the TBS Bag of Beads had to be used in the challenge. This includes the stumper — a looking glass!

When I looked up GROOVY on Google, I found all sorts of art that screamed 1970’s. Scary thing: I remember the 70’s. The one that spoke to me was “Flower Power”, single flowers in all sorts of colours next to each other. It would be fun to just combine in random coloured seed beads in any order. Can’t go wrong because they all go so well together like the tube of “Groovy Mix”.

FLOWER POWER

No two flowers are the same. Each one started with a circle of beads like a daisy start. Then I filled in the center with a single bead of any colour or size. Next I often created a picot between the circle of beads, but by changing the base colour, it added dimension. Sometimes, I would add a string of beads around in each picot.

Occasionally, I did a 3-bead picot, or a 5-bead like the blue one in the top row of the photo below. Then, I played around with stringing different combos of beads and texture in between. The Super Duos held in place with the lemon yellow added interest and zing to a flat beaded flower.

In the lower row I strung large orange 6/o between marigold seeds around the circle. Then, I added fuchsia picots along the edge. I like this one because the complimentary colours pop.

Since the Challenge required us to use at least one of every type of bead in the bag, I cleverly dealt with a big-holed acrylic bead. I circled it with the large orange 6/o beads. Then I secured it by wrapping between each bead down the center. The thread path is part of the charm. Next, I ran through one side of the Super Duo in between the large orange beads. I strung 3 olive rocailles between the other side of the unique 2-hole beads. Because they were in such a tight circle, it created interesting motifs. Lastly fuchsia picots stand between the orange circle around the acrylic beads to create a very lush 3-D flower. 

The last photo shows a fresh flower with Super Duos petals around the lemon circled large orange bead.  

LOOKING GLASS STUMPER

This was a big challenge for me! Luckily, I had cylindrical Delica beads in my stash for beading a holder for the looking glass. Silly me had a hard time figuring how to start the mosaic (Peyote) circle of beads. Nymo thread is the wrong stringing material! You need to have an EVEN number of Delicas for the initial circle. This was not easy to count in a single colour! Now you know why I enjoy complex pattern with many color changes! (i.e. Ukrainian-style gerdans). It’s easier to count a few beads v.s. 60 teal metalic beads!

On my third try, I used 6 lbs. Fireline. Once I created the circle, I very carefully added the second row of beads on one side of the center. then turned it around to add a second row to the other side of the middle row. 

Next I found 13/o Charlotte seed beads in my sash. Very carefully I threaded a seed bead between sicking up cylinders.

Once I filled in with seed beads around the band, I pulled the Fireline tightly to cinch the ring. Then I added a single seed in between the seeds and pulled the circle tighter. This created a rounded base for the glass to rest in.

Once the glass was pushed into the cradle, I needed to repeat the process on the other side. First, I added a single Charlotte between the Delicas, then pulled the thread to tighten the other side. Next, I added another in between and tightened the circle. The glass was now securely in place. I reinforced the ring but left tails of Fireline for attachment later.

DAISY CHAINS

Don’t have step photos because daisy chains are a universal basic. The "Groovy Mix" made is easy to create fun daisy chains.

First, I started with beading a bugle daisy chain. I did an 8-bead daisy between the #3 orange bugle thinking there would be four petals on either side of the bugle. I found the flowers were lopsided probably because the center bead was too small for an eight petalled flower. I figured the Bugle daisy chain should be used for the medallion.

The continuous daisy chain has 7-petal flowers. The trick was to be consistent in how I added the center and completed each daisy every time. There is a repeat of six flowers. The continuous daisy chain is perfect for the looking glass. However, I needed something in between. The warped glass beads in the bag proved to be perfect for  softening the transition between organic daisies and engineered glass ring.

FLOWER POWER MEDALLION

I found the bright orange color of the stiff foundation overpowering. It drained my beautiful miniature works of art. On the other hand, a lot of hippy 70’s prints were very orange. There was no white in between. So, I just had to do the best I could to make my Flower Power medallion dance!

Since each flower was created individually with lots of spare thread for attachment, I was able to play around and audition several layouts. Once I secured the large flowers to the foundation, I started adding touches of zing here and there. Sometimes I had to edge petals with another color for them to stand out against the orange ground. I added a few small single daisies, attached a few warped glass beads with a blue complimentary seed. Then I stitched on the top-drilled rosaline glass heart.

TRIMMING THE EDGE

For a clean finish on the back, I added a cream faux leatherette. I auditioned two different sizes of olive beads along the edge. In my opinion, the mid-sized 8/o looked better. However, it was a very close call whether I had enough to trim all the way around. You can see how I counted spare beads by ten beads on my board. I just made it with 7 beads to spare!

To best secure the bugle daisy chain to the medallion, a single petal was stitched between two edge beads then reinforced all around. 

Once the medallion was fit tested, I put on the continuous daisy chain and held the looking glass above the medallion. My husband snapped the photo. By looking at this picture, I unpicked a few daisies before securing the looking glass.

FLOWER POWER THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS

Here I am wearing the entire creation. OR, I could wear them separately. The looking glass on the daisy chain make a nice pendant alone. The medallion on the bugle daisy chain is a work of art statement piece. 

This photo sums up my challenge: Using the looking glass to magnify the beaded flowers. Admire and enjoy!

Honeycomb - Toronto Bead Society 2025 Bag of Beads Challenge

This year’s Bag of Beads looked beautiful in the bag — warm honey with a touch of turquoise blue. It even came with real amber chips! And some sort of button earring stumpers with smashed down posts, clips, and a load of tiny headpins.

Contents of the Bag of Beads

The Toronto Bead Society (TBS) Bag of Beads challenge is to use at least one from each of the bags in the kit we were given. We could add any other needed supplies from our own stash.

What to do?? No muses for the longest time. The recurring theme that kept coming was “honeycomb”.

Inspiration

The next challenge was how do I create a honeycomb that would hold its hexagonal cell? The logical answer was bead embroidery. But the next decision was, “Will it be another work of art in a shadow box like the last three challenges (Nautilus, Mid-Century Modern Living, Secret Garden)?”, OR “Can I make this challenge be wearable?

 “JUST DO IT!” 

I cut a piece of blue Stiff Felt left over from a previous challenge. Then I tried a few different ways to stitch a honeycomb cell. The most effective way was to draw a 1cm. cell with a pencil, then stitch a light-coloured rough-cut satin beads individually, but then add another on each line. By stitching a metallic gold 13/o seed bead in the corner, a cell shape was created. 

Since I was creating on the fly, I kept drawing a few more hexagonal cells on the blue foundation, then stitching down satin beads with seed beads defining the corners. With time, five rows of cells felt right for the height of a medallion and five and a half cells were best for the width.

Next, the cells needed to be filled in with honey. I tried stitching down the opaque and metallic sienna seed beads in a cell, but it was very sad. Then I strung segments of 1 op. sienna seed, 1 met. sienna seed, 1- 4mm round amber pressed-bead, followed by 1 met. and 1 op. sienna. 

Each segment was secured in between satin beads on one side and pulled across the cell, then secured on other side between satin beads. 

Once five segment strings were secured across all cells, I framed them with a string of alternating single turquoise opaque 8/o seed beads and #2 Czech s/l bugles. The turquoise frame needed to be couched down. So, I trimmed the Stiff Felt foundation fairly close to the honeycomb.

Then stitched down the bugle frame between beads.

STRINGS AND STUMPERS

Next I had to deal with the stumpers. I stitched on the clips to the underside of the metallic button earrings

Then glued them down with E6000.

Since this was going to be a wearable piece, I strung a fine beading wire with alternating turquoise 8/o beads and amber 4mm round beads. Luckily, there were just enough round beads in the Bag! 

To secure the string to the buttons, I added a crimp, wiggled the wire through the underside openings of metallic button, wove the tail back through the crimp and pressed it firmly to stop the strung bead wire from slipping.

ADDING THE BACKING 

Once the string assembly was complete, I stitched down the clips to the back of the bead foundation. The metallic button was left exposed because it was a design element transitioning from the Honeycomb medallion to the fancy bead string.

Luckily, I had a piece of faux leatherette in my stash. I trimmed it to the medallion's size and basted it through all the layers so I could bead a clean finish. A traditional 3-bead finish would not work because of the turquoise bugle/seed frame! Don’t know if anyone ever did this before, but I figured out a way to catch the top and bottom through a sienna seed bead for a systematic stitch. Practical and neat. 

This is my creative solution dealing with the situation at hand. In the end, it looks like a bead sandwich layer between the Honeycomb and leatherette backing!

FRINGE FINISH

In another little bag were two novel beads which needed attention. Since the rule is, “use at least one from each bag”, I chose the round “world” bead instead of the chunky sienna tube bead.

To deal with this heavy bead, I tried suspending it from 8/ turquoise beads in the centre-front of my Honeycomb medallion. I figured surrounding fringes would soften the look.

I like playing with color and shapes in fringes. There were chiseled flat coppery beads (which I donated to the cause) in another bag. As well as a bag and short string of real amber chip beads. I felt there needed to be some zing between these interesting beads. In my stash I had a few turquoise chip slivers which worked really well in between the chiseled bead and amber. Of course, a turquoise seed bead at the bottom would not only holds beads on each fringe from falling, but add the ultimate zing.

The fringe is very organic. Each one varies in length and look because of natural material differences. This was not about perfection, but feel. 

The short headpin was a headache. I managed to thread a few beads on a headpin and attached it to the clip. See the highlighted pin on the photo. Challenge met, but not seen!

This Challenge was fun in the end because I let the beads and materials direct the creative process once I had the honeycomb theme and wanted it to be wearable.