FA+
Shop
A new era of bead spriting begins!
8 years ago
Hi folks!
So I know my FA has been quiet for a long time now, with barely anything bead-related being posted. I apologize for that.
Honestly I miss those days! I made a lot of great friends and have a lot of great memories from it all. I know time marches forward, people move on or disappear or forget, and generally things slow down. Luckily I've met some real lifelong companions and have dragged them onto social media or messengers to stay in touch. Anyway, I'm not here to ramble on about the 'good old days'.
I'm here to say that I've basically started up on a 'next-gen' sort of thing with my beads. It's nothing really that fancy, though.
I'm going to start working with mini beads!
Essentially I've ordered a huge set of 2.6mil beads and am going to try my hand at making sprites with mini beads!
Why is this exciting? Why should I care?
Well, maybe you won't care. I do, though! Here's why it matters: Mini beads allow me to have a MUCH higher resolution when it comes to making sprites. Currently I can fit 29x29 beads into 6" -- which means any reasonably large, detailed sprite will take up a LOT of space. This is difficult to iron, difficult to ship, and is damn expensive and incredibly time consuming. It's also super stressful, as the only thing I want are satisfied customers. Hard to do that if a sprite breaks or takes a month to ship out. :c
However, with mini beads I can fit a 50x50 sprite into the same same! That's a HUGE increase. It only scales up- lock together four pegboards and suddenly I have a resolution of 100x100 where I only had 58x58 before. That's 10,000 beads versus 3364 -- one hell of a difference!
This means stuff like keychains, fridge magnets, ornaments, etc., should be a much more reasonable size for use, AND I can approach sprites I would not have touched previously. I will definitely be trying to work more on this and see what happens.
Additionally, all of the beads and pegboards I am using are all from the same manufacturer. This means it will be easy to re-order, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, I no longer have to deal with multiple manufacturers and different tolerances, melting points, etc. etc. This may not matter too much to you as a customer, but to me it makes like SO much easier. It will hopefully mean my sprites are much more consistent and durable. Additionally, the beads I'm using are rather flexible, almost elastic- they are designed to bend without breaking, which means more durable keychains and less worry about shipping!
Will prices change?
This is something I'm not sure of quite yet-- I'm still waiting on receiving and setting up everything, and need to make myself a few sprites. Bead cost itself will decrease for me, but I have a feeling the sprites themselves will take longer to put together. Handling smaller beads on this sort of scale will most likely lead to them being a lot more delicate to handle and place.
For now, prices are going to remain the same as my regular bead commissions. Once I have a few sprites under my belt, I'll make adjustments as needed. Quotes are always free, so feel free to ask ahead of time if you want one!
Shipping prices will remain the same- most of that cost is the shipping supplies and the postage the post office charges. Not a heck of a lot I can do about that, unfortunately.
Will you still do regular-sized bead commissions?
Absolutely! I still have hundreds of thousands of standard sized beads, and have no real intention of getting rid of them as long as there is demand. My main supplier unfortunately stopped carrying hama and nabbi beads recently though, which is a rather decent portion of my palette. I may eventually replace them with equivalent Artkal beads (which is what the minis are made of), but that will take time and effort. Something I'm not necessarily committed to unless people want bead stuff.
For now, just let me know if you want mini or non-mini when commissioning. Prices are the same, so it's more a matter of personal preference.
Can I see some examples?
Once I get my beads in and set up and a few things made, I will be making some posts to show size comparisons and all that. For now though, I just wanted to get this journal written because I'm freakin' excited!
As always folks, if you ever have ANY questions about my beadwork, don't hesitate to approach me. I'm always happy to make stuff for folks, and am always open for commissions. They DO make good Christmas presents..! Thanks to everybody who has supported me over the years, I wouldn't be here without you all! <3
So I know my FA has been quiet for a long time now, with barely anything bead-related being posted. I apologize for that.
Honestly I miss those days! I made a lot of great friends and have a lot of great memories from it all. I know time marches forward, people move on or disappear or forget, and generally things slow down. Luckily I've met some real lifelong companions and have dragged them onto social media or messengers to stay in touch. Anyway, I'm not here to ramble on about the 'good old days'.
I'm here to say that I've basically started up on a 'next-gen' sort of thing with my beads. It's nothing really that fancy, though.
I'm going to start working with mini beads!
Essentially I've ordered a huge set of 2.6mil beads and am going to try my hand at making sprites with mini beads!
Why is this exciting? Why should I care?
Well, maybe you won't care. I do, though! Here's why it matters: Mini beads allow me to have a MUCH higher resolution when it comes to making sprites. Currently I can fit 29x29 beads into 6" -- which means any reasonably large, detailed sprite will take up a LOT of space. This is difficult to iron, difficult to ship, and is damn expensive and incredibly time consuming. It's also super stressful, as the only thing I want are satisfied customers. Hard to do that if a sprite breaks or takes a month to ship out. :c
However, with mini beads I can fit a 50x50 sprite into the same same! That's a HUGE increase. It only scales up- lock together four pegboards and suddenly I have a resolution of 100x100 where I only had 58x58 before. That's 10,000 beads versus 3364 -- one hell of a difference!
This means stuff like keychains, fridge magnets, ornaments, etc., should be a much more reasonable size for use, AND I can approach sprites I would not have touched previously. I will definitely be trying to work more on this and see what happens.
Additionally, all of the beads and pegboards I am using are all from the same manufacturer. This means it will be easy to re-order, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, I no longer have to deal with multiple manufacturers and different tolerances, melting points, etc. etc. This may not matter too much to you as a customer, but to me it makes like SO much easier. It will hopefully mean my sprites are much more consistent and durable. Additionally, the beads I'm using are rather flexible, almost elastic- they are designed to bend without breaking, which means more durable keychains and less worry about shipping!
Will prices change?
This is something I'm not sure of quite yet-- I'm still waiting on receiving and setting up everything, and need to make myself a few sprites. Bead cost itself will decrease for me, but I have a feeling the sprites themselves will take longer to put together. Handling smaller beads on this sort of scale will most likely lead to them being a lot more delicate to handle and place.
For now, prices are going to remain the same as my regular bead commissions. Once I have a few sprites under my belt, I'll make adjustments as needed. Quotes are always free, so feel free to ask ahead of time if you want one!
Shipping prices will remain the same- most of that cost is the shipping supplies and the postage the post office charges. Not a heck of a lot I can do about that, unfortunately.
Will you still do regular-sized bead commissions?
Absolutely! I still have hundreds of thousands of standard sized beads, and have no real intention of getting rid of them as long as there is demand. My main supplier unfortunately stopped carrying hama and nabbi beads recently though, which is a rather decent portion of my palette. I may eventually replace them with equivalent Artkal beads (which is what the minis are made of), but that will take time and effort. Something I'm not necessarily committed to unless people want bead stuff.
For now, just let me know if you want mini or non-mini when commissioning. Prices are the same, so it's more a matter of personal preference.
Can I see some examples?
Once I get my beads in and set up and a few things made, I will be making some posts to show size comparisons and all that. For now though, I just wanted to get this journal written because I'm freakin' excited!
As always folks, if you ever have ANY questions about my beadwork, don't hesitate to approach me. I'm always happy to make stuff for folks, and am always open for commissions. They DO make good Christmas presents..! Thanks to everybody who has supported me over the years, I wouldn't be here without you all! <3
I haven't been this excited about beadwork in quite some time- very much looking forward to seeing what comes of all this!
Great to see you're back! I look forward to seeing what you make! :D