Bead artists create all kinds of unique jewelry and decorative objects. Why not make a name tag?
The name tag project was initially suggested by one of the Portland Bead Society members for our regular meeting event. As we use stickers to write our name and display it during our gatherings, beaded name tag seemed to be a very appropriate idea for a group project. If only it wouldn’t take me so long to make it.
Name Tag Bead Embroidery
I never made a beaded name tag before. My first name is long, and I never thought of displaying it in a bead form. However, the idea of having a tag for craft shows, bead meetings, and events was very attractive to me. Possibly, I could convert it in a pendant, too, I thought.
I decided to make it a very detailed bead embroidery, and therefore I chose size 15 seed beads only. The only exception area was the edge of the embroidery where I used size 11 beads.
One and the only focal point took the place of one of the letters – the Sleeping Beauty turquoise cabochon. I glued it and peyote stitch around it before I started sewing other beads.
Have you ever visited any of the group bead events? If yes, you are probably aware of the low productivity levels of these lively and lovely social events! Of course, I did not accomplish much during the group beading this name tag was prepared for. I kept talking and exploring ideas.
Months went by…
The only letter with a turquoise cabochon sat in the middle of my soon-to-be-embroidered name, and I kept on weaving and designing something else. This would probably long for years if only I didn’t have the already attached Sleeping Beauty cab to the backing material.
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Sleeping Beauty Turquoise
Visiting Arizona jewelry shops and galleries my eyes never got tired of looking at this gem. It always has the most consistent color comparing to turquoise from other locations and therefore valued more than other turquoise stones.
Sleeping Beauty turquoise is called so because the mountains where the gem mine was located resembled a sleeping princess.
I chose this gem for this embroidery for several reasons:
Color – to me it represented that same blue I saw in the sunset sky of Arizona. And sunsets around Grand Canyon was most memorable. Sky had to have a part in my design idea. Water, too, but you will find about water later in this post.
Size – the only size of this gem I could afford at the moment. On the other hand, it could not be significant, because of the long name and small lettering.
Symbol – The brightness of this gem representing the sky contrasted with the night sky dark blue of the rest of the name tag. Yet, both colors symbolize the sky. The night and day sky as the unity of the two opposites worked best for my idea.
When I decided to return to this project, my initial design did not look as attractive to me as I saw it in the beginning. I’ve attempted more complicated designs since then, and covering the surface with beads did not feel challenging enough for me.
The Design Challenge
Soon I realized that simplicity was the challenge.
The name has to be readable from a distance. Yet I wanted to include decorations that would illustrate my character.
Very often I notice how elaborate beadwork of some artists takes over and sometimes even hides the design idea not leaving a viewer a chance to even start understanding it. Although pushing myself to complicate my task, I decided to stick to minimal decorations, but more Readable Stitching which is a new term I came up with to explain this particular bead embroidery design technique. As a formally tried graphic designer, I felt the name has to be more important than any decor in this case. The letter of the name has become a priority for my stitching.
I was born under a water sign and therefore including symbols or colors of water into the design felt right. The brighter blue lines woven into my name served well to implement this idea. Did you also notice the stars in the night sky?
I did my best to connect the design concepts of the two artists in this piece. The one was me who started this project, and another is also me, but some 18 months later. While working on it, I realized how difficult it might have been for many talented artists to agree with themselves and move forward while working on a monumental design project, or painting. Each step forward might have been critiqued by the inside judge comparing it to the ideal result. I am yet to learn the way of creative compromise.
After all, if you read that far, it is you who will judge my work. Does it look like an interesting beading project for you? Would you make your own beaded name tag? What beads kind of beads and decorations would you include?
