craftgrrl | my first foray into seed beading

(crossposted to beadwork)

I do mostly bead stringing, and have never done anything with seed beading except for a few snowflakes. I bought a book recently that gives step-by-step instructions on some simple (and not-so-simple) designs, so I did 2 of them. Here are the results!

Iridescent clear netted necklace

Brown and gold netted necklace

Black and gold netted necklace with bugle beads

I had some trouble getting the tension right on the last one...the necklace wants to curl around too much. Any suggestions? If I don't pull it tight I find that the picots want to come undone. I'm using Nymo thread.

EDIT: The name of the book I used is called "Beading with Ruby - a beginner's guide to creating beautiful beaded jewelry", written by Sandy "Ruby" Fischer. Ruby is a well-known contributor to the Jewelry Making forum at about.com. Ruby's web site has information about the book, as well as how to order it. I highly recommend it.