KUMIHIMO
Intro to Bead Runway™ Kumihimo Class: Desert Empress Graduating Necklace (Complete Kit and Travel Case)!
By Cindy Grayson
Graduating bead sizes has never been easier! This technique-focused project features Intro to Bead Runway™ graduating pattern visual layout and design. Receive your very own travel case with the 1st edition Bead Runway™ (patent pending) and use it as a tool to assist in the visual layout of graduating bead sizes. Layout your pattern on the Bead Runway, learn how to braid around a center core support to prevent bead collapse and make your necklace length adjustable with an interchangeable beaded extender, which easily provides length options for all occasions.
Pairing your Bead Runway with a Bead Journal and the Technique Pattern Series Book is highly recommended in order to fully grasp how to plan, visually design, and expand a graduating bead layout of your own! In addition, we will go over important Bead Journal Stats to help you understand the pathway to making your own Kumihimo patterns inspired by your own bead stash. While suggested, these items are not required to complete the project.
Go to shop.BeadRunway.com (Bead Runway™, Bead Journal & Technique Pattern Series Book - on Amazon).
Meet Instructor Cindy Grayson, Inventor and Author of the Bead Runway Kumihimo Technique Series, as she teaches essential contemporary beaded Kumihimo techniques from her book series in person! Pattern layout on the Bead Runway™ is a revolution in contemporary beaded Kumihimo. The Bead Runway Kumihimo Technique Pattern Series focuses on technique-based Kumihimo projects that empower students with the skills and confidence needed to successfully build their own patterns inspired by their personal collection of beads. This class is like step ONE, a personal introduction to the next step in your evolution of making Kumihimo patterns of your own. Become Empowered! Become KUMISTA!
Prerequisite: Familiar with Basic Round Braid Kumihimo Move; or take one of my Intro Classes
•Kumihimo Techniques: Intro to Bead Runway™ Visual Pattern Layout & Design, Graduating Bead Sizes, Using a Center Core Support, Preventing Bead Collapse, Choose Your Length with Beaded Extenders
•Kit Includes: A first edition Bead Runway™ (patent pending); Travel Iris case 12x12; Gemstone beads (including Matte Picture Jasper and Aqua Terra Jasper beads), beads for beaded extender, 3-ply twisted nylon cording, center cord support, magnetic clasps (x2)
•Supplies Needed: Kumihimo essentials: Kumihimo disk; Liquid Bead Fix or similar ingredient liquid (cord stiffener); GS Hypo Cement (flexible bond adhesive to secure nub end after braiding); 5 Minute Quick Set 2-Part Epoxy; Wonder Clips (x8) - NOT BOBBINS; counter weight; 6-8 bead dishes, tape measure and note talking materials or get your very own Bead Runway™ BEAD JOURNAL, Hot off the press!
About Cindy Grayson
Cindy Grayson is an Instructor, Designer, Inventor of the Bead Runway™ (Patent Pending) and Author of the “Bead Runway Kumihimo Technique Pattern Series”. Grayson is a graphic designer and marketing professional by trade, but ultimately an artist in all media. Her journey began by questioning; How many times and ways can a bead be strung on a wire? How can all of these stockpiled beads be used effectively? In search of a new challenge in jewelry making, she turned to a deep-dive study of Kumihimo.
The more she studied, the more she realized there was an elevated level of sophistication to the Kumihimo pattern process that involved detailed planning and mathematics. As a creative who appreciates an analytical challenge, she was hooked. Out of necessity, she invented The Bead Runway™, a bead layout board with eight runways to assist in visually planning and designing bead layouts specifically for Kumihimo pattern making. It also helps to count out the various bead types, which is paramount in obtaining a successful design. She created Bead Runway to spread the word of this “REVOLUTION IN CONTEMPORARY BEADED KUMIHIMO VISUAL PATTERN LAYOUT & DESIGN”.
Grayson began making jewelry, teaching and speaking publicly in 2004. It was only natural for her to share her newfound knowledge by teaching. She developed a class series for her students that covers all the basic skills and Kumihimo techniques found necessary to elevate abilities, assisting in moving beyond the restriction of pre-existing patterns. Her classes feature technique-focused projects that offer solutions to common problems in the Kumihimo pattern-making process. Other topics include successful Kumihimo pattern-making guidelines, the importance of keeping a Bead Journal for reference and ways to use the Bead Runway™—especially in making graduating patterns and in using any bead type effectively.
The Bead Runway™ (Patent Pending) is now the star and foundation of her students' studies in the “Bead Runway™ Kumihimo Technique Pattern Series”, an in-depth class series, published in a book, available on Amazon or Bead Runway Shop. By the end of the series, empowered students are more confident, bold in their design choices and capable of creating Kumihimo patterns of their own, inspired directly by favorites from their own private bead stash collections.