ENDED: Giveaway #6: Deluxe Kumihimo Kit

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. A WINNER WILL BE CONTACTED AND ANNOUNCED SOON.

We are half way through the 12 giveaways and we are so thrilled with all of your lovely comments and holiday wishes!

Giveaway #6 is the Deluxe Kumihimo Kit. All you see below can be yours. With this kit, you will learn the Japanese art of braiding called Kumihimo. Kumihimo is Japanese for "gathered threads". So after the stress of the holidays you can enter your zen mode with a little kumihimo. This is a great set to introduce beginners to this technique. Here are all the wonderful things that are included: the square plate and the round disc, the weight, bobbins, E6000 glue and all the cord ends and cords in a rainbow of colors. You will get everything you need to make 15 projects.  If you're unfamiliar with kumihimo, visit our Kumihimo 101 page for step-by-step instructional videos, patterns and project tutorials.

Estimated prize retail value: $75

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post. But be sure to do it soon, because this giveaway ends Monday Dec. 16th at 7PM ET (4PM PT). Winner will be chosen at random.

BONUS FLASH SALE: Thursday, December 12th only! Save 25% on all Braiding and Cording tools and kits with code CHESTNUT at checkout.

Remember, only comment once per giveaway and do not comment anonymously. Also, please do not use your Facebook, Twitter account, or Google Plus account when commenting. You can comment to enter as many of the giveaways as you like, but you can only win 1 Beadaholique giveaway every 12 months. Visit Beadaholique's official The 12 Giveaways of Christmas page for even more details. For a complete list of terms and conditions, please click here.

ENDED: Giveaway #3: Beadaholique Deluxe Kumihimo Kit

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. A WINNER WILL BE CONTACTED AND ANNOUNCED SOON. 

 This giveaway gives you everything you need to kumihimo! Our exclusive Deluxe Kumihimo Kit includes both a square plate and round disk, six yards each of 20 different colors of 1mm cord, E6000 glue and the findings you'll need to make up to 15 projects.  If you're new to this popular Japanese braiding technique, or to see project tutorials and how-to videos, be sure to check out our Kumihimo 101 page on Beadaholique.

The Deluxe Kumihimo Kit includes: (1) Round Disk, (1) Square Plate, (1) Gator Weight, (10) Bobbins, (1) Tube of E6000 Glue, (20) Bundles of 1mm Rayon Satin Rattail Cord - 6 Yards Each, (50) 4mm Jump Rings, (20) 6mm Jump Rings, (10) Lobster Clasps, (1) 6mm Copper Plated Bullet Kumihimo Findings Kit, (1) 6mm Gold Plated Bullet Kumihimo Findings Kit, (1) 8mm Gold Plated Bullet Kumihimo Findings Kit, (1) 8mm Silver Plated Bullet Kumihimo Findings Kit, (1) 8mm Silver Plated Barrel Kumihimo Findings Kit, (20) Silver Plated Ribbon Pinch Crimps.

Estimated prize retail value: $75.00 (all supplies purchased separately would cost over $110)

To enter, post a comment to this blog post NOW! Giveaway ends on Monday Dec. 10th at 7PM ET (4PM PT). Winner will be chosen at random. 

Bonus sale: Kumihimo supplies, including the Deluxe Kumihimo Kit, are on sale today only, Thursday, December 6th, at Beadaholique!

Remember, only comment once per giveaway and do not comment anonymously. You can comment on as many giveaways as you like, but you can only win 1 Beadaholique giveaway every 12 months. Visit Beadaholique's official 12 Giveaways of Christmas page for even more details. For a complete list of terms and conditions, please click here. 

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED. A WINNER WILL BE CONTACTED AND ANNOUNCED SOON. 

Thrifty Gifty: 5 Kumihimo Accessories – just $5 each!

With the holiday gift-giving season almost here, we thought it would be fun to highlight projects that you can easily make multiples of. Often you will purchase a supply in a larger quantity then what you need for a specific project, for example 50 jump rings, 5 clasps, 25 head pins. You might not think about it right off, but sometimes you can take these extra ingredients and make a second, third, or even fourth project. Same cost, just a lot more finished projects.

Finsihed pieces along with leftover supplies

For our first “Thrifty Gifty” segment I wanted to showcase how many projects you could make from 4 packets of Beadaholique 1mm satin rattail cord. By creating a standard 8-warp braid, I was able to create 4 bracelets and 1 necklace. After adding in the all the findings – this averaged out to just slightly over $5.00 per piece of jewelry!  

Here is how I did it:  

I took my 4 colors satin rattail cord that come in 6-yard lengths and cut them in half – giving me 8 lengths, 3 yards long each. I tied a knot on one end to keep them all together and then braided a standard 8-warp Kumihimo braid. I kept braiding until my cord ran out; this resulted in a 44” long braid.

44" braid!

To keep the cost down, I chose to use capsule bead caps. To finish these bead caps, I took a head pin, placed a petal flower bead cap on it (to prevent the head of the head pin from slipping all the way through the hole in the capsule bead cap), and then placed the capsule bead cap onto the head pin. I started to create a wrapped wire loop directly after the capsule, but before doing all the wrappings, I slipped either a lobster clasp or a closed jump ring onto the loop. I then finished my wrappings and trimmed the excess wire with flush cutters. I repeated this with all my capsule bead caps – 5 with lobster clasps attached and 5 with jump rings attached.  

Next, I measured 6 inches of braid and put a piece of scotch tape over where the 6 inch mark was. Using a pair of scissors, I cut through the taped area of my braid. Since the braid is narrower then the bead cap, I tied a piece of satin rattail cord around the taped area and trimmed off the tails. I placed a good amount of E6000 glue into the bead cap and then slid it over my braid. We have a video HERE showing you how to finish Kumihimo ends. I just kept repeating this step and finishing my braid ends until I had 4 bracelets; then with whatever braid length was left, I turned into a necklace. The result was 4 bracelets and a necklace. I also had a lot of leftover findings for another project, which made me really happy.

Total Cost: $25.53
Total Items Made: 5  
Average Price: $5.11 each!  

Supplies Used:  
Petal Bead Caps
Head Pins
Capsule Bead Caps
Closed Jump Rings
E6000  
Lobster Clasps  
White 1mm Satin Rattail Cord   
Red 1mm Satin Rattail Cord  
Green 1mm Satin Rattail Cord    
Gold 1mm Satin Rattail Cord  


Have fun! 
- Julie Bean

P.S. Look for this complete kit in our free beading projects section in the coming weeks! 

Beading Table Wednesday: October 17th, 2012

Julie's Table

I finished my long magatama beaded kumihimo bracelet this week - yay! I had such fun making it and now I am about to start another kumihimo project using one of our new satin cord mixes. Also on my table this week is the Deco Drops Bracelet featuring Czech Glass beads and an experiment in crocheting using Griffin Silk and 15/0 seed beads. 

Megan's Table

There are the beginnings of a couple of different projects on my beading table this week, and they both use new products that are coming soon to Beadaholique! I'm super excited about the new Czech glass spike beads and can't wait to incorporate them into some bead embroidered pieces. I'm also playing with some of the great new waxed cotton cord that comes in beautiful colors - it's going to be perfect for noodle beads!

Quick Tip Tuesday: Fitting a Larger Cord End Cap

This week I have been working on a beaded kumihimo bracelet using long magatama beads in Christmas colors. One thing about using long magatamas is that you end up with a thicker overall braid but the main "spine" of your cords is quite thin (if you use something like S-Lon). The end caps that I want to use are much wider then my end braid. To solve this issue, I have taken a separate strand of S-Lon and wrapped it multiple times around the braid as close to the magatamas as I can get. I will then knot the S-Lon, trim it, and then cover it in E6000 glue before inserting it into my cord end cap.  

NOTE: Purple cord was used to show more clearly how to do this in the photo. You will want to use the same color cord that you braided with. 

- Julie 

Beadaholique Kumihimo Giveaway - ENDED

We love kumihimo, and are very excited to debut our new line of Beadaholique brand Kumihimo supplies!  The line includes round and square kumihimo disks and lots of pretty colors of satin rattail cord in 1mm and 2mm widths.  We have also put together convenient kits for round and square disks with thread bobbins and coordinating sets of satin rattail. To celebrate our new products, we are giving away a fantastic collection of these brand new goodies worth over $65 to one lucky reader!

The prize will include one of our round kumihimo disks, one of our square kumihimo disks, ten thread bobbins, and one of each color of 1mm satin rattail cord - 20 colors in all!

Haven't tried your hand at kumihimo yet?  Check out our Kumihimo 101 page, where you can find all sorts of instructional videos and project tutorials!


To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling us which of the new kumihimo kits is your favorite.  Giveaway ends next Wednesday, September 12th at 4pm PDT. At that time, we will choose 1 random winner from those who left comments on this blog post. Please do not comment anonymously and do not use your Yahoo Pulse Profile if commenting, we cannot contact you if you do. Please adhere to all Beadaholique rules and conditions for this giveaway.

Good Luck!