CAROLYN SAXBY MIXED MEDIA TEXTILE ART: Sweet wrappers

Making beads with Tyvek, cellophane, angelina fibres and metallic threads

You will need:

Strips of Tyvek painted both sides with acrylic paint
Sweetie wrappers
Angelina fibres
Metallic threads
Wooden barbeque stick
Heat gun

Strip of Tyvek painted both sides

Gather materials together

Wrap the Tyvek strip round the wooden stick, then wrap a layer of cellophane sweet wrapper round on top, secure with a pin

Next, wrap some angelina fibres around the Tyvek and cellophane

Heat the bead with the heat gun, holding the heat gun 6-8 inches away from the bead and twisting the wooden stick while heating

Then I added another layer of cellophane wrapper

I added some metallic threads

Heated again as described above

The finished bead is chunky and lovely - full of colour and texture. All the materials have fused together and when it has cooled down it will be hard and ready for stitching. A great little bead for any project - textile art, creative embroidery or jewellery, etc ...

BEFORE FOLLOWING THESE TECHNIQUES - PLEASE READ THE HEALTH AND SAFETY NOTICE HERE

Making beads from cello sweet wrappers, angelina fibres and metallic threads

You will need:

Cellophane sweetie wrappers
Metallic threads
Wooden barbeque stick
Heat gun

Eat lots of sweets/chocolates for the wrappers (my favourite bit!). Gather your materials together

Wrap a few strips of cellophane sweetie wrappers round the wooden stick. Secure with a pin to hold the wrappers in place

Wrap metallic threads round the cellophane sweet wrappers

Holding the heat gun 6-8 inches away, heat the cellophane for just a moment until it starts to melt and fuse together, twisting the stick while you are heating. Don't overdo it! If you do melt it more than you intended all is not lost! Just wrap another layer or two of cellophane and metallic threads round the bead and heat again!

The finished bead

For the next bead I followed the procedure above but added angelina fibres

Making beads from cellophane sweet wrappers, angelina fibres and metallic threads

You will need:

Cellophane sweetie wrappers
Angelina fibres
Metallic threads
Wooden barbeque stick
Heat gun

Wrap the strips of cellophane sweetie wrappers round the wooden stick

Then wrap a layer of angelina fibres around the cellophane and heat it with the heat gun, holding the heat gun about 6-8 inches away and twisting the stick to ensure even fusing/melting

Here I heated the purple cellophane and blue angelina fibres but then I added another layer of pink cellophane and more blue angelina fibres

This is what the beads look like after heating. The beads are hard and solid and can be sewn like any other bead by passing needle and thread through the hole or by couching by sewing over and around the bead. They are colourful, shiny, textured and bright - great for your textile/art projects!

BEFORE FOLLOWING THESE TECHNIQUES - PLEASE READ THE HEALTH AND SAFETY NOTICE HERE

Making beads from plastic carrier bags and cellophane sweet wrappers

You will need:

Plastic carrier bags
Sweetie wrappers
Metallic threads (optional)
Wooden barbeque stick
Heat gun

The first job is a tough one (but someone's got to do it!) - eat some sweeties and/or choccies and gather together some cellophane sweetie wrappers!!

Wrap a strip of carrier bag around the stick. Then on top wrap a sweetie wrapper around the stick and secure with a pin to stop it unfolding while you heat. I did try using some with a little bit of foil on but it doesn't work as well as the cellophane type wrappers

Hold the heat gun 6-8 inches away from the cello and heat up and down twisting the stick. The plastic carrier bag will fuse together and the cello will melt and fuse to the plastic