Organizing seed beads

[laura]

What works best for you when organizing seed beads? Any tips?

Do you think it's best to have them sorted by size, color or finish?

I'm currently keeping mine in zip bags in a large flat plastic container and try to keep them in separate "piles" (or rows) sorted by color groups, but they get mixed up very soon.. not convenient at all.. and difficult to work.

[Tela]

;D, Laura! I do the same thing! Not very efficient

[christine]

I keep mine in divided mechanics drawers. They are in plastic bags and so far the best I can do is keep them separated by color. The dividers in the drawers help keep the colors separate but it still can get messy quickly

[laura]

I saw a dream "organizer" on one blog, cannot remember where.. But it was a metal sheet on the wall and tens of magnetic metal containers with transparent lids on them. So far the best idea I've seen and something that's not very easily doable..

Something similar to this:
www.lindseyerickson.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/wall-of-beads.jpg

Just imagine how flexible it is! and how easy to choose color palette... or just arrange the beads.. and rearrange.. in any way you like/need..

P.S. found it! the place where I first saw this (with tutorial):
beadsforbusygals.blogspot.com/2010/10/answer-to-perpetual-beaders-question.html

[Renate]

Laura, this is a stunning idea. The beader's dream, a room where the walls are covered with beads, LOL.

For the time being I continue with the plastic bags and boxes in shoe and photo boxes, sorted and labelled (sometimes) by colour and material. For the more expensive beads and findings I have a kind of tool boxes with compartments. They are great, but don't come cheap.

Where the trouble really begins is with "projects", when the things have to come out of their boxes. Then I have mixes of all kinds of colours and materials, and they grow like fungus. I need those for creative work, and I cannot put them away while I'm in a creative frenzy, or my muse will be mortally offended. So when my muse strikes, my table will be a growing mess for days, and the tidying up afterwards is the worst. I will then end up with bags of bead mixes and wire scraps. I am so lucky to have a sister who loves to sort seed beads out, and I can send them to her, and will get them back neatly sorted and labelled. Though most of the time I love my colourful beadsoups and keep them for later use. Another box...

[laura]

LOL- your sister is a beader's dream sister

I don't do bead soups, sort them myself from time to time.. but before I do it leads to a number of projects using the same colors that are already on the trays... a creative block on it's own.

Also, my large container is now storing the "extra" beads only - those that I like/use most end up dumped in a large box on the table. And I also have some bags sitting all over the table and in the "travel bag" too. All this leads to "I know I have them but Where are they??"

All of my special beading "tools" are useless - I have several watercolor mixing palettes, a beading tray and a ruberrized waitress tray which I figured would be the perfect surface for seeds (non slippery and non reflective) - all of them are covered with beads, half finished projects and experiments, wire shapes and scraps And until I sort these out I end up beading on a piece of old denim..

For stone beads/crystals the cheap tackle boxes (or hardware boxes) with compartments work quite well, but the seeds drive me nuts.

I was researching the possibility to make a bead wall, but those metal boxes are so expensive :/ ..

[Tela]

I like those little stick up boxes.

I, too, store glass and stone beads in tackle and plastic, compartmented boxes. And, I too, struggle with the seed beads, specifically.

When I worked with glass, I had those wooden strips with strong, embedded magnet strips that were wall mounted and held my steel tools in close reach. I loved it. It would be great to have something like that for beads. Maybe some good magnet strips mounted on the wall with little containers that had a big, steel washer glued to the bottom. I bet Goop brand (e-6000) glue would work great. That sounds like a project that I should put more thought into.....

[Tela]

Check out my mess! All the bins are full. I have 2- 6ft bookcases behind me stuffed with stuff!

[laura]

Teasing us, huh?
That's some pretty decently organized "mess"

(me curious about the offtopic large rolls of wire? are these coated wire from electronics store or.. ?)

[Tela]

No, those a 1 lb spools of raw copper from Rio Grande.

Oh, it looks like it isn't a mess, but I assure you it is

[glenda]

I love seeing other peoples tools and materials!! Thanks Tela!!

Thanks for showing the magnetic wall Laura, wow that looks just awesome. I guess you could replicate it to a certain extent with velcro squares as opposed to metal and magnets!! Not quite as classy!! Hmmmm Im going to look into it!!

i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j325/jcicjewellery/desk.jpg [/img]

i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j325/jcicjewellery/toolbox.jpg [/img]

The worst part for me is when I have finished making something and all the beads are mixed up all over my desk (as in the picture) I despise sorting them out and putting them away. So, sometimes I just leave them until there are just too many and I HAVE to tidy up!! Note: the date!! Last time I thought to change it must have been September 26th!!! ;D

Think I need your sisters address Tela! ;D

[Tela]

Glenda, I wish it were my sister who is a beader's dream, but it is Renate's sister.

I like your work are, everything is all together.

My leftover bead soup spills into my bead tray and a little bowl until I decide they have have gotten far too messy. (And then I wait a few months )

[glenda]

Cool, Renate's sister is even closer!! ;D Cheaper postage ;D

It most certainly is all together.....I wish I knew everything's exact location though, would be so much more time efficient! ;D

Renate, Does your sister have a spare week in her diary?!

[Renate]

I'll talk to her, Glenda, as soon as she is done with mine, which may take a while. ;D

To get back to Laura's original question, I've read various times that many beaders love bead tubes, and I can imagine that they very useful, because they take less space f.e. on the table, because you put them upright, and you can see the colour at a glance. The catch: the tubes and the "bead pavillion" add up, too.


I'm afraid the best space and money saving storage are small plastic bags in boxes with labels. Ugly but efficient.

[laura]

Back in the day when I had just few colors of seed beads I used tubes that normal people put cut flowers (orchids) in - you know, the plastic tube with rubber lid and a hole in it to stick flower. You can buy them pretty cheap in bulk.

these:


I'd just put a piece of scotch tape inside the lid to "seal" the hole and it would make a pretty decent container. Problem with those - apart from the hole - is that they are usually opaque so you don't see colors well. Another problem - they are small. Many of the Czech seeds I buy today are packaged in 50g bags..

P.S. Renate - your sister could start her own home business

[sarahsequins]

One of my favorite ways to store sequins is to put them in plastic bags, punch holes in the bags, and stick them on pegboard -- this would also work for bags of beads!

Mr. Sequin painted some pegboard black, framed it in an old picture frame, and hung it on the wall, but for those of us who don't have a background in woodworking, maybe a piece of foam board or cork with pins in it would work.

He also made me a bead tube holder. It looks a lot like a test tube holder, and I organize my seed beads by color. Maybe an alternative would be to get some foam, poke holes in it, and stick the bead tubes in?

And then... there are those little film canisters. I found them at my local creative reuse center, and I label them with tape. They work well for my seed bead color mixes.

[Tela]

Great ideas, Sarah!