There are few things I enjoy more than buying beads. I have a lot of beads, it's true, but it seems that a new project almost always requires new beads. Unlike painting, where you can mix pretty much every color you need, when you need a new bead color you have to get new beads. What a shame!
Of course, it might not be that you need a new color, but you need the same color in a different texture--matte, transparent, opaque, opalescent, matte opaque, matte transparent, silver lined, metallic. Etc. Or another size--15s, 11s, 8s (most to the left are 8s), 6s. (The smaller the number, the bigger the bead.)
I would like one of each, please.
My husband often asks (usually after a bead shopping trip), "how many beads do you have, anyway?" A lot. A s*&# load. More than I thought I could count. Then I found a chart that shows how many beads there are per gram, of each size. (Thank you, Beadstuff!). Hey, I could actually figure this out!
I started weighing the 8s (I have fewer of those; mostly I've worked with 11s). And realized how long it would take to figure out how many I have total, even with the cheatsheet.
Of course, it might not be that you need a new color, but you need the same color in a different texture--matte, transparent, opaque, opalescent, matte opaque, matte transparent, silver lined, metallic. Etc. Or another size--15s, 11s, 8s (most to the left are 8s), 6s. (The smaller the number, the bigger the bead.)
I would like one of each, please.
My husband often asks (usually after a bead shopping trip), "how many beads do you have, anyway?" A lot. A s*&# load. More than I thought I could count. Then I found a chart that shows how many beads there are per gram, of each size. (Thank you, Beadstuff!). Hey, I could actually figure this out!
I started weighing the 8s (I have fewer of those; mostly I've worked with 11s). And realized how long it would take to figure out how many I have total, even with the cheatsheet.
These two bins to the right have most of my 8s in them. That's a pretty small subset of all my beads--I have lots more 11s and 15s (which are really tiny). The photo below shows my stash. Each large box (10"x13") has 50+ tubes of beads in them.
OK, some math. There are approximately 40 size 8 beads per gram. I have about 1262 grams of size 8 beads. Yes, one thousand, two hundred and sixty-two grams. So that's about 50,480 beads total.
Yikes!
There are about 1,040 size 8 beads per 6" tube. Almost 3,000 size 11 beads per tube. I've pulled out about 16 tubes of size 11s for my next project--about 47,520 beads. But of course I won't use them all on that project.
OK, some math. There are approximately 40 size 8 beads per gram. I have about 1262 grams of size 8 beads. Yes, one thousand, two hundred and sixty-two grams. So that's about 50,480 beads total.
Yikes!
There are about 1,040 size 8 beads per 6" tube. Almost 3,000 size 11 beads per tube. I've pulled out about 16 tubes of size 11s for my next project--about 47,520 beads. But of course I won't use them all on that project.
How many beads do I use on each project? Well, it certainly depends on the project--how large, how bead-intensive. And counting the beads as I sew them on would certainly take all the fun out of beading!
Here's a guesstimate: I have one piece that weighs about 30 grams. I'm guessing about 27 grams of it is beads. About the same weight as one tube of size 11 beads. Not all the beads in the piece are size 11, though. So using the bead chart, I'm guessing there are somewhere around 1,500-2,000 beads in the piece.
So there you have it. I can say I have thousands of beads, possibly over 100,000. But if anyone asks, I think I'm going to stick with "s&*# load."
Here's a guesstimate: I have one piece that weighs about 30 grams. I'm guessing about 27 grams of it is beads. About the same weight as one tube of size 11 beads. Not all the beads in the piece are size 11, though. So using the bead chart, I'm guessing there are somewhere around 1,500-2,000 beads in the piece.
So there you have it. I can say I have thousands of beads, possibly over 100,000. But if anyone asks, I think I'm going to stick with "s&*# load."
RSS Feed