I never know when I will have bonus time on my hands to bead. Bonus time is unplanned free time such as waiting to pick up your kids, or waiting for a late friend at a cafe, or even being a passenger in a lengthy car ride. Not wanting to waste that time, I keep a bag of beading materials with me at all times. I actually have two different kinds of bonus beading kits: a large one for predictably long periods of time, such as plane or train rides, and a small one for car rides or to keep in my every day purse.
One of my travel bead kits is a clear cosmetics case that zips closed and has dimension, so I can fit everything I need for small, relatively easy to manage projects. My list is personal to me, but here are my must-have-with-me-everywhere items:
- A generous handful of small baggies with my favorite colors of size 11 and 10 Delicas
- Size 11 and 8 regular/round seed beads in black, copper and silver.
- Assorted findings: ear wires, headpins, jump rings in various sizes and metals, small pieces of chain, crimp tubes, closed jump rings, crimp covers, wire guardians and toggle clasps.
- 3 colors of Beadalon WildFire beading thread: black, green, and crystal
- Needles in a plastic case
- At least 2 small Bead Stoppers
- A spool of Beadalon 19 strand silver colored stringing wire
- Several pairs of various sized rubber O-rings
- Small scissors suitable to pass through airport screening
- Small chain nose pliers
- Small wire snip
- Small metric tape measure
These items allow me to make something, anything, anytime and anywhere. I usually whip up peyote rings, but have also made beaded beads on the fly, or stitched a bail around a ring. Of course, my ideal beads-to-go travel kit would be more like an entire trailer!
Leslie Rogalski
Beadalon Design Team Member
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