Microbeads, mini micros, and ultra fine

[maddygirl]

Ok, so I went to www.pennwisearts.com and I see she has a great selection of microbeads, but I also see there are two new varieties: mini microbeads and ultra fine microbeads! What to get?I'm primarily looking to make beaded pens, but you know how it goes...one new project leads to another...so what do you buy? Anyone tried the new smaller beads?TIA, Tina

[musicmarth]

I just bought both...and used the micro beads for my beaded pen. Suzanne is on this site (I think her screen name is queenpennywise)...so you might consider emailing her from here or from her website. She's very personable!


I have heard that the ultra fine micros are more like sanding sugar...

[WeimFamily]

I use the mini microbeads to fill in the gaps after applying the microbeads.

[waakn]

I have the micro minibeads from Suzanne, they are great. I have used on the beaded pen and other projects


No tried the ultra fine yet,,,, on my list to order

If you have more questions email suzanne she is a great help =)

[inspiredbycreativity]

I enjoy all three times, especially the ultra fine beads for my embellishments.

[queenpennywise]

I could tell that you gals were talkin' about me! The membership on my Yahoo group exploded this week! :0)

To answer your question about the different bead sizes:

Yes, we do have THREE sizes of clear beads now!

Micro Beads are .5mm
Mini Micro Beads are .35 mm
Ultra Fine Micro Beads are too small to measure!

(FYI, SU micro beads are .8mm, a tad larger than our original .5mm size)


So now you're probably wondering what the difference is right?!

The smaller the bead, the less light that gets refracted through the glass, which means that the image underneath doesn't get as obscured or distorted. So for super fine print images, details and words the Ultra Fine's are ideal! They lay so flat and close together - it's amazing!! You really MUST try it!!

For larger images, I still love the regular micro beads! Because they allow more light to pass through they actually 'sparkle' more than the mini's. So where does that leave the Mini's?? Somewhere in between! LOL!! I will often mix sizes of beads for maximum coverage (the smaller ones will fill in the gaps left between the regular ones!) How cool is that??

[WeimFamily]

THANKS for the insight about which beads to use for which purpose! Very helpful. I might have to go to your site and order some of those ultra fine beads.