Background   
The Huichol (pronounced wee-chol) are a small tribe of Indians in Mexico with a rich and complex spiritual life. The ultimate expression of their spirituality is in the ritual articles they make. One very important technique consists of wooden shapes such as masks, bowls, sticks, eggs, and plaques covered in a wax layer into which are pressed traditionally yarn and often glass beads in complex designs stimulated by dreams of the spiritual world. The bead designs resemble snowflakes, plants, flowers, stars, and other geometric in bright opaque colours using 10º or 11º seed beads all placed with their hole facing up like a little donut. 

My Version 
When I decided that I'd like to try a Huichol-style beaded piece, the sticky wax layer they traditionally used was not an option for me! So to substitute for both the wooden base and the wax I used a layer of polymer clay. This was conditioned very well and rolled out to about 1/8 
inch thick and just leaving it an amorphous shape for now. Using long-nosed tweezers (filched from the serger!) I placed each bead carefully on the base, beginning in the centre and building out around that first bead. I tried to keep the successive rows evenly spaced and lined up carefully with the previous rows and fitting the beads fairly tightly together in a brick-type pattern. Traditional Huichol beadwork is mostly spaced this way but with occasional adjustments to account for odd shapes and the contours of the item being beaded. 

When I was finished placing the beads to my satisfaction, I rolled over it carefully with a lucite brayer to embed the beads a little way into the base. Any rolling-pin object will do, though if it's clear you can see what you are doing underneath. Then I cut around the beads with a sharp blade to create a hexagonal brooch, smoothed the edges with a finger, and baked the beaded shape in the toaster oven. My usual baking procedure is 1/2 hour at 250ºF. which is a little longer and cooler than recommended but a little safer. After the piece was baked and cooled I applied three thin coats of Fimo gloss glaze just to ensure that the beads stayed put. Finally a pin finding was stuck on the back with E-6000 glue, left to dry overnight, and the brooch was complete. 

Some final thoughts 
Choose the colour of the base carefully to enhance the beadwork since it shows a little between the beads and a lot at the edges of the piece. I chose black but other options might be charcoal, dark green, brown, navy etc. depending on the colours of the beads you plan to use. 

If, unlike the Huichol, you need to work out some design ideas first, you could use graph paper designed for brick stitch or peyote. Be aware that the beads in this case are placed flat so the proportions of the "bricks" should really be square rather than rectangular. Some bead 
design programs for the computer have the ability to adjust the proportions correctly and can show the beads in their correct round shape. 

Regular 10º or 11º seed beads work very well. This is a good place to use the Czech beads that aren't quite as perfect as the more costly Japanese. Opaque colours seem to give the best effect - transparents tend to disappear and silver-lined are not as attractive with the hole-side up. Metallics might be an interesting possibility that I haven't tried yet. I attempt to choose the beads that are most evenly sized around. This helps when placing succeeding rows correctly. A little flatter or taller won't matter much though when they are pushed into the polymer clay. 

Fimo Gloss glaze is quite shiny. You could try the Matte for a more subtle look. And actually somewhere half-way between matte and glossy would be about right! The beads seem pretty solidly attached to the base. 

Virtually any base shape, either flat or 3-dimensional, could be covered with beads in this manner. Just remember - it's a very time-consuming and fiddley method. It might be overwhelming for a huge piece but I found the process enjoyable in the small scale of the brooch. It definitely gave me new respect for the patient Huichol and their incredible intricate designs. 

 It's Saturday morning, I got up real early this morning. Can't take a chance of missing the shuttle over to the crafts center. 
 "Thomas Harris, get back here and finish your breakfast!" 
 "Can't Mom, I have to catch the bus." I heard Mom mutter something like, "Will that boy ever slow down long enough to eat?" as I headed out the door. I ran all the way to the school parking lot. 
 Jane yelled from the bus, " lets go slow poke!" 
  I gabbed with Jane about what camp might be like all the way there. Soon the bus drove through an overhead sign that read "Welcome to Lazy Acres Summer Camp". As we got off the bus, a man who turned out to be Mr. Peabody was standing there waiting for us to get off the bus. He had horseshoe shaped hair on his head. His smile looked like he had a banana in his mouth sideways. 
 "Hi gang, I'm Mr. Thaddeus Peabody. Your Host for this summer session. Welcome to Lazy Acres Summer Camp." 
 "His name suits him." Jane whispered. 
 "Shhh!" I said. I want to hear what he is saying. 
"This summer we have a number of things you can learn in the crafts dept. Such as: 
   1) Basket Weaving." 
        "Yuch! He's got to be kidding?" 
 "Quiet Tom, maybe it would be fun?" 
 "Okay then, you do it I'm not." 
 Mr. Peabody continued. " or there is: 
   2) Ceramics 
   3) Gymp Tying 
   4) Kite Making and finally, 
   5) Woodburning 
Lets all head over to the main hall and I can start by answering your questions about the various crafts." 
 Jane and I sat next to each other in the hall, since we didn't know anyone else there. A whole bunch of other schools sent kids there too. I couldn't believe somebody actually asked about basket weaving. Jane I think, is going to do ceramics. Finally I got to ask about Woodburning. 
 "Mr. Peabody, exactly what is Woodburning?" 
 "Well Tom, in simplest terms, you put a picture on specially prepared wood with a very hot iron. Much like a soldering iron your parents might use. Only we use the heat to burn just enough in the wood to form a picture. Here are examples of work I did that I brought with me! " 
 " You can even paint or color your woodburnings as others have done. You can use crayon, oil pencils, pastels. 

   Is there anyone else besides Tom who wants to Woodburn? Jenny, and Gary you also? Great. Okay then, you three go to table three and wait for me while I get the others started on their projects and I'll be right back." 
 ''Hi! Jenny, Gary, I'm Tom I wonder what we do next?" 
 "I dunno." Gary replied. 
 "Guess we just wait and see. " Jenny said. 
 Returning, Mr. Peadody said, " All set?" Everyone nodded yes and he continued. " There are five basic steps to Woodburning: 
   1) Prepare your wood. 
   2) Prepare your art. 
   3) Trace your art onto your wood. 
   4) Burn your Wood. 
   5) Seal your wood. " 
 "We'll take each Step one at a time, and as you're working on each step I can float around the room helping everyone on their individual projects. Okay? Here goes! First, you select the piece of wood that will best fit your artwork. I have brought some samples of wood and books for art ideas. It should be enough for you three to do a least one woodburn each to start. " 
  Example of Beginning WoodBurn Pattern follows: 
 

 Mr. Peabody continued, "These patterns are the traceable type. They require graphite paper and tracing paper. First you trace the pattern on to the tracing paper and then we'll use the graphite paper, right after we prepare our wood. I always want you to remember the three most important aspects of woodburning. 1) Prepare your wood. 2) Prepare your wood. 3) Prepare your wood. " 
 "Mr. Peabody, why are you repeating yourself? " 
 "Well Jenny, I cannot stress it enough. The smoother your wood is, the easier it is to burn and easier to make accurate lines. We'll talk about how to prepare your wood, just as soon as I get back. Okay! every one is set for awhile, let's tackle the wood. Here on the table are some oval and rectangle wood blanks made of Bass Wood. Also I have brought three grades of sandpaper. Eighty, one hundred twenty, and two hundred twenty." 
 "Mr. Peabody?" 
 " Yes! Gary." 
 "What does the different grades of sand paper mean?" 
 "Good question! The lower the number the coarser or rougher the paper is. This allows us to bring the wood from a point of roughness to smoothness. 
 Each of you start with the Eighty grit, a wood trade term for grade. Then start sanding your wood going with or in the direction of the grain, not against it. 

 If your hand is going across the lines in the wood, rather than in line with it, then you are going against the grain of the wood. This will produce scratching in the wood which will not look very good after the burning is done. 
Once you feel very little resistance to the 80 grit paper, move on to the 120 grit and repeat the steps again. Do it also for 220 grit paper. When your wood feels like a smooth table top, or as close to it as possible, you are ready to go to the next step of putting your art work on. " 
 " It's lunch time everybody, in to the cafeteria for lunch!" 

Note:   Please bookmark this page and return next month for the next installment of: 
 "Yay! School's Out!"  

I would like to thank Walnut Hollow Farm, for the many points of information in this story, where I get many of my Woodburning supplies.  And for their assistance in my Woodburning Career over the years. The patterns and woodburning technique tips, are from Walnut Hollow Farms, Inc. Creative WoodBurning Book. 1978.