WIP

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This piece is a work in progress. What I am showing is the central beaded cab of a new necklace I am working on. Since it is a work in progress I am not going to share a lot of details because I want to wait until I am ready to show the whole piece. However, it is a large glass cab that was made for me by hand by a glass artist. The picture is terrible and I am sorry for that but my scanner simply will NOT pick up the colors and beauty of this cab. I am hoping when the piece i all finished that my best friend will let me borrow her camera so I can photograph it properly. It is embellished with size 6 and 11 seed beads, size 9 Charlottes and backed in ultra suede. it is truly lovely in person. The only thing I am the slightest bit unhappy about is that part of the green seeds (which you really cant see in the picture) that is supposed to be framing the cab, keeps 'folding' underneath the piece.

Pearl Brooch

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Well today I completed my first for sale piece in a long time. It was a challenge to get back into this type of work. I have missed it so very much. I've learned a lot of new techniques since I started beading. This brooch was inspired by some of the bead artists that I consider to be 'artists' and whom I aspire to be able to create like. This piece was also inspired by a book I borrowed form the library called Beading with Cabochons. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.


The brooch is a fossil coral (thanks!)bezelled in tiny gold seed beads and warm luscious brown seed beads. It is also accented by freshwater pearls and super tiny silver lined seed beads. The back is lined in a creamy beige Ultrasuede.


Unfortunately I don't have a camera so I had to scan it and since it is not flat it really lost something in the scan. But it is still lovely despite that.

A very busy week 10

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I was just hit with the inspiration bug this week. The week isn't over yet. In fact, it's only Tuesday, but I have 5 bracelets to show off. These were all done over a 3 or 4 day period since my last post. Needless to say however, I have certainly met my quota for week 10. :)


All of the chains are made with 20g bright aluminum 1/8" ID.
The first one is called Crys Cuff since I made it specifically for me. It's Euro 4in1 and five rows wide. It hugs my wrist and feels really slinky on.
The second one is called Droplets. I think the little blue magatama beads look like little drops of water. I enjoyed making this piece because it allows me to combine my first love (beads) with my current passion (chain). Other than that is is also a Euro 4in1 weave and fits snugly on the wrist.
The third chain I called Rain. It is a shaggy loops bracelet but one side of each section of loops contains a magatama drop bead. This caused the beads to spiral around the chain. It is really beautiful in person despite it being made in aluminum. It looks incredibly delicate and feminine on. I am really pleased with it. I am really looking forward to getting a hold of some of the end drilled swarovski crystals so I can try this with crystals.
The fourth bracelet here is called Roger's Cuff because I made this specifically for my hubby. He has been wanting a bracelet for a while now but since I am working with such small rings everything was coming out to dainty I think. (mind you that's my opinion, he loved them) However, when I went to my LBS the other day to get some clasps I noted these multi strand clasps that felt masculine to me. They toggles are made with a squarish wire and the bar itself is rectangular. It just felt manly to me. So I constructed a five row Euro 4in1 for him. My only 'complaint' with this one is the toggle was not wide enough to accommodate more rows. I think it would look better at 9 or 11 rows. For the next one I will try it in 18g as opposed to 2o and try and get 9 rows or so in there.
Finally the fifth one is called The Eyes Have It. I made a shaggy loops bracelet. It was my very first one that I had made. While I thought it was very cute, it felt lacking. I think this was mostly because the rings are so small that it didn't feel like it had any weight though it did have some character. So, when at my LBS I bought a new bag of little eye beads. I love these beads so much. I am always buying different colors and sizes because I think they are totally awesome. So, I got out the 22g wire.. (i think it was the 22) and wrapped a WHOLE BUNCH of these tiny little eyes. I did a wrapped loop at the top, then threaded the bead on and wrapped the tail of the wire in a spiral up the side of the bead and then tucked the tail in with the wrapped loop. It took a really long time but I think it looks sweet! For this bracelet though, there are only drops on alternating sides of every other section of loops.
Well that's it so far!

Week 9 Roundmaille

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This week I wanted to try another new weave. When I was at the renaissance festival recently, I saw a bracelet that intrigued me a lot. I recognized the weave as being roundmaille from pictures I had seen of it before. I had to look up how to do it and I finally found a tutorial on the M.A.I.L website. The instructions were kind of hard to understand though. It wanted me to start out with a section of 4 in 1 and then roll it up and connect it together. While it sounded very straightforward, in practice it was so hard for me to get it to work. I only did a small section, maybe 8 or ten links like that.


However, I really wanted it to work for me. So after studying it for a while, I discovered there was a pattern I could follow by adding just one link at a time to the ends in a circular motion rather than rolling up a sheet. It worked wonderfully for me and I think I got quite a bit speedy at it.


Rather then keep reusing the same base metal claps and findings over and over and over again I went to my LBS and picked up a couple packages of clasps. Now I have a few more to keep moving around so that at least I can show them pictured with clasps on them.


This particular bracelet I cannot wait to try in Sterling Silver and Gold Fill. I think it is going to look breath taking in the two metals together. I am excited.


The stats on this bracelet are the same as they have been. 20g Bright Aluminum 1/8" ID. The clasp is a really really pretty silver plated toggle with a swirly leaf pattern on it.