Incorporate chain into a jewelry design…
It almost took longer to photograph this bracelet than it did to make it. There are three pieces of chain between each of the Czech beads.
Materials Used:
Sterling silver chain and findings
4 – 8mm Czech fire-polished round faceted beads (oil slick dipped décor)
1 – 4mm Czech fire-polished round faceted bead (oil slick dipped décor)
1 Heart-shaped lobster claw clasp
Update 03/10/2012: This bracelet is sold!
Organize your bead area…
Fortunately, the instructions for this day don’t require that we clean the entire area! This box was the most in need of organizing.
Before:
After:
Learn a new beading technique…
I had two choices. The first was Kumihimo bead weaving, which I have never tried. The other was the Anemone stitch that I have only tried once and could use some improvement. The thought of threading so much yarn and then trying to braid it made me want to run away – screaming. Personally, I found Anemone to be very tedious. So, I decided to make it more appealing (to me) by using lots of color. This bracelet consists of two shades of reds and oranges and four shades of blues and greens in size 6 seed beads. The core beads are matching 4mm colors and the accents are size 11 clear silver-lined seed beads.
Overall, I was very pleased with the result and much happier with my ability to do it. Here is a close-up of the stitch.
Use up some left-over beads…
After working with peyote stitch for the last couple of months, I decided it was time to do something different. I found the blue and green beads in a box of left-overs (I had wrapped the loops last year). The white beads were in another box, along with the leaf bead caps. All I had to do was wrap the loops for the white beads, add two small pieces of sterling silver chain and a lobster clasp.
That was the easy part. Photographing the finished project took twice as long. I couldn’t find a background that would show off the colored beads without washing out the white beads and the silver. Finally, I settled on a black velvet necklace stand. All I had to deal with after that was getting rid of the glare from the flash. Thank goodness for GIMP‘s band-aid tool!
Fusion Beads is hosting a 30-Day Bead Challenge to celebrate National Craft Month. I’m going to do my best to keep up with them and post my results. (Posting may be harder – I don’t think I’ve ever posted 30 days in a row on my photo blog!)
Day 1: Make a pair of earrings…
3-D Triangle Earrings made with size 15 color-lined Delicas, two Swarovski crystals and sterling silver findings. The color inspiration came from my yellow daffodils and the tulip trees that are blooming.
It took me much longer to decide what to make, find the materials, and choose the colors than it did to make them!
Birds were the theme for this year’s Bead-it-Forward bead quilt project, which benefits breast cancer research. Here are the squares I designed and stitched.
