CHUNKY ORANGE

What a relief! I finally touch base in Singapore after heavy traveling for two months (September and October). Oh, home sweet home!

I have promised myself to do a remake of the CHUNKY GREEN with some changes to make it more wearable.  Tada....here is the new version with an orange bead:

The main difference is in the black weaved rope. I used Cubic Right-Angle Weave (six-bead base) instead of Twisted Herringbone Stitch.  It is indeed more flexible - Thanks Therese for the suggestion!

It was taken on the same day of completion therefore I had no chance to snap some good shots with the camera. At least I managed to take this photo with my Samsung handphone before saying bye-bye to it.  

Hmm...I wish I could have some close-up shots of the wire wrapped bead.  Both sides are equally presentable with similar design. This is slightly difficult to wrap as the holes are at the sides widthwise, unlike the CHUNKY GREEN which has them at the top and bottom.  The challenge was to make it stay put lengthwise and not easily go lopsided.  Ha ha, at least there are holes otherwise it would be challenging.

Hey, the CHUNKY GREEN was also taken and the taker actually preferred it to the orange one. Well,  I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  

Next project - Viking Knit. Wish me luck!

  

Cubic Right-Angle Necklace

Sigh! When was the last time I have completed a project and got it posted?  Three months? Really, I have asked myself countless time "To bead or not to bead"? 

I had been drowned in busyness. Excuse? Partly. The truth is, I was stuck with a project dealing with cubic right-angle weave. The weave itself is not difficult and you can learn it easily in this tutorial: beadmavens.blogspot. The tricky part was that I had to work around an odd shaped focal bead and I did not know how to weave a bezel.  

Well I shall show the completed project in order to explain the problems I had encountered in this project:

WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS THING!!! Ha ha, it is a necklace.

Okay, it all started that I was given this beautiful Tiger-Eye measured about 1.6" X 2.5". Yup, it is a pretty big one. I did not want to just add a bail and wear it with a cord or chain. Hey, come on, I am a beader and I like challenge! So, I selected a project which is in Bead & Button October 2011 issue. The project on the cover page is like this:

Oops, I should not have shown this - my necklace seems so ugly comparatively.

Sob, sob. I have my problems:

1.  Focal stone is odd shaped

2.  I have no idea how to weave a bezel

3.  Even if I can weave a bezel, the focal will be too big and chunky

4.  I cannot handle size 15o beads so each wormy strand was not easy to bend

Notwithstanding these problems, I went ahead with the project and ended up with a monster like this!

Because of the asymmetrical focal, the necklace formed is also lopsided. Nevertheless, I will still wear it because I made it and a lot of thought has been given in the making process! 

Phew! What a load off my chest! I now can move on to other projects which I can handle.