RAW Bracelet - Variation

This is so addicting - to weave the same RAW base with different color beads and embellished in different ways. This design is so easy to weave that I can get fast satisfaction because it may be done in less than eight hours! LOL, that is considered fast for me.

This is for my daughter and she get to choose her color. Definitely her color sense is better than mine! She has requested to add the embellishment at the two sides instead of in the middle. Overall results - satistactory!

Right Angle Weave Bracelet - first attempt

That's right - my first attempt on Right Angle Weave and first attempt on weaving Bracelet. It is the ROUND THE BLOCK bracelet designed by Babara Falkowitz (Beadwork Oct/Nov 2011 issue). I just hope my work is not a disgrace to her design:

The design requires cube bead which I don't have. I have no idea what beads are those that I used in place (purple). I bought them in Hong Kong in my last trip there and the salesperson told me that they were 'cube beads'! LOL. I think I better bring a magnifying glass in my next trip to bead shop.

My original plan was to use a pretty matte grey shank button for the clasp with grey glass pearls. Unfortunately, it could not go through the loop. I ransacked my sewing box to find any decent looking button that fit the loop and this was the only one that I could find. I did the matching of suitable glass pearls to the button in the late hours under yellow light and ended up choosing the wrong shade of color. I only noticed the mistake as I was taking the photo of the bracelet. Regret!

Anyway, it was quite fun doing this stitch. I may make more with the variations as suggested by the Artist.

Ps. My color sense is awful. I had hard time deciding on the color combination and not on doing the stitch.

Herringbone Twisted Necklace

Right after my trip to Hong Kong, I really wanted to jump straight to my beading corner and continue the half done project. Sigh, there were tons of chores waiting for me.....hey, but I still managed to steal some time each day to scratch my itchy hands for beading! AND....TADA:

     

Not impressed! Okay, let's look at these photos:

       

This design was a copy of 'Elegant Inclusion' designed by Ms Lesley Weiss. Errr... mine is far from elegant because I do not have a nice focal bead to justify the description.

I have learnt quite a bit from this project: tubular herringbone stitch, twisted herringbone stitch, how to add beads in between(with and without cage). I was amazed at how the twist/spiral developed as I was stitching along. Whoever created these stitches are really genius.

It is really a beautiful and interesting design especially the twisted endings. However, I feel that the twisted clasp will easily untwined itself. Friends from Beading Daily suggested to use those little snaps for clothing or small hook and loop to keep it in place.  Good ideas but.....with the snap or hook sewn on, can I still wear the necklace in Y style as shown in the left picture above? Hehe, I found out this Y style of wearing while doing the photo shoots for the necklace. Cool, huh?

Giving up?

I give up! Ha ha, not give up beading but a project that I am working on - a twisted Herringbone necklace.  I am not abandoning it but just putting it on hold until I am back from Hong Kong on 2nd January 2012.  I could have finished it by today but I am running out of the size 8/o bead and I am flying off tomorrow!  Frustrating!

Anyway, this is what I have done so far:

Isn't it pretty? When it was half way done, I felt that it could be a nice bracelet already.  When it has reached this length, I felt that it could be a nice necklace just by itself.  Well, this is only one part of a necklace which has a focal bead and an interesting ending. I could not wait to see the final result thus was rushing the project hoping that I could get it done before my trip to Hong Kong. Sigh, too bad.

Incidentally, while searching my stash of beading stuff to find a suitable focal bead, I found a box of old earrings which I have kept for more than 20 years. Here are some of them:

All these are clip-ons as that was the fashion then.  They were wore together with heavy shoulder padded clothing. Hmm....may be they will come back in fashion. LOL! 


So chunky. So much gold. So retro.


Hey, they still look good. I think I will wear them again.  But, ouch! my earlobes say no!!!!


(Ps. The average width of each is about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches!)

Pearly Dutch Spiral Necklace

Did I say I wanted a more chunky Dutch Spiral necklace? This one is MORE than chunky.  As I was progressing with the stitch, it was like a MONSTER emerging from my  work....stitch by stitch.  I could have just stopped the project but curiosity as to how it will turn out pushed me to move on. Ta da ...here is the end result:

It is too chunky to be a necklace especially for the owner-to-be as she is a petite lady.  I stopped the spiral stitch at this length so that it will only be the focal part of a necklace.  I continued the stitch with Peyote stitch but found that it would be too stiff (see the small portion right after the spiral) for the whole necklace.  


By changing the stitch to netted stitch, the necklace has a softer touch now and it helped to tone down the 'monster' look.  It is a faster stitch than Peyote and the hollow effect flows with the lacy look of Dutch Spiral.  Perfect! (Heh heh, it was pure coincidence.  Laziness was the main reason for choosing the netted stitch.  shhh........)


I like the Dutch Spiral stitch and there are so many interesting variations to be explored.  Nevertheless, I think I shall move on to learn other type of stitches to widen my beading exposure.  


Hmmm....let me see which stitch I shall try............  


  






        

Turquoise Dutch Spiral Necklace

1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 123 skip 1 skip 2 skip 3 skip 1234 skip.....ha ha, I am not counting a new dance step.  I have been counting the stitch sequence while doing the dutch spiral necklace to avoid mistake.  This was my second time doing this stitch, with counting this time, yet I still had to undo and restitch several times. Though the necklace is formed by hundreds of tiny beads, one small mistake, will mar the flow of the pattern.  

Hey, I am serious.  I would not waste my effort of putting hundred stitches together by ignoring those mistakes. Anyway, it is a real good exercise to train my patience.

This is for my daughter who has requested for Turquoise color.  With my limited knowledge of color coordination, this is the best I could do.  Hmmm...may be purple is a better match...perhaps black...or may be white.......or combination of these....or...................

I spent only three days making this necklace as compared to almost a week for the Rubi.  This time round, I managed to stitch the necklace from one end to the other.  With Rubi, I had to struggle with back stitch because I did the centre portion first and extended both ends to the desired length. 

Actually, I wanted the centre part to be more chunky.  I thought by adding more beads in the lacy part will do the trick.  I was wrong.  It just lengthened the shape only.  I will try this stitch one more time before moving on to explore other stitches e.g. Right angle Weave.  I will start the stitch with more beads i.e. 12 instead of 6 and use more sizes of bead.  Hope it will work.

Pleasant Surprise!

My SIL has just came back from her Japan trip and  surprised me with a packet of beading stuff. She bought me the pre-packed bundle as she is not a beader thus was not quite sure what to buy. Hey, I am not complaining - I like all of them:

Look at the fresh water pearls! And the silvery leaves! Oh, the flowers are so cute!  My mind cannot help but keep thinking of ways to use these components.  But I cannot start beading with them now because  I have promised my daughter to make a Dutch Spiral necklace for her - with Turquoise color beads.


I should have started the project days ago right after I have completed the Rubi.  However, while I have four big boxes full of seed beads, I just cannot get the right combination set of color.  I am so lousy in matching colors.


Anyway, I made a trip to the bead store today and see if I could get some inspiration and without fail, had lightened my wallet a lot - a neat three figures!  


I should have left my credit card at home!