FEATHER CRAZE

I have been drowning in the sea of chores in the past months and thought beading is going to the thing of the past for me. I dared not even take a glimpse of my beading stuff lest bucket of tears be shed.

I did have pockets of time in between chores but they were not suitable for projects that require new skills or that need designing. I cannot handle both kinds as they require my full focus - that is me. Sigh.

While trying to stay afloat, my daughter Yuan threw me a float so that I could take a breather. She gave me three pairs of feather and requested me to make earrings out of them!

Ha ha ha!!! I was overjoyed because that's an easy task and I was so happy that my hands were dancing with joy.  AND THAT IS WHAT I HAVE MADE:

La la la la.... I am really glad I had the chance to use my beading tools again.  Okay, I now have to get back to reality ..... WORK!

VIRGIN VIKING KNIT

I was so inspired to try doing the Viking Knit after seeing some of the beautiful work done with this technique some months back.  While still working on the Chunky Green Necklace, I 'bribed'  my friend into making a Wooden Draw Plate for me.  It is a wooden block with holes of different sizes and she has done a good job:

Next, I downloaded an Utube from which I learnt the Viking Knit technique: Viking Knit Jewelry by Gail Nettles.  Finally, I searched for thin wire for the knit and all I could find in my drawers was this roll of guage 30 (I guessed) craft wire.  Ah well, I just went ahead to knit with it and it turned out ugly before drawing it though the Draw Plate:

The knit was quite uneven due to the inconsistent tension of each pull of the wire. Consoling myself that it was a first trial and just a practice round, I kept my finger crossed and pulled the section through the hole of the Draw Plate.  The result was so magical because the imperfection was almost gone and the ugly duckling turned out to be a beautiful chain:

It was like 'Wow, did I really make this?'  After fiddling with it for a while, I found it too thin and light to be worn as a choker/knecklace - lack of substance. I just needed to try again but with thicker wire.

I looked through the storeroom and found this packet of gauge 24 Brass wire and immediately used it to knit without second thought. The 'before drawing' look was still ugly but well, at least the color was pleasing:

I really could not wait for the drawn result and indeed, it did not disappoint me.  I was so pleased with it and went on to add the clasp to make it into a necklace:




ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?   Hehe, a pat on the back.

I was quite surprised by the vast difference in theresults by just changing the wire gauge while the other factors remained the same e.g. tightness of knit, number of knit per row ( I used five):

It was quite difficult to knit with gauge 24 as compared to gauge 30 as it was less flexible.  I think being brass and not copper was also part of the reason as it gets hardened easier.  

Hey, wait a minute! Won't brass wire tarnish after some time? Gulp......may be the color will be nicer.....hope so.........

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!

  

CHUNKY GREEN

While I was still into wiring, I thought of taking up an old challenge: to make a necklace with the big round beads given by SIL and the necklace must not look anything like Buddhist prayer beads. So, simple stringing is out of the question.  It took me nearly two weeks to come out with a design and four days to complete the necklace.  It is not very fantastic but at least it has achieved my intention:

I wire wrapped each and every bead to add some character to them. I added some black round beads to break the monotony.  The green wire wrapped focal bead was added to enhance the look. Below shows the look from both sides of the focal bead:

Well, the wrapping is a bit simple but serves the purpose.  

I could have just used chain for the extensions to complete the necklace but it would look 'cheap'. So, I used Twisted Herringbone Stitch to weave the ropes for the extension and indeed it added some sophistication in it.  A metal clasp may spoil the effect thus I also weaved the clasp with Peyote Stitch to complete the look:

  Hmm...not nicely done being first attempt. Embarrassed.

All seem well but it is not! Design failure! The weaved ropes took 3/4 of the total time to do yet this hard work is not visible on the wearer as it is seated at the back of the neck! What a waste of effort. I should have either

-  weaved a longer extension rope on both sides to make it a longer necklace

or

-  had lesser wire wrapped bead (by two on each side) and longer weaved ropes.

I think I will make another necklace of similar design with the same big round beads but different focal bead.  I may use another stitch for the ropes as I find Twisted Herringbone too stiff and the stitch requires more time to complete the same length as compared to some other stitches.

Hmm...which stitch shall I use?

MULTI CHAIN BRACELET

While searching through my stash of beads for matching materials for the 'GREEN BRACELET' mentioned in my previous post, I heard these cute little metallic color beads shouting "Me! Me! Me!" How could I resist? So, here they are in this multi chain 'home' I have created for them:

It is a three layer chain bracelet as shown below:

Hehe, can you see the poor cat hanging with one arm? It was salvaged from some old jewelry piece long ago. Hmmm....I think this is also a "GREEN BRACELET"! 

Oh, by the way, I have learnt to use the triangle jump ring in this project. It is used on the tear-drop glass beads in the middle row. Unlike the normal round jump ring, I had to gently pull both ends slightly apart while twisting it open the usual way.  This to create a gap for the tip of the bead to go in between. I am not sure if this is the correct way but it worked.

"GREEN" BRACELET

There are Green Buildings.....Green Cars.....Green Shopping Bags.....Green Containers.......... and I have just made myself a Green Bracelet!  Ha ha, I am not talking about 'green' as in 'green color' but 'green' as in 'environmental friendly', got it?  

What is a GREEN BRACELET (by my definition :-) )? It is simply a bracelet made with beads/chains that are leftovers, salvaged from old jewelries and beads which have been kept for years and do not seem to have any future use.  Some beaders call them orphan beads but I preferred to label them 'neglected beads'.  

Okay here it is:

I had fun making it and I could refresh my wire wrapping skill - after a long break from it doing bead weaving. It may be a simple project but it took me two days just to select and match the beads according to the color, size and texture.  I am very poor in this area.  The actual beading took me not more than three hours!!!

It is my favorite bracelet for now.

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.