“New Zealand” pattern by Cathy Jakicic
New Zealand, pattern by Cathy Jakicic
I purchased a beautiful book titled “Bead Journey” a few years ago. The basic premise of the book is that it contains patterns from around the world. I’ve been lusting after several of the necklaces for some time now and finally decided I was just going to give it a go. This particular pattern falls under the category of “New Zealand” and is by Cathy Jakicic.
On the plus side, the book does give sources for some of the more unusual beads. On the down side, the book is already several years old and was probably put together some time before it’s publication. The Aventurine stones used in the book are actually 18mm round carved aventurine beads, and they are gorgeous. The source cited for these beads is “Planet Bead” and a non-local number is given. (I only point that out because I have a bead shop about a mile from my home called “Planet Bead” and it’s not the store you’re looking for). I googled “Planet Bead” and found a website for them but the store is empty. I suppose I can call, but I’m hesitant to give my credit card number over the phone for someone I don’t know. I prefer to buy beads from recognizable web stores. At any rate, for the moment I don’t have 18mm carved aventurine beads. Lol, I also don’t have 8mm smooth, round carnelian beads, so I just made do.
New Zealand
This aventurine necklace went together easily. I’m not a fan of crimping, but it is appropriate for the pattern, although I do think I might need to invest in some heavier accu-flex. In the pattern she calls for two copper spacers between each of the round carved beads. My aventurine beads are faceted, but they are more oval than round. I felt that doubling up the spacer beads would change the overall shape of the necklace even more. With the elongated beads, one spacer was a better choice. I’m surprised by how much I like this necklace and was even more surprised by how much I like them together. I think the carved beads would make a world of difference though so I’m still trying to source them.
"New Zealand" pattern by Cathy Jakicic
The second necklace in the set is a carnelian and copper necklace. There appears to be an error in the book though. The necklace calls for 1 16 inch strand of 8mm carnelian beads and 1 16 inch strand of 5mm copper spacer beads. Interestingly enough, it states that when it is finished it is 42 inches long. I know that there is this newfangled thing called new math, but I have no idea how you add 16 + 16 and end up with 42. At first I thought it was a mis-type, but the photo in the book clearly shows that the carnelian necklace loops around the outside of the 17 inch aventurine necklace twice. It also appears to have way more 8mm carnelian beads than you are going to find on one 16 inch strand. So my guess is that there is an error in the supply lists, and that sucks. It would have been great had I figured that out prior to going to the gem faire.
Speaking of which, I went to the gem faire a few days ago. Twice even. I met a new friend there on Friday afternoon and then we went out for dinner. I then went back on Saturday to do my actual shopping, which brings me back to this post. I was looking pretty hard for those aventurine beads. Obviously it was a no go. I did however find some large, smooth, round, apple colored beads for $10. I almost bought them. They also had what I was sure were 8mm round carnelian beads for $5. I asked how large they were though (I was thinking they were probably 8mm, but that they might be 10) and the gentleman stalking me to make sure I wasn’t shoplifting, told me that he thought they were 4mm. Seriously? So I asked another person working the booth and she though they were maybe 6mm? I thought about it and decided I didn’t want to buy from people who didn’t have a clue about their mechandise. So on I went to the next booth.
New Zealand, both necklaces together
I ended up purchasing both strands of beads from another vendor. I’m fairly certain that my faceted carnelian beads are 10mm, despite having her assure me that they were the 8mm I was looking for. They were a good deal, Anya was waking up and I decided I needed to wrap things up. She was nice though and made an effort to be helpful so I went ahead and made the purchase.
After assembling the necklace I noted that my strand wasn’t 16 inches long. That probably accounts for some of the good deals at gem faire as well. Lesson learned, always take calipers with you to gem faire, and measure the bead strands if you want to get a realistic cost comparison to say, fire mountain gems. At any rate, I didn’t have enough beads to even make my necklace 32 inches long, yet alone the 42 inches that I was aiming for. Having said that, I still love it. I love it so much, I’m going to keep my eye out for the appropriate sized beads, in the right quantities, so that I can make it the correct length.
Despite what appears to be an error in the pattern, I’m going to recommend this book. It has a wide variety of jewelry styles which I like and so many of them are beautiful. I still want to make “China, Philippines, Nepal, Thailand, Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Tanzania, Dem. Rep. of the Congo, Canada, Mexico, and Peru”. I’d add “Morocco” to the list but I’m not sure Marathon Man would go for me spending so much on beads for one project, or spending that much on beads in general. You can see it though, on the cover of the book. Just follow the link below. It’s gorgeous!!