"Seed Bead Stitching" project: Metallic Chain with Pearls
This was a fun project. I loved how quickly it came together once I understood the stitch.
This is out of Beth Stone’s book “Seed Bead Stitching”
In the book she calls for twisted hex cut cylinder beads and I think those would be awesome, however I had trouble finding them in the right sizes so I just went with plain ol’ hex beads and I think it worked out fine. Mine have a nickel finish and it’s a bit like stitching with little mirrors, they make the necklace look like a metallic chain. I also went with Faceted pearls that I’ve had in my stash since I went to Florida four years ago.
St Petersburg Chain with Pearls from Beth Stone's "Seed Bead Stitching"
For the clasp I opted for a simple seed bead toggle clasp. I used size 15 hex beads and size 8 seed beads to construct it. It’s not perfect, but I’m ok with how it turned out.
I’m really glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something new. Generally, beaded chains don’t appeal to me (especially beaded ropes) but I really like how this lies. I’ve worn it once and I received tons of compliments on it. Also,another variation of the St Petersburg stitch appears on the current issue of BeadWork magazine. Had I not just tried this one, I’d probably not give the Beadwork cover piece another glance.
Speaking of which, I always seem to get a new bead magazine right after I place a bead order. I’ve got beads coming to make a couple of projects out of “Creating Glamorous Jewelry”. I couldn’t get all of the beads for the project I most wanted to make though and that sucks. I guess its just the way Murphy rolls sometimes.
I’ve decided I want to make a few designs out of the new BeadWork Magazine including “sleek in silver” (cover piece) “bring on the bezels”, “bollywood earrings”, “Around the block” and the “winding path” bracelet. I’d love to make the “jeweled backlace” but it seems intimidating. If anyone else tries it, I’d love to see it when it’s done.
Happy Beading!
Sparkly!, they make me want to get myself all gussied up to go out clubbing.
These earrings were fun to make. I like Easy and these fit the bill. The instructions can be found on page 70 of “The Beader’s Palette”. You can’t see it in the photo but all of the fire polish beads catch the light. Also, these earrings have a lot of swing to them so they give off quite a bit of sparkle.
If I make these again I’ll either add or subtract one link to each of the chains so that the loops on my dangles face the other way.
I tried to finish my wildflower kit. I sat at the table and worked through it, and I broke a few more bezel beads. I’m definitely doing something wrong. My guess is that I am most likely going through the bezel beads too many times. As much as I want to wear it, I’m going to set it on the back burner for a while. I’m hoping to be able to look at it again with fresh eyes in a few weeks.
I wanted to take a photo of the piece I recently finished, but my camera is dead. So today I’m sharing one that I finished quite a while ago.
It isn’t a very good photo, but this is actually the Half Moon necklace that appears on the cover of the Japanese Bead book “Beads Jewelry for Gift”.
I made it four times. The first two times I wasn’t happy with my color choices, and then I redid it one more time after one of the headpins in the moon came away from the seed beads surrounding it. So, if you decide to make this one, make sure you close your simple loops really well before stringing the piece together.
It’s a pretty piece, and it looks better on than it does in a light box. I don’t have a lot of confidence in my loops, so I wear it with great care. You can look for the book on EBay, you can also see a better picture of the necklace on the actual cover of the book.
Oh, and if you’re wondering if I “left the room” last night, the answer is no, but only because I never entered it. I went to bed early last night and it was awesome. I should do it more often!
We watched “Limitless” last night. It was a great movie. I had to laugh though when Bradley Cooper was trying to force himself to begin writing his novel. He’s sitting at his desk and telling himself (repeatedly) “just don’t leave the room” and of course he eventually does.
I’ve decided that that is the only way I’m going to finish this project. I’m not going to work on anything until I’ve either finished the brooch, or I’ve decided that I’m not going to do it all. Tonight, I’m not going to leave the room and I’m going to see where that gets me. And for the record, it’s totally me. I seem to be lacking the focus these days to get this done.
Beaded Chevron Chain
I have however, finished the beaded chevron necklace from the “wildflowers” kit and I adore it. Going in to the kit I wasn’t too excited about making a beaded chain as I didn’t think I’d wear it. Now that it’s done, I wear it way more than I do the earrings, and I wear it even though I don’t have anything to hang from it just yet.
The clasp is awesome. I’ve never been a fan of attaching metal clasps to seed bead projects. When I’m in a position to do it myself I generally make a loop of seed beads through the hole on the clasp rather than just wrap the thread around it. At any rate, this brilliantly engineered clasp works exceptionally well with the chain. Its a fold over snap clasp and it’s as pretty as it is functional. As a matter of fact, when I wear the chain I generally wear it with the clasp in the front.
Seed Bead Chevron Chain
As for the actual chain. I struggled to get the chain going. I was a bit lost on the instructions for the very first round, but I think that had more to do with my ineptitude as a beader than it does the actual pattern. Once I got a few rounds I understood how to do it and I didn’t need to reference the pattern again until I got to the clasp.
You can purchase the kit from Melanie’s site. It comes in an assortment of color schemes and they are all pretty. Melanie definitely has a way with color.
In other beading news.. I spent three hours last night trying to set up my orders for next payday. I try to work what is on sale, and it seems that no one bead shop ever has everything that I need for any given project. (Sigh). I’ll probably spend the rest of the week fine tuning my orders so that I can get the best prices I possibly can on individual pieces. There was one item though that I couldn’t find at my usual haunts so I went ahead and ordered it from someplace new. So, I’ve sort of committed myself to my next big project. I’m going to go with Jean Campbell’s “Ann” from
“Creating Glamorous Jewelry”
I might also get the supplies for”Vivian” as I’m in love with the color palette.
