You can find my original post on this necklace here.
I finally finished it! I’m so proud of myself. This was by far the most complex beading project I have taken on. I saw the pattern in the December 07/January 08 edition of Beadwork Magazine.
You can find the pattern here for a very reasonable price.
I made some mistakes and at 2 am I decided I could live with them. Ethan told me that I should take the time to fix them so that I could be proud of my finished piece and I am so glad that I took the time to do a few things over. I love it!
This has been a very busy week for me beading wise. I finished several projects so look for posts over the next several days. I also finished the regal square stitch bracelet!
It feels awesome to be beading again!
(front and back view) I’m hopeful that the next time I make these that I can snug the beads up a bit more on the front.
I saw these earrings in a magazine a long time ago. I pulled out the pattern, put it in a binder and started to hunt for the beads. And there it sat up until a couple of months ago when I attended a bead show in Portland Oregon. I had the pleasure of meeting Melanie Potter (who is a lovely lady). One of the vendors at a Swarovski Table had the right size crystals. I wasn’t really sure exactly what I was looking for but Melanie sent me in the right direction. When I asked the vendor I was told that they didn’t have what I was looking for but after a few more questions I was able to find them in several colors. Yay! In hind sight I probably could have found them at any big bead show. I’m just a bit blonde at times.
I really wish that I had just purchased a kit. I just don’t have a good sense of color theory. Going forward, I think I’ll pay extra to have someone else pick out the colors for me. This was my first time using a swarovski crystal (non-bead) and I have to say it was much easier than I envisioned it being. My only issue (and this was user error on my part) was that I had a hard time snugging up the beads on the front as much as I would have like to. I’m going to give it another go though. I just need to find some colors that I really love.
I bought a couple of kits at the show. I had a difficult time choosing between Carol’s other patterns ( Scalloped Choker and Sweetheart’s Bouquet) I ended up going with the Sweethearts Boquet because that is the one that Ethan loved.. I hope to pick up the Scalloped Choker kit sometime soon.
I also purchased the Regal Square Stitch by June Wiseman of Tapestry Beads. I’m currently working on it and hope to have it done soon.
SPICEBERRY
This is a Jenna Colyar-Cooper pattern that appeared on page 38 of the May-June 09 edition of Step by Step Beads magazine.
When I went in to buy the beads I was actually looking for beads to make the “Pretty as a Peacock” pattern on page 36. I had trouble finding the right beads though and decided that I would probably never wear the piece. At any rate, I flipped the page and saw *this* pattern and I fell in love with it.
The pattern calls for a beautiful combination of plum and metallic colored beads with a gold clasp. I believe that the bead shop I was in was missing one of the colors. I hate to sub just one color as it never ends up looking right. Ethan was really keen on the peacock colors in the preceding pattern. It isn’t often a gal has such input from her man so I decided to just let him pick out the colors. We both think that it has a bit of a Mardi Gras flair to it but I think I’ll still wear it. I have a shirt that matches the purply blue color to a T. If I make another one I will definitely hunt down the correct colors in the pattern.
This bracelet has a fabulous drape to it and it is easy for me to get on and off on my own. Also, it was fairly easy to construct. My biggest challenge was finding time between feedings to get it (as well as the laundry) done. Well, that and the pattern. The pattern was packed someplace weird in the move and I had a bit of trouble trying to find another copy of the magazine once we got here.
I really liked how this pattern went together. I’m going to start by pointing out that while I understand the construction of peyote stitch, I don’t know how to count rows. So this might have been an issue with me more so than the pattern. The pattern says to “Work even-count peyote 4 beads wide and 8″ long for each of the five colors”. I caught this on the third ribbon. Depending on tension, 8 inches may or may not have the same number of beads. I’m not sure if 1 row is going to the right once, or going to the right once and back to the left. This is important, because when you go to sew those ribbons together you need to have all of them line up right. When I finished I had one that was off by a row, or a half row?, so I had to find a creative way to add those in so that they aligned properly. I don’t have a lot of peyote under my belt so my ribbons could have been a bit nicer looking. I was a bit worried about how it would look when it was done. I have to say that this pattern is very forgiving, and that is always a plus in my book!
Braiding the cuff was much easier than I thought it would be. The pattern uses the colors of the ribbons in the directions which would have been great if I had chosen the same shades. Even so, it was pretty easy to do. Ethan held the clasp for me while I braided it and then I slipped a needle through the end row to hold it together when I was done. I set it down while I threaded a new needle to finish the project.
I would absolutely try another one of Jenna’s patterns.
I had a ton of fun at the Portland Beadfest. I’ve been to Inter Gem and Gem Faire shows and I have always enjoyed them. After a while though the bead booths all sort of seem to look the same. I was excited to go to this one because I found out they were offering classes. Where there are classes there are pieces of jewelry that are already made and I just love to look at what other people have been up to.
With that said I headed down in to Portland. I told myself I was not going to buy any strands of beads..which technically speaking I was able to stick to. Strands being the important word.
It was not a huge show by any means and it seemed different straight off the bat. I only made it a few booths before I found something that I just had to buy.
I found the NIght Side Studious Booth. Not only were they super friendly but they had some pretty cool stuff. I’m not usually a big fan of the free form style. It is one of the few if not the only beading techniques that I have no desire what so ever to learn. I don’t think I have ever seen a piece that I just felt like I had to have, at least not until Saturday. I’m totally diggin this bracelet. I think I’ll wear it a lot during the month of October. I’m probably going to dress up as a witch for Halloween and this is going to be my *eye of newt* bracelet. The monsters were very cool though. You have to check them out.
I also picked up two bead kits and a few swarovski crystals that I have been trying to find for quite some time. Now all I need is some time to bead. I managed to get a bit more of my bead stash unpacked today. I also finished another strip on the bracelet that I am working on. I got a lot out of the trip in to town. I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired lately. After seeing so many cool things I’m feeling pretty excited about beading again. I really enjoyed sitting down today and spending some time in front of the bead board!
You can find my original post on this necklace here.