An Update on my Free Form Necklace

I’d like to thank Barbara (whoever and where ever you are) for stopping by and asking if this necklace was going to be a closed one or a lariat. I hadn’t decided at that point what it would become. But since I have never made a lariat before I decided this was my chance. So thank you

I’ve reached the length of my necklace so now I can start on the fun stuff. Adding design and detail. I have absolutely no ideas yet but I do know I’ll be adding tiny drops. I bought them a while ago and just love them.

My husband keeps telling me I should add more colour to my things, but if you saw my wardrobe, you’d understand why I stick mostly to one shade. I have no sense of fashion or style. My sisters (who always look polished and chic and aren’t above spending hundreds on a pair of shoes) usually ask  ”Are you really going out like that?” Did I mention I’m cheap? REALLY CHEAP at least when it comes to non-essentials. I’m happy to have ONE quality pair of boots, coat etc… anything more than that forget it.

So I change into something that one of them gave me from their “I’ll never wear again piles.” But I know it’s for that reason alone (so when we are out in public I don’t make them look bad).  I swear I’d have no wardrobe if it was not for them. I can’t stand clothes shopping.

This time I MIGHT go for a splash of colour here and there.  Why not live a little? I can always take it out if I don’t like it. That’s all for now.

Happy Beading

A Free Form in the Making

This is a free form beaded necklace in the making. I’m hoping it evolves into something much larger and unique. But every structure needs a base. This is it. Over the next few weeks I’ll keep you up to date on its creation.
I didn’t say it will be pretty or even nice. I’m striving for….hmmmm……that’s different.

Two Wrongs Can Make a Right

Every beader must have “the stash of mistakes.” Things we have made and somehow it never worked as planned. We set them aside not quite ready to give up on them, or not in the mood to take it apart and salvage the beads. Well, my stash is quite large. I have a definite knack for not planning ahead or not making sure I have the correct amount of beads that I will need to actually complete the piece.

Which is what happened to this spiral. It was supposed to be a necklace but I ran out of beads.

This next photo is a bracelet I had started. It didn’t quite work out. I obviously had tension issues and wasn’t following the pattern either. I was occupied with other things. Maybe it was while I was watching “House”

They did look good together:

After a few twists and some extra sewing, I ended up with a pretty neat bracelet after all:

I’ll whip up a clasp tonight and have two less pieces to take apart. I’ll see what else I can come up with out of all my mistakes. This could get interesting….

I Turned a Month Old Yesterday!

It’s true! The Bead Den turned one month old yesterday. Which was Valentines Day so I didn’t even post.

What I can put up to celebrate this? I haven’t finished any projects recently. But wait! I do have a few pieces of vintage jewelry that stole my heart. I want to incorporate them into some FABULOUS design I will create one day. They have been stashed away at the bottom of a box, and I should have taken the time to clean them up, but I’m too tired from work. Even dingy, they look great. So just imagine how they look all cleaned up!

If you have any ideas what I should do with them, please let me know by leaving a comment. What kind of piece do you see them in?

I am in love with these clip on earrings. I’m thinking a choker necklace would be nice.

I figure this was a brooch. I don’t really know what to do with it.

A Thank You and a Few Things in the Works…

First, I have to thank whoever it is that designed the russian spiral necklace using bugle beads. You can find their tutorial here . I have had so many hits for this site on that link alone. I should post it every day! A big Thank-you goes out to them. I bet 60% of my traffic is because of you

This is a photo of the necklace I told you about earlier. It’s a Herringbone Rope Necklace designed by Jill Wiseman. I found it in the June 2006 Bead&Button magazine. I used triangle beads instead of the cylinder ones that were called for.

The triangle beads are super! I recently bought some “Goldlustered Red” ones. Here’s a photo of something I’m playing with. The photo doesn’t really show how they sparkle.

Have to run, I have company. I’ll post the Sunday Report later today.

A Beaded Fringe Bracelet Question

I was inspired by an article in the Oct 2002 Bead&Button magazine by Suzanne Golden called “They’re Alive!”

Her Bracelets are big, bulky and funky. I would never have chosen to wear anything so bold. But I couldn’t stop eyeing them. Eventually my curiosity won over and I started one just for fun. Well, I love it! AND I would wear it, I think I’ll be making quite a few of these in different colours with necklaces too.

After setting  out my beads, I mixed them for the first bit, then  decided to do it in groups. One patch of gold, then white etc…

I think I like the mixed effect better. What do you think?

This is the whole piece so far with both styles: (click pictures for a larger image)

Here are two photo’s of the part where I mixed the beads on the fringes:

This is when I switched to doing one group of the same colours:

This is really time consuming (but worth it!). I’m going to take it apart and start over. I think with the mixed beads on each fringe instead of one colour. What do you think?

I finished my bracelet.

I got around to putting the last touches on my bracelet that I posted about a few days ago. I put it on, snapped a few pictures and then noticed my dry skin! Just ignore it please…  My occupation doesn’t allow me to pamper my skin and anyone with callouses knows you want to keep them otherwise you’ll end up pretty sore.

Back to the topic, here are a few shots:

I’m working on a copper one as well. I have 3 more spirals to finish up sometime this week. After that who knows?