I've been beading up a storm recently. With the weather not cooperating (raining practically every day) I decided to dabble a bit in my bead stash. I got out my delica beads and tried a couple of color variations for fun. Initially my design started out flat and I picked through a selection of iridescent beads. I went crazy on my last visit to Dressmakers in Montreal. I bought a whole bunch of little packets of delica beads. It was like running into a tiny rainbow. Gorgeous browns, spring greens, mauves, teal, blue-greens. Every color imaginable. Aside from the bead purchase I also needed a couple of silver clasps for finishing off the bracelet. I prefer to use silver because it makes the piece look more polished. I realised very quickly in the store that the small two string silver clasp was almost the same price as the three string clasp. What's going on here? My first instinct was that they made some pricing mistake but oh no......It seems that when they purchased the clasps from the supplier the price was low but the next time they bought more the price of silver had risen dramatically and they have to sell it at current price otherwise they lose money. The price between the smaller clasp and larger one was a .40cents difference. If it keeps climbing that way I won't be able to use this type of clasp any longer and will have to find another alternative.
Well I started beading using the square stitch method which when finished resembles beading that is done on a loom. I have a small inexpensive one but threading that thing is a hassle and I have to make sure that it is always tight and it drives me crazy. I feel that when using the loom a lot of threads are wasted unecessarily. I don't know if it is obvious in the picture but the beads I used were slightly iridescent and they were two-toned. Depending upon how the light hits the bracelet some of the beads reflect a pink color and some a green.
So after I finished it I had to measure it around my wrist so it would be the right length. I had to add some more beads because it came out a tad short. So I threw caution to the wind and added some nice peach/brown colors at the ends. Then I proceeded to stitch it closed in a tubular fashion with a seam down the middle. I wanted a round coil as a bracelet and did not want to leave it flat. I had originally imagined it round. But unfortunately after I spent the time stitching it closed it was too wide and did not give me a perfect coil. It started to pucker in a strange way. The coil was too large and did not lend itself properly to the design I had envisioned. So I flatenend it with my fingers all the way around and came up with this design.
Then I proceeded to add the "expensive" silver clasp.
I also took some pictures of other projects which I have worked on previous to the bracelet. The one below is a necklace I did after my trip to Savannah, Georgia last May. I took a trip with my brother and sister in law to Savannah and while we were there we stopped off at St. Augustine's in Florida. Very picturesque and beautiful place to visit. From there we visited Vilano Beach. That was one of the highlights of my trip because I went up and down the shore digging for shells. It was so amazing!!! As soon as I saw a beautiful shell I had to be quick and scoop it up otherwise the wave would wash over it and steal it back into the ocean where it would be out of sight and gone forever. I scavenged for every type of strange shell and anything with an unusual texture and colour which I could lay my hands on. We all looked for small to medium shells and by the end of the afternoon I had a hatful which I left with. I don't know what was more fun, going hunting for them or getting to imagine what I would be making with them. When I finally got home at the end of our trip I took inventory and washed and dried them all and put them away. But before I did I wanted to bead a necklace and pick one for a pendant. So I picked out the medium brown shell I found. Nature had already "drilled" a hole in it. There was actually nothing I needed to add to it except for the shellac on the top and underside. I went to the bead store and tried to match the color of the beads as closely as possible to the shell. Here are a couple of close ups.
