It's a Micro Macrame Wrap, Matey

Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio makes some really fun beads - I have some of her scarabs and trilobites (two of my favorite geeky subjects) as well as some seashells.  Recently I purchased a set with a sailboat bead and some coordinating rounds and I wanted to run with the nautical theme.  

I started out with a variation of the leafy micro macrame pattern I've been working with quite a lot lately and added some tiny seed beads at the ends of the rows.  I kind of like the way the beads outline the shapes.  

After putting in a large red bead (also from Diana), I added a section of spiral knotting with some deep navy blue and red along with the medium blue I used in the first part.  Next came Diana's sailboat bead.  Two more of her beads and a little starfish dangle below the bead add a little movement to the piece.  

The next section has two lamp work beads from Carolyn Conley of Beads by CC Designs
 in the shape of shells.  They are so pretty and  different than any of the glass work shell beads I've ever seen.  The red round bead is a match for the one I used earlier.

I'm rather proud of the last bit of knotting on this bracelet.  I wanted something in keeping with the nautical theme and for some reason the little pennants came to mind.  The little triangle shapes I ended up with seem to mimic that fairly well!

Did you notice the knotted rope clasp?  My friend Cory Tompkins made that for me just specifically for this piece!  The rest of it is just too special to end it with a boring clasp and when I asked her to come up with something, she made this!  I love it and I paired it with a simple brass hook to secure the bracelet.  

After all that, you know what the best part is?  Not only is this an awesome wrap bracelet, but it makes a pretty legit necklace, too!

7th Bead Soup Blog Party Reveal

Yay!  Today is the day I can show you what I made from the fantastic bead soup my partner Juli Cannon sent me!  Do you remember what everything looked like?  You can go here and read more about everything she sent if you'd like, but I'll give you a hint:

I have been wanting to try a different fringe technique for a while and Juli's lampwork focal was the perfect piece.  I used several colors of seed beads and made billions of loops (okay, you got me... I didn't count and there might not be quite a billion, but there are lots).

And after all that work, the clasp didn't look right.  Well, shoot.  So I stewed around on it for a week or so and decided the only solution was to make my own using some of the matching lampwork beads.

It's simple, but it works and it doesn't distract from the rest of the piece.  That's a win in my book.  

Of course, that meant I had to make another piece to use the clasp, since the rules say you must use at least the focal and the clasp.  I sketched out a sort of funky necklace and it actually came together just like I'd hoped.  That never happens. 

And what's even better?  This piece can double as a wrap bracelet.  In fact, I think I like it better as a bracelet!

Many thanks to my partner, Juli, for the great beads I used in these pieces AND the second set she sent just for me:

And heaps more thanks to our gracious hostess, Lori Anderson, the mastermind behind the whole Bead Soup phenomenon.  She does an amazing job at bringing together a talented group of jewelry designers - 541 designers from 28 countries!  With so many folks eager to participate, she had to split us up into three reveal dates to keep things manageable. Hop on over to Lori's blog where she has a list of ALL of the other participants:  here.  Oh, and don't forget to check out Juli's page to see what she did with the soup I sent to her.  Happy hopping!!

Ombre Beadweaving Bracelet - Year of Jewelry Week 4

I've had this design dancing around in my head for a few weeks now, which is darned inconvenient when there are other things to be done, but I guess that's the way of it.  I wanted to do an ombre shading piece going from pitch black on one end to stark white on the other.  I thought about how I would do it while I was trying to fall asleep at night:  black to white fading through multiple shades of gray.  And I wanted the transition to take place naturally with no harsh lines or obvious changes.  So I dug through my stash and found these:

I made a square stitch base with a mix of the colors and forgot to take a photo of that step, but you can see it here:

Then I started making loops of seed beads over each of those base beads.  I started using only black in the first rows and then sprinkled in just a few of the dark charcoal color, letting the colors blend. As those ran lower, I added in a few of the next lighter shade of gray and continued all the way across the base until my last rows were pure white.

I added a few interesting beads on the tops of the loops, just to add some interest.  There are hematite stars, some Czech firepolish and a shiny Swarovski crystal butterfly.  I couldn't decide what to use for a closure, so I auditioned a few different buttons:

My first instinct was the button on the left, but I really liked the idea of a pop of red.  The only red button I had on hand was the flower above and I just didn't like it with the piece.  I really liked the look of the stone cab (the last piece in this photo) but in the end I decided it was just too large and the loop it would take would make the bracelet fit "sloppy".  As you can see, I ended up using my first choice:

In the end, I couldn't be more pleased with this bracelet.  I love the weight of it, both visually and the weight of it on the wrist is lovely.  The loops add lots of subtle movement and the color gradient is exactly what I wanted.  I think I may have to attempt another one of these - maybe next time in teal!

If you enjoyed this week's Year Of Jewelry piece, I hope you will take time to check out the previous ones:  Week 1 Renewal, Week 2 Grace, and Week 3 Music.

A New Twist on the Dragon Bracelet

If you've hung around my sites very long, you're probably familiar with "the" dragon bracelet.  If not, here's a quick refresher:

I came across this gorgeous copper button with a swirly dragon design a long time back and started using it as a focal piece for a macrame bracelet.  It is by far the most popular (and requested) item in my shop.  The colors are just right.  It's just perfect (the button, I mean).  So of course, it is no longer being manufactured!  I have a small stash of them on hand, so I guess I should be a bit more judicious with their use.  But I had this idea for a fringy beaded cuff bracelet with the button as the clasp/focal.  

I put together a great bead mix with berry and copper and green and purple with touches of teal:

It's a totally different style from my usual macrame piece, but I think I like the way it turned out.  It brings to mind a dragon guarding the mouth of a cave full of treasure.

Even the "back" of the bracelet is pretty.