Here’s my first attempt — too much core showing. I’m using beads on hand, and these 6s were what I had that worked the best as a core bead with these colors. An 8 would have been better.

Okay, let’s do a triple spiral. I’ve never done one before, but what’s one more spiral among friends? This works, but I have the colored beads disappearing a bit into the spiral.

Here’s the one I’m sticking with; it has the addition of a 13 in the red-brown after the two bright colors, to help the colors not get buried in the nearby spiral.

I think I like it, and will continue. I need a great button or something for a clasp, or maybe make a beaded clasp? For some great spiral necklaces (and many other pieces), look at Sabina’s website. Here’s a wild spiral sample of hers — it’s a quintuple. She ran out of needle space in the core beads, and I think she said it was inflexible.  Update:  check out Saby’s comment - the quintuple technically worked, it was the SIX rounds on a spiral that was inflexible.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

And here’s the after:

It was just too rippled; it didn’t look good. I’ll have to sit down and start over. I’d like to get this footer established and the beading going, as it’s a nice project to have ready and waiting for when I want to do just a little something. I’d also like to FINISH, of course. I don’t want to look back and see when I started these two pieces (a bracelet and a wall piece), let alone when I started the piece on the rest of the warp.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

So I’m beading away, at about inch 16, and someone asks me, “What are you making?”

“A bracelet.”

“A bracelet?!”

This is about 19″ in total, and heavy, more than 40 grams. The beads on the ends are Swarovskis.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

I didn’t cut up the old one, I have a few of these inexpensive blue lapis cabs! I haven’t submitted instructions for any article proposals for a while, and thought I’d give it a try with this ring. Practices have changed in the last couple of years; instructions need to be completed for the proposal itself. So, I needed to make another ring with standard beads to have correct bead counts. My first blue ring used blue French 13s, and I wanted to convert it to Delicas (the dichroic ring uses Delicas, but the cab itself isn’t a standard, even shape and size).

So, I browsed through my Delicas and 15s to find beads that would work with the cab. I had to raid a mix for the 15s, but I like my final choices. I’ve written the instructions, now I need to create a few sample diagrams to help the editors understand my words, and see if they’re interested in publishing this.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

Okay, now I really want to buckle down and figure out a more substantial project to do next. I like doing bigger projects, but sometimes it’s hard to start them (and then there’s the stage at about 2/3 complete, where the end never seems to be in sight).

I have a Jo Woods kit, looming (still!), and some right angle weave beaded beads in the more recent unfinished category. Longer-standing unfinished projects that still interest me are an embroidered purse, and a necklace that’s a combination of stringing and seed bead work. I have a couple other projects with components pulled and ready to go and haven’t started, which I also still want to do. I see a beaded present or two on the horizon that I could get to as well.

Motivation, please!

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

Her recent post, of spiral flat square stitch earrings, prompted me to make my own. Hers are better — she’s better at this stitch, and I used more irregular beads. I still like mine quite a bit though. These beads remind me of Black Hills gold, which is gold jewelry marketed/sold from the Black Hills of western South Dakota, and contains rose gold, green gold, and yellow gold (and to be marketed as Black Hills gold, has to include the leaf motif, I believe).

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

I made it exactly the same as the blue one, but this one is a little less successful, primarily because of the thickness of the cab. I still used 2 rows of delicas as the outside border of the cab, then cinched it in with the smaller beads to capture the cab securely. I probably should have used 3 rows on the outside, as the cab can pop out of the back of the setting. This isn’t a problem when it’s on my finger, but is less secure than it should be.

Also because of the thickness, the setting isn’t as graceful looking when worn; the band is raised off my finger more than I’d like where it’s attached to the cab. I could have anchored the band on the lower row of delicas, that might have helped.

I could remake it — I might someday as the green delicas and the fuschia 15s are dyed, poor choice for jewelry that can get as much wear as a ring. I only had dyed beads on hand that looked good with the cab.

Still, all that aside, I love the ring. I will wear it and enjoy it.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

For a clasp, I used a magnetic clasp. I somehow have gotten this far without using one — it was amusing; it stuck to the needle, it stuck to the scissors…

The necklace has a lovely feel to it. I have yet to make one of this stitch for myself; they’ve been gifts. Maybe next time? I sent her these pictures, she likes it, so it’s on its way.

I still have my loom sitting here. I am thinking I may need to redo the footers, the spacing is too narrow for the width of the individual beads (2 rows of beads on the loom). I just don’t want to face redoing it. I think I need to loom one row of beads to get the spacing right (to take out later), then the footer, and then the pieces.

I have a bead book checked out from the library that is due in a few days, and I cannot renew it as it has a waiting list. I want to try one project out of that, with modifications, of course.

I have more beads I want to cover with right angle weave.

I want to make a couple more rings, like my blue ring. I have a jasper cab and a dichroic cab waiting here with their accompanying beads.

I have a Jo Woods kit to complete sometime in the not-so-distant future too.

First, I have to pick up the detritus that is on my work table from the ring, this bracelet, and other color ideas. Then, I will probably start the one out of the library book. Start something new rather than finish something unfinished, how typical is that?

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.

©2008 Dulcey Heller. All Rights Reserved.