Jewelry

For a friend….

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!

This artist from Belgium has some great pieces. Check out her blog; in the upper left she has some instructions (Mes schémas), both for sale and free. Her strawberry and spiral beaded bead are just phenomenal.

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).

I received three dichroic cabs as a gift when I hosted a swap many years ago. They are about 12mm square, and a full 6mm thick at the center. I gave a shot at making a ring like my blue ring, and this is the result:

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.

A month or so ago (or more?), Sylvia gave me a bead crochet necklace, and I started working on a necklace for her in return. I love the necklace she made for me — it’s matte transparent s/l red, black, and supra white in an interesting geometric pattern. Sylvia likes turquoise, among other colors, so I sent her pictures of bead combinations, pictures of 3 samples, and we decided on the combination below.

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?

I wear a lot of blue, but don’t have any blue rings. Today, I remedied that. The stone is an inexpensive lapis cab, 14×10mm. The opaque blue is a French size 13 bead, with s/l blue Japanese 15s and white pearl charlottes as accents. The bezel is made with stack stitch, gives a nice smooth edge to the bezel that peyote doesn’t. The band is herringbone. I started in the middle of the back, and added rows to each side to get the desired size. I used a variation at the end of the rows so that no thread is on the outside of the beads. Now, I have a blue ring!