Cubism Bracelet

This bracelet is woven in St. Petersburg stitch. The clasp is made from two of the shapes in Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork.

I am part of the ArtBeads blogging community and was given the opportunity to choose beads from their Glass Beads or Sterling Silver Beads categories.

While I am always tempted by silver, I couldn't resist these square-cut Delicas. They are teeny tiny and oh so gorgeous! I was a little disappointed in their lack of uniformity... being Delicas, I expected them to be very uniform, but they weren't. In the 5 grams or so I used, I had to throw out 3 and several more were a bit wonky. That being said, I still love them! I can't wait until they are back in stock and I can get some other colors. :)

*Please note: I have received the above beads free of charge from Artbeads. This is my honest review of the product and I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

Retreat Goodies

I just got back from a 4 day bead retreat in Fairy Stone Park Virginia. What a great time! 14 women, beads galore, and lots and lots of fun!

This bracelet gave me fits. The pattern came from here, but as I do not remember much of my high school French, I had a hard time figuring out how to make it work. I had to start over twice and I ended up not doing it exactly the way the instructions said to, but it worked. I have some other ideas about making it work better, so I'm going to try another one soon. This one is made with Tourmaline AB2X Swarovski crystals and Delicas. I am going to be adding 3mm crystals along both outside edges (Crystal Brandy color).

This "dainty wire woven bracelet" comes from a pattern by Gen Smith. It was lots of fun. A friend made one in 24 gauge instead of the 20 gauge I used and it was very pretty as well. The wire is Parawire and the crystals are Swarovski.

This St. Petersburg lariat is 54" long from tip to tip (49" plus a 2.5" fringe on each end) and has approximately 350 Czech firepolished beads, pressed glass drops, and Swarovski drops, along with a tube and a half of seed beads.

This cuff is made with approximately 300 Czech 4mm firepolished beads in green iris. There is a core of size 8/o seed beads which makes the bracelet take it's curved shape. If I make another (I want to, this time with crystals) I will make sure to use the appropriate color of Fireline, because too much of it shows.

Christmas Goodies

Here are some of the things I made and gave for Christmas this year.  I also have a couple of brocade collars that I made over the holidays from a Bead & Button pattern.  If I can get the photo edited and made small enough to upload, I'll post them shortly.

Snow Blue Fringe Necklace

This design is the same as my Cure for Shyness necklace, but with lots less fringe.  This style is more casual and could be worn with jeans.

Cure for Shyness

This fringed necklace is not for the shy!  Pretty heavy, made with thousands of beads.  Silver lined turquoise seed beads accented with a darker turquoise bead is a sure head-turner.  It feels great on!  The strap is a half St. Petersburg stitch.  The design was originally in a Step by Step Beads magazine.