My Latest Designer Quest Entry

At long last I'm in enough semblance of order to put up a post. How long this will last, who knows. The first term and a half of the year has been one of the busiest I've known. I'm not even sure why but I've not kept up with anything I ought.

Just before the Easter holidays the first of this year's Designer Quests was due. I bought myself a pack and it sat there for so long as I had no idea what to do. There just weren't that many beads if I was to make something without adding anything. Eventually I decided to add.

I've never tried fringing and have wanted to so I figured I'd fringe and add in the beads given. I plaited a kumihimo braid that blended the colours of the pack and set off. My goodness! I had no concept of how much time fringing takes. I think in the end I must have put around 50 hours into this. The last day I worked 13 hours straight just to get it done. I also ran out of beads and had to unpick a previous piece to scavenge the beads. I think it will be a while before I make another fringed masterpiece.

A masterpiece this is. I love it. Am really happy with it. Of course I didn't win as you can hardly see the original beads at all. It did get a few votes in the open poll though.

What do you think?

Dichroic Glass Pendant Necklaces

Wendy from Guru Creations has been changing her focus and therefore selling off a lot of her work. I have managed to buy quite a bit of stuff that I'm looking forward to using over time. Here are two necklaces I've made recently. Both are simple but still a little different.

This first one is an experiment. The circles of colour needed to be featured but I didn't want them to be over taken. What I decided to do, after attempts at Kumihimo and other braids, was a simple plait. Except that the amount of wires wouldn't fit through the holes of the beads. Hmmmm. So, ever the improviser, I made that a little feature too. I found tigertail in colours that were in the pendant, continued the circles in the round shapes of black glass beads, some faceted, some not, and this is the result. It's actually lovely and light and sits well on the neck.


The second one I attempted began with the black lines on the glass. I've always wanted to achieve a simple spiral rope. Every other time I've tried the thread is too thick, the needle too big, and I haven't been able to pass through the beads enough times to make the spiral. This time it worked. Again, I found some beads in the colours used in the pendant. These are scattered throughout the rope. The main part of the rope is in various types of black seed beads. There are delicas and myuki beads used and several sizes also. After all, making a rope all the one size gets boring! I decided to see what would happen if I increased the number of beads in the outer beads. Once I reached the pendant I changed the size of the inside bead and kept increasing. The asymmetry of the necklace is quite fun, I think and takes a simple piece just that little bit out of the norm.

I'd love to know what you think of these necklaces. Also, I played a little bit more with arranging my photos. What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas in comments.

Using my Kumihimo

A couple of posts ago I showed some of the necklaces that I'd managed to incorporate my braids into. I have also made a couple of bracelets. The first one is incredibly simple but then the braid itself is so pretty it didn't warrant any other detail really. It was with this one that I made the coil that makes for a very simple end that makes the braid very usable and also keeps the attention on the braid rather than the link.


The second braid is not quite so successful. I love the look of it but the wire at the side needs a little adjusting as the plait comes out of it. I love the effect of the button but it is a little heavy for the braid. Looks great though. I also love my picture as, after lots of fussing I finally managed to make it look great and uncluttered.


I really must put more time into the photos so I can get myself some sort of portfolio to show people. That is for another day though.

For Friends

I was having dinner with some friends of mine a few weeks ago. One of them asked about my jewellery and how it was going and I ended up with a couple of requests. One friend, Meryl, asked me to string some pearls. "Of course", I said, so I've taught myself to string pearls. I had fun. I bought all the proper silks with the needles attached and made use of my embroidery knotting skills. I started three times and it's not a professional job to my inquisitive eyes, but I'm quite pleased with myself.

The request from my other friend, Aline, was even more fun. She had a necklace of her mother's that was too heavy to wear but that was Venetian Glass Beads from her trip to Venice. Was their anything I could do? Here is what the necklace was originally.


So we decided to make a series of necklaces for her daughters and granddaughters. Eight in total. It took me a while to get going which isn't unusual, but I love what the results were. I made each necklace a different colour and mostly different styles. Because there were nineteen beads and I had to divide them into eight, some necklace have three of the original beads while others have only two.

Lavender
On gold tone fine chain with Swarovski crystals.

Burgandy

Red tigertail with fresh water pearls and Swarovski Crystals.

Blue
Silver tigertail with Swarovski Crystals. Pendant is a chinese cube from a pattern by Valerie Hector. Smaller beaded beads are made using Right Angle Weave.

Teal

Fresh water pearls with Swarovski Crystals and silver tone chain. Pendant is a chinese cube from a pattern by Valerie Hector.

Purple Velvet

Silver tone chain with Swarovski Crystals.

In the next three designs I even incorporated some of my Kumihimo braids. I am so pleased that I can find different ways to incorporate them.

Mint

Kumihimo braid with delica beads and Swarovski Crystals. Beaded beads are made using Right Angle Weave. Can be worn assymetrically or symmetrically.

Amethyst

Kumihimo braid using tigertail, hand made gold tone clasp and Swarovski Crystals. Beaded beads are made using Right Angle Weave.

Light Amethyst

Kumihimo braid using tigertail, hand made gold tone clasp, fresh water pearls and Swarovski Crystals. Beaded beads made using Right Angle Weave.

So there they all are. Aline loves them although I might have to rework the Blue one so it fits the personality of who it's going to better. If I do change it I'll show you what I do. I really enjoyed the challenge of using the same beads in so many different ways.

Braiding - Two

Because I was experimenting with different materials that I had around the house I also tried the braiding with different wire combinations. Some I used wire only and for other braids I combined wire with different widths of satin cords. The picture below shows exactly the same satin chord used with the same wire/cord width and show the different effect that is created. The wire, once braided doesn't stretch or give in anyway and so gives a completely different effect. While I'm not so keen on the gold wire, the textural result is quite fun.

This next picture shows other experiments also. The top 3 use only craft wire. I'd like to do more of these and make some bangles out of them. Once curved they sit really comfortably on the wrist. They work better with the thicker gauge wire, I discovered.

The pale braids are some of my favourites - satin cord with tigertail. I most certainly with be making lots of those to hang my pendants from. And then the black one is stain cord with leather.

Braiding - One

My house is up for sale and it is difficult to sit down and bead and craft. It always makes a mess and I need the house ready at the drop of a hat. What I started just before this though was braiding. Japanese braiding or 'Kumihimo'. I have had tremendous fun using bits and bobs I've had around the place, experimenting with textures and widths.

I have only really tried with two basic patterns. I like ribbons included. Especially if they have metallic thread on the edges as it gives just a little bit of glam. I'm going to have to invest in some more ribbon I think. The thinner ribbon is better. It fits into the weave neater.

When I bought my Kumihimo disc I also bought some micro macrame string and some texture ribbons. I think the textured ribbons give a beautifully soft finish but if used in necklaces I think they might stretch too much.