Pearls

This past Sunday I took a little break from knitting and did some pearl necklaces.  I had picked up another strand of natural multi-colored pearls and gave the previous strand that I had turned into a necklace to my step daughter.  She is going to be interviewing for her Residency and I figured that she needed a strand of pearls.  As I told her, if you're wearing pearls, you can do anything.  I find cashmere and pearls or silk and pearls particularly powerful combinations.

When I bought the multi-colored strand I also picked up a white strand.

Once I had these turned into necklaces I tackled four strands that I have had in my stash for a little while now.  I knew that I wanted to use them together but I was really struggling with a design.  In the end I went for simple.

First I did some stringing of the pearls onto Soft Flex.  For all of these necklaces I used the 24k Gold Extreme flex Metallic Flex Wire, Fine (.014 inch diameter).  I separate the pearls with size 14 beads, clear for the white and multi-colored strands and a transparent light purple for the purple strands.  Then I had to figure out lengths.  The bead board I have only lets me do 3 strands at a time.

First I did the 3 inner strands, and then I removed the inner most strand, shifted the others and placed the outer strand.  Eight crimps later I have a multi-strand necklace.

Pearls, pearls, pearls

I bought two strands of each color  when A Grain of Sand had pearls on sale last month just because I thought they were pretty.  When I saw the two colors together I knew that I wanted to make a multi-strand necklace with them so I ordered another strand of each color.  Last weekend I pulled the clasp out of my stash and discovered that it had seven attachment rings on each side, not six, so I ordered another strand of the red pearls.  Of course when you wear it, you would "style" it by twisting it around thusly:

Materials:
4 strands red and 3 strands natural pink rice freshwater pearls
Soft Flex Extreme 925 Sterling Silver Metallic Flex Wire Fine (0.014 inch diameter)
Multi-strand silver clasp

Polymer and Pearls - Last One

This is the last Polymer Clay bead in my bead stash.  I used Peacock Green and Pale Cranberry pearls, both from Artbeads.  Strung on Soft Flex Extreme Flex 925 Sterling Silver Metallic Flex Wire, Fine (0.014 in diameter).  Now that I have made necklaces with all of the Polymer Clay beads I will have to decide which beads to tackle next.

Bracelets

I went on a bit of a bracelet kick this past week.  You know how it is, sometimes you see a design and it just grabs you.  A couple of weeks ago this bracelet design was featured on the Artbeads web site and I just had to make it.  This is the bracelet that got me to buy Swarovski crystals.  I have resisted the sparkle for years, even though the bling is plentiful at the Bead & Button show every year.  This is the Emerald City bracelet.  You can buy all of the materials right from the project page.  Pretty clever of Artbeads...

List of Components:
Swarovski 5625 10mm 2-hole Stairway Bead Dark Moss Green (5625-DMG10, qty 19)
Swarovski 5000 5mm Faceted Round Crystal (5000-crys5, qty 32)
Swarovski 5000 3mm Faceted Round Crystal (5000-crys3, qty 40)
Swarovski 5328 3mm XILION Bicone Dark Moss Green (5328-DMG3, qty 24)
Swarovski 5328 3mm XILION Bicone Crystal (5328-crys3, qty 24)
Swarovski 5000 10mm Faceted Round Crystal (5000-crys10, qty 2)

I liked the design so much I bought more beads to make another bracelet in Amethyst and Topaz.  I would have finished it this week as well, but one of the square beads was chipped.  I emailed Artbeads and they are sending along a replacement, with their profuse apologies.

While I was perusing their website I also picked up a couple of kits.

This is the Cape Cod in Bloom Bracelet.

And this is the Tanzanite Temptation Bracelet.

These kits included everything you needed except the beading wire for stringing, which I have.  They called out a different brand in the instructions, but I always use Soft Flex.  Both of the kit bracelets were strung on the Soft Flex Extreme Metallic Flex Wire Medium (0.019 in diameter), in the 925 Sterling Silver.

More Polymer Beads and Pearls

I put together some more necklaces with the Polymer Clay beads that I've had in my stash for quite a while.  I bought a number of these beads my first couple of years going to the Bead & Button show and they've been sitting in my stash ever since.  I've been trying to work through some of my bead stash lately and these are easy pieces to work up.  I had to order some more Soft Flex and clasps, and some more pearls and my orders came in last week.  For this one I used Glorious Green pearls from A Grain of Sand, accented with Blue Peacock pearls from Artbeads.

For this one I used Blue Peacock pearls from Artbeads and accented with leftover Glorious Green pearls from A Grain of Sand.

For this one I used Blue Peacock pearls accented with Purple Peacock pearls, both from Artbeads.

All of them are strung on Soft Flex Extreme Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Fine (0.014 in diameter).  I used the 925 Sterling Silver for the first one and the 24k Gold for the other two.

Aventurine and Jasper

I bought these strands as you see them from A Grain of Sand and all I had to do was string them on Soft Flex and add a pretty clasp, also from A Grain of Sand.  The strand on the left is green Aventurine and the one on the right is Jasper.  Strung on Sterling Silver Extreme 925 Flex Soft Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Medium (0.019 in diameter).

A String of Pearls

Every woman needs a string of pearls, or three.  I love pearls, their lustrous sensual beauty, the way they feel against your skin.  They are classic, elegant, timeless, and you can't help but feel classic, elegant and timeless when you wear them.  The graduated strands I bought from A Grain of Sand, and the multi-color strand I bought from Artbeads.  All three are strung on Soft Flex 24k Gold Extreme Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Fine (0.014 in diameter).  Typically pearls are strung on silk, separated by knots, but silk needs to be replaced every few years, so I use Soft Flex.  I separated each pearl with a size 14 bead, transparent crystal for the white and multi-colored strands, and transparent pink for the pink strand.

Orphan Lamp Work Beads - the Dreams of Jack Flanders via Larry Scott

For a number of years, Larry Scott was my favorite lamp work bead artist at Bead & Button and every year I would buy a number of beads from him.  A lot of the beads that I bought from him were his Byzantine beads, so called because of the complexity of the surface design.  Most of these came in sets of three, one large and two matching small.  The last year he was at the show I bought 3 sets of orphan beads from him, sets of two small beads with no matching large beads.  I had always had it in my mind that I would make bracelets with them.  This past week I finally made the bracelets.

For these dark red beads I picked garnets.  This one somehow reminds me of India, so I have dubbed it Dreams of India.  There is a series of radio plays by the ZBS Foundation featuring Jack Flanders, and Dreams of India is one of them.

For these golden yellow beads I picked amber.  This one I call Dreams of Sumatra, another radio play featuring Jack Flanders.

For these purple beads I picked Dog Teeth Amethyst.  I call it Dreams of the Amazon, yet another Jack Flanders adventure.  I had the gemstone beads in my stash for the first two, but I had to order beads for this one.  I ordered them from Goody Beads, which features Dakota gemstone beads.

The silver beads are Bali silver, which I had in my stash, and the clasps were purchased from A Grain of Sand.  All of the bracelets are strung on Soft Flex Sterling Silver Extreme 925 Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Medium (0.019 in diameter).  The bracelets fit my slender wrists fairly closely.  Because of the weight of the gemstones they tend to hang with the clasp pretty much on my pulse point.  I love them.  The are perfect with a three-quarter length sleeve hand knitted sweater.  I have sweaters that match the first two, but not one for the third.  I guess I'll have to make one.

Polymer and Pearls

Polymer clay is pretty big in some circles, and early on in my trips to Bead & Button I bought a number of polymer clay beads.  They have been sitting in my bead stash ever since.  Last week I decided to pull them out and make some necklaces.  I like to use pearls with the polymer clay because they have a similar glossy finish.  So, I ordered some freshwater pearls from Artbeads and they came last week and this morning I did the assembly.

For this bead I picked Pale Cranberry and Olive Green freshwater pearls.

For this bead I picked Purple Peacock and decided to add in some of the Pale Cranberry pearls.

For this bead I picked Butterscotch and added some Peacock Blue pearls.

All of the necklaces are strung on 24k Gold Extreme Flex Soft Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Fine (.014 in diameter).  I use the fine Flex Wire for pearls because they generally have small holes.  I have a few more polymer clay beads, but am still working on finding the right colors to go with them.  I may end up with gemstone beads instead of pearls.

Carnelian and Onyx

Even though Larry Scott no longer comes to the Bead & Button show, I still have a number of beads by him that I have not yet turned in to jewelry.  This weekend I decided that I really needed to.  Part of the motivation is that the job I am currently in requires me to dress up a bit more than I used to so I actually have a reason to wear a lot of the beautiful things that I have made.  One of the reasons that I hadn't done anything with these beads is that I thought I would try using seed beads with them instead of the gemstone beads, but last week I was wearing one of my sets of Larry Scott beads and I realized that I really just love the look and feel of the gemstone beads.  I also really enjoy working with them, choosing the colors to compliment the lampwork, laying out the beads.

Materials:  Lampwork Byzantine beads by Larry Scott, carnelian and onyx gemstone beads, Soft Flex Extreme Flex Wire

Sea Shell Bracelet

I bought these lamp work beads at the 2011 Bead & Button show because they are purple, and fun, and weren't very expensive (as lamp work beads go).  Needless to say, they were an impulse buy.  The blue and white beads came with.  The lavender gemstones I had in my stash, and the clasp...well, the clasp is a scarab clasp that I bought from A Grain of Sand.  So what does a scarab have to do with sea shells?  Nothing, absolutely nothing, but the blue perfectly matched the blue of the beads.  Once again, the bracelet is strung on Sterling Silver Soft Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Medium Weight (.019 in diameter).

Tiger Eye Bracelet and Earrings

I've had these faceted tiger eyes in my stash for a while.  I picked them up at Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, Ohio and was just waiting for the perfect project for them.  I had thought I would do something with seed beads with them but this morning I decided that I just wanted to do something that would let them shine.  I separated the oval stones with small tiger eye disks from a strand that I had bought a very long time ago, at my very first Bead & Button show.  I bought the clasp recently from A Grain of Sand, a wonderful resource for unusual and vintage beads and findings, and the spacing is perfect for these beads.  The bracelet is strung on Sterling Silver Soft Flex Metallic Flex Wire, Medium Weight (.019 in diameter).  I thought about using spacers in the bracelet itself, but decided that I didn't really need them and I like the way the strands move when I wear it, which I've been doing all morning.  After all, I did need to do a test run to make sure that it was wearable.  Conveniently I had two beads left over to make earrings.

The Holly and the Ivy

After finishing up the Chevron Chain I cranked out the St. Petersburg Chain in a day.  Then I started joining the two chains together, or zipping them together as I quickly came to think of it.

I started out with the Emerald beads but they got lost in all the green are gold.   Next I tried the Sapphire beads, but they lacked something.   Out of desperation I tried some pearls but they were too big.   That left the Garnet beads.   They were the right size and they definitely did not get lost against the green and gold, but it just seemed a little clichéd.   In the end, however, I went with the Garnet, and decided to embrace the Christmas theme as being seasonally appropriate.

Project:  Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese, Beadwork Magazine October/November 2009

Materials used:
Size 11 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-11-480-01 topaz transparent irid
Size 11 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-11-577-01 medium green transparent irid
Size 14 seed beads:  Beadcats stock # 2-14-577-01 medium green transparent irid
3 mm Emerald gemstone spherical beads
3 mm Garnet gemstone spherical beads
Faceted tube and rondelle Citrine gemstones
Bicone Citrine gemstones
Light green KO thread

I purchased the Emerald and Garnet gemstone beads at the Bead & Button Show and the Citrine gemstones from Soft Flex.

Isis II - All I need now is a clasp

I already have a necklace that I named Isis, but this one really reminds me of Isis, with the amethyst drop fringe evocative of the feathers from the winged Isis figure.  I thought about naming it after Nefertiti, but it just didn't feel right, so I decided to go with Isis II.  I don't really have a good clasp for the necklace though, I don't have much in gold and I wanted something fairly substantial.  I ordered a couple from A Grain of Sand.

Materials:
Amethyst gemstone (12.44 carat) purchased from Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, OH
Amethyst drops purchased from Soft Flex
Gold seed beads (size 14 - no idea of the stock #)
Purple seed beads (size 11 and size 14 - Beadcats stock # 2-11-748-90 and 2-14-749-90 clear lined with cool purple)
Purple delicas (size 11 - Toho Aiko TB-328)
Gold and Purple thread (KO)

Amethyst and Gold - Half a necklace

I wanted to do something dangly under the chevron chain and I happened to have all of these amethyst drops in my gemstone stash so I started fiddling with them this past week.  As I played with different lengths and attachment points I noticed that the drops would not lay flat so I decided to just go with it.  I increased the number of beads on the loops and voila, they naturally twisted and now the fact that the drops won't lay flat is part of the design.  You really just have to go with the materials.  Now I just have to finish the other side, attach the clasp, and come up with a good name for the piece.

Materials:
Amethyst gemstone (12.44 carat) purchased from Unfinished Creations in Yellow Springs, OH
Amethyst drops purchased from Soft Flex
Gold seed beads (size 14 - no idea of the stock #)
Purple seed beads (size 11 and size 14 - Beadcats stock # 2-11-748-90 and 2-14-749-90 clear lined with cool purple)
Purple delicas (size 11 - Toho Aiko TB-328)
Gold and Purple thread (KO)

Arabesque

I recently received a copy of Japanese Beadwork with Sonoko Nozue published by Lark Crafts.  I actually have met Sonoko because of my sister (co-owner of Beadcats) and like the Japanese aesthetic.  The book had been sitting in my stack waiting to be shelved, and when I was sorting the stack the other day I accidentally put it in the pile of knitting books.  When I spotted it later I pulled it out and flipped through it and decided to do some beading.  This necklace is my take on the first project in the book.  The project is titled Cheerful Midafternoon and is more muted in the color choices.  Here are the beads called for:

Size 11 triangle beads
Size 11 3-cut beads
Czech lily beads (5 or 6 mm)
Size 15 beads
Bicones (5 mm)

The project called for 3-cut beads, and I have plenty in my stash, most acquired when I was first getting into beading some 30 years ago now and was attracted to the glitter, but I wanted something different so I pulled a bag of iridescent beads out of my stash.  I am pretty sure that they are size 11, and they are probably Czech.  They have no stock number on them, but they are dark purple with glints of peach, teal, green and gold.  For the triangle beads I selected lavender transparent with teal luster finish.  I have a fairly decent selection of bicones and I pulled out both teal and peach, and ended up going with the teal.  The only beads that I did not have in my stash were the Czech lilies.  The ones that Beadcats offers are a bit bigger than the ones used in the pattern.  I ordered both peach and lavender.  They came yesterday so this morning when I got up I started on the necklace.

The necklace is built up in layers.  First the lavender lilies, then the peach lilies.  Here is an in progress shot.  you can see my work table.  It is a folding TV dinner table.  We use them in the booth at Bead & Button and one year I forgot them so I had to buy more, which meant that I now have extras which have found their way into the house and into use.  I have my little folding Ott light and my watercolor trays for my beads.  After you finish with the second layer of lilies the instructions call for you to add the picots and join them, finishing up with the bicones.  I decided to work my way up through the layers and did the bicones next.  It really stabilized the piece and I think it made adding the picots easier.

After finishing up the bicones I added the picots.  When it came time to join the picots the pattern actually varies the number of beads between each picot.  I decided to use the same number of beads (I settled on 7 based upon a quick calculation of finished length) and I also decided to string them on Soft Flex instead of beading thread and used one of the clasps that I picked up at Bead & Button from A Grain of Sand.

Materials:
Size 11 purple iridescent Czech seed beads (< 20 g)
Size 11 triangle beads (34 beads), Beadcats stock #1-11-597-02 (lavender transparent with teal luster finish)
Size 14 seed beads to go with the Czech lilies, Beadcats stock #s 2-14-130-01 (blush pink transparent irid) and 2-14-773-01 (lt lavender transparent irid)
Czech lilies - pressed glass - Beadcats stock #s N-F7-114-00 (darker peach transparent, 66 beads) and N-F7-776-00 (lavender transparent, 33 beads)
Bicones - pressed glass - Beadcats stock # P-R1-594-00 (medium blue-green transparent, 33 beads)
KO thread in purple
Soft Flex 925 Sterling Silver Extreme Flex Metallic Flex Wire (Fine)
Box clasp

Victorian Parfait

The focal bead is another one of the Larry Scott beads that I have bought at Bead & Button.  This one always reminded me of an ice cream parfait and originally I thought I would do something very colorful and maybe a bit silly with it, but then last weekend I was rummaging in my semi-precious stones and decided that I really needed to use some of those garnets that I have been hoarding.  I knew that I wanted to do some embellishment to the strand so I used a size 8 bead in a matching color to space the garnets, knowing that after stringing the garnets on the Soft Flex I would not be able to get a needle through them.  I then used the same size 8 beads and some transparent gold drops to make the netting.  I thought about using some smaller garnets, but they didn't match in color or in reflectivity.  I was going to do another set of netting interlaced with the first set but after trying it I decided that it cluttered up the design too much.  Less is more.

Materials:
Garnets
Size 8 seed beads - Beadcats stock # 2-08-280-91 dark red transparent lined with black, irid
Small drops (4 mm x 6 mm) - Beadcats stock # D-T2-840-00 amber transparent
KO thread in gold
Soft Flex 24k Gold Extreme flex wire (medium)
Gold clasp purchased from the Soft Flex site

Celtic Infinity Necklace

I love Celtic Knots, I even know how to draw them and I have used them in beadwork.  I picked up the Celtic knot beads a while ago and they have been in my stash waiting for something worthy of them.  I found the Celtic Knot clasp last year at Bead & Button.  I bought the pendant at Bead & Button as well, but I don't remember how long it has been in my stash.  The large beads I found last year, probably at one of my favorite stores in Yellow Springs, Ohio - Unfinished Creations.  I always stop in there after Bead & Button to see if the owner has any unusual gemstone beads.  I didn't have enough to fill out the length so I used some smaller onyx beads.  Strung on silver Soft Flex.

Avatar Necklace

I've had these elements in my bead stash for at least a year, but hadn't figured out how to turn them into anything.  Then a couple of weeks ago I dreamed about a possible design, which I sketched while trying to stay awake during the Preliminary Design Review of a program that I am working on.  That original design idea did not work, but it got me playing with the elements.  The beads in the outer spots of the dish are all glass, but they look like stone.  The problem that I was trying to solve was how to work the triangles (that look kind of like shark teeth) into the design because their hole is in the middle, front to back, making it a challenge to attach them into anything.  As is so often the case, the solution was easy, once I stopped fighting the nature of the beads.  I remembered that I had a strand of semi-precious stones that were not spherical, but were instead rounded cubes (the ones in the center of the dish).  So, I decided to go for simple and strung them all on some Soft Flex beading wire.

The resulting necklace reminds me of something that the Na'vi might wear on Pandora from the movie Avatar, hence the name of the piece.  I had an odd number of the interstitial beads, so I added 3 to one side and 4 to the other side before I attached the clasp.  By doing this I actually compensate for the asymmetry of the clasp itself.  The loop adds extra length, in comparison to the bar, but thanks to the extra bead the necklace hangs symmetrically.

Edelweiss Necklace - Finished

I took a break from knitting today and finished up this necklace.  I had started it a couple of weeks ago, but then had to put it on hold while I awaited delivery of some finer Soft Flex.  This is the Edelweiss Necklace by Melinda Barta in the October/November 2009 issue of Beadwork Magazine.  You might recall that I used the flower element in my Dragon Scale Necklace.  To assemble the necklace I threaded a piece of Soft Flex (0.014 in 925 Sterling Silver) through the herringbone section and then threaded a flower at either end.  On the side with all of the flowers I attached the magnetic clasp.  On the other side I strung 18 pearls.  I then made the six flowers that form the central spine.  I found it easier to thread the pearl onto the Soft Flex before I beaded the flower.  The pattern calls for creating a ladder of delicas and then joining it to form a circle, beading the flower and then placing the finished flower onto the pearl.  Instead I did brick stitch around the pearl and then beaded the flower on the pearl.  Here is a picture of the strand before embellishing.

And here is a picture of the back-side so you can see how I spaced the flowers with delicas.

Then it was just a matter of making more flowers and figuring out the layout.  Threading the Soft Flex through the herringbone section was a little tricky, and it would have been easier if I had done the herringbone around the Soft Flex to begin with, but obviously I was successful, with a little patience and finesse.  I like the fact that the necklace is not suspended on the herringbone section, it seems to lay better.

Materials:
Pearls, about 8mm in diameter

Size 11 Delicas (Beadcats Stock #s):
4-11-463-91 clear-lined w/ rich yellow, irid
4-11-583-14 cool dk green opaque metallic
4-11-127-02 flesh pink transparent luster
Size 14 seed beads:
2-14-127-02 medium pink transparent luster
2-14-463-92 clear-lined w/ rich yellow, luster

And here you can see the power of the Beadcats stock numbering system.  The first digit represents the bead type, so 4 is Delicas, and 2 is seed bead, the next two digits are the size, the next three numbers are the color, and you can see how easy it is to match colors across bead types, and the last two numbers are the glass type and the surface finish.  You can read all about their stock numbering system on their web site.  At this point I have quite a stash, so I often don't buy beads for a project, I just make do with what I have on hand.  It does mean that I sometimes have to be a little more creative in my bead selection, and I often hit on color combinations I might not have otherwise.