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.

Emerald and Gold - Chevron Chain Done

I had done about 8 inches of the chevron chain before losing steam, but this afternoon I picked it back up and finished it up, all 28 inches of it.  It has been a while since I have done any beading but I am a bit fibered out at the moment, and perhaps handling all of my beadwork this past weekend to photograph it got me back in the mood to bead.

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

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

The project called for vertically drilled pressed glass drops, but I didn't have anything in my stash that would work, so I am using the Citrine tubes and rondelles

Emerald and Gold

The whole reason I started making the purple and gold chevron chain was because I wanted to make the Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese from the October/November 2009 issue of Beadwork Magazine.  The pattern calls for 3 mm crystal pearls, but I don't do crystals.  I do, however, happen to have some small gemstone beads.  Originally I was going to use my amethyst gemstone beads, but after working on the purple and gold chevron chain I realized that the amethyst gemstone beads were too large (they are about 5 mm in diameter), so I went back to my gemstone stash and came out with 3 possibilities: garnet, emerald or  sapphire gemstone beads.  I put some of each in my beading dish and went back to my seed bead stash to find matching seed beads.  It turned out that the emerald gemstone beads were the easiest to match.

Project:  Royal Chains Lariat by Kelly Wiese, October/November 2009 Beadwork Magazine
Materials:
Chevron chain:
size 12 seed beads (Beadcats stock # 2-11-480-01 topaz transparent irid)
size 14 seed beads (Beadcats stock # 2-14-577-01 medium green transparent irid)
Green KO Thread