Tumbling Tiles

A few weeks ago I won a pattern from Marcy Abney, from La Bella Joya.  I chose her Tumbling Tiles bracelet.

This was such an easy pattern to work.  I loved working around the circle of the bangle.  I made two versions.  For the first one, I used matte black tilas on the inside and shiny black on the outside.  I liked the bit of contrast.

As I worked through Marcie's design, I can tell a great deal of thought (and probably lots of trial and error) went into it.  I love how this bangle keeps its shape.  The embellishment is not only beautiful, but also functional.  Plus, it worked up very quickly.  I love instant gratification.

When I started my second bangle, I tought I would use the same color tila beads on the inside and on the outside of the bracelet.  Unfortunately, I didn't quite have enough beads.  I was about to head to the bead store when I reminded myself that I had all kinds of beads in the office.  Was there any way I could make this work without buying more beads?

(Okay, I have to confess:  that last part was for my husband.  As a non beader, he wonders how I could possibly need more beads.)  In this case, I decided to try something different rather than buying more tilas.  After a bit of searching, I found some lovely round pyrite beads.

So, Tumbling Tiles became more of a Studded Round.  Instead of embellishing the outside with tila beads, I used size 15 and 8 seed beads.  There was just enough room in the center to add the pyrite.

Technically, this isn't a bangle.  It doesn't have the stability in its core and doesn't keep its shape.  The pyrite beads are a bit too heavy and the seed bead embellishment doesn't strengthen the bracelet like the tila beads do.  I like how it looks, though, and may restring it and add a clasp.

Marcie, thank you again for the pattern.  I love how easy it was to do and how versatile it is.