Friday, March 29, 2013

Resin Bauble Slider Challenge

A few weeks ago, Lorelei Eurto found these awesome resin bauble sliders at Michaels.  They came in peach/purple (below) and aqua/teal.


Lorelei saw a great deal of potential in these little sliders and challenged her readers to see the same.

I was in the midst of my bead soup blog party projects, but an idea came right to mind and I had to join.  The kiddo and I took a quick trip to Michaels, grabbed a few packs of sliders and made it home in time to start dinner.

I wanted to make little beaded pom poms to sit around the sliders and gradually move out around the band of a bracelet.  Unfortunately, as it sometimes (well, usually) happens, my great idea didn't work as well as I thought it would.

I ended up going a different route and I am very pleased with the results.

I used two of the sliders together as a bracelet focal.


I'm a green and purple kind of girl, so when I grabbed purple and peach seed beads, I grabbed some light green pearls and teal seed beads as well.

I beaded the bracelet part of Marcia DeCoster's Rising Sun bracelet and attached the bands to the sliders


These sliders are incredibly light.  I was able to use fireline to attach the sliders to the woven band and it's very secure.  I would not have tried this with a heavy metal slider.


I love the look of Marcia's band with the sliders.  The bumps are a perfect fit with the little resin bubbles.  The band is a bit uneven because the first and last bubbles are not even.  You can't tell when you are wearing it, though.


The bumps look like little flowers, which makes me think of the bracelet as a small corsage.

(You can find more of Marcia's designs and kits on her website.  Marcia's first book, Beaded Opulence, is a great source for right angle weave projects -- every project is beautiful.  I am eagerly awaiting Marcia's second book, Beads in Motion.  If the cover is any indication, the projects in this book will all be show stoppers!)

I used the last slider as a necklace focal.


This came together on the spur of the moment.  I started looking for purple pearls and came across these peach ovals.


Later, I saw the purple pearls and Chinese crystals.  They all seemed to want to play together.


I restrung this necklace three or four times before I was happy with it.  Stringing, you see, is something I typically avoid.  I have a hard time deciding which beads to use or not use.  I am *much* more comfortable with my beloved seed beads.

That said, I think my frustrations were worth it.  I love how this necklace turned out.  I love the slider/seed bead focal.  I love the purple and peach (which I would never have put together on my own).

When I showed her the necklace, the kiddo looked at it with a critical eye, then ran upstairs and grabbed the extra sliders.  She said, "this will make it even more beee-u-ti-ful, mommy" and arranged the other sliders on the necklace.

I took a few pictures and came up with this the next day.


This is totally the kiddo's design.  I added the herringbone strips to connect the sliders.  Again, the sliders are so light that the small beaded links can keep them in place.


I finished the necklace with twisted herringbone ropes.


I like that the ropes mimic the curves on the focal.

I *love* how this turned out -- number 19,594 why the kiddo is awesome!

Lorelei, thank you for such a wonderful challenge.  I would never have noticed these sliders and I have had a blast working with them.  They are so versatile and I can see similar sliders in many other designs.

Please take some time to visit Lorelei's blog or follow the links below to see what the other participants did with these sliders.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Lorelei - our host

19 comments:

  1. I love the final version of your necklace. It works perfectly with the shape of the component. Bravo!

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  2. Don't you love having your kids input? I ask mine all the time what they think of a design. They are brutally honest, and extremely complimentary in the same sentence! Even my boys will give good advice on how they think a piece is looking. I really, really want to see the back of that bracelet. The fact that the connector is on the bottom was giving me fits. Love how the herringbone wraps around it, that is just brilliant! Way to go girl!

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  3. Man oh man these are gorgeous! First, your seed bead bracelet is fabulous - wow!! I really admire everyone who creates w/these tiny little beauties because the designs are always so amazing. And, although I really love the first strung necklace design you did because it's got those gorgeous pearls and just looks simple yet fun,...your kiddo has got the 'eye extraordinaire'! She's right,...more is definitely great in this case! The last necklace is super stunning!! Great designs all around!

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  4. I love how your kiddos gave you some great ideas and each of the pieces you made are really pretty. The final necklace is gorgeous!

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  5. Just FYI - thought I'd let you know that all your links on the blog hop go to one blog (lola's) and not the one they are meant to to go. ;-)

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    1. Thank you, Shel. I'm not sure what I did, but I'll fix it right away. :)

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  6. What neat work!! I loved it. And in the short duration you came up with three inventive AND beautiful designs.. Not just 'using' the component, you 'designed' with it. cool!

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  7. I'm impressed with 3 beadweaving designs. Really they all look fantastic, but I think I like the 3rd the best. You've inspired me to a)learn more beadweaving and b) start asking my kids what they think about my projects. :)

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  8. Oh Tanya these are sooooo very beautiful and Kiddo's is no exception-WOW! Enjoy wearing these, they are fabulous and I am in total awe of your bracelet. I must learn to weave something besides a simple bead. You are my inspiration! Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter:)

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  9. Ok, you and the kiddo totally nailed it! I love how alive her design feels like snakes dancing all around. So beautiful! The bracelet - the edge especially - is such a beautiful compliment. And that necklace with the swoop at the bottom beneath the component, that's brilliant.

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  10. Wow, Kiddo's got an eye! I was completely in love with the bracelet, and then I saw the herringbone piece, and it's just wonderful. Obviously good parenting going on in your house!

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  11. It must not have been up this morning when I went through the posts, these are SO AWESOME! wowza!!
    My favorite is that last one with the fancy beadweaving. awesome designs. I'm so glad you took the took out from Bead soup to make these!!! It's been so fun to see what everyone made with them!

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  12. Great post! I like how you came up with such cool ways to feature the same component in such different designs. I particularly like the last necklace!

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  13. Oh, all pieces are beautiful! I love you daughter's design - it is curving so lovely :)

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  14. I am in great awe and admiration of your bead weaving. I'm just a stringing kind of gal, so far. Bead weaving is on my long list of things I'd like to learn. Hooray for doing three pieces and Yay for your daughter's input too. Love them all.

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  15. Oh my gosh! All lovely... my fav is the herringbone necklace!

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  16. You create a gorgeous piece, each and every time. It's so impressive!

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  17. Wonderful work Tanya. You and the Kiddo work well together. That necklace is awesome. Your bracelet is cool too.

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