Chain Maille Bracelets

For the past few weeks, I've been beading several special projects.

The first was my new year's necklace.  I couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out, but it went through more than one reconstruction.

I've also been working on a something for a special February edition of She Made/She Made, hosted by Therese Frank and Christine Altmiller.

I know, you can't stand the wait, can you?  I'll give you a sneak peek.

Check back on February 28 for the reveal.

Finally, I've been working with components made by Sharyl from Sharyl's Jewelry.  Another sneak peek?  Okay, since you asked.

I plan to share my creations using Sharyl's components next week, so stay tuned.

In the mean time, I've managed to complete a few bracelets.

From left to right, they are:

Sleek Cuff - I love how this turned out.  It's a quick pattern (it took me one afternoon to complete) and looks fabulous.

Double Cylon bracelet - This was also a fun bracelet once the final step clicked.  This version is two lengths of cylon weave joined together.  I love how it looks in copper and brass.  

Fire Wyrm - This might be my new favorite weave.  It is a different spin on full Persian and I love how it looks.  This one is in all copper, but I could see adding a bit of color.

Dragonscale - I think I started this bracelet around Thanksgiving.  It's one of those weaves that takes a long time, or at least it seemed to.  I finally made myself finish it and I love how it looks.

Of course, all of these patterns came from Blue Buddha.  (No, I don't work there, even though it seems that I'm plugging their tutorials every week). 

I still have those dragon's eye pendants on my table, so hopefully, I'll have some other finished pieces to share with you soon.

Andrew Thornton's Lima Beads Reader's Challenge

I love a good challenge, at least in theory.  When I saw Andrew Thornton had cooked up a Spring inspired challenge using beads from Lima Beads, I knew I wanted to join.  Truth be known, I scarcely looked at all the beads before taking the plunge.

The kit is just beautiful with all these luscious shades of green.  The bird, by Earthenwood Studio just wants to take flight.  I didn't even notice the rabbit toggle clasp from Green Girl Studios, until I received the kit.  I love that the rabbit is jumping through the toggle.

These are not colors or components I usually work with.  Had I really sat down and looked at the beads, I might have run the other way.  I love greens, but gravitate toward darker, more earthy tones of green.  The silver also threw me a bit.  Lately, I had been working with more bronze and copper tones.  But that's why they call it a challenge, right?

I knew I was going to need more seed beads, so I looked through my stash and found these awesome lime green delicas.

I wanted a contrasting color and stumbled upon these matte red seed beads.

Both looked nice with the frosted celery from the challenge kit.

I had beads, but I needed a plan.  I kept staring at the picasso rondelles.  I only had a few, but they were too pretty not to use.  Then it hit me.  What do you do with only a few rondelles?  You bezel them, of course.

I started beading without much of a plan, but I had thought I would use the bird component.  As I went along, though, another idea hit me.  The rabbit in the clasp from Green Girl Studios looks as if he's bounding along and diving into his den.

What if the rabbit was bounding through the garden, heading toward the den?  He might look like this:

I couldn't figure out how I wanted to connect my flowers.  I wanted to use the chain, but wasn't sure how.

I remembered a design in Beadmaille by Cindy Pankopf.  Cindy used rings and seedbeads to create an effect similar to chain maille.

I took the links out of the silver chain and used them with seed beads to create the strap from Cindy's "Faerie Garden Necklace."  It was perfect.

I connected the chain to the remaining part of the toggle:

And the finished product:

While I am pleased with the red, I think a bright orange would have made the piece more "springy."  Ah, well .. next time I'll know.  :)

I was disappointed that I did not use the beautiful blue bird or the citrus seed beads.  I glanced through my books and found a lovely bracelet in Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith.  Rachel's "Mini O Bracelet" seemed a perfect fit for the size 8 citrus seed beads.  I thought I could incorporate what I had left of the celery seed beads as well.

This was such a fun bracelet and worked up in about a day.

I also wanted to use the other rabbit.  I hope he likes his new home.  :)

I still have dreams for the little bird.  I'm sure he will take flight soon.

Andrew, thank you for putting together such a wonderful collection of beads.  I would never have chosen these colors on my own, but love the combination.

Please check out Andrew's blog to see what the other participants created.

Lorelei and Shannon's Lima Beads Challenge

I'm not an artist. I am comfortable with that fact. I relish the arrival of my beading magazines and I love seeing what true artists create. I enjoy recreating or reimagining a favorite piece. I rarely branch out on my own and attempt to design something new. When I do try, the process goes something like this:

1. Dream up an idea
2. Get excited about the idea
3. Buy beads
4. Realize the idea won't work exactly how I imagined
5. Rework the idea
6. Buy more beads
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until my husband starts to question the bead related expenses on our bank statement

I get frustrated a bit easily and tend to feel guilty about abandoning all those innocent beads. I apologize to those beautiful crystals or focal beads for not using them and usually scrap the entire project.

When I saw the LimaBeads challenge on Lorelei's blog, I thought it could be a chance to redeem myself.

I gave myself two rules:

• I could not buy any beads for this challenge, not even extras of those in the kit
• I had to finish

When I received the kit (very quickly, i might add), I was in heaven.

Everything was gorgeous. I love abalone and pearls and the 4mm cubes were to die for! I lost myself in the colors of the flower beads and the rondelles. Then reality began to sink in: I love stick pearls, but have never been able to use them. The abalone cylinder was one of my favorites, but I had no clue what to do with it.

So, I added another two rules:

• Use the stick pearls
• Use the abalone cylinder

I followed the first two rules with this necklace:

True to form, the necklace went through about four or five versions. At one point, I had copper washers and was determined to use a wire wrapped jasper nugget as a toggle. Something just seemed "off" in those incarnations.

The final version is a double strand necklace.  I used the Vintaj pendant to frame one of the purple teardrops.  I then created a small jumpring chain and used the cube beads as an accent.  I wirewrapped the green czech beads and wove the ribbon through.  I was happy to use the lemon ovals as another sort of focal on the sides of the necklace.

I like the final version.  I was hesitant to use the lemon ovals because they looked so white at first, but I think they really add something.  And, as you will see in a bit, I even found a use of the last one.

Still, I needed to use the stick pearls. My first inclination was to use them in a "flower" motif similar to this one by Melissa Meman on the cover of the April/May 2011 issue of Step by Step Wire. I then did the same to five of the amethyst teardrops. With the teardrop flower on top, the stick pearls resembled leaves. Ultimately, the wire pendant was too big to use in a necklace and I wasn't sure if I liked is as a bracelet focal. (I wish I had taken a picture before I made amends with the beads and disassembled my work).

At one point, I was going to do a spiral rope in my necklace. I still had all the seed beads scattered about. And then it came to me. I had been wanting to try a sculptural peyote bracelet for some time, but never had the nerve. I looked at the seed beads, the cube beads in the kit and these great orange delica beads I've had forever.

I spent the next several nights working on this:

I pulled the colors from the ribbon and just went at it. I had wanted to use the stick pearls to embellish the peyote, but i thought the potato pearls and the lavender flowers worked better.

While working on the bracelet, I thought the abalone cylinder would work well as a toggle for a clasp, but it seemed too heavy for the piece.  I then pulled out the last lime oval.  It was just the right size.  I created a bezel using the seed beads and hid a hook and eye clasp beneath it.

All in all, I am loving free form peyote.  I may have to try something more "halloweeny" with the rest of those orange delicas.  I've had my eye on some kitty or skelly beads from Earthenwood Studio that would be fun to use.

As for my goals, I'm proud to say that I did finish and I didn't buy any extra beads. I'm sorry not to have included the stick pearls, but I have an earring idea in mind.  They will not be forgotten!  The abalone cylinder is just so very pretty (and, much like Malcolm Reynolds, too pretty to let die in my bead box), so I will be using it soon.

A very big "thank you" to Lorelei and Shannon and Limabeads for the challenge!  If you want to see what the other participants did, hop over to Lorelei's blog.