Debi's Bracelet

I made a bracelet similar to this one back in October of 2007 for myself called Purple Haze. Then in December I went to my Grandpa T's 80th birthday party in Arizona and all of my aunts just loved it and now I have been asked to make them each one. I ended up giving the one I had to my Aunt Mari and this next one I made for my Aunt Debi. She had told me that she wanted one just like the one I gave to Mari, but I hate making the same thing twice. Also I've made a few improvements that I like better on this one. One of the main changes is the color scheme. The Purple Haze bracelet consisted of purple, brown, and copper and this one has purple, grey, blue and silver instead. While I liked the original color scheme I just wanted to try these colors out and see if they worked just as well. Which I think they do. The clasp is different also. I used a slider clasp and wove the beads around the hasp. In the long run I think this type of clasp will help in the strength and longevity of the bracelet. The bead work pattern is also just a little bit different from the original.

I do have to say that both bracelets are equally beautiful and they both sparkle and shine with the many different types of finishes and cuts of the beads. I have two more bracelets to make for my aunts. I will be posting them in the future as I finish them. I think the next one I will make with a green and blue color scheme.

Fire & Ice

Fire and Ice, that just sounds so cool, doesn't it. Luckily the day I finished the piece we had a little bit of fresh snow fall, so I was able to take some pictures in the snow. Thank you, Toni for the suggestion of fire and ice, the photos turned out great.

I made this necklace a few days ago for one of the guys that works upstairs from me. His wife loves amber and, as he told me, she really likes handmade original gifts. So here it is. The amber cab is the focal piece in this necklace and it almost didn't get here in time as it was on back order. Had I known this to begin with I would have ordered another size or something. It arrived just in time though and I was able to set it and bead around it just in the nick of time. I used delica seed beads to start with and switched to smaller silver seed beads at the end. On the outside of the cab I then used amber drop beads around the base of it.

As for the backing I decided to use the peyote stitch to bead back of the cab also. I started with the dark amber beads and ended in the center with the lighter yellow delicas. This gave the piece a nice finished look to it.

The necklace itself I beaded on my thinnest beading wire. I decided to use the thinnest wire for two reasons; one amber doesn't weigh a whole lot and two the holes in the beads were very narrow. For the necklace part I used an assortment of amber beads, delica seed beads, and round sterling silver spacer beads. I decided to make the necklace with a two strands of beads for aesthetic purposes. For the two strands I used a sterling silver slider clasp that allowed for two strands.

Drops of Water Bracelet

I made this bracelet this past weekend using the tubular peyote stitch. I started out with the regular tubular peyote stitch with the blue and aqua seed beads and then I began adding the glass drop beads where the aqua seed beads would have gone. The drop beads had a little bit of aqua in the bottom of them and it gave the effect of drops of water beading up on the bracelet. I really like how the bracelet turned out and I plan on trying it out in different color combinations in the future.

Something for a friend

My mom had bought me some really cool lace curtains from Ikea in Phoenix a while back. They remind me of the kind of curtains people had in Germany when I lived there in the late 8o's. Anyways, when I got them they were way to long for my sliding glass door.
I can bead, but I can't sew to save my life. I even messed up hemming my sons bibs this past winter. So a friend of mine offered to hem them for me. Of course I was okay with that. So she sewed them up for me and they look great. The only thing is that she wouldn't let me pay her for them, so I finally made her something to repay her. She really likes pinks and purples. Colors I don't usually use together alot. I finally made her something with her colors and I think that it acutally turned out okay. I made it simular to the last bracelet that I made. I really like the way the bracelet lays so we'll have to see if she likes it too.