My Version of "Egyptian Cuff"

I finished my version of Shelley Nybakke's "Egyptian Cuff" yesterday - the pattern is available online from Beadwork Magazine.

 Bracelet stitched by Sweet Freedom Designs (pattern by Shelley Nybakke)

The pattern calls for stitching the bracelet with 11/0 seed beads and approximately 140 3mm Swarovski bicone crystals.

While I have a huge selection of 11/0s, I have a dearth of 3mm bicones - and only 3 colors where I had at least 140 crystals to play with!

I was none too thrilled with those 3 colors, but paired them up with some 11/0s the best I could, and stitched up the first section of the bracelet, and just wasn't excited about any of the outcomes:

Left: a purple sample using 8/0 seed beads & 4mm bicones; 

Right: galvanized silver 11/0s with turquoise AB 3mm bicones, crystal AB 11/0s with amethyst AB 3mm bicones, and gold-lined opal 11/0s with Caribbean Opal bicones. 

However, I have tons of 4mm crystals, so I decided to step up to 8/0 seed beads and 4mm bicones, and see how the pattern worked, and it stitched up perfectly!

My favorite of these initial trials was the purple/purple combo on the far left - but it seems like everything I'm stitching lately is purple, and I wanted to get out of my "purple rut." It finally hit me that I could use 2 colors of bicones in the pattern, one for the RAW segments, and another for the connecting strands. Duh.

I stitched up a RAW sample with Gold-lined Opal 8/0s and Chili Pepper 4mm bicones, and loved it. I paired it with Indian Sapphire 4mm bicones, and I really liked the combo.

detail, Egyptian Cuff stitched by Sweet Freedom Designs (pattern by Shelley Nybakke)

While the pattern stitched up perfectly with my step up to 8/0s and 4mm bicones, it did cause each of the RAW sections to be almost 1.5 inches wide. I dropped down to using 11/0s for the connecting strands, in an attempt to decrease the size a bit, but it still turned out to be way too small with just 6 RAW segments, so I added a 7th RAW section, which makes the bracelet a little too large for an average wrist, even with the tube clasp I chose to use. Sizing wouldn't have been an issue at all if I had used the 11/0 seed beads and the 3mm crystals, as each of those RAW sections was only 3/4 inch wide!

The RAW technique used in this bracelet was, coincidentally, the same 3-D Right Angle Weave as that in the Amphora Beaded Bead by Marcia Decoster that I was stitching when last I blogged!

New Necklace and Earrings

As the owner of a bead shop, I make a lot of projects featured in various beading magazines, so that customers can see the designs worked up (they often look so different than they do in the mags!) and get ideas about colors, etc. My latest necklace and earring set all started when I was working on one of these bracelets...

This particular bracelet, a right angle weave (RAW) design, was featured in the October - November, 2013 issue of Beadwork (yes, I'm a little behind on my to-do list!):

RAW bracelet featured in Oct-Nov 2013 Beadwork

 RAW bracelet featured in Oct-Nov 2013 Beadwork

I chose some very luxe-looking, opaque, turquoise and bronze 8mm Czech firepolish beads, and paired them with metallic bronze 3mm Czech firepolish beads, and just love the result. It's so rich-looking, and everyone who sees it just drools over it!

As I was working it up, I was intrigued by the zigzagging shape, and once I completed the 3rd RAW unit, I had a little V-shaped beaded unit in my hand that started my brain thinking about other design possibilities. By the time I had added the 4th and 5th units, I knew that I would be making a necklace from these units.

After completing the bracelet, I started stitching up 3-unit segments with this pattern, using the same beads. I finished by stitching one 5-unit segment.

I tried many different ways to connect these RAW units before hitting upon the one I finally went with: lustrous 12mm bronzite rounds. I then placed genuine turquoise rondelles at the back to complete the design, and chose a Vintaj Natural Brass S-hook and chain for the closure:

Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

 

detail, Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

closure, Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

Then I stitched up a couple of one-unit segments for the earrings, adding the netting embellishment to both sides, so there's no "back" as the earrings sway and move:

Turquoise and bronze handwoven earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

The necklace and earrings are available separately in my Etsy shop!

Sold!

Yesterday, a long-time customer came in to the shop, frantically searching for earrings to wear to a wedding this weekend (today!) The wedding is in Tennessee (so it's a destination wedding for her); she's had the dress for weeks, but couldn't find earrings anywhere (except HERE, but more about that later!)

She tried searching for the earrings without bringing in the dress, but didn't see anything she thought was right. I told her I could make some earrings for her, if I could see the dress so we could find some matching beads. The dress was in her car; she brought it in, and the search was on - she wanted something dressy and sparkly.

None of the Czech glass OR Swarovski crystals matched the gorgeous cobalt blue of the dress. I had some enameled beads that matched perfectly, but she felt they were too casual. I found some beautiful 8mm lapis rounds (leftover from this project:)

The lapis matched perfectly, too, but she felt it wasn't dressy enough - so I asked her to just give me a few minutes -

And this is what I designed:

I know the pictures aren't the greatest - and I would LOVE to hear any tips you guys have on photographing Swarovski AB crystals - they look terrible against colored backgrounds - because they pick up and transmit whatever color you are photographing them against (I've tried blue, black, and red) and they disappear against a white background. HELP! If you have tips, please leave them in the comments! Thanks!

Anyway, I hung the lapis round underneath a 6mm Swarovski AB crystal, with some small Bali daisy spacers - all from a short length of sterling cable chain. Then I made some dangles using 4mm crystal AB Swarovskis, and hung them from the cable chain links, to give a staggered cluster effect.

The customer loved them, and mentally kicked herself for spending several weeks looking elsewhere for earrings, reminding me that she always finds exactly what she wants when she comes here - so nice to hear!

On her way out of the shop, she spied this right angle weave bracelet that I made several years ago:

I know you can't tell in the photo, but it really does match the earrings perfectly. I even took a shot of them together, but the match is lost in these photos -

She was delighted to find the bracelet, because it gave just the right amount of sparkle to her wrist. Yay!

Right angle weave

I used bamboo coral (in unusual little bicone shapes!) in this right angle weave, and I really like the result - I have done this pattern many times, with pearls, and with Czech glass in various styles, sizes, and shapes, but had never tried anything else.

Black and red always look so dramatic together!

This bracelet is available in my Etsy shop.