Chunky Bead Crochet Bracelet

Oct5

My first experiment with bead crochet resulted in this chunky bracelet. When I was in Michigan last month, I visited a yarn shop with my Mom who is an avid stitcher and knitter. From the moment I stepped through the front door, I was entranced with the bins upon bins of colorful, textured yarn skeins. All of those colors! It was like opening up a new box of crayons. I carefully made a couple of selections, having no idea what I was going to do with them. I just liked to look at them and feel their weight in my hands.

After reading Lindly Haunani’s post about setting creative goals for the fall, I wrote down 4 things that I would like to accomplish and explore. One of them was to teach myself bead crochet and experiment with various fibers and beads. A great resource for helping me achieve this goal is Bethany Barry’s Bead Crochet. So, I went through my bead stash and choose some colorful size 6 beads to match the colorful yarn I had purchased.

I single crocheted a tube 6 beads around and then finished it with a vintage button clasp. With a chain loop that fits over the button, I was amazed at how easy it is to put it on and take it off. My next experiment is going to be with size 8 beads and C-Lon cord. Stay tuned!

September Page Progress

Oct1

The beading on the Harvest Goddess is finished. For her long, luxuriant hair, I used a twisted fringe technique with my variegated beads and then tacked down the fringe. My eyes happened upon these lovely golden amber glass leaves in my bead stash and I couldn’t resist giving her a crown. I’ve been fascinated by crowns ever since I was in kindergarten. I loved to draw crowns on all of the ladies in my pictures. When my Mom took me to the library, I always made a beeline for the adult section to find my precious treasure – a big, heavy dusty old book containing color photos of the crown jewels of England. I loved thumbing through that book to gaze upon all of the beautiful, sparkly objects it contained.

Ideas about my October page are starting to glimmer in my mind. The image of a candle has been present in my thoughts all day. I think I will start with that and then see where it takes me.

A Start to my September Journal Page

Sep24

The start of September. Meet the Goddess of the Harvest. She has a sweetly content look on her face because the seeds planted in the springtime are yielding a rich, abundant harvest.

I marbled some gold and black polymer clay in my pasta machine for her body. Her bone face cabochon was purchased years ago at the Whole Bead show in Providence and lovingly added to my stash to await the day it would be part of a creation. The variegated bead hank, purchased on my recent trip to Michigan, was originally intended for a bead crochet project but when I placed it next to the page, I thought it would make simply awesome flowing hair. Muted but rich shades of turquoise, green, brown and cream beads – the photo doesn’t do it justice. I have a whole evening free for beading!

My August Journal Page

Sep23

A little behind schedule but my August journal page is finally done! This one was a lot more challenging than the first two. They seemed to flow easily whereas I struggled with this page a lot. Maybe because I experienced some challenging health issues for most of the month. That said, I just forged on whenever I hit a difficult patch and didn’t rip anything out.

It is a hodgepodge of beading with a lot going on where my first 2 pages seem more cohesive. Maybe it was because I used tiles created by other artists and each tile had an influence on the beading around it. Anyway, I’m calling this piece “Window to your Imagination”. By using the polymer clay tiles I received at Klay Karma, I arranged them into a window pattern and then embellished that window with my beadwork. A lot of leaves and flowers adorn the window, symbolizing the lushness and fertility of imagination. As August is a month of harvest, this piece also represents the manifestation (harvest) of the ideas (seeds) planted in your imagination. I’ve just started my September page and will post a photo very soon!

Rainforest Choker

Sep19

Here’s my latest creation. This choker style necklace was inspired by a wonderfully inspiring and colorful book called Rainforest. It’s filled with gorgeous closeups of plants, birds, animals and insects found in the rainforests around the world. I highly recommend it to add to your inspiration library.

I made the polymer clay bead by covering it with canework and molding it into the oval shape. The cane itself is a Skinner blend bullseye plug separated into 5 pieces which is then layered and surrounded with a striped cane. I capped the ends of the bead with the same stripes. The cord is a woven herringbone tube strung on soft flex wire. The fit of the tube on the beading wire is tight so I was able to twist the tube. As I was stringing it, the tube kept twisting anyway so I figured that’s the way it wanted to be. Despite careful design planning, my jewelry sometimes develops a life of its own as I am creating it! I finished the choker with a button made from the cane and a simple beaded loop. Now, it’s time to make a bracelet and earrings to match!