Scrolling through the inner Workings of a Cuff pattern

I don't often do bead patterns. Especially peyote stitches patterns. Have you tried them? Following the picture pattern always does my head in. BUT when there's a word pattern, I can survive.

However, when Ann of FrancescasFancy on Etsy asked for some people to test drive some patterns/kits she had designed, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to develop this skill of reading a pattern. So I put my hand up, got sent the kit, and got to work. :D

It was a very interesting pattern to work through. I started to see the pattern come through quite quickly, and it was fun trying to work out as I went where the repeats in the design were happening. It was a very clever design.

Another great thing about doing this for Ann was that in the kit she sent me she had included delicas (cylinder beads) as the beads to use for the pattern. And my goodness WOW! I had only ever used round seed beads, and I had had some problems when doing large peyote stitched-pieces that my tension with these beads was a bit out in some places (I like to pull hard it seems...). But not with delicas! I can pull the thread like normal and it pulls all the beads together into nice locked-in rows, and it's STRAIGHT! :D :D Can't even begin to describe how excited I was to discover this.

So ever since then I've been slowly purchasing the odd packet of delicas to add to my stash. :D


So there you have it. I finished it (around my Europe trip lol), sent it off, she photographed it and listed it and sent it back and now it's part of my VERY small self-made jewellery collection. She said she couldn't believe how small my wrist was when she opened the box and saw how small I'd made the bracelet (still enough for two repeats of the main pattern)! Haha

She has named it the Scroll Works Bracelet pattern (hence the play on words in the title of this blog post ahaha), and it is one of many wonderful designs availble for you to buy and bead in her shop (I really recommend trying this one out!). Check them all out, they're awesome!

And while you're there, take a look at her Green Dragon Bracelet - Baby Dragon Fantasy Beaded Cuff. It is absolutely amazing and SUCH a clever design!

Happy beading y'all!
Meg

Lime Spider

I had last week off Uni due to Easter. It was a glorious 10 days indeed. I worked, and watched movies, and SLEPT IN, and did some good ol' study (and now I'm back at Uni and I wish I were still on holidays... :P). A nice break.

And what would a break be (or any day for that matter) if I didn't do any beading? :D As a study procrastination, I created the following:

Allow me to introduce to you "Lime Spider!" She's the next in my Elegant Elements Cuff Collection.
This cuff features a large cat's eye cabochon matched with the same type of beads I used in Red Beauty, but obviously in lime green this time. For this cuff I decided to use black as the background this time (I'm aiming to use neutral colours for the background in all the cuffs, except perhaps one...), and I think it gives it a funky, sassy feel. I'm very happy with the results.

You can see that, when the cuff bends, you can slightly see the pale green suede I beaded on underneath. At first I wasn't happy about this, but then after a while I decided I liked it. It's just a hint of green and I think it gives a nice effect...

The beauty of using cat's eye cabochons or beads is the way it reflects light. I was quite facinated with the textures within the colours of the cab depending on the angle of the light that shone on it. Away from direct light, it's a quite dark green, but shine some light on it and these playful lines of light green and lime start to appear. It was for this reason I had diffuculty deciding what colour green I should use to bezel the cab. If you look closely at Red Beauty's cab, I used three different types: a light transparent red, then a dark transparent red after a few rounds, and finally finishing with a silver-lined dark red. I wanted to keep this the same with all the cuffs. So in Lime Spider I finally decided on lime transparent, then dark transparent green, before finishing up with a silver lined dark green. I think it works well. Finishing with a silver-lined round of seed beads seems to give the cab a hint of brightness, which I had noticed with Red Beauty as well. This effect will DEFINATELY be kept constant in future cuffs in the collection.

I'm still playing around with the clasps on these cuffs, so while this one is quite similar to that in Red Beauty, it still has a few differences. Firstly, because Lime Spider is shorter in length than Red Beauty (it currently actually fits me, can you believe it?!), the beaded band that connects the toggle loop to the actual cuff had to be longer. I'm happy with how this clasp looks, but in future I feel that the band should be wider (thoughts?), as the cuff itself is quite wide.
I had also been recently reading through some beading books/mags/websites/etc (AGAIN :P) and I kept seeing an interesting type of clasp come up again and again, where the peyote loop almost looked embellished. Finally I discovered that it involved using two sizes of seed beads. So here it is!

(see, told you it fits :P)

I used a different kind of suede than that of Red Beauty, and so this one feels even more soft on your skin! It feels very nice, may I just say. :)

And of course, everyone loves free stuff, so here's the free pair of matching earrings that come with the cuff.

So there you have it: Lime Spider, the second installment to the Elegant Elements Cuff Collection. Hope you enjoy her!

Oh, study break's now over, back to work... Y'know, I haven't beaded for a week just so I can't get distracted with how that wonderful braelet is looking so far, how nicely that collar is coming together, how absolutely gorgeous that pendant will be if I can just allow myself to finish it... (Stop it Meg, you're getting ideas :P) Let's just say I'm having withdrawals again...

Happy beading!
Meg

Red Beauty

One day I went to the local craft store and began buying beads, as you do, and I came upon a large, coral-red, oval cabochon. Actually, I found a lot of cabs, and this was one of the ones that caught my eye (this craft store doesn't generally have cabochons, so I get excited when I can find some). So I began to look for some beads that might go with it and found some red glass beads with a "funky" coating on them. I'd been wanting to make a bracelet for someone for a while, and this seemed perfect!

So when I got home, I drew out a design, cut out a template and traced it onto my suede and glued on the lovely stone cab I'd just bought, plus two smaller goldstone cabochons. And then I find out that the person that I'd originally intended this cuff for didn't actually like this shade of red, nor did she like to wear bracelets. WELL. That was a bummer. Now what?

So I did the only thing natural: I threaded my needle, picked up some seed beads and began bezelling the cab. :D I sewed on the glass beads in a pattern, and beaded around them in a circle-y/swirly pattern.

As I was beading I imagined making several of these cuffs in different colours, all with the same basic style but each having something slightly different about them (I know that the thing that will separate this cuff from the rest is the two smaller cabochons). I could have a collection, and sell them all! So the Elegant Elements Cuff Collection was born.

NOTE: due to the fact that this cuff WAS actually intended for a specific person, it is a bit bigger than what the other ones will be. This cuff will fit a minimum wrist of 7.25"-7.5".

Gold, red and a little bit of bronze make up this cuff. It's finished with a peyote stitched loop and bead clasp. I used silver lined seed beads, and when it's in the sun this cuff really sparkles and shines! I couldn't stop drooling over it! If it wasn't for the fact that I also don't wear red (I have one shirt with red on it, and it's red and white striped), and that my wrist is half the size of this cuff (I'm tiny haha) I would keep it! But I don't, and it isn't, so I won't.

SO. That means it is available for purchase by you, dear reader, or by that girl down the street, or the nice lady who's currently internet shopping. And I haven't even told you about the BONUS GIFT that comes with the purchase of this cuff: A free pair of earrings! I had a few of those glass beads left over (they came in a pack of 6mm and 10mm beads), so I made a pair of matching earrings. This will be the case with every cuff in this cuff collection (to see all my collections, including my Seasons Collection, click on the "Collections" section in my shop).

Due to my opinion that this cuff is absolutely awesome, and indeed IS One Of A Kind (OOAK), and that it looks a real beauty in the sunshine, and that I REALLY wish I wore red (:P) I have decided to name her "Red Beauty."

Thankyou very much for looking, and being a part of my excitement for my brand new collection! "Lime Spider" is up next :D

Keep Beading
Meg