Sunny Seattle Summer

 This bracelet takes its name from the fact that I started it during my Summer vacation in Seattle, where it was beautiful and sunny and wonderfully fun. Of course, I didn't finish it until the end of October, but the colors still remind me of my trip.

 I used Jean Power's Caldera pattern which will be in Contemporary Geometric Beadwork! It's the same technique as the Power Puff but with a more complicated pattern which creates endless waves of chevrons. I love the white borders between the various greens and teals.

 I was originally going to do olive and bronze, but let's face it, I do that too much! I needed a summer brights bracelet.

Now that it's finally done, I am ready for more beadweaving and embroidery! I think I am going to particpate in NaSeBeMo, which is like NaNoWriMo but for seed beading instead of writing. Weaving and embroidery every day! Woo!

Rings!

I took this photo a while ago but I never got around to blogging about it! Probably because as far as photos go, it is not the best. These rings just kind of lie around when they're being photographed like this. They look so much better on a hand!

I really enjoy making these rings, which are from the upcoming book Contemporary Geometric Beadwork. They work up pretty quickly and easily, which makes them a great way to swatch colors for a larger project while still ending up with a finished item. It's also a good way to fill up color holes in your jewelry collection. Have one shirt in an off shade of green, but you don't want to make an entire necklace to go with it? Whip up a ring in an evening.

The top green one has Dichroic Aikos and 2mm Swarovski crystals as accents. The black and silver is also accented by those 2mms. The bottom two are made with nothing but Delicas. The rounded one is less pokey to wear, since you don't end up having a point facing in to your hand, but I don't like it as much. Really, the points tend to soften with wear anyways. The only time I really had trouble was when I tried to play zills while wearing one that was still stiff and new.

I'll probably make myself a few more of these. I like the idea of having rings to coordinate with most of my outfits.

Dragon Queen's Cuff

Here's the other bracelet that I made to be included in Contemporary Geometric Beadwork. It's a series of "what-ifs" coming together to make a multi-layered, richly textured bracelet. The ribbon runs through a channel and can be removed and replaced with just about anything. I made it the perfect size to hold a crystal bracelet (like this one), but I could also make a peyote band, or a herrinbone rope, or a collection of chains. I could use Wire Lace and tease it into weird shapes. The possibilities are endless!

This bracelet also represents my attempts to start to play with my usual olivine and bronze color scheme. I used antique gold instead of bronze, and added some earthy yellow and a tiny pop of orange.

All of my Olives

Wow, I made this back before the gem show and I'm finally getting around to posting about it! This scrumptious bracelet is a slight variation on a design by Jean Power. The awesome thing about this design is everyone seems to do it a little differently. I chose to make each triangle one solid color, with a "spine" of one color that unified them all. Others choose to make each half of the triangle a different color. Some put patterns in the "spine." Some stick to a very simple color palette, others make every triangle a different color. Sadly I did not have quite enough shades of olive green Delicas to make every triangle different, but I did manage to get a good variety in there.

My main innovation with this pattern was the addition of 2mm Swarovski crystals! After using them as an accent on my triangle ring, and seeing this bracelet pattern, I began to daydream about a bracelet with 2mm crystals along the spine. When Kate McKinnon sent out an e-mail asking for test beaders to make variations on some of the designs that were going to be included in the upcoming Contemporary Geometric Beadwork book, I decided it was time to stop daydreaming and start creating!

So I am very excited about the fact that this bracelet, the coordinating ring, and another bracelet which I'll post tomorrow will all be shown as possible variations of the projects in the book. This is my first time having my work included in a book! Previous to this my only published beadwork was when a past LL-BFAC project was included in the article that Bead Unique did on the charity. And not only is it awesome to be included in a book, but it's a book that was largely dreamed up and created here in Tucson! I had some fun afternoons sitting in Kate's house or back yard, beading along with her, Jean Power, Gabriella van Diepen, and other lovely beaders who came to visit.

Just for fun

 It seems like I don't do a lot of beading just for the fun of it anymore. Everything that I make is either to sell, to use my beads from Artbeads, or to fill a spot in my wardrobe. But this ring was created just because I saw the pattern and I wanted to try to make a ring. I used five colors of Delicas, and by colors I of course mean "shades of olivine." The sad thing is this is probably not even close to all the shades of olivine I have. I added some 2mm Swarovski crystals in olivine to the edges and the center, because I felt like the design needed some embellishment and if I'm going to wear a giant cocktail ring, it should have some sparkles.

The pattern was posted on Facebook to promote Geometrics by Dustin Wedekind and Kate McKinnon. I'm pretty excited about the book, I think it will probably be just about everything that a bead book should be, and it's being written right here in Tucson!

Speaking of things made in Tucson, on the lefthand side of my blog you will now find a Kickstarter link for Autopsy Bears. This morbidly adorable (adorably morbid?) project is the brainchild of my dance teacher Fonda and one of her friends. I've already made my pledge and I really want my bear, so if you'd like to support some crazy Tucson artists, please consider singing up to be a backer.