The beady stuff so far

I've been busy, with the holidays and birthdays approaching, with the annual gift-making extravaganza. Jewelry, hair pom-poms, scarves. I always make more than I actually give away. What happens is that as the deadline for wrapping and/or sending approaches, I take inventory and pick my favorites and give those. The others are either kept (Gabi never minds this, particularly in regards to bracelets and scarves) or torn apart and their parts recycled. So, a few more things so far...

First, two bracelets. The purple/blue one is all glass beads, the copper/white one mixes metal, bone and glass.





I've been having a blast using, finally, some of the gorgeous beads that I brought back from West Africa. These trader beads were purchased in Ghana and Togo. The "serenity" bracelet was given to Jenny as a birthday present, and Gabi laid claim to the "peace" bracelet before it could be given to anyone else. (That is her prerogative!)





This necklace also uses both glass beads from the local craft store and mixed-glass beads from Togo. Check out the close-up to see the lovely colors of the African bead. There are many varieties of these mixed-glass, matte-finish beads, and they are much less well-known than the trader beads. However, I really like their subtlety.





This three-strand is made of glass and metal beads. I found the finding at one of my favorite bead stores in Duluth. The other beads are locally purchased.



Lastly, I went an uncharacteristically sparkly direction on this one (glass and metal). I was thinking of my niece when I was picking beads... that's why it's so shiny.

Silly, pretty things

According to the weather forecasters, the Seattle-like drizzle that's settled in with a chilly fwump is actually the weakened remnant of Hurricane Ike. Go figure. I'll take the drizzle.

I welcomed the change in weather with a bit of beading creativity, playing with colors and thread last night until I was nearly too tired to brush my teeth before bed. But oh, what fun. Now, the even more entertaining part: wear these new pretty things a few times to test the design and make sure it will wear well for whomever I decide to gift it to.

Anyway, it was entertaining enough for me that I thought I'd share.




This pretty one is made with five strands of stone chips strung on cotton thread. It's easy but fairly putzy when you add up all the knots between stones.



My first foray into memory wire: a cute little choker with glass beads and silver charms.



I had some memory wire left over so made a simple bracelet with glass and stone beads and a magnetic clasp. This one is a true experiment since it's made with leftover necklace-sized wire instead of bracelet-sized wire.

Update: this little experiment ran badly awry. I'll have to break it apart and reuse the beads, and just throw out the left-over wire. Unless someone knows of a way to reuse this little slip of memory wire?

This last one uses a single circle stone that I found at one of my favorite bead stores in Duluth, plus two stones, on leather cord. I've made a few with a similar bead design, but I'm experimenting on this one with an adjustable cord length. Two slip knots should allow the wearer to adjust the length to suit different styles of clothing.