Kaleidocycles

I have been interested in making a kaleidocycle for a couple of years. I found them as a paperarts project. I printed, coloured and made a number of paper ones. But after a few weeks of they would come apart.

I knew that there had to be a way of doing it with beads. It was just triangles linked together. I tried to figure it out but was not able to get my brain around it.

The amazing beaders at Contemporary Geometric Beadwork figured it out. The instructions will be in the upcoming book CGB Pattern Book. I have pre-ordered a copy and was sent the Kaleidocycle instructions.

So I worked on making one using the colours suggested in the pattern. Basic black and white for the triangles, blue and red for the seams, yellow, green and silver for the hinges.

For my second one I decided to use the same triangle design and change the colours. So the triangles are white with one of 4 vibrant citrus colours. The seams are all white and the hinges are silver.

My most recent one again uses just one triangle design and changing colours. I went back to a favourite colour palette, the sea anemone palette, in The Beader's Color Palette by Margie Deeb. I used two of the colours on each side and the rotate thru as you flip the kaleidocycle. I did not want the seams or hinges to stand out so I used crystal AB beads.

Here are the three finished kaleidocycles. The collage show each of the four sides. The Citrus colours did not photograph very well.

I am very pleased with these. I like to sit and twist them as I watch tv. I am going to work on another variation with the sea anemone palette. I want to have all four colours on each side, just in different places in the pattern.

Pearl Challenge

This pearl challenge is yet another event hosted by Lisa Lodge. This one is a little different in that you did not have to blog about your creations. This allowed beaders without a blog to participate. Everyone's creations are posted in an album on Lisa's Pine Ridge Treasures' Facebook page.

I have decided to blog about my creations beyond what I sent Lisa to be posted in the album.

These are the glass pearls that were in the kits I purchased by Lisa. Two different sized round deep red, small round white and rice pearls in both the white and the deep red.

I started working with the smaller red pearls. I wanted to do something I had not done before, flat spiral. I found instructions in Jean Power's book Small Beads Big Jewelry. Jean's design used two different sized pearls and seed beads. I decide to use the smaller red pearls, clear fire-polished crystals and matte black seed beads.

After finishing this bracelet I thought what would if I used pearls on the edge and crystals in the center. A look thru my stash lead to this combination. Swarovski Pacific Opal crystals, the small round white pearls from the kit and seaform green seed beads.

Here are the two bracelets together, in the image that I sent to Lisa to include in the album.

Back in August while I was working on the challenge I was contacted by a fellow beader, Mary. She was looking for help with the Celtic Trefoil by Diane Fitzgerald in her book Shaped Beadwork. I had blogged about making some last summer. I decided the best way to help Mary was to make a trefoil and photograph some of the more challenging parts of the design. I decided to use colours that would work with the pearls in the kit and some bronze beads in my stash.

Here are some of the photos that I sent to her to help out.

At the second corner ready to add two beads for the increase

Completed third row and have stepped up to start fourth

Completed Trefoil

I then completed the necklace with a elegant pattern of the three different size and styles of the deep red pearls and the flat round bronze beads.

Take a moment to go over to the album on the Pine Ridge Treasure Facebook page to see the other beaded creations.

Thanks again to Lisa for the challenge!

Happy Beading!

Ocean Blog Hop Reveal Day

The day is finally here. It is Ocean Blog Hop Reveal Day. I signed up back in the depth of winter and am getting to share it with you just before the official arrival of Summer.

Our organizer, Lisa Lodge, sent us each a kit with an assortment of beads. We were challenged to create jewelry that has an "Ocean" theme.  I got a kit that included cultured sea glass, a clay fish by Shaterra and clay mermaid beads by Gaea.

Kit from Lisa

I bent the rules just a bit by doing a beaded box, But I already had the delicas pulled together for the wave box designed by Julia Pretl. So I made a few changes to the colours that Julia used so that the mermaid beads from Gaea would work as feet and a finial. I used the following colours 351/372/792/84/310.

Wave box, design by Julia Pretl

I secured the feet and finial with head pins, crystals and earring stoppers.

Gaea mermaid beads used for feet and finial

Now back to following the rules. I wanted to create a bracelet so that it would look like the fish was jumping out of the water. I orginally tried to rechart the wave from the box but that proved too difficult. I knew that there had to be a pattern out there for me to use.

I had seen some of Debbie von Tonder's wonderful cuff patterns on Facebook. So I went to her peyote pattern etsy store and found two possible patterns, Sea Curl and Under the Sea.

I decided to use the Under the Sea pattern with colors from the fish. The tail of the fish is attached to one end and a lobster claw clasp is on the other end. A couple of jump rings hang from the mouth to finish the design.

Under the Sea Cuff with Shaterra fish, designed by Debbie von Tonder

Another view of cuff

What to do with the white cultured sea glass beads. I added some other cultured sea glass that I had purchased during one of Lisa's destash events on Facebook. These soft green star fish and small round green beads are perfect. I used a small round magnetic closure.

Cultured Sea Glass Starfish Bracelet

I had one of the mermaid beads from Gaea left. I decided to make a purse charm with the addition of some chain and crystal starfishes from my stash.

Last Gaea bead with crystal stars

I am so glad that I was able to use all the beads in the kit. It was great to do another of Julia's boxes and try something different like Debbie's peyote cuff.

Thanks again to Lisa for organizing this great challenge.

Take some time to see what some of the others have done -

Our hostess:  Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue

Marybeth Rich, A Few Words from within the Pines

Karin Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Monique Urquhart, A Half-Baked Notion

Katrina Taylor, I Wanna Go Out

Mary Ann Macri Jacobs, Trucksville Crafts

Jeanne Steck, Gems by Jeanne Marie

Ann Schroeder, Bead Love

Kathleen Breeding, 99 Bottles of Beads on the Wall

Marianne Baxter, Simply Seablime Jewelry

Terri Wlaschin, Dances in Fog

Margaret Pelech, TBD 

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Andrea Glick-Zenith, ZenithJade Creations

Happy Beading!

Poppy Vase - revised

Over the holiday season I decided to work on a variation of the Poppy Vase from Julia Pretl's website.  I did the original version back in early 2013. It was a gift for my friend Nora, as she started her new job.

Original version

Having completed an inventory of my delica I decided to do a vase with purple flowers. I also changed the background colour to a pale lavendar and the olive green in the leaf to a silver-lined lawn green.

Base of vase

Leaves almost done

Leaves done

Start of flowers

Flowers done and ready to start hem

Completed Vase

During the working of the hem in the original I broke two needles and many beads.  I was lucky that I only broke two beads early in this project.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and creative new year!

Geometric Stars class

Today was my last class with Jean Power at beadFX.

Jean and her book (photo from S. Dixon)

 Today's class was her geometric stars.

 Here is our very full class of busy beaders.

Photo from S. Henry

One of my distorted squares in progress.

My star with three of distorted squares zipped together.

Here is almost everyones in progress or completed stars.

Thanks to Jean for coming to teach us and to the wonderful staff at beadFX for a fantastic weekend.

Bead Soup Blog Party 7 - Second Reveal

It is April 13 and the postponed second reveal day for the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.

Here is what I received from my partner, Cheryl Brown.

Bead Soup from Cheryl

The combination of the copper, cream, blues and purples are beautiful.

I wanted to do more that just string the components into a necklace. I had just purchased  Mastering Peyote Stitch by Melinda Barta. 

I really liked the leaves on the cover piece. I played with some different copper and bronze coloured beads before decided on the final combination. It is edged with some purple charlottes and centres of ivory.

Once the leaves were made it was a challenge to figure out how to work them into the necklace. Using knottable beadwire I secured the lowest leaf in the centre of the length of wire. I strung a few copper daisy spacers over both ends of the wire. I secured the next leaf on one of the wires, brought them together again and added a few more daisy spacers. The third leaf was secured to the other wire and the ends were brought together again. A few more daisy spacers completed the branch that would hang below the owl.

In progress, forming the branch below the owl

I then finished the necklace with small round pearls, large copper daisy spacers and lampwork beads from Cheryl, to which I add fire polished beads, paper beads and more small copper daisy spacers.

Once I had everything strung I had the challenge of what to use for a closure. The one that Cheryl sent was not going to work for me, it was much to big for the necklace. I did not have any smaller copper clasps in my stash. Wanting to have it finish so I could wear it, I took apart an older piece that needed to be reworked anyways.

Completed necklace

Detail of focal

With the necklace finished I had to now make something that used the amazing toggle that Cheryl sent. It is perfect to be the centre piece of a bracelet. I used some of the flat disc shaped lampwork beads, to which I added more paper beads, Swarovski crystals, copper wavy discs (similar to the silver ones I sent Cheryl), fire polished beads and some of the purple charlottes used on the leaves.

Completed bracelet

The last thing that I wanted to do was to figure out what to do with the lampwork headpins. I have never used headpins like this before.

Lampwork headpins

As I browsed thru my various drawers of stash I came across these very large white lucite trillums. I placed one of the headpins thru the centre of the trillum and relized that it would make an amazing ring. I then had to find my ring mandel in the chaos of my work area. Once I found it, it was just a matter of wrapping around the mandel to form the correct size ring and the securing the end of the headpin at the base of the flower.

Lampwork studded trillum rings

Ring on my hand

I have enjoyed wearing the necklace and bracelet since I finished them last month. The rings may have to wait for a special event to make their debut.

Collage of soup and finished pieces

Thanks go out to our amazing host Lori Anderson and my partner Cheryl Brown.

Now take sometime to hop around to the other amazing beaders and see what they have made. Here is the link to the complete list. I know that will be hopping around over the course of the weekend.

Happy Beading!!

Reversible ZigZag Cuff

I picked up the recent Bead & Button special issue Beading Basics Peyote Stitch. There are some interesting projects in it, including a reversible zigzag cuff.

I decided to take what I needed to start it to last week's Beading in the park. A looming summer storm threatened the gathering but I went anyways. Maria and I were the only ones who braved the threat. We each were able to work on our  projects.

I started the cuff, which uses a flattened tubular peyote stitch. It took a couple of restarts to get it working correctly. Here is what I got done that evening and over the next couple of evenings.

one side with silver and green

other side with copper and purple

I hope to have it finished before the next meetup in August.

Beadwork - Fishy Box

Here is a box that I started earlier this year. I put it aside to work on other projects. I decided to finish it last week.

This is an elongated hexagon box. The start is a bit different that the other boxes. Each time I had to start a new thread I had to ensure that I was still going around in the same direction, otherwise I would have had some very odd looking fish.

Beadwork - Two months worth of work

Wow, it has been two months since my last post. I have started and finished a number of pieces but have only just finally been able to get them photographed.

So in to particular here is most of my beadwork from the last two months.

This is a simple netted necklace kit (Textured Net) from Rypan Designs. I taught this to my friend's knitting group. They loved it. My friend called me later that day to let me know that she had finished her necklace. It was the first time she had done any beadweaving.

These two are also designs from Rypan Designs. I bought these great bronze fire polished beads and used them in the Gothic Fringe design. I played with the number of seed beads between the crystals to make it the correct length without having to buy more crystals.

Of course I have also made some more beaded boxes. The first is the Celtic Knot box. I changed to colour from red to blue and I used only one colour in the background instead of three.

The second one was a requested one. My friend Anna saw my blue pagoda that I finished earlier this year. She wanted one done in black, red and white. I just topped it with a Swarovski cystal finial.

The other two pieces that I have finished are basic stringing necklaces. The first combines lampwork beads and pearls.

The second was a request for a red necklace. I had these three rectangular resin pieces that were the starting point for this creation.