It's a Beadiful Creation: winter sparkle

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Winter's Sparkle Blog Hop Reveal

It has finally arrived, the reveal day for the Winter Sparkle Blog Hop. Back in September I signed up for another of Lisa Lodge's wonderful challenges. This is based on the colors and sparkle of a winter's night.

I got a wonderful palette of purple beads. I would love to show you a picture of the what I got in my kit but my camera and I are having issues. I take pictures but when I go to transfer them to my computer the images are not on the SD card. It has been driving me crazy as it does not always happen.

I was inspired by the the mix of purple fire-polished rondelles. I had also just taken a class with Sue Charette-Hood at CreativFestival to learn how to do kumihimo with beads. In the class I made a bracelet with Magatamas. She taught us how to finish the braid without glue.

My first kumihimo with beads

So now I had a technique I wanted to use but still need to be inspire for a final project. So it was time to head over to Pinterest. There I found this beautiful necklace which combined seed beads and Unicorne Beads Handmade Teardrop. It was designed by Diana Shiraishi and originally pubished in Bead Treads August 2011.

Under the Sea

I decided to see how it would work with fire-polished rondelles, like those in the kit from Lisa. To work out the details of quantities and layout I made a necklace with some metallic blue rondelles and bronze lined blue seed beads.

Protype with metallic blue

Given the limited quantity of the purple rondelles in the kit I had to use more seed beads to complete the length that I wanted for the finished piece. I used a silver lined matte purple seed beads. Using copper findings was a nice compliment to the purple beads.

Once the braid was completed and I had finished using the technique learned from Sue, it was a little shorter that I had hoped. I decided to a little extra strung section with some of the larger rondelles in the kit.

Finished necklace

Detail of segment with rodelles

I have since worn this to work and have found a small design problem. The leaves of the end caps catch on my hair.

Take some time to hop around and see what everyone else has created with their kit from Lisa.

Our hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Melissa Trudinger, Bead Recipes

Kathy Zeigler Lindemer, Bay Moon Design

Eleanor Burian Moore, The Charmed Life

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Chris Eisenberg, Wanderware

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Toltec Jewels, Jewel School Friends

Christie Searle Murrow, Charis Designs Jewelry

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Ev Shelby, Raindrop Creations

Dolores Raml, CraftyD's Creations