Popsicle

Popsicle Toes, Everybody Knows, Popsicle Toes

It’s a bracelet.  But I have Popsicle Toes running through my head, humming away.  So it goes.  Popsicle Toes.  Or maybe it should b sherbet?  Mango sherbert swirled with a touch of kiwi and orange sauce .  Much too much yellow to be a creamsicle.

Yes, the weather is warming up in Cactusville, and I have bright refreshing colors on the palette.  So, bright yellow right angle weave accented with orange and lime netting.  All set to wrap with a toggle clasp.  Colors fit for a springtime garden.

Pair this bracelet with a cool and comfy sun dress and your favorite strappy sandals!

Blue Danube

Can’t you just see yourself waltzing around the ballroom, this elegant bauble on an outstretched arm?  The chandeliers are twinkling.  The finely tuned sextet is playing a waltz.  You and your sweetie are twirling about, each step lighter and more carefree than the last.

Another combination bracelet:  right angle weave and netting.  The core beads are a lovely turquoise while the accents are a sprightly violet and marine blue.

Dark silver end caps corral the beads into a slinky rope, the whole attached with a silver toggle.

Stained Glass

What does one do while out of town and away from home?  Why, take along a couple of beading projects.  This one reminds me of stained glass.  All the bright colors outlined with black.

The pattern is from the April issues of Bead & Button magazine.  It’s a right angle weave core  made with larger beads, then netting is added as an embellishment.  Much, much smaller beads are used for the netting.  Size 15ºs to be exact.  I really don’t much enjoy working with beads this small, but in this case they are just the thing.

The overall design is so simple, it will lend itself to all sorts of color play.

Isis Collar

While Isis is not generally thought of as icy, the name has just stuck.  Something bright, capturing the strong sun at high noon.  Until you’ve been to the desert, you really can’t imagine what that is like.  Light that can sparkle, or penetrate to the bone.

This collar is for special occasions.  Best worn with that LBD*.  Catch the eye of a special someone in the corner.  A conversation starter, to be sure.  Suitable for a soiree, or a wedding, even.

Another size 8º herringbone collar in a crystal AB.  The edge picots are teensy tiny 15º beads in a dove grey.  The solid and the sparkle working together.  A handmade clasp, complete with crystals finishes the necklace.

*Little Black Dress

Mossy

Relaxing colors of moss and lichen, with a hint of gold dust

Another bead crochet necklace with an Italian pendant for pizzaz.  These colors are a bit more subdued than the other pieces I’ve finished, but all the better for that, I think.  After all, a person does have to slow down and catch one’s breath every now and then.  I am reminded of shady trees and calm pools by the side of a trail.

Size 6 matte seed beads, strung green / brown / green to make the rope.  Opposite colored beads  in a shiny finish are added randomly for visual interest and continuity between the large-colored swaths.  The clasp is set off with shiny brown rondelles and matte green cubes.  I looked all over to find some dark gold 6s, thinking they would add some sparkle to the brown section, but there were not to be found.  No great loss though, as now that the necklace is finished, I don’t think they are needed.

Raucous

When wearing this necklace, you know you’re in for a raucous time of partying.  You’ll shake!  You’ll shimmy!  You’ll kick up your heels with delight, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat.  After all, how can something so bright and lively fail to imbue it’s wearer with lifted spirits?

Another bead crochet necklace, guaranteed to put a smile on one’s face.  The body is a mix of purple, red and aqua size 6 seed beads; the sum of the colors becoming more than their parts.

The ends are finished with colorful anodized aluminum caps, complemented by decorative lavender seed beads.  The whole closes with a lobster claw clasp.

Ooh La La!

Peachy Keen

Sometimes you just need to break out of the box and do something sassy.  This necklace is slinky, smooth and confetti-esque.  It’s bright.  It’s bold.  Dare I say, it’s beautiful!  Wear this lovely, and you’ll take up salsa dancing.  Rhumba anyone?

The peach and apricot colorway is accented with copper end pieces and clasp.  The body is a mix of size 6 beads – some matte, some shiny, some striped.  The whole strung then crocheted in the round.

I used vibrant, orange colored wire, making wrapped loops to attach the toggle clasp.  Red rondelles and orange druks set the clasp off.  Cha!  Cha!  Cha!

White Queen

Something sparkly for the White Queen

I imagine Anne Hathaway wearing this, while playing the White Queen in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.  Regal, sparkly, but just a little unusual.  Maybe even a tad off-kilter.

Another bead crochet necklace, this time with a special something to set it off.  The pendant is hand blown glass from Italy, though I don’t know if it’s from the Murano region.  Still pretty, all the same.

The necklace itself is comprised of matte white and aqua size 6 seed beads.  First the beads are all strung, then crocheted in the round.  Flexible and substantial at the same time.

I tried my hand at a little wire working on this piece, using colored wire.  The aqua wrapped loops set things off quite nicely, giving a little more color than plain jump rings would.  I am very pleased with the way this necklace came together.

Steampunkery

These bracelets are a nod to Steampunk style.  They don’t adhere to the absolute tenets of the Steampunk Manifesto but I think the mix of metals, shiny and matte surfaces and bead sizes certainly follow that theme.  Truly though, I don’t even know if Steampunk style has such a thing as a manifesto, though styles certainly do manifest.

The clasps are magnetic, which makes an easy on, easy off wearability.  The copper beads are size 8º crocheted ropes, the whole set off with a hand blown focal.  Black glass rondelles serve as an accent.

These are part of my efforts to complete unfinished projects.  The copper beads have been strung, but unstitched for over a year, though they were more than happy sitting in their little crochet tin.  Happier now that they are incorporated into a piece of jewelry, and get to see the light of day.

How long to make these was definitely an exercise in trial and error.  Luckily, one of them is, as Goldilocks would say, “Juuust Right” so it will be staying with me.  The others are 7 1/2 and 8 1/4 inches respectively.  Too large for my wrist.

Bead crochet jewelry is lovely to wear.  The ropes have a fluidity that feels very nice on the skin.  I’m very pleased with how these turned out.  Every so often, what you envision in you mind comes to fruition.  This is one of those times.

Triangular Architecture

I was very intrigued when I saw this design in the February issue of Bead & Button magazine.  It looked different, but still within my capabilities.  Rather than make it up using all one color, as was displayed in the magazine, I opted to switch it up, and have a multi-colored bracelet.

Alas, it took much longer than I expected to complete…but, isn’t that always the case.? Still, perseverance was the order of the day (week?  month?) and now it’s done!

The bracelet is modular, each triangle is made individually, then they’re stitched together.  You can vary the length by making the triangles larger, or adding more connecting rows between each triangle.  I have narrow wrists, so I scaled down.

Stitching is a combination of herringbone and peyote.   There were a couple of tricky parts, but after the third iteration, everything fell into place.  I like when that happens.

I didn’t have the correct type of slide clasp, so at some point I’ll have to rework that part.  Easy enough to do.  In the meantime, a new bit of bling in cool colors!