All Those Beads

It's a start.

Daggers for my Flower Rivoli class at Puget Sound. I'd like to have a decent choice of colours, and fortunately the samples won't take horrendously long to make. Next up: all the other beads for each colourway.

Turns out that the desire was for matching earrings. Apparently both earrings had to be exactly the same as each other in every way, of which I'm certainly capable, and often do without prompting, although I do tend to veer from identical to fraternal if given my druthers.

Making these beaded beads is like candy: they're a quick burst of sweet goodness, and it's not hard to go for another, quickly, before anyone notices. It's also an excellent use of size 6 seed beads, of which I seem to have an inordinate amount. I should try them with smaller beads too; they might work in a graduating-size necklace.

This, my friends, is the face of discipline.

These are the pinch beads in my stash that are not from the necklace I cut up last week. I looked at them and put them back, much as it pained me to do so, much as I desired to start yet another project with them.

I did make a necklace using the smokey-pale colours from the cut up necklace (the purple cut-up-necklace beads have also been put away. Discipline, self-control. Awesome).

It's accented with gunmetal Czech bicones and peacock pearls. I've never figured out why "peacock", which I'd expect to be an iridescent teal or turquoise or royal blue. These are deep grey-black, and although they do have an oilslick iridescence, I don't consider them colourful enough to be associated with the word "peacock". They clearly didn't consult me on this one.

The little beaded beads are a pale smoky beige, matte and shiny palest periwinkle (not purple, not blue, barely any colour at all) and clear vitrail, which is that finish that has greenish and slightly pinkish shimmers on a silvered base.

I also finished one of the other pinch bead necklaces that started me on this little trip.

I think one of my favourite seed bead finishes is matte silver-lined which has a very elegant and sophisticated glow. Make no mistake, I'm very much drawn to the fancy multi-hued iridescent and metallic finishes, but there's nothing subtle about them. The internal shine of the silver lining shows the directionality of the beads, which is really emphasised in herringbone. The metallic dark bronze fringe beads in the beaded beads are reflected in the scattering ofbronze seed beads in the rope, adding interest and texture (in a colour rather than tactile sense) to the rope.

Tomorrow's class should be fun:

I think I need another sample (um, before tomorrow, guess I know what I'm doing after work today) because I have this other idea.

Both of my samples are bracelets (because they're quicker to complete, and time is somehow always of the essence) but I really see this as a necklace, and I'm wondering how it would look with a focal section using beads a size larger.

Watch this space; if you see nothing more on the subject it means it was Very Bad. I'm hopeful.