Remember this? See that piece in the lower left corner?
This is what I’ve started doing with it! I’m really awful at including things to provide a sense of scale, but you can see my beading needle on the left. The piece of glass is about 2.25″ long. The “beach” glass is so much easier to deal with than that damned slippery agate.
I am doing a happy dance! SQUEEEEEE!
First, before I get into the glass, here’s the start of a bracelet.
My plans from my gigantic glass haul from Gabbert Cullet included tumbling some of it. These pieces tumbled for about a day and a half (part of that time quite inefficiently, because I didn’t realize I hadn’t gotten the drum lid on tight enough, and all the water had leaked out). It’s way cooler IRL than it is in the photo. That piece at the top of the photo is a beautiful chartreuse color. That funky half-red, half-clear piece is a part of a basket handle, where the clear glass handle is affixed to the colored basket.
I’ve included a close up of the red striped piece, because it is so darned cool.
I can’t wait to start incorporating these into jewelry.
I finished the other earring, and Photobucket is cooperating, so here’s the complete set. I made the pendant earlier (see previous posts.)
The first earring broke the 1-hour-max rule, but the second earring went so quickly that I think the average fits in the time frame. The first earring always takes me forever, because I’m designing as I go, and I do a fair amount of experimentation. The second earring, even though I have to produce the mirror image of the first, takes far less time. I’ve gotten so much better at reversing the design since when I started!
I found directions for and learned a really great technique for speed beading flat peyote. (Drawback: When you screw up, it’s a lot more complicated to backtrack.) I don’t do that much straight-out flat peyote, except for these folded pendants I make. The speed beading technique was AWESOME for this.
So I started working on a pendant into which I could incorporate my curled peyote from Day 5. To go along with the curly piece, I thought I’d add a ruffled edge to each flat piece.
The first photo shows the flat peyote. The second shows what it looks like when I’ve twisted and folded it and also the curly piece, now embellished with a pink freshwater pearl. The third photo shows the nearly complete pendant. I’ve added a ruffled edge along the front of the curved piece, using 15/0 beads. I still need to weave in the thread ends and make a beaded-tube bail.
I saw this technique in one of my books, so I decided to try it. It creates a curl in an otherwise flat peyote stitch piece.
I have trouble following directions in books, because I’m left-handed and all the illustrations are for right-handed people.
I think this has a LOT of potential. Finished piece to come.
The photos are hugely enlarged. I’m working with 11/0 beads (not Delicas, though). The piece pictured is about 1.5″ long IRL.
I’ve been busy and haven’t been on the computer much, time to recap the first three days of my thing-a-day.
Day 1: I spent about 3 hours in the ceramic studio and made 2 mugs, 2 bowls, and a pitcher. Also had a bunch of things that didn’t make it, I’m still getting re-acquainted with the wheel after being away for a month and a half over winter break.
Day 2: I made a pink sculptural peyote hairclip. I also made tofu in my fermented foods class.
Day 3 (today): I made a howlite bracelet using bead crochet.
