Some Old Favourites

I'm not much of an overly decorative beader, although I am trying to really give it some pizzazz!  I seem to prefer really large statement pieces that use shape or colour as their main punch, rather than intricate and delicate embellishment.  However, I adore beadwork that is tightly packed with elegant and rhythmic embellishment, I just never seem to do any of it myself!

This is one of my favourite cabs that I've beaded.  On the first go I absolutely smothered the bezel with crystals and delica embellishment but found that the beauty of the huge quartz palmstone was getting lost in the maze of sparkles.  The stone is 7cm x 5cm and all it really needed was a plain delica bezel and a lazy herringbone rope to suspend it from.    It is extraordinarily simple in beading terms, but the sheer size of it gives it one hell of an impact!

Again, this necklace is really simple in beading terms - all it is is peyote circles linked together with the outside final two rows on each circle a lighter purple than the centre.  I like the necklace but I wish I'd done the first two inner rows a darker purple to give it more depth, rather than just relying on the repetition of the shapes...

And here we have another simple looped necklace.  This one is long (opera length) but wrapped round the bust twice.  The links are made in straightforward herringbone rope in black and gunmetal seed beads.  What gives it texture is that the black beads are size 15 and the gunmetal are size 11.  Also the links are smaller at the back of the neck and get bigger down the front - not hugely, but enough to give it a bit of interest.

This is another of my pieces that relies on impact rather than embellishment!  It started off as a bracelet but the beaded beads were so big that I had to turn it into a necklace!  I admit to going a little bit mad with colour on this one but it was a gift for one of the most colourful ladies in my life!  We were raised as sisters, even though she is actually my aunt and we have always been opposite sides of the same coin: I am dark, she is blonde; I am a tomboy where she is utterly girly.  We always joke that I always wear black because she wears all my colours for me!  She has a knack of being able to throw the most amazingly random colours together and link them with a third and have it work so I thought I'd make her something absolutely crazy in colour.  Needless to say, she absolutely loved it!

I am going to try and get into the habit of beading more intricate pieces, I really am!