Pyramids Cuff

A while back I bought 50g of Sand Dune Mix delicas and knew I wanted to do something pretty outrageous with them but couldn't think exactly what!  I started making a really fat RAW neckerchief with them that went from jaw line to cleavage but I don't like the way delicas look in right angle weave.  They just don't lend themselves well, in my opinion.  I wanted something a bit punky and really contemporary but just didn't know what.

So I started perusing Jean Power's website for some inspiration because I love her patterns and she knows her geometry!  Then I moseyed through my various beading books and my eye was caught by Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork.  I've made a few of the pieces in the book but knew that I just wanted the starting blocks for something of my own design.

Finally, I found inspiration in the most unlikely of places!  My friend came round for a cup of tea and she was wearing a square studded belt and I just knew that the delicas could make that happen!

This is the result:

I started out just seeing if I could actually make a beaded pyramid.  I used Diane Fitzgerald's square for the bottom and half of the Octabead (but added rows to make it taller) and it worked!

Here you can see the bottom.  They're surprisingly sturdy, which is good as it wouldn't do to have them collapse on themselves!

I started laying them out to see if they'd work but then had to think about joining the little buggers!  When I first zipped them together at the base the whole structure was just too stiff and unwieldy.  I tried adding a couple of rows of peyote in between, but that just looked rubbish.

Looking through my crystals stash brought me the perfect solution - half gold Swarovski 4mm bicones. They gave the flexibility and because they aren't fully 'blinged up', they really work with the delica mix. 

As you can see here, I made a simple open triangle (again, from the Shaped Beadwork book) and toggle clasp to echo the pyramids.

And here's what it looks like on.

And the clasp.

It's a bit mad and definitely not to everyone's taste but I'm glad it turned out pretty much as I imagined it, punky and contemporary all at the same time, yet the Swarovski adds some femininity and bling!