A Bracelet a Week: Pink Fire Polish

One of my favorite things about extended beading challenges is the opportunity to try out new things, and rotate some of the materials in my bead stash. What better time is there to finally get around to using beads that have just been hanging around?

This week I decided to tackle a packet of pink fire polish beads that I had purchased earlier this year. I picked them up because they so closely resembled the 2011 It color, Honeysuckle. Then I put them away and basically forgot all about them.

To make sure that I could use as many of the beads as possible - hopefully all of them at once - I wanted a bracelet design that could hold a lot of accent beads. I started by choosing a base color, and the first thing that caught my eye was colonial gray lined crystal. They have a shimmer that matches the finish on the fire polish perfectly. Plus gray and pink always look fabulous together.

Next I had to decide on a technique that would allow both beads lots of room to play. I finally decided on openwork right angle weave, with the fire polish stitched in at the end. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get the width that I wanted, and be able to cover the entire cuff with pink accents, but I went ahead anyway, hoping that the right pattern would come to mind as I worked.

When it came time to add the fire polish, I had no idea what I was going to do. I thought about doing a random network of columns, but I didn’t like the uncertainty. Instead, I decided to make some pyramids.

The pattern turned out great, and there were only a few fire polish left over. I love the look of the raised pink triangles, and recessed gray ones. I wonder what other inspirations are now lurking in the bead cupboard?

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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