A Bracelet a Week: Alabaster

Earlier this week, I announced on my studio blog that I am taking on a new beading challenge - as many Egyptian themed jewelry designs as I can make. This week’s bracelet is the first piece in what could be a very large collection, and I’m very excited to unveil it!

When I decided to start a new line of Egyptian style beadwork, it was both a light bulb and face-palm kind of moment. I have always loved the Ancient Egyptian look, and with my new found love of tribal beads and designs, it seemed only natural that I should combine the two and see what happened. I think that after all these years of experimenting with beads and techniques, I may have finally found my own little niche. I only wish I had thought of it sooner.

Hopefully I can keep things interesting so that my Bracelet a Week pieces don’t get too boring. I may have to make the occasional non-Egyptian bracelet here and there before I run out of ideas!

The first place I looked for inspiration was my collection of books on Ancient Egypt, and I spent some time making sketches based on some of the patterns and motifs on artifacts found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. One of my favorites is a beautiful alabaster receptacle, which features a gorgeous carved boat, decorated with patterns in black and red.

For my design, I wanted to keep the palette neutral, so I replaced the red with red-brown. Ceylon cream makes a perfect stand-in for the calcite, and shiny jet black does the rest.

For two of the plain rows of black in the pattern, I turned the beads on their sides using a herringbone increase, just to keep it interesting. I like the little bit of space it creates between the beads, and it gives the cuff a little personality.

The pattern I used is only one of many on the artifact, so I may have to revisit this piece again, and try out another pattern, perhaps in a new palette.

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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