A Bracelet a Week: On the Nile

This week’s bracelet is yet another Egyptian inspired design, but this time it’s a little less literal. It all started with a carved boxwood button in the shape of a lizard on a log.

I shared a peek at this little guy back in April, along with a tribal necklace that I entered into this year’s Bead Star competition. I think it’s safe to tell you that I didn’t get past the finalist round, but what a great experience! I hope that they continue to have a beadweaving category in future contests.

I had always intended to use the lizard button as the focal for a bracelet, but it wasn’t until I started coming up with Egyptian themed pieces that I really got the inspiration I needed to make it work. I made a handful of beaded lotus flowers to surround him on his little log, and worked all of the pieces into a freeform cuff.

Perhaps it was because I had a fun necklace idea that I was anxious to get started on, but this bracelet seemed to take forever to make. Freeform openwork RAW is one of the most time consuming stitches ever. Right angle weave is already a lot of work, but when you go freeform, it’s all too easy to forget the basic rules and start making all kinds of wild decisions that eventually have to be compensated for. It’s one of the only techniques that requires constant attention so that the beadwork doesn’t get away from you.

By the time I had finished the leafy fringe vines, I was so exhausted that I put off weaving in the tails until my necklace project was finished. All the work was worth it though. I can’t get over how cute that lizard is, floating along with the water lilies. There are lots of other unique buttons in this style, with everything from mermaids to frogs and roosters at Unique Buttons. If you like buttons it is definitely worth a look!

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