A Bracelet a Week: Rocky Path

This week’s bracelet design took almost the full week to complete. Summer comes rather suddenly here on the West coast, and as soon as the cold weather of June is behind us, my family and I spend most of our free time out doors, which leaves very little time for beading.

Luckily, I was able to scramble things together and finish the bracelet with just enough light to take photographs. Perhaps it was because I had to rush, but I had a lot of mixed feelings about this bracelet as I worked on it. For awhile, I thought it was going to be a dud. But by the time I had put on the edging, I realized that it’s pretty charming.

I wanted to try a different approach to the ‘safe’ freeform peyote I had used with African Christmas beads. This time I started with Delicas, then increased with 11/o seed beads. The beadwork started to pucker almost immediately, so I improvised by adding extra pockets of Delicas. It turned out really cute - the little gray patches look sort of like buttons.

This bracelet is the first piece of the last half of the challenge, and it is also my first Etsy listing of the year. Since joining April’s Army, I find I’m spending a lot more time on the site, and I decided I might as well try to sell some jewelry while I’m there. I had to eat a little crow, but that’s okay. Now I’ll be able to separate my new tribal themes from other designs.

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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