Mummy's Crazy Psychadelic Pyramids On Acid!

You may remember my Pyramids Cuff from a while back, the pattern I gave to Kate McKinnon and was chosen to go into Contemporary Geometric Beadwork vol.1? Well, Mummy decided that she wanted to have a go at this pattern and gave it her very special spin!

First of all she tried making a pyramid that faded from dark pink at the tip to pale pink at the base but had to stop because it looked so much like a boob that I couldn't stop snorting and giggling!  Yes I am a grown up!  Clearly some colour ways just aren't good for pyramids!

Instead, she decided to have a nose through my delica stash and her eyes very quickly alighted on my duracoat galvanised delicas. The witch!  She loves bright colours and the duracoats made her squeal with delight.  Luckily she decided that the underneath of the pyramid should be a plain colour so as not to wear off the colours underneath.  She chose a simple smokey grey delica for that.

The colours must have reminded her of growing up in the 70s because she decided to set herself quite a challenging pattern of turquoise and orange spiraling out of a pink base.  Quite possibly the maddest thing I've ever seen but I blooming love it!  The crazy pattern with the crazy colours just work and can't help but make you feel as though it's a bright summer's day and the sun is shining and all is groovy with the world!

As you can see, she chose some bright Swarovski rounds in turquoise to join up the pyramids, with an orange delica between the two.  Her pyramids are a lot smaller than mine and a lot busier so she wanted to leave a bit more of a gap between them and I think it really works!

And finally she decided that a square base for the clasp would work a lot better than the triangle that I made. 

I love it!  Crazy and happy and all round mental.  FANTASTIC!

Sabine Lippert's La Fleur Bracelet

I've done a Sabine Lippert pattern before (her Sweet Hearts pattern - these earrings beaded by Mummy) and found them easy to read and thought I'd give myself a bit of a challenge for a Christmas gift for one of my staff.  After much deliberation (and I mean lots - Staff 3 is a delicate young thing and is girly in ways that I'm just not so this was a massive challeng!) I decided upon Sabine's La Fleur Bracelet (found in her book Beaded Fantasies).  As I've never really made anything like this, and Staff 3 is a delicately coloured redhead I played it safe and used turquoise and bronze as the colourway.

The bracelet is made up of these darling little flowers made with 8mm Swarovski chatons (an absolute bugger to source in this country!) and tiny 3mm Swarovski bicones, with mainly size 15 seed beads!  I've put a 50p next to the flower so you can see how small these blighters really are!

I made what seemed like a bazillion of the flowers - each one with thread left on, as you can see in the picture, with which you do the most sublime links with (Sabine really does take care that even the bits of the work you don't see are as beautiful as the bits you do).

Then it came to joining them together and working out if I needed to do another flower or if it was long enough.  The pattern calls for 9 flowers (if I remember correctly), but Staff 3 is a tiny little thing so she needed only 8 flowers.  Which is a good thing as I'm not much of a component maker - I get bored!

The finished bracelet.

All in all, it was a nice make.  Not difficult by any stretch of the imagination, just blooming fiddly!  I think I got through 2 or 3 needles per flower, and definitely needed my pliers on more than one occasion for pulling the needle through.  It was a complete change of direction for me, the instructions were clear and concise and Sabine explains things very simply. It's not something I would wear, but I think it looks lovely on Staff 3 and I know that she likes it, which is what is important in a gift after all!  I did buy another colour of chatons and matching bicones that would go with steel/gunmetal seed beads but I think it'll be a long old while before I make this pattern again.  Life is far too short to repeat the same patterns when there are so many to try, as well as so many ideas in my own head!

Double Layer Rick Rack

It's been aaages since I last blogged.  Probably because it's taken me a good long while to make my newest bracelet!

As you know, Kate McKinnon recently released the amazing Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, an absolutely astounding book which I reviewed here and which you can buy here (USA) and here (UK).  I loved the zigged MRAW band so much, and after seeing Jean Power's absolutely exquisite Double Rick Rack in her book, Geometric Beadwork, which I reviewed here, and I just knew I needed to put the two together!  Jean shows how to do a flat Rick Rack, which is what I wanted to make, rather than a bangle.  I wanted this cuff to sit close to the wrist and her method of turning was so elegantly simple that I was quite frankly blown away!

I decided I wanted to use a black opaque background and then use a really bonkers mix of galvanised delicas.  I literally got all the duracoats  I had in my stash and mixed a great big dollop of beads (which I'm really not looking forward to separating out again).

Here I am after only a few rows of beadwork on each side.  Using the zigged band was fantastic because it meant that the sizing was pretty accurate even after just making that. I was a bit dippy doing all of the MRAW in opaque black though - when I was joining the two layers at the end, it sent me quite cross-eyed trying to follow where I was!

I had a hell of a time doing both layers together though, the thread wanted to wrap itself around all those gorgeous points pretty much every stitch I made.  I really ought to figure out a better way of keeping my thread out the way!

In this picture you can see that the top open layer just wanted to go every which way! 

And then I was done - finally!  The bracelet from the back looks quite dull in this photo but in real life you can really see how the beads change direction and the difference in the way the light behaves off their surface.  I like that this bracelet could be worn this way, as although it doesn't really pop with colour, the direction changes and the overall thickness gives it quite the impact.

I sewed through the turn beads on the ends and all I did was attach jump rings and a slide catch.  To be honest I may change the jumps to something slightly smaller so it sits a tiny touch tighter on my wrist but they were all I had to hand when I was finishing up this evening.

And  here is the finished bracelet, face on.  Hope you like it.

Contemporary Geometric Beadwork Volume I by Kate McKinnon

Guess what arrived through my door at the back end of last week?  Oh yes, the amazing new book by Kate McKinnon - Contemporary Geometric Beadwork Volume I

 And would you look at that?!!  My Red Many Horn had the honour of becoming one of the swag postcards!  Crikey!

 Inside the book is signed by Kate and just opening the front page made me practically squeal with delight at how crammed full this book is!  Seriously $40 (£26.30 for real money conversions!) is nothing for how much is in this book.  The 200+ pages practically burst forth with knowledge and unbelievable beadwork on every page!

I love that the very first part of the Basics section is titled "Yes You Can!" because to a new beader, or a beader that hasn't played with peyote stitch very much, it probably would look quite intimidating.  The fact is that we're taken from the very basic of shapes, through to amazing complex structures in a logical, well thought out way and if you were a beginner, you could start at the beginning and simply work your way through the book, from basic flat triangles, through power puffs (a la Jean Power - remember this book is inspired by her work), meandering through wings, horns, zigs, zags to the awe inspiring dizzy heights of the Fortuneteller Bangle before ending on beautiful cones. 

Each page is thrillingly illustrated with all sorts of colour combinations and project step outs that make me gasp in bewilderment at the beauty of the piece and the mind of it's creator. Some of the colours used are breathtakingly beautiful and others I would never have put together in a million years, yet sing together.  Each page is an inspiration.

Peppered throughout the book are these beautiful "Pearl Of Wisdom" boxes - and they really are!  I love these little boxes so much - they explain complex ideas simply and convey excellent advice in areas that cause the most pickles.  Love love love!

 

Of course, I'm slightly biased in that a happy accident brought my work to Kate's attention.  Way back last summer I sent some works to Jean for the book (before one book became two), Jean sent those pieces, including my Pyramids Cuff to Kate.  Kate put it up on the Facebook page saying how much she liked it and the response from the community was overwhelmingly supportive.  I offered the pattern for inclusion and it got in!  To see my actual name in print was pretty awesome, especially after being so lucky to see my name next to the beaded beads I made in Jean's book! 

 My Red Many Horn looking amazingly surreal and perfectly Queen of Hearts in this Alice In Wonderland style picture!

Further on in the book you can see the Pink Pinstripe Ruffle Cuff that I made and sent to Kate.

Below is a list of the the people who contributed and beaded - the whole project felt like Kate was the captain of a huge (and probably rather unwieldy!) ship, flinging out ideas and little nuggets of advice that we all fed upon and made our own and passed back to her for approval and all was approved, every item was greeted with absolute pleasure and amazement which spurred the whole community on to further amaze and delight.  This book is not just a static book but simply a snapshot of what is evolving on the eBook (password protected) and on the Facebook Page (just click "Like" to join this thriving and vibrant community and enjoy the delights as they are created).  It is thoroughly bizarre and utterly wonderful the way this is an open source project.  Join, get the book as a souvenir but come and get involved in this project, you'll find that you are so much more capable than you ever thought possible.  I have.

And this is the author picture of the lady herself.  Wearing a crown, naturally.

Rainbow Jester Bangle

So this is my most recent make:

It is pretty much the only thing that I've been working on since I moved into my new home.  I wanted something bright and a little bit bonkers to reflect the celebratory mood I have been in since we moved here!  I also wanted to try to tackle my fear of using lots of colours.  I have seen so many amazing pieces on the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork Facebook page that take full advantage of clever use of colour that I thought it was about time I jumped in and joined the joy!

As you can see, I went for easy colour choice because I know my limits and didn't want to end up spending weeks making something that I hated!  I will get there though!

I adore the black and white stripes that almost look like they could be Square Stitch - they're not, everything but the MRAW bellybands are made using peyote. 

I'm super glad I used some black magatamas to finish the horns off - they made me chuckle to myself because they change the look of the horns from quite aggressive looking (as in the Red Many Horn) into chipper, playful peaks.

The spots of colour, however, are my absolute favourite part of this bangle.  Yes they may just be a tiny part of it, but they really do join the wings, the stripes and the horns together into a whole.  I think if I'd left the wings plain black (which I was very close to doing) then it would have felt much more disjointed and possibly would have lost it's playfulness.  Playful happiness is what I needed this piece to be - it's a celebration after all!

Triangle Necklace by Mummy

If you've bought Geometric Beadwork by Jean Power, you will have seen Mummy's gorgeous Triangle Necklace at the top of page 25.  Although she loved the Heroine Necklace, she decided that she would never wear it because it was just too much for her (I wear mine as much as I can!) so she decided to take the elements and make something more wearable.  I love how she can take an idea and pare it down to create the perfect tribute that is also perfect for her.  Lovely job!

This is the necklace in full:

She used the most gorgeous Silver Lined Dark Silver delicas (DB48) for the triangles and then joined them using some delicious Black Diamond Swarovski bicones. 

I love how the triangles are smaller at the back than they are at the front and how the bicones add a little bit of sparkle to a very industrial looking piece.

Mummy also made some delicious matching earrings and bought a perfect solid silver clasp (I must remember to ask her where she found it) that echoed the whole so perfectly.

Red Many-Horn

As you will know if you read my blog, Kate McKinnon is curating a new book called Contemporary Geometric Beadwork (buy it here) that is a sister to Jean Power's absolutely incredible Geometric Beadwork (yes, I will be talking about that in my next post!) 

Kate has invited beaders all over the world, of all abilities, to get inspiration from the pictures she's posting and has given people who have pre-ordered heads up on various techniques and designs and then send her pictures for the book/eBook/website/facebook.  After seeing the Horned Melon by Kate I was fizzing with inspiration and absolutely itching to do a rendition in shades of red.

I started with the M-RAW bangle base that Kate gave pre-orders and decided that I would have seven horns to start with.

As the horns got bigger and bigger, the cuff just wanted to twist and bend and fall down into odd squares.  This, for me was utterly exciting because I didn't know how far these structures could be pushed before they became unfeasable...

After 25 rows on one side of the horn, I was worried about whether I would have enough silver lined red delicas rather than being worried that the horns would become unstable.  I'm quite a tight beader and definitely think 50 rows per horn side is achievable, if a little impractical for a cuff!

I started to decrease but for the first few rows, the cuff showed absolutely no signs of behaving and turning into an actual cuff rather than a beaded 'form'!

However, a few more rows and a little manipulation and the cuff started to take shape.  

I made the opening of the cuff 14 beads larger on this side by decreasing down 24 rows rather than 25 as I knew that it would end up being quite a large cuff and that a bit of forearm would need to be accommodated!  There's nothing worse than a gorgeous cuff that only skeletons can wear because it's too small!

In this picture you can see that I'm beginning to add a row of RAW so that the cuff is symmetric:

And then I started to make some wings using colour lined chocolate cherry delicas.  Well, at least when I started they were going to be wings!

In this picture you can see that I made the darker red wings/horn beginnings start their shape right in the centre between the large horn.  This is because the original idea was to make two sides of wings and join them at the point row in the same way as I did the Pink Pinstripe Ruffle Cuff...

But they wanted to be horns as well!  These horns are 14 rows per side (I think!), so that they don't stick out as much as the bright red horns.

I edged the opening with two rows of the silver lined red to give it a bit of a more polished finish.  And then  started again on the other side...

All finished!  Please excuse the rather rubbish pictures - I took them the evening I finished it and it was about 11 o' clock at night! 

All in all, it is a truly vicious cuff that makes me think of warrior queens and Japanese anime characters and superheroes all in one!  I love how BIG it is and how spiky it is and above all, I love the colours.

UPDATE: Someone asked in the comments what this cuff looks like on.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture of me wearing it but I do have a picture of my son, Xander, wearing it!  Yes, it clashes with his top but he said he felt like a superhero so I let him wear it for a bit :)

Major Excitement!

Today I had the most amazing email from Jean Power!  Her Geometric Beadwork book has all been finalised and sent to the printers (see her blog post with sneak peek here)!  How very exciting! 

However, the most exciting part of the email she sent me was the sneak peek of the page the pentagon beaded beads were on:

The ones I beaded are the middle grouping of the beaded beads.  And yes, she did give permission for me to blog these images so don't worry!  Those little beaded beads are brilliant for using leftover beads and I can imagine a fabulous bracelet with snake chain and adding one or two and building up over time when you only have a few beads to use up and won't be buying the colour again or just want to get rid of some beads in order to buy more!

Even more wonderful, Jean also included Mummy's Triangles Necklace based on the Heroine Necklace (my version here) and it looks exquisite!!!

Mummy's necklace and earrings are the grey at the top of the page - how gorgeous is that?! In the high resolution pictures, the detail is astounding - each bead is visible and they look amazingly clear.  I will be blogging about this necklace when it comes back from Jean so that you can see how Mummy has taken a real statement piece and toned it down for everyday wear without losing the glamour - she's a bit good is my Mummy!  We'll get it back with the books we pre-ordered in a few weeks as it would be silly for her to send separately when we know we're getting the books very soon.  Watch this space...

I'm just so chuffed!  This has topped off an enormously good week for me: Depeche Mode tickets, mortgage sorted for my new house AND a little bit of our beading in a book by my favourite bead artist!  Seriously, how could this possibly get any better?!

Paula's Chakra Necklace

So I took a small break from beading after the momentous piece that is the Heroine Necklace to let my fingers recover and my hands stop being claws!

I was commissioned to make a Chakra Necklace from Rob to Paula, Xander's masseuse.  Xander has been going to see her every other week for the past couple of years and her massage is amazing.  She is absolutely astounding and specialises in soothing massage for kids with all sorts of disabilities, not just autism.  Her patience is amazing and Xander sleeps brilliantly after each session.  Over the years we've become friends and often have dinner together.  Rob decided he wanted something beautiful for her birthday and asked me to make a piece that I would not make again so that it was completely unique to Paula.  He wanted to incorporate chakra colours so that it had meaning for her and the base colour to be a muted copper or bronze.

This is what I came up with:

I used 12mm Swarovski rivolis in Siam, Padparadscha, Sahara, Emerald, Sapphire, Heliotrope and Tanzanite and set them using 3mm bronze firepolished rounds, bronze 15s and Matte Metallic Dark Bronze delicas, adapting a technique used by Sabine Lippert in her book Beaded Fantasies.

Here you can see a close up of the stones and their settings:

In this photo you can see the reverse of the rivolis and just about make out Sabine's very clever way of bezelling so that the stones are safe in their little cocoons but the front shows as much of the colour and sparkle as possible.  The bezels look pretty and show off much more of the stone than the usual peyote bezel that I use and are blooming quick to make - most of the time!  Getting the stone to sit in and close the netted back up is quite fiddly, especially seeing as the netted flaps want to leap open when adding the row of 15s round the centre!  I'm pretty certain that this is more to do with my tension rather than the design - I'm a very tight beadweaver and like to keep everything quite stiff so that I know nothing will slip out!

As I was making the herringbone rope I decided that it looked really odd with both sides plain herringbone so every 20 rows I inserted a couple of the 3mm firepolished rounds with a couple of the 15s either side but only on one side.  I think this slight alteration in the rope gave the necklace a little more balance than if it had been plain both sides.

The side with the stones is completely plain and just a simple 4-bead herringbone rope.

Rob's coming to pick it up today and I really hope Paula likes it when she opens it on Tuesday.