Transitions, a bracelet study of stitches

So, the wonderful new Master Series book by Maggie Meister has spurned an idea of sorts. A sampler of stitches and therefore the transitional flow needed to move from one stitch to another was created. I think this is a great way to prepare for what you need to learn in order to work from the book...of course, this is assuming that you already know how to use most of these stitches in several of their forms. The book utilizes movement from right angle weave to peyote to ndebele and then back again, so here is my study using those stitches. The first idea I had was to create a long wrapped beaded bracelet...each wrap a different bead and stitch...then I realized that would take too long and not be productive for a class setting...so you get the short version! I will still create the longer wrap as I think it's going to be a very cool looking bracelet!

I've created this in black, using beads with different surface finishes, even the little 3.4mm drops. It will also be great using multiples of color, or a study of other Monochromatic colorways or even dare I say it GOLD!!! Just be careful, always use a permanent or Duracoat finish when using a metal color. We at Monica's Quilt and Bead Creations in Palm Desert are lucky, almost all our colors are switched over to a "permanent" finish.

My own personal Bead Hop

Bracelet found at one of the vintage shops on 4th St.

Spent a few days at the beach last week and was able to visit not one, not two, but three bead shops. The first, Beadology is a long time favorite in Huntington Beach. My husband then found two online in Long Beach. He drove (of course, I get to bead while travelling) Our first stop at Ruby Tuesday found that they did not open until 11, so onto Pudgy's, whoops, they sleep late too. What to do? Oh well, we were forced to go and eat pie at Polly's. Just down the street from Pudgys, so if you go, you must stop! Back to Pudgys where I met the owners and found that they stock a very large selection of Vintage beads. A bit over an hour later we were on the road back to Ruby Tuesdays, with a side trip to a block long area of vintage shops, where we found a great vintage starfish bracelet. Starfish were the theme of the day as I was looking for items to incorporate into designs for my daughter, Dawn Marie, who designs reversible swimsuits under the label "Deuce Swimwear."

It turned out the shops, all on 4th St. Long Beach were just half a block from the house John had lived in from about age 4 to 10 years old. We found the house and got some photos, tempted to ring the bell to ask for a look around but passed. Back to Ruby Tuesday which is a newer shop with a very enthusiastic owner and a very nice selection to choose from. She spent a lot of time with me helping to choose and showing me examples of her work.

Crystal Bling Ring

Have been experimenting with the granulation theory of Right Angle Weave...first touted by Shelly Nybakke in the June B&B of 2007. Here is a sample of the Crystal Bling Ring I created using RAW as the base, then fashioning a Cubic RAW top of beautiful Capri Blue 2XAB Swarovski bicone Crystals. Wow! Turned a simple Ring into a big Bling Beauty! I like the vertical nature of the center's position better than the other crystal ring I did last week. The base made using the Metal Seed Beads, here using size 8's.

Layered Bling Ring

This Right Angle Weave creation was inspired by the bangle bracelet by Shelley Nybake, in Bead & Button magazine from June 2007. Anxious to work with the silver Metal Beads, but not wanting to spend time doing the whole bracelet, I thought of creating a square on top of a beaded base. Now you see where this is going don't you? A simple square was not enough, so the next layer became full of Bling thanks to Swarovski 3mm bicone crystals...here in Olivine 2xAB and then another layer of Metal Beads...next, I was thinking of making another ring with the square placed more vertically on the base, it will look nicer on my short fingers, ha!