Our patterns for this challenge were Ruffled Chain Bracelet....
Paisley Drop Earrings
and Nancy Dale's Trellis necklace
Now, if you've ever been fortunate enough to use one of Nancy's designs, you'll know how thrilled we all were that she offered it to the group.
I knew immediately that I wanted to make Nancy's necklace, and I wanted to use some Julsbeads that I've been hoarding.
So, first I'll show you the Paisley Drop earrings, then we can talk about my Trellis.
Aren't they cute? I chose these lovely springy colors, because I knew I was going to make these as a gift for a friend. They were very quick and easy, and I like the addition of the bicones for sparkle factor.
Ok, now to my Trellis. What I adore about Nancy's patterns is how I grow each time I use one. I am not at all comfortable with RAW, so I knew this was going to stretch me. The inner core is right angle weave that is then zipped up. It is made in sections, which are joined by crystal rondelles, per her materials list. But I wanted to use my Julsbeads. No big, right? Well, yes, it was.
See how the hole of the bead indents? Makes it a bit hard to bead around that first unit, let me tell you!
I did complete the base section of the necklace, and one section has the trellis embellishment. I'll post a finished pic later, promise! I ended up making 6 sections, with a total length of 28 inches.
Now, about that embellishment.....I made a few errors, but learned lots! :) The beads I chose for the flower are a rainbow grey. My base is an eggplant color, and my netting is a lavender with amber inside. Soooo, they flowers? Yeah, you can't really even see them.
See the purple crystals? Well, that bit of light bouncing off of a bead just above it on the right would be the flower. And those hot pink beads??!! Where the heck did they come from? Um, I thought it would be a good idea....
Actually, they were the only metallic beads I had. They are supposed to be the flower embellishment. I agree, kinda jumps out, doesn't it? Good thing this is a necklace for me, with all my errors! :) But, I'm so glad I've made them, weird as that sounds. Cause how else do you learn?
So here is my one section of trellis, completed. I wasn't sure about the trellis beads at first. I thought they would dull the metallic purple too much, but in person, you can really see the amber inside color glinting in the light. I'm so very pleased with my progress on this necklace, and totally in awe of Nancy's ability to come up with this design.
I have heard through the grapevine that we may have another designer tutorial in the works.
Please head over to Karyn' blog to see the other designer's from this challenge!
Blessings, Shirley
