I'm so very thrilled and excited to show you what I've created for this special hop! Rita, better known as
Toltec Jewels, invited us to participate in a very special challenge. She generously shared a gorgeous art bead with each of us, created by the awesomely talented
Patricia Handschuh.
I'm telling you, I was quite the little happy camper when I opened the package. Patricia creates very intricate patterns in these beads. Here's the shot of the beads that Rita mailed out to us.
Simply a riot of happiness, right? It was fairly easy for me to decide what I wanted to create...just a matter of getting it all done. I really went right to the wire with this one, which means that I had to take the pics last night, rather than in daylight. I'll be out most of the day Sunday, but I am going to add daylight pics to the post later.
The bead was small enough that I could have created a bracelet with it, but I decided I wanted a necklace. Specifically, a set of necklaces. I chose to create a trio of lariats, with the bead taking center stage as the closure.
I had so much fun just playing around with different styles, beads, and techniques with this challenge. So, surprisingly, one of the ropes is a simple string of beads. But it worked, and taught me that simple can still have a big impact. The second rope is a kumihimo braid with a matte orange accent bead. The threads used for it were a variegated yarn, white crochet thread, and two strands of matte ab orange beads.
The third rope is a twisted RAW that has a pretty, delicate spring look to it. Which is rather funny, because it has in-your-face hot pink, and metallic green beads in it! That's one of the coolest parts about playing with beads for me...all the endless combinations of colors and styles.
Here's a shot of the focal bead. I surrounded it with an alternating square of CRAW.
I love how different the strands are, and yet they pick up all the gorgeous colors in the bead. The ropes can be worn alone, or together, with the clasp or not, which makes it so very versatile.
Here's a closeup of the individual strands. I'm really loving all the subtle color changes in the kumihimo braid from the variegated yarn.
Thank you Rita, for sharing Patricia's beads with us. I'm so happy to have found another source for beads, and thrilled with where this challenge took me. Please go visit all the other participants in this wonderful challenge! Blessings, Shirley
Honorary Artist: Patricia HandschuhPatricia's blog: The Color of Dreams Patricias Etsy: The Color of DreamsHostess: TJ Jewel School FriendsKay Thomerson KayzKreationz
Audrey Belanger Toki No Hourousha
The most gorgeous packaging!
Can you believe all that coolness?
The stars of the show, handmade clasp and leather/polymer clay focal. Isn't that just the dreamiest focal??
I adore the mother of pearl button on the clasp. And do you see the little polymer clay rose on the button? Sweet!
Super excited about this...Rebekah's mom hand stitched the material around EACH bead in this strand!!!
Antique buttons from her grandmother, czech rondelles, and mother of pearl chips!!
A swirly brass big hole bead, some cool petal beads, and more of Rebekah's polymer clay roses.
