Bridal Challenge Week Four

Here's what I'm working with this week...chips.  Not Barrel O'Fun, but Mother of Pearl and glass (imitation Moonstone.)  I've had these for months and thought they would be a nice accent or fill color for one of my nugget garden bracelets.  I'm not really going out on a limb...no big surprises, you will be seeing a bracelet in the near future.

Bridal Challenge Week Three: Gold Tone

My skills with a crochet needle have not evolved since I was six, but this is good news for anyone who might like to use the wire crochet technique in jewelry-making.  It is THAT SIMPLE.

My favorite part of this necklace is definitely the unique shade of the freshwater pearls, but the crystals give it great sparkle.  This design prompted me to look around for the perfect dress.  Since it is  longer than some of the others (23 inches), it calls for a deeper neckline.  I think it would look lovely with the dress below!

www.victoriasbridalcouture.blogspot.com

Mother of the Groom Set

This is the set I designed for my girlfriend, Diana.  In my haste, I'm afraid I didn't get the very best pictures.  The grey Swarovski pearls and the Indicolite 2AB bicones are an amazing complement to each other and the whole effect was truly elegant.  Or maybe it was my friend who was so elegant.  Either way, they made a lovely match.

The focal crystal is a 16mm Swarovski rivoli called "Sphinx."  It has amazing flashes of blues and greens.  I had never seen this particular color before the day I went shopping for this project.  Divine intervention, I think!

Bridal Challenge Week Three

Lately, I have been crazy for seed beads.  This week's challenge should get me out of that rut!  I was thinking about the fact that I have a strong preference for silver tones in my jewelry, but that wasn't the case when I got married.  My own bridal jewelry was a three-strand choker of pearls with a gold clasp.  My gift from my groom was a beautiful gold chain with a dainty pearl and diamond pendant.  (I'm smiling right now, just thinking about them!)  So, I began to rummage through my jewelry stash for gold tones for this week.  (There was not a lot to choose from!)  Here's what I found: gold-toned wire, crystal bicones, and a strand of freshwater pearls that included a gorgeous champagne-gold hue.  See you soon with my creation!

Bridal Challenge Week Two: Beaded Netting

For this week's challenge, I had hoped to simplify a pattern I had seen in Beadwork magazine.  As I studied the pattern, I realized I would be in over my head since I hadn't done a netted project before and didn't have a feel for the stitch.  I poked around online to see if I could find a better beginner's pattern and found this one at http://www.rubysbeadwork.com/net1.html  As I worked the necklace, I realized I would run out of the white seed beads before the necklace reached the desired length.  I chose to finish off the necklace with a tri-stitch to tie in with the picot edge in the original pattern.  

Reflecting on the project, I see the positive and the negative.  I like the overall look, though I was aiming for a more substantial necklace.  I really like how the slight differences in the beads create a sense of movement.  Finally, I love how quickly the necklace worked up.  On the downside, I don't like how bright the white looks in person and I think that smaller 11/o beads would have looked better (these are 8/o.)

The project did win me over, however.  The following evening, I realized that I would like this particular necklace better as BRIDESMAIDS' jewelry.  I gathered up some 11/o beads and round glass accent beads (4 or 5 mm) and reworked the necklace.  The larger accent beads cause the sections to take a slightly different shape, but the necklace still has a nice effect.  

Beads used in these projects: 

Toho 8/o #121 White Opaque Luster and #2101 Opal Silver Lined

Toho 11/o #3LF Very Light Saphire Transparent Matte, 

#8DF Dark Cobalt Blue Transparent Matte, and #361 Purple Lined Sapphire

Bliss round beads (JoAnn)

Bridal Challenge Week Two

Week 2 Challenge: Create a bridal necklace using a netting stitch.

This diagram from http://www.beadjewelrymaking.com shows how the stitch creates open diamond shapes.  I've often admired lacy, netted creations by bead artists, but I've never had occasion to create what I considered to be such a "fancy" necklace.  I think a wedding would be a perfect occasion!

Bridal Challenge Week One

Ta-da!  My first challenge is complete.  If you were on my Christmas list this year, you know that I have gone crazy for beaded ropes and think everyone should have one.  So, it is no surprise that I think every bride should have one, too.  This design is a choker-length Russian spiral in silvery and champagne tones with a beaded, bezeled rivoli pendant.  The bezel is adorned with Swarovski pearls and hung from the rope with a simple herringbone bail.  The pendant can easily be removed to wear the rope alone.  Since I was very familiar with the stitches that comprised the main design, I decided to learn a new stitch to improve on my sometimes boring clasps.  This "button" clasp is made by doing a circular brick stitch around a silver-tone filigree bead.  (Thanks, Beadaholique.com, for the tutorial! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66srPd6V_Qw)

It occurs to me that it may seem very random that I decided to make bridal jewelry all of the sudden.  Well, let me explain.  Last weekend, we had the privilege of attending the wedding of my good friend's oldest son and his sweet bride.  Their day was lovely and it is a big blessing to celebrate with such a well-matched couple.  My friend has all sons, so she was absolutely delighted to add a girl to the family!  It was also that lovely girl that made me start thinking about bridal jewelry.

Bridal Challenge 2012

I have been enjoying the posts at  http://inspirationalbeading.blogspot.com/ lately.  The author, Mortira, just finished a year-long beading challenge to create a bracelet a week.  I, personally, like instant gratification and short-term goals, so I'm giving myself a six-week challenge.  Each week will begin with a bead "recipe"--colors, materials, stitches, pieces to mimic...we'll see.  From that recipe, I will endeavor to make a bridal piece (more than one when I'm ambitious!)

Week One Recipe:
Toho 8/o Color #994 Bronze Lined Crystal Rainbow
Toho 11/o Color #21 Crystal Silver Lined
Toho 15/o Color #558 Silver Galvanized
3mm white Swarovski Pearls
16 mm Swarovski Crystal Rivolis

All of my supplies were purchased from Bobby Bead in Minneapolis or at their online shop http://www.bobbybead.com/.  I get such great service there!  Love those folks.

Earrings for the New Year