Purple Painted Turtle - The Flurries Continue

Still thinking about that beaded bead, I wondered if the structure of it could be made into a domed covering for a cabochon.  Something that would mostly hide the cab, but just allow a hint to peek through.

I had some purple oval Lunasoft cabs in two sizes, and those seemed like just the right thing.  So I used purple beads.  Plus I have a new purple, gold, coppery, scribbly tunic, with some flashes of white.  I really like designing for clothing.  And this was supposed to be time to play without thinking too hard about perfecting my designs.  "Just do it" time.

I'll show you the bracelet first.  

The cabs covered in the structural dome reminded me of painted turtles, and this picture shows that the best.

 I am pleased with my rope.  :)

Earrings?  Well, I had the two little cabs left, and part of the Flurry plan was to leave no leftovers.

My two favorite takeaways from this exploration are the little fringe finials, which I would love to use again...

And the loop for the toggle, the shape of which I adore.  I will further explore this idea for sure.

I am pretty happy with the structure of the bracelet too.

But after all that, I felt really guilty that I had not made any of the little beaded beads.

So...    I used the free beaded bead pattern from Crystals and Ice to damp down the guilt. I tried to keep the work sketchy, like my tunic from Art of Cloth.

 It is a really cute little bead.  Here's the tunic of inspiration.

And the accessories.

I worked to finish supplies off, and this was all of the SuperDuos in this color I had.  (Which by the way looks awesome with the tunic, but not so much in my photos.) There were just the two leftover 8mm rounds of Crazy Lace Agate, and I am more likely to wear those than the beaded bead ones.  I forgot that stringing is its own special challenge.  Nice to be reminded.

What did I learn?  Well, when I am not trying to be really proud of the whole, it's easy to crank through a lot of beading.  And in the mix, are some bits I am pleased by, to futher explore.  But nothing that really sings.  Except maybe the one that is not done and needs lots of frogging and some serious design effort.  This is not what I want to do with my time generally, but it was an interesting experiment, with some mine-able results.  

February Flurries

February began with a visit to the Upper Midwest Bead Society meeting on Monday the 1st.  It had been a while since I had been. My fall was insane! Many of the people I know best were in Tuscon.  They were smart, given February in Minnesota!

Anyhow, the topic of the night was a little beaded bead, from a British bead shop, Crystals and Ice. The pattern is free, if you would like to try it out. (Our presenter had their permission to share it with us, in case you are wondering.) I had to hunt to find a picture of the beaded bead, and this is not a good one; ugly knot, mistake, bad lighting, but you get the idea...

I loved the color way I used in my bead, and when I got home I hunted through my stash for things that might allow me to use those colors again.  This little quest became a month long event of trying and testing ideas with out spending much time perfecting anything.  I had some pieces of Jasper that had the soft gold of the 11/0 and the range of greens, grays, and tans in the SuperDuo, plus a hint of the matte gold O beads, so that became my first project.

I had two shield shapes like this one, and two teardrops.  What I liked best about the beaded bead was the O bead hiding the Superduo holes.  So I set out to see how that might be used in rope and other structures.  I thought the beaded beads were a little too thick, and too "jewelry-ish" for my small and earthy jasper.

I ran out of both SuperDuos and O beads fast, and re-designed to use what I had allow the finishing of one necklace.  Thanks to Cath Thomas, it has a name!  Meet, "Bells and Buds".

I especially loved the little brass buds I created for bezel embellishment.  

I started another piece with the two shields and the other teardrop, but ran out of O beads AGAIN, and had to order them, with some delays involved.  I was pretty psyched about it, and nearly tore the first necklace apart for beads!

I will show you what it looks like now, but I am not going to finish it right away.  I want to take it all apart and put a little breathing room in between the components.  I like the components, but they are just too crowded, and ripping didn't fit into my Ferbruary Flurry plan, so here's just a peek.

Lol, this is probably the kiss of death, because in the past, when I have shared things in progress, they have NEVER been finished.  But I do really like this, so hopefully this piece will break the trend.

I had only begun my Flurry of February work with these bits...

Next up, stay tuned for Purple Painted Turtle!