Monday, March 21, 2011

April EBW Challenge piece and a new pattern

This post is also for the EtsyBloggers blog carnival about spring.  One of the first signs of spring for me is always when little plants just start poking out of the ground.  That was the look that I wanted to capture with this piece for the April EBW Challenge Spring Around the corner.  It's available on Etsy here.


There were two "challenges" for me.  This is a design that I've been using for over two years now so I needed something to make this a true challenge piece.  The first challenge is that I used a metal clasp instead of a button or bead closure.

This looks very easy, and in theory, it is.  There is nothing complicated about the beadwork for this clasp.  However, it's tricky to leave enough slack so that the toggle can move freely into the loop without adding a lot of extra length to the bracelet.

The second challenge was that I finally wrote the pattern for this design.  As I've said before, I've been making this design for over two years and had attempted but failed to write the pattern once before.  I was determined to get it this time, and I did.  It's available here.
The pattern includes directions for a button clasp as well.  This pattern is amazingly versatile.  Changing the color palette and fringe bead size/amount can completely change the look.  Using lots of chunky colorful beads can create a fun, casual look while using a smaller, simpler selection of neutral or more coordinated colors can create a more sophisticated look.

9 comments:

  1. The metal clasp really adds the extra-special something...

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  2. I love how the different colors change the look completely! Congrats on getting the pattern written :)

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  3. Really beautiful! I love how it looks exactly like seedlings coming up! What a fantastic spring piece :-).

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  4. Amazing beautiful bead work.I use to bead but nothing like your designs.

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  5. Thanks so much Edi, Alice, and Molly! I really appreciate your feedback!

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  6. that's great that you wrote out the pattern. I'm sure lots of etsy artisans will try it out! {:-D

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  7. That's a beautiful bracelet and the colors are so perfect for a spring beginning! The clasp is just right!

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  8. Thanks much Deb and Sarah! I hope so, Deb!

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