A Beaded Bead, in a way

This week, I have been a little pre-occupied with my new tiny pink netbook. Since I was laid off, Augie and I have been taking turns on the computer, and it has been getting old for both of us. We had been talking about getting a laptop for me before September, but put it off as an unnecessary expense for several months. But when it became apparent that the Acer Aspire was a really powerful little computer with just exactly the features I would use the most, we decided it would be an acceptable investment. That it was available in pink is just icing on the cake.

You all know how it goes when you get a new computer, though. It might have everything pre-installed and ready to go, but there are always a bunch of things you have to adjust to get it to the way you like your computer to be. So I've been spending a fair amount of time fooling around with the netbook, not to mention being distracted trying out different new things. It's just about perfect now, but we're still working on getting the ethernet/wireless modem set up, so I'm still blogging on the desktop. I'm hoping my next blog entry will be posted from the new computer, and I'll tell you more about how I like it so far (spoiler alert: I really like it a lot).

Meanwhile, back at YOJ, I had some 18g 8mm rings in a tin. I have no idea why I would ever have cut rings with that large an aspect ratio, because they are far too weak and unstable for any normal chainmaille use, but I had a small tin of them and an idea. What if I used basketweave to make a barrel-shaped beaded bead? Perri and Iza have used a similar idea with coils, why wouldn't discrete rings work, too? So I pulled out the 28g wire and some #11 seed beads and started. I used 6 of the rings and added three rows of beads, starting with the third row. Once I got the hang of anchoring the ring at the beginning of the row, using a pin to maintain spacing between the rings, and dealing with the seams, it worked well. This one is simply slipped onto a twisted cord. I'm thinking of making several thinner ones, two or three rings with a single or double row of beads, and stringing a group of them onto a soft ribbon that would puff out between them.

Thanks for looking, and please feel free to comment or critique.

Something for me

I have a wonderful friend, Cathy, who always knows just the right thing to cheer a person up. Last year she surprised me with a gift certificate to Bodacious Beads, which is a very nifty bead shop in the Chicago Suburbs. It has all sorts of wonderful stuff, great staff, and at the time was on my way home from my then-job. On another hand, I've been in the Lyndon Glassworks Bead of the Month Club for a few years. At first I got seed beads, then fringe and trim beads, and finally I switched to their Swarovski option. Each month they send me an assortment of Swarovski crystals, different sizes, shapes and colors.

How do these relate? Well, BOMC sent 6 Palace Green Opal 8mm cubes, and I was blown away. They were SO beautiful. But what to do with only 6 of them? I didn't want to make earrings, and wasn't overwhelmed with any of the other ideas I had, so I put them away and looked at them from time to time. Fast forward to me at Bodacious Beads, looking for something not for my jewelry to sell, but for myself. There in the bins were all sorts of Swarovski crystals. And at the back of the table, there were the 8mm Palace Green Opal cubes. They were pricey enough that I probably wouldn't have stretched my budget for them, but my friend meant for me to have a gift, and this was the nicest gift I could imagine at that moment. So I bought enough more of them to make a mosaic pendant, and this week I finally took the time to make it.

I've been developing this pendant design for a while, long enough that I consider it one of my signature pieces, and I've made it in a number of different materials. The basic idea is using the silver wire frame as a loom and setting the beads using the techniques of loom beading. I string the beads on very fine softflex -- if I were using glass beads with a larger hole, fine would be small enough, but the holes in these crystals are small and the edges are sharp enough to scrape the coating off the softflex if it is too heavy. The warp threads are the same 28g sterling that I used to coil over the 20g frame. Once the beads were in place, I coiled the frame, going right over the softflex where it crosses the frame. Then I added a second layer to the frame with a 2mm sterling bead every fourth wrap. (That completely covers and smooths over any lumpiness that the loom technique left behind.) And finally, I folded the end into a bail that I covered with herringbone weaving and bent it into shape over a 7.5mm mandrel.

The sides of the square are about 1" each. In addition to the 16 beads, this used about 12 inches of 20g sterling, 12 inches of softflex, 60 of the little silver beads, and about 16 feet of 28g sterling wire. So you can see that if you use less expensive beads, it isn't a particularly expensive project to make. It's a bit fiddly, and there are times when it feels like you need three or four hands to get everything in the right place, but by this time I've made quite a few loom-woven pendants and many, many herringbone bails, so it is a comfortable project for me to do.

I'm particularly proud of this one because it really has benefited from all the practice and is as close to perfect as I am likely to get. And since the beads were a gift, this one is not for sale. It's mine, all mine. In fact, I'm wearing it right now :-)

See you next week, and thanks for looking. Please feel free to comment or critique.

Things I learned this week

Here are some things I learned this week:

• There is a reason I made the switch from bead-weaving to wire.
• In the time I spent making an 8-inch choker-width length of RAW, I could have made an entire byzantine neckchain AND a nice focal.
• Toho beads are much less regular than Miyuki beads.
• Still, RAW is appealing and I'll finish the piece I started, just a bit at a time.

So, Friday evening I decided that I would have to make something entirely different for this week's YOJ. I decided I could do an interrupted byzantine bracelet with Swarovski accents and it would be okay.

That night I had a dream that I was making a pendant using a black disc bead and some little sparkly hex delicas in a mixture of colors, kind of Mardi Gras in feeling. A cat licked my face. I woke up and thought about it, and realized that the design would absolutely work. I thought about it some more so I would be able to start right away in the morning, and when I went back to sleep, dreamed about it some more.

On Saturday morning, all I had to do was find the disc bead. It was one I had received as a bonus (free! if you use promotion code!) when I had ordered from an online supplier, and I was afraid I had not put it in a logical place. After a bit of looking, I found it, and then I got to work.

• Made a tiny bit of bead soup from hex delicas.
  
• Mounted the bead in a coiled frame.
  
• Worked net bezel as done by a drunk spider, adding and weaving through the beads randomly.
  
• Added a row of the sparkly beads around the edge.
• Made a hidden bail.

So, here it is. Augie thinks the beads look like germanium diodes, and he says that he keeps trying to figure out what the circuit would be. I think it looks like a high-tech amulet -- you know, the kind you touch and it begins to glow and pulse and then maybe it transports you or something else remarkable. Or like it could be activated by a sonic screwdriver. Not the ominous kind, though.

Anyway, technical details -- the bead was labeled "gemstone shape" but it sure looks like glass to me, and has a large regular hole, so I'm guessing black glass, especially since it was free. It's an inch across, about 1/4 inch thick. The core wire for the basketweave is 20g soft sterling, the wrapping and netting are 28g sterling. The sparkles are Miyuki #11 delicas and hex delicas, all either transparent or silver-lined so they are extra sparkly. For something done at the last minute from a design that came to me in a dream, not bad at all.

Your comments and critiques are always welcome. Thanks for looking.

Back to my roots

Last week I talked about returning to some of my favorite things, so this week I actually treated myself to a week of chainmaille. These bracelets are as back-to-basics as I can get -- European 4-in-1, the quintessential chainmalle of all.

The bracelet on the left is 22g, 2.5mm sterling rings with a commercial ring/hook clasp that I embellished with 15g iridescent beads. This is probably my favorite size and type of maille to make and to wear. It is as supple as a silk ribbon to wear.

The bracelet on the right is the same exact weave done in 18g 3.5mm sterling. I used a magnetized sterling slide clasp. The heavier weight and more tailored clasp make for a unisex cuff. I hope this will be something that is attractive to buyers.

Another little thing I tried this week was to time myself when making maille. I learned that I can close 100 rings in about 20 minutes. This is the preliminary step for European, so I have to add that time to the time it takes me once I start actually making the chain if I want a fair estimate of my labor time. I also measured the time it takes to build the rows, and learned that I can make 20 to 25 double rows (2 plus 3) in 15 minutes. That means that the weaving, not counting closing rings ahead, for the larger bracelet took about 1 hour 15 minutes, and the smaller weave took more like 1 hour 30-45 minutes. Add half an hour or 45 minutes to each for closing rings, and it takes between 2 and 3 hours to make a bracelet like one of these. A neck chain would take between 6 and 10 hours. Now, the clasp is not included in that time estimate. If I use a commercial clasp it takes just a minute or two, if I make something special it obviously takes longer. This exercise was great for me since it gives me a much better perspective on pricing. Oddly, I have no idea whether it means that I am quick or slow to make chain.

As usual, Augie coiled and cut the rings for me. I couldn't afford to make the tiny maille if I had to buy the rings precut, as the going price for them is over $50/oz. I do add a labor cost to the cost of the wire when I use it as rings, but in practice, we have more time than money at our house so it makes sense to pay something less than $20/oz for the wire from Monsterslayer and cut them as we need them. I think of it as a value-added feature for us, and Augie says he enjoys cutting the rings, so it's all good.

Thanks for looking, and of course your comments and critiques are welcome.

p.s. Would you be interested in non-jewelry posts here during this week? I have some recipes and other things I have written that I think I'll post. Stay tuned :-)

For Valentines Day

For YOJ week 7 I decided to follow up on a doodle I had made a few months ago of a heart with a ribbon. It combines basketweave, beads, and herringbone weaving.

Technical details: Worked on a core of 20g sterling with 28g wrapping wire. The beads are 2mm sterling bead/crimps on the border and it is accented with three 4mm Indian Pink Swaroski bicones. On the next one of these I make, I'll get some 3mm bicones so I can taper the setting for a better flow. Because the heart is open, I couldn't do a hidden bail. I didn't want the bail to distract, so I didn't do a herringbone wrap on it as I often do. However, I did coil the bail wires so it didn't look like I just forgot to wrap the bail.

This was interesting to do because I had to work on two or three stages at the same time, coil on one core wire, wrap some beads on the other, coil a bit more, in order to make the architecture work properly and specifically to incorporate the end of the ribbon into the heart border. I was extremely pleased with the way that turned out. I was thinking that I could actually theme these to awareness ribbons if I thought about it a little bit. The Indian Pink would certainly work for breast cancer awareness. Of course, red would be nice for red, love, valentine. And AB crystal is always lovely. So I think there may be more of these.

And, in contrast to last week's (LATE) item, this was finished in the course of a single day, even with all the interruptions of daily life. Plus, I like it and would wear it, and could imagine selling it. Much better.

Comment and critique always welcome. Thanks for visiting, and come back soon.

Kandinski, or why I'm not doing themes any more

This week's theme was Kandinski, and I thought it would be really neat to do one of his circles. This is a case of "Sandi bit off a pretty big bite there" You see, this is woven with 28g wire on a 20g core, and the beads are a mixture of #11 seed beads, #11 delicas and hex delicas, and #15 seed beads. Yes, you read that right, #15.

Now the problem is not that they are so difficult to work with, it is that it takes so loooooong to make any progress. So on top of a busy week, I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and wrapped and never seemed to get any further along. And in the end, I'm not that thrilled with this as a piece of jewelry. It came out too literal an interpretation to be that interesting to me. It's a nifty concept, just not something I feel was worth the effort. At the end of the week-and-a-half that I spent on this, I realized that if I had ignored the theme I could have made a beautiful focal that I liked and a couple bread-and-butter chainmailles as well. The theme had become a procrastination enabler for me, and that's the last thing I need. So I won't be following themes for the rest of YOJ. If something I want to do happens to match up, fine, but I'll concentrate on following my own ideas for now at least. I do greatly look forward to all your interpretations, however.

But enough of that, on to the technical details. This is worked in sterling basketweave pave' with a 20g core and 28g wrapping and #11 and #15 Miyuki beads. It measures about 1 1/2 inches (4mm) although it isn't quite square, intentionally. I continued working on the hidden bail concept this week, and am very pleased with the result. In fact, I will probably revisit this concept, but without trying to emulate someone else's graphic. I also think some exposed basketweave would be interesting.

So, not an entirely unsuccessful piece, lessons learned, and on to the next week. Your comments and critique are always welcome.

Bronze Age Tribute

The Bronze Age was a wonderful choice for the YOJ theme, since the Bronze Age really marks the flowering of jewelry and ornamentation. Think of the wonderful jewelry of ancient Egypt, of the Minoans, the Trojans, Bronze Age all. This piece is a tribute to those artisans who really invented jewelry as we know it, a combination of metals, gems, and enamels, designed at least as much for beauty and ornamentation as for religious or ritual significance.

I used the spiral, a form found again and again in the ancient world, enhanced with bits of amber. This is, however, not a Bronze Age style piece. It is much freer and less formal, more of a modern sensibility. The structure is based on Linda "Sorcie" Smith's spiral pendant design, modified to have a hidden bail. The core wire is 20g soft sterling, wrapped with 28g sterling. It is about 1 1/2 inches or just under 4 cm in diameter. The beads are mixed amber nuggets.

I have been experimenting with hidden bails for some time now. I like the idea of the artwork part of the piece standing on its own. I was also inspired by the floating diamond jewelry that is so popular as an anniversary gift. Of course, most of the things I make are a little larger and bolder than that, but I still love the concept.

This week my daughter commented to Shalom (20 months old grand-daughter) that Nana always has a nice handle on her neck. She's right. I intentionally wear something pretty around my neck whenever I spend time with Shalom and her big brother Yosef. I like the idea that when I am gone they will remember that Nana made beautiful things and always had a touch of beauty and sparkle about her. I also like the idea that they will grow up knowing that it is okay to be fancy even when you are wearing jeans, if you like. Beauty is to wear and use, not to sit in a box somewhere, or so say I.