Binging on fringe for I Might Make That! Monday

Fringe bracelet tutorial at Whimbeads.com
via Artfire Beadweavers Guild

These three projects are a little different from some of my other I Might Make That! Monday entries because I actually have used some of the fringing techniques illustrated here before. They were just minor trim elements, however. I've never made a whole bracelet or necklace entirely from coral or loop fringe, as depicted in these projects here, and I think all three are cute designs.

First, the inspiration. The Artfire Beadweavers Guild, of which I am a member, made beaded fringe the topic of its July challenge. The Artfire post links to a tutorial on Whimbeads that shows how to incorporate several different fringe techniques in a single bracelet.

Fusion Beads' Reef It to Me necklace

Coincidentally, a day or so after I saw the above challenge and decided to feature the bracelet in my next IMMT!M post, Fusion Beads came out with a series of fringe tutorials in its e-newsletter.

Click here for instructions to do coral fringe, which is used to make the necklace at right. ("Coral fringe" is just another name for what the Whimbeads tutorial calls "branch fringe.")

A few days later, Fusion Beads followed the coral fringe feature with one on looped fringe, which is even easier.

That technique is used to make the bracelet below. A nice feature of the Fusion Bead beading instructions is that they are also offered as PDFs for easy printing.

Fusion Beads' Champagne Taste bracelet

Lookie, I created a widget!

For those of you new to my I Might Make That! Monday feature, I noted in last week's installment that my archive of past entries had gotten messed up and I needed to rebuild the page. I was able to design my first-ever widget, which has replaced the text button in the top-right corner of the blog, for accessing the archive.

However, at this point I've only had time to restore a few months' worth of the projects. I'll try to complete the archives by next week. (But I'm very pleased with myself to have designed my own widget, simple as it is.)

Artfire Bead Swap reveal

I am chagrined that I am nearly a month late posting these pics, but (sigh) life got in the way. Earlier this spring, I participated in the Artfire Beadweavers Guild bead swap and received some lovely beads from Barbara of Beads of Spirit.

The reveal date was May 15, but I was only a few inches into my beaded rope by then, because I had been so entrenched in my big class final project (which consumed all my waking hours outside of work for about three or four weeks). I made a frantic push to get it done before going on vacation, but I still had a few inches to go, plus the finishing. I finally completed it Sunday night and took some pics this (Monday) evening.

Here again are the beads that Barbara sent me:

As you can see, there is an assortment of amber gold, silver and black beads, in addition to the glass focal and silver clasp. The rules of the swap were that you had to use the focal and the clasp, but were free to add beads from your own stash.

From my collection, I used some silver-lined gold twisted bugle beads from Fire Mountain Gems, which have this cool duotone effect (they look silver in some light and gold in another), as well as some champagne-colored No. 11s from Accents Beads to the mix and then created the rope using a variation of Russian spiral.

To showcase the glass focal, which Barbara said was from Unicorn Beads, I created a bail from three gold oval hoops that I wired together at the bottom only. This caused the top to splay out in a pleasing manner. I then joined the bale and focal with a beaded circle made of some lovely faceted rondelles she included. It's hard to describe the color, almost pumpkin really, but they match the burnt umber of the focal perfectly. (They're in the photo right next to the focal, atop some black beads, but really hard to see. )

The bail was made to be large enough to slip off the necklace, so that the rope can be worn by itself or with another focal. It's about 22 inches total.

Here's a closeup of the clasp, which I was especially taken with:

Some notes on the finishing: Because this type of Russian spiral (made with the bugles) doesn't have a lot of support, I lined the rope with 2mm black cording. I had some cones on hand that had top openings wide enough to slip the cord through some jump rings and then back through the holes. The ends of each cord were then sewn together and tucked down inside the beaded rope.

I'm pleased with the end result. And I am relieved that I am finally done, because this was a karmic debt hanging over my head. This is the first time I've ever blown a bead swap reveal date. I've decided not to participate in any more swap reveals until I finish school next spring. It's just unnecessary, crazy pressure to put on myself.

Bead swap bounty!

I'm participating in a bead swap organized by the Artfire Beadweavers Guild. (Be sure to check out the amazing work of these talented artisans. And thanks, Krafty Max, for organizing!)

This swap works a lot like the ones organized by Lori Anderson: First, people sign up to participate. The organizer randomly pairs artists, who mail each other a packet of beads. The packet must contain a focal and clasp, which must be used in the finished design. How many of the other beads to use is up to the artist, who can supplement the gift beads with goodies from her own stash.

I have been paired with Barbara Judy of Beads of Spirit. Please, check out her Artfire store. Her jewelry is lovely, but I am especially fascinated by her guardian spirit gourd dolls. They are intricate and soulful; I've never seen anything like them.

She sent me the above beads more than two weeks ago, but I couldn't get a picture taken until this morning. I love black and gold and silver, so I know I'll have fun with this. I'm especially crazy about the clasp she enclosed. Barbara says the focal is from Unicorn beads and that she has one just like it. (She bought two to make earrings but they are too heavy--who among us has not done that?)

In Lori's Bead Soup Blog Hop, artists are paired with people who often work in different media--a polymer clay beadmaker might get paired with a wirework whiz, for example. Because everyone in this swap is in the Artfire Beadweavers Guild, this is mostly the Great Seed Bead Exchange. But that's okay. You can never have too many seed beads!

The reveal is May 15. Luckily, may class will be over before then, and the summer session doesn't start for a few more weeks, so I'll actually have some free time.