Sunday, April 29, 2012

Beading Babes Reveal #4

Today we get to reveal our Beading Babes projects.  This time around Karyn chose the projects and there were three of them.  Something for everyone really!  There was a pair of earrings, a bracelet and
Nancy Dale's  beautiful Trellis Rope Necklace.  I loved all of them.  I finished the earrings and bracelet, and almost finished the necklace.  Pretty good for me who always has a million things to distract me and keep me from beading!

So here goes.  The earrings...


I had been wanting to make a pair of turquoise and black earrings since I wear that color combination a lot.  So, here was the perfect opportunity.  I love these earrings because the shape is so graceful.  I used a briolette that I had in my stash for the drop and I like it a lot. 

Next up, the bracelet...


I have to say I didn't think I was going to like this bracelet.  It didn't appeal to me in the magazine.  But, once I chose my beads and started working on it I loved it.  The pearls are actually a pale lime green that I had in the stash.  I paired them with golden bronze and aqua and I'm so happy with the combination.  The button I used for the clasp is one of the handmade dichroic glass buttons my friend Terrie makes.  It looked so good with the bead colors that I had to use it.  Here's a close up of it.



The small piece of glass in the center of the bronze square has the lime green and aqua of the other beads, so it was a perfect finish.

Now the necklace...I love this necklace.  I ran into a few problems, one of which was that I wasn't going to have enough 15's to finish all the netting.  That was easy to fix.  I took out two of the sections and made a shorter necklace.  I have to say that, being short, I prefer a shorter necklace.  So, that was easy to take care of.  I just had to think about a clasp.  The second problem I had was with the embellishment around the crystals.  I didn't like the way it was looking.  I had too much thread showing.  So, I made adjustments to how I did the beads that sit under the crystal and then continued on with Nancy's directions.  Of course, the problems slowed me down because I had to take out the extra sections and I had to take out some of the embellishments.  Also, the netting actually takes longer to stitch than I thought it would.  So, the necklace is almost finished.  I got to the point where I needed a clasp and I can't decide what I want do to.  I don't know if I want a purchased clasp or whether I want to make one from the beads.  I thought I would just show you what it looks like to this point and then take my time deciding.  So, here's the necklace...





I really love this necklace!  Have I said this before?!  I can't wait to finish it so I can wear it.  But, since I ran out of time and I didn't want to rush my decision about the clasp I thought I would just wait and show you what it looks like today. 

This set of projects was great and it reenforced the reason I love the Beading Babes.  It gave me a reason to work on two projects I wanted to work on but that kept getting shifted to the bottom of my pile of "projects I want to work on" and it allowed me to work on a project I probably would not have done but now I love! 
Thanks again to Karyn for organizing this group.  It's really great fun to see how different people approach the same designs.  Be sure to check out all the Babes projects when Karyn posts them on her blog.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you have a wonderful day! 


9 comments:

  1. Those are all beautiful. I love the turquoise and black .. that combination is gorgeous. The soft colors in the bracelet are perfect. The bracelet wasn't one I would have chosen either, but I am so glad we did it. I had a similar issue with the clasp for the necklace. I tried to bead one, but it didn't look quite right. I can't wait to see what you decide.

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  2. Beautiful work Maryanne! Your rope is gorgeous and I"m really loving the color scheme on the bracelet!

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  3. Hi Maryanne,
    I love all of your pieces. I like that you used black briolettes for the drops on the earrings. The bracelet I love your color choice. I think a lot of us felt this way about the bracelet, but are now glad that we did it. I had origninally made my necklace about 25 inches long but by the time I got the netting done on three of the sections I knew I was not going to have enough 15's to finish so I took a section off and I used a toggle clasp on mine. I also had a little bit of trouble with the RAW when closing up the sides, but other then that it went smoothly.
    Therese

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  4. Beautiful pieces! The black briolettes finish off those earrings perfectly.

    I'm loving the necklace so far! I can't wait to see how it looks when it's finished. :)

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  5. Great work Maryanne! I love the drop on the Paisley Drop earrings - gives them a completely different look. I also love your Ruffled Chain Bracelet - the colours are so soft and pretty. And well done with Nancy's Trellis Necklace...I think it is going to be stunning when it's finished!

    Thanks again for taking part in Beading Babes - I look forward to seeing you for Project 5!

    Karyn

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  6. I love how you've used Trellis - it looks beautiful!! Your earrings are just fabulous, too, I think the briolettes just make for a wonderful finish to them!

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  7. Wow Maryanne I love every one of these! Actually, I love everyone's work! These projects were great and everyone did such amazing work!

    I really love the Bronze and Aqua together in your bracelet...and the Briolettes in the Russian Leaf Earrings really make them elegant! Great choice!

    And that Trellis rope is just gorgeous! I also made some adjustments at the base of each rope segment to hide the thread...it also adds a little more fullness near the flower embellishments. And I love the spring colors of your rope! Everything is just beautiful!

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  8. I didn't realize I missed this post. All of your projects this month are just beautiful! I love the colors of your ruffles bracelet and your trellis rope is stunning!

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  9. Missed this one. These all turned out so great! I love that trellis rope necklace too. The colors you used are so pretty and springtimey.

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