Viking Knit!

Gotta love it...the two-tone picks up the blue in the polyclay lentil bead- my first, made over two years back out of leftover cane ends. I don't know why I don't do more of this, as it is very relaxing. I do want to order a draw plate from glasshopper.com as the one they offer has many graduated holes, as well as being made of soft plastic (tho hard enough to do the job without falling apart), so it doesn't pull the finish off my Parawire. I do find some of the Parawire finishes to be not as dependable as others. The jewel-like tones seem to come off with very little use, while the more satin finishes seem tough as nails.
I hope you like it as much as I do!

Gig's Love

Form by Sherry Grove of VA. Round Robin at Beaded Art Dolls

Yahoogroup.

North Wind Pin

It's both fun and a challenge to work in a single palette...I am happy with how he came out!

Pinnucia Bead of Love

Free pattern- check the link on the photos. Lots of fun to make.

See what YOU can come up with!

Sherazade, a lesson thread management

A free pattern by Corrine Cros, www.serial-beader.com

Used 8mm Ocean Jasper, 6mm Ocean Jasper and Botswana Agate and 4mm Ocean Jasper, Botswana Agate and CZ bicones. Foldover copper clasp by Mobile-Boutique.

Now for the good stuff.

Long before I first used Fireline, I fell in love with a fishing line called Stealth Spiderwire- the braided version. It had a bit of Teflon, and so would hold nicely inside beadwork, but would also develop a great drape with wear. It took the extreme pulling that created the wavy herringbone bracelet on top of my blog, and the 10 pound weight went nicely through the smallest of beads several times, even with a #10 beading needle, straight or curved. That bracelet still gets alot of wear, and the thread has yet to give out on me. It has some sharp-eged square beads that surely test it every time I wear it.The new bracelet, Sherazade, I used 50 pound weight Stren SonicBraid for the body of the work- the center bit of stones, done in RAW. I wanted those sharp-edged stones to stay put, even with a bit of rubbing. I used 6 pound Fireline to add the embellishment on top- size 15 Miyuki seed beads and the 4mm CZ bicones. Wore the bracelet last night, and what did I find this morning? A section had popped at the bicone and the seed beads were missing. I had gone through the outer embellishment a couple of times, as I knew the holes in the stones and bicones were large enough for that, but wasn't sure the 15s would take a couple of passes. Besides, I thought they would be nestled inside the larger 8mm stones and would not get pushed back and forth enough to cut the Fireline.Boy, was I wrong.So, pull the top embellishment apart. Redo, using PowerPro braided fishing line, 10#- same stuff as my beloved Spiderwire but easier to find here-AND- let the bracelet drape in its natural shape, like it would to fit my arm, as I added the top embellishment, to give it a bit of slack and less stress on the thread at the bicones.So far, so good, things are holding. Went through the outside embellishment for good measure.Will let you know how things go.I do not 'baby' my jewelry- it has to be tough to stand up to what I do while wearing it. I think the PowerPro is the answer.Hope this helps someone else.