Showing posts with label rivoli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rivoli. Show all posts

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Playing with beads

It has been a wonderful six months!
As a member of the beAd Infinitum Design Team I have had the opportunity to play with their patterns, create wonderful pieces of jewelry and share them with you! My fellow designers are an auspicious group of creative people and I am proud to have been included.
Those who know me well, know that I cannot just simply follow the directions...I have to tweak and play with things to give it my touch.  That is just what I have done with beAd Infinitum's patterns. 

After playing with Kepler's Star I knew that I wanted to make a tubular version using this pattern.  It is a very simple pattern to adapt for this, but still requires some finessing. 
None the less I have my first piece to share.
Dungarees
Look closely, you can see the Kepler's Star forming the tube. Inside are a combination of wooden beads and Chinese crystals for a little sparkle.  The focal beaded bead is, of course, one of my favorites  the Infinity Dodecahedron.


The last pattern I received as a team member is the Circular Starburst.
This pattern by Cindy Holsclaw is another variation of the Dodecahedron. 
This is a challenging piece, requiring some practice and attention to your tension.  I am not completely satisfied with my final iteration, so I will continue to play with this pattern until I have mastered it to my satisfaction.  I used my final beaded bead on a bracelet using memory wire, a product I haven't worked with much.  The beads are a bit heavy overall for the wire, but I like it.  That's all that really matters, don't you think?
Brickels Bracelet
Earlier this year our Guild posted a contest challenging members to submit pictures of their "messy work space".  I was one of only a few brave people to participate.  Our webmaster, the instigator, decided to award all of us.  We got to choose from several sets of vintage crystal rivolis from her stash (she's so generous!).  Below you will see how I used one pair of the six I chose!  I challenged myself to play with a color I don't usually use, yellow.  I picked up some nifty pillow decoupaged beads from my local bead store (Alada Beads).  I knew they needed to be together in earrings.
I bezeled the rivolis and the pillow beads using the Infinity Prism pattern.
Lemon Kickers
When it came time to assemble the components, I asking my beading buddies for their opinion.  We all agreed that they were so fun that they needed to match but not be exactly the same.  I love the way they turned out!

I have one more project still in process...coming soon. 



Sunday, April 10, 2011

Bling Bling Bling!

Ta da!
Here is my latest beAd Infinitum Design Team contribution!!
I purchased these rivolis at B&B last year and they have taunted me, dancing around in a variety of design ideas ever since.
A couple of weeks ago, I had one of those "ah ha!" moments.  Also referred to as an epiphany.
The Infinity Prism pattern loomed before my eyes...remember my ribbon piece back in January?
I realised I had another way to use the prism and incorporate my rivoli stash! Yippee!!

Prismatic Infinity
This piece has three sizes of 8 sided rivolis that have flat tables. You can look into them and see an infinite prism reflected on the internal faces.
The pattern calls for drop beads at the corners, I used 1.8mm cube beads instead.  All of the beads are the same color ~ Silver Rain.  Yummy, but really tough to look at for long periods of time!
Detail of Prismatic Infinity Necklace
I used 4mm Chinese crystal rondelles in between the elements. 
The clasp is another Infinity Prism with an embellished Herringbone loop.

The Infinity Prism technique for bezeling is very satisfying and time efficient.  It is very versatile and easy to adjust to various rivoli sizes.  Although I haven't experimented yet, I believe it would be very adaptable to a variety of cabochon or rivoli shapes.  Hmmmm...I feel another project coming on!!

Please post a comment and let me know what you think!