Beaded Beauty- Part 2

Spring flowers are an excellent way to combat the gray, windy, COLD storm we're having at the moment. This morning, while decided what to wear for the day, I had to choose between bright colors to combat the gloom, or black and gray to reflect it. At the moment I'm wearing gray. My big fuzzy gray robe to combat the cold that has permeated the air.

I still haven't decided what to wear in public.

But that's the beauty of working at home. I don't have to decide until after the coffee and warm shower has kicked in!

The other beauty of working at home is not having to commute in this weather! For all of you who are not as lucky and do have to brave the storm (and other drivers) to get to work, please be careful! I want all of my fans nice and healthy.

 Continuing with the bracelet, I added a pink flower to the purple one, as well as the rest of the leaves.

Now it's time for finishing!

 Take the needle and thread back through the previous row (not the last one, the one before it), to a point where you want the fastener to be. For this, I wanted the middle 7 beads, or 8 threads.

 Weave a few more rows only using these inside strands.

 You can weave the thread back and forth a few times after the last row to help hold the beads in place, but I find this step not only not necessary, but kind of a pain as well!

After you've done one end, wind the bracelet back so you can work on the starting end and add the same skinny piece to that end as well. Helps if you make sure to leave some space at the beginning of the bracelet. Note to self.

Or if you're like me and didn't leave much room. Get creative. I actually tied a string through the beginning knot, used that to attach the end to the loom, and that gave me enough space to finish.

But not enough to weave the ends back through the bracelet to hide the knots. I used clear nail polish to secure the knots (those babies aren't going anywhere!), and trimmed the thread close.

It looks fine.

 On one end I attached a large faceted bead to act as a toggle.

When I got these they came in a mix and I thought, "When am I ever going to use those?" Just goes to show, you never know when something's going to come in handy.

That's handy.

 The other end of the bracelet has a loop of beads just big enough to fit over the decorative bead. I went through both ends about 3 times with my needle and thread to make it as strong as possible. Don't want someone to be putting it on or taking it off and the whole thing to snap! That would be tragic.

And the finished piece. Perfect to chase away the gloomy clouds, or celebrate the perfect spring day!



This has been listed on my Etsy Shop, so go there now to buy it before anyone else does!

I've also got Steve hard at work coming up with more designs. If you'd like to see something in particular, let me know in the comments!