Hello everybody!

 This thread will host images of the Different Strokes for Different Folks Challenge.

Attention Participants - DO NOT post your images here

please post a link to the images (not the images themselves) on the Challenge thread, along with the requested bead descriptions. Below is the link to the Challenge thread: 

 http://cs.beadandbutton.com/bnbcs/forums/t/4914.aspx

To those stopping in to take a peek, please take a look at the link above, where you will f

ind the Challenge Rules in the first post...at least you'll know what the Challenge was all about!

I'm going to kick off the thread with pics of my own Challenge pieces.

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 Original Sin (Andréa)

Bracelet 1:

Beads used in Bracelet 1:

Size 11 - opaque brown Czech seeds, metallic iris bronze Czech cut cylinder beads (a note on these cut beads - they are labeled as being cuts, but there is not a cut on them, I think my supplier received a batch of cut beads without the cut!)

Size 8 - transparent topaz AB Japanese seeds

Size 5 - substituted with 4mm Swarovski satin garnet AB bicones

Embellishment:

4mm Swarovski satin garnet AB bicones, 4mm goldtone German glass pearls, metallic iris bronze Czech cut cylinder beads, size 9 dark topaz German cylinder beads and size 9 ruby AB German seed beads

Notes: The bracelet was very difficult to photograph - the uncut "cut" iris bronze beads are sparkly as all get out even without the "cuts", and the crystals flash all over the place. To Ruby's basic pattern I simply added brick stitch rows top and bottom, made a picot along the edges, then used the picot to line the edges top and bottom with the crystals and the glass pearls. The bracelet ruffles slightly due to the variations in the bead size of the brick stitch portion. The clasp was fun...easy and invented as I went along, came out quite pretty...so much so that I repeated it with minor variatons for the second bracelet. This one was worked in separate segments.

Bracelet 2:

Beads used in Bracelet 2:

Size 11 - opaque white Czech seeds, silverlined aqua Czech cylinder beads

Size 8 - sterling silver plated Japanese seed beads

Size 5 - substituted with 4mm turquoise rounds in the flowers and with 4mm Bermuda blue Swarovski bicones at the joins

Embellishment: sterling silver plated Japanese seed beads,opaque white Czech seeds, silverlined aqua Czech cylinder beads, 4mm turquoise rounds, 4mm Bermuda blue and Capri blue Swarovski bicones

Notes: I chose to make a simple herringbone and brick strand bracelet, using Ruby's basic flower pattern as the focal middle part of the bracelet. I'm pleased with the results! Ruby's pattern works up to a very delicate and lacy floral pattern which, even though this bracelet is quite wide, retains the delicacy because the bracelet is "openwork" and on top of the wrist looks like a multiple series of strands wrapping around the wrist, and showcasing the floral center. I also chose to repeat the use of the sterling plated size 8's with the size 11 white and aqua beads in the strand and herringbone embellishment part because the diversity in bead size adds movement and interest to the bracelet. This one was worked with the continuous thread method.

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HedgelandsGlassLass (Michele)

Bracelets 1 (left) and 2 (right)

Bracelet 1 (left)

Toho 11s in matt black and metallic mix

Toho 8 in metallic burgundy

Miyuki 5 Triangle in teal

Notes: I used the continuous thread method. The clasp is a simple loop with an artisan lampwork bead (12mm) by Funky Cow forming the other half.

Bracelet 2 (right)

Toho 11s in matt black. haematite and galvanised silver

Toho 8s in haematite

Toho 11 triangle in black

Notes: Again the continuous thread method, this time the clasp is a simple loop with a Czech firepolish bead (10mm)

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Eeyorefan (Dorrie)

Delica 11/o  #57-Lined Sky Blue

Delica 8/o   #164-Opaque Rainbow Turquoise Blue

Size 5 Miyuki Triangles #2931-Color Lined Ice Blue

4mm Swarovski Bicone-Aqua

Clear Vintage button for my clasp

 PowerPro for my thread

I used the continuous thread method.

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Jobeader (Joey)

I used Ornela 11 : 12 colors of blue and 8 seed beads for the flower parts

2 colors 4mm cats eyes for the centers

3 colors of blue Dyna-mites 11/0

Light blue and E size beads

Sapphire blue for the connection parts

 It was done in the continuous stringing pattern with Nymo Thread.

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BeadieCat (Cat)

Miyuki 3mm squares-opaque black; 
Czech 11/0 seeds-hematite; 
Czech 11/0 seeds-opaque black; 
Japanese 8/0 seeds-opaque white AB; 
Japanese 11/0 seeds-matte black. 

 Thread is smoke Fireline, size B.

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AlexD (Alex)

I  made a full necklace/bracelet & earring set.

Beads used in Ruby's Star Bracelet pattern

Size 11/0 - Delica - black & Czech - red iris

Size 8/0 - Miyuki - Dusty Rose lined

Size 5.0 - substituted with 4mm Swarvoski - Lt Siam & 3mm Czech fire polished - black

Beads Used for Embellishment:

Czech ruby glass daggers

Made my own toggle clasp with peyote stitch.

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JamamaWP (Jama)

Size 11/0 - Delicas - black

Size 8/0 - Dynamites - White

Size 5.0 - substituted with 8/0 - Dynamites - White

Beads Used for Embellishment: 11/0 Delicas - black & 8/0 Dynamites - White

Size D Black Nymo

The clasp is a toggle I made myself.  The toggle is square stitch and the loop is peyote. 

I used the original method of making each piece separately and then putting them together.   

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Tinkerbell (Lynn)

Size 11/0 seeds - silver-lined silver Czech

Size 8/0 seeds - silver-lined sapphire Czech

Size 5/0 triangles - substituted 4mm swarovski crystal rounds

Fireline thread - Size D crystal

Silver-plated clasp

Size 11/0 seeds - silver-lined silver Czech

Size 8/0 seeds - silver-lined sapphire Czech

Size 5/0 triangles - substituted 4mm swarovski crystal rounds

Fireline thread - Size D crystal

Silver-plated clasp

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BeadedRose (Diane)

Bead description in the pic!

Here are my humble offerings. Two bracelets with no embellishment.

Challenge Star Bracelets

Bracelet 1 (left)

Toho 11s in matt black and metallic mix

Toho 8 in metallic burgundy

Miyuki 5 Triangle in teal

I used the continuous thread method. The clasp is a simple loop with an artisan lampwork bead (12mm) by Funky Cow forming the other half.

Bracelet 2 (right)

Toho 11s in matt black. haematite and galvanised silver

Toho 8s in haematite

Toho 11 triangle in black

Again the continuous thread method, this time the clasp is a simple loop with a Czech firepolish bead (10mm)

Very simple I'm afraid. I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone else's bracelets.

PS. your's are just gorgeous Andrea

Beautiful, Michele! They are simply beautiful! I LOVE your use of color in both bracelets. They may be simple, but they sure do catch the eye. I am a firm believer that a gorgeous piece does not necessarily have to be a complex piece. If you have a way with color and texture, you can make people ooh and ahh at a simple daisy chain. Great photography too! It's interesting to see how yours is much more open and lacy than mine, which worked up into tight little flowers and fairly closed at the joins. Ruby's gonna have a blast when she checks in here to take a look, I'm sure! Can't wait to see more...

Thank you for the compliments, Michele . I hope everybody is having or has had fun with this Challenge, I sure did!

P.S. I can't live without matte black beads...are you the same?

Michele,

Beautiful!!!! Love the colors and I love the simplicity of the pieces. It does go to show, color and bead choices make each one different, no matter how the pattern starts, and lovely in it's own way. I guess humans are like that, too. (Moment of deepness just came to me) I applaud you.

BTW-haven't heard from you in a while. I am still around!!!!

OriginalSin:

Beautiful, Michele! They are simply beautiful! I LOVE your use of color in both bracelets. They may be simple, but they sure do catch the eye. I am a firm believer that a gorgeous piece does not necessarily have to be a complex piece. If you have a way with color and texture, you can make people ooh and ahh at a simple daisy chain. Great photography too! It's interesting to see how yours is much more open and lacy than mine, which worked up into tight little flowers and fairly closed at the joins. Ruby's gonna have a blast when she checks in here to take a look, I'm sure! Can't wait to see more...

Thank you for the compliments, Michele . I hope everybody is having or has had fun with this Challenge, I sure did!

P.S. I can't live without matte black beads...are you the same?

Thanks for the kind words. I did enjoy the challenge which for me was a real one as I'm not terribly good at following written or diagramatic directions first off. I did tear out several attempts - some from colourways that didn't work or from mistakes (left out a bead). It was a good lesson in use of colour for me. Some colours I thought would work really well looked awful. Matt black and matt beads are great for keeping the shininess down (LOL). It allows colours and textures to make it through (the best description I have for it). : )

eeyorefan:

Michele,

Beautiful!!!! Love the colors and I love the simplicity of the pieces. It does go to show, color and bead choices make each one different, no matter how the pattern starts, and lovely in it's own way. I guess humans are like that, too. (Moment of deepness just came to me) I applaud you.

BTW-haven't heard from you in a while. I am still around!!!!

 

Thanks Dorrie. : ) I would never have thought to embellish the basic pattern in such a beautiful and dramatic way as out beloved 'challenge setter'. I am blown away by her bracelets. Sorry, I've been a bit quiet lately. I've had a nasty bug for a week and am just now getting over the after effects. Also I'm reviewing my designs and a few have been consigned to the great component box in the sky. I'm working on a design using russian spiral sections as beads in a strung necklace and it is taking some time to get the sequencing of the other components straight in my head. I'll finish it sometime soon (I hope) and post it up. : )

Dorrie, that's so pretty! Very feminine, and I love the netted edges - I see we also share a particular attraction to blue and shades of blue :)...we used the same shade LOL! If anything I'm preferring both yours and Michelle's bracelets to my first one posted. The star pattern is delicate and the width of my first bracelet is a bit overbearing. Great job! Pics are huge though, the server doesn't seem to be downsizing the pics here, or at least I don't see them downsized on my browser.

Oooo la la!  I'm really liking all that I can see!

However, I can only get 2 corners of Michele's post w/ the same thing happening on her link.  Any suggestions for improved viewing???  Thanks.

sher

PS  More comments later...

Hi Sher - I think it was a momentary server problem because all of the pics are appearing downsized to me now...and it's about time. The images as they were before were far too big to be seen properly without scrolling back and forth. If you see them really large, try refreshing your browser.

Have a nice one! :)

Andrea and Jo- I would like to know how you made the clasps on your pieces. They look like the star with a little somethin', somethin' added. I usually try to take the easy path on clasps, I use buttons mainly. Quick and simple.

 Also, Jo, Did you just make 3 bracelets and attach them or what. Love the look.

And as I stated in the other forum, so far, we all have used  blue in our pieces. To me, that is interesting. Looking forward to more pics.

Joey, your bracelet is gorgeous! I love the colors, and Dorrie's right - seems we've all been attracted to blue in connection to this pattern and have used it to some extent in our bracelets. You opted for a design that I almost opted for too - my original idea was to make a series of Ruby's basic pattern, then connect them together along the length. Ended up opting to make two bracelets instead of one. Yours is gorgeous! I could get lost in that blue and be perfectly happy :).

Dorrie - my clasp is freeform. The only thing it has in common with Ruby's pattern is that the technique is similar -I started with a center bead and a circle of beads around that. From there I just went on adding beads of different sizes and shapes where they should go on the basis of the effect I wanted. Nobody ever taught me how to do a "jewel" type clasp, it's the result of experimenting! The best and easiest way to make one is to start with a larger center focal bead, and a ring of beads around that. From there you work it on out with different sizes and types of beads, without thinking of it as a round stitch...changing your thread path will allow for different effects.

Just posted up Cat's stunner of a bracelet - black and white, a timeless combination! The eye candy here is pretty amazing...

OOPS!  Andrea, my matte black beads are Japanese 11's, not Czech.  Can you please edit the post?  Sorry...

Cat

No problem at all, Cat, I'll take care of it right now :). I love coming back to this thread, it's like looking at the pics for the first time everytime I do!

Hi Andrea and the rest of the group!

I am having trouble taking a clear, closeup of my finished project.  I used the super macro setting but maybe I should only use the macro or nothing and telephoto the shot?  Sorry to ask this here and not on 'how do I' but it's specifically related to this challenge.  The other problem is there's some bling in the thing and I've put it on a black velvet background but maybe a white neutral will help define the beads?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm just loving looking at the work so far. 

Hi Lynne,

I'd go with the no macro, yes zoom, no flash - natural sunlight or an Ott lite or other artifical lighting (only if you're using a "natural daylight" type bulb, other types of light bulbs will make your pics veer to yellow). Lighting should be diffused, not shining directly on the piece, which will help with the bling. A good solution is to rig up a ghetto light box with one of those translucent white plastic bins, put your piece inside on whatever you're using as a background, and place the box in such a way that the light shines through it preferably from behind or above, this will eliminate shadows, tone down the bling, and generally result in a semi-pro picture! The idea is to diffuse the light. The color of the background you use will depend on the colors of your piece - experiment!

For the record, my own pics were taken without the use of anything to diffuse the light, which is natural sunlight - I was lazy and fixed what had to be fixed with my photo-editing software :)

Good afternoon Andrea!

Thanks so much for the help.  As it is totally cloudy and snowing at the moment I will plan my picture taking for the first available time over the weekend.  You are always such a big help regardless of the types of questions people throw out here!  I really enjoy (and learn a lot) from all your answers.

Have a good evening ,

michelle,

Your braclets are beautiful.  I'm kind of new to seed beading so I was wondering when you say continous thread method how long of a piece of thread did you use, and how will the lampwork bead not fray the thread?  I've seem some of these types of beads and was worried they might break the thread if there was any roughness on the inside of the bead and I was also comcerned about the weight of the bead on the thread.  I assume your using Nymo, but maybe not.  BEAUTIFUL WORK.

Thanks,

Debra

vangoghnights:

michelle,

Your braclets are beautiful.  I'm kind of new to seed beading so I was wondering when you say continous thread method how long of a piece of thread did you use, and how will the lampwork bead not fray the thread?  I've seem some of these types of beads and was worried they might break the thread if there was any roughness on the inside of the bead and I was also comcerned about the weight of the bead on the thread.  I assume your using Nymo, but maybe not.  BEAUTIFUL WORK.

 

Thanks,

Debra

Thanks very much Debra. I used 1G thread (which is the new stuff from Toho). The artisan lampwork bead was very nicely clean and fairly smooth (frosted appearance inside but no sharp edges) and I went through the loop and bead at lease 5 times so it should be fairly secure.

Length of thread for a bracelet about 7 inches (excluding the loop/clasp) was to pull the thread with your arms spread the their limit and then half as much again. 1G doesn't tangle nearly as much (I did use thread heaven (wonderful stuff!).

: )

Michele

Hi all,

Welcome to the wonderful world of beading Debra. Trouble is abrewing as you find out your money disappears really quickly and your hubby or boyfriend or whatever is starting to wonder if you're cheating on them. I admit I tend to hide some purchases from hubby. I do not have any local beadstores, so I have to order online. I either have to try to get the mail first or hope that he's sleeping when a package comes to the door. LOL It is rather fun with this little cat and mouse game, though. He eventually sees what I have bought and is okay with it as long as they are not just sitting in a box somewhere. He would rather see me busy creating than sitting here feeling sorry for myself.

Anyways,

 I wanted to address Andreas bracelet here. Andrea-The more I look at your bracelet (#1), the more I see, as far as it's construction and the colors. It is absolutely amazing! The colors are fantastic and I just now looked at your colors list and am amazed how much we think alike. Some of these colors are in one of the color palettes I am looking at for my personal challenge piece. It isn't set in stone, yet, but I am getting closer to starting this piece.

 Also, you stated, you felt overdid on the embellishment. I don't agree with you. I find it very beautiful as it is and it is very tastefully done. I do not wear jewelry(believe it or not, only when I dress to go out for a special event), but I would wear this!!! It will look great with jeans or for a dress-up event.

  I really am having a hard time explaining how I really see this bracelet. It just fascinates me with it's look. (How corny does that sound?) I just really love what you did with it and I only wish I had thought of doing mine this way. I am gonna get to that level of designing and I think you should feel very proud of yourself with this one. I only hope Ruby has been able to get in to see this creation of yours.