Saturday, November 17, 2012

Post #3: Beads on the Vine and a new UFO: Beadweaving bracelets

Somewhere around 9 or 10 years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a glorious time in San Luis Obispo, CA, which is in wine country. I was there to attend Beads on the Vine, which is a multi-day workshop held in a winery overlooking the beautiful scenery of the vineyards and rolling hills. Each of the three days featured a different instructor and a different beadweaving project. The three world-renowned teachers were NanC Meinhart, Carol Wilcox Wells, and Cynthia Rutledge. If you're not familiar with their work I highly recommend you search for them on the Internet. Their work is awe-inspiring.

In Cynthia's class I made a peyote stitch brooch of Delica beads adorned with semi-precious stones.















In NanC's class I made a right angle weave cuff bracelet with a frothy fringe.  

In Carol's class I made a bracelet of chevron chain with lots of sparkle added.
 

I am happy to report that I completed all three of these projects at the retreat. What an accomplishment! (Maybe that's because I don't drink wine)?
Now for the UFO part(s):
     The clasp on the bracelet I made in Carol's class broke at some point. This is such an easy fix, I have no idea why I have not done it yet! I love this bracelet and it fits me perfectly as long as it has a working clasp. That may be one of the things I hope will come of me writing this blog. Maybe it will motivate me to move on with some of the things I have been stalling on. Maybe not. We shall see....
     The cuff bracelet I made in NanC's class closes with three large snaps and fits around your wrist so that it doesn't spin around too loosely. After the retreat I lost quite a bit of weight and it was huge, too huge for me to wear without making some adjustments. This would involve removing the snaps, running some beading thread through where I want the bracelet to now end to secure the beads, cutting away the excess, re-securing the beads, and reattaching the snaps for the closure. It really would not be a big deal, maybe an hour or two if I take my time. Once again, why have I not done this? Do I sound like a crazy person? Sometimes I'm such a procrastinator. I can't be the only nut who keeps moving on to the next project. Am I?
     Fast forward to 2012, yes, this year! I pulled out another one of Cynthia Rutledge's kits that I had purchased long ago and started the project. It was going along quite nicely. Really it was. Here are pictures (at least, pictures of how far I've progressed, so far):



That was sometime back in the spring. I'll keep you posted if and when I get back to it.

Peace in creativity,

Meryl

2 comments:

  1. Wow! These are incredibly beautiful! You are really talented! I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    ~Jenna

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    1. Thanks, Jenna. What a nice thing to say. I really appreciate your comments.

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