Blessings Bracelet, Part 2

The blessings bracelet that I spoke of in the last post is done now. It's in shades of purple and green, with accents of pink and a kind of butter-cream ivory.

So here are the supplies, the finished product and the general technique.

Blessings Bracelet Supplies

As you see in the photo, the supplies are kind of eclectic. I have seed beads, lampwork beads, Swarovski in bicone and cube. Sterling silver is in the bunch, as is gemstone beads in malachite, rhodochistite and jasper.

The clasp is a sterling toggle. I used Soft Flex beading wire for the main part of the bracelet, and Fireline 8 lb. in crystal for the stranding portion.

The Finished Product

As you can see, I don't necessarily favor being symmetrical. As in my lampwork, I prefer to be a bit of a free spirit and favor organic designs.

One thing that's very important in this particular bracelet is that you have to measure carefully, but you also have to keep it very loose for the main part of the bracelet. You'll see why when I talk about the construction technique.

General Technique

First, using the Soft Flex I beaded the main portion of the bracelet in a single row. Between the lampwork beads I put seven size 6 seed beads.

I kept the construction very loose at this point, with beading wire showing. The reason is that I will be moving my needle between and around the seed beads, and I need some slack.

Once I had the main part of the bracelet done and crimped, I started with the stranding section. I tied my Fireline (doubled for strength) between two beads on the "outside" of the lampwork beads. I then threaded the needle through the beads until I came out through a lampwork bead.

At this point, I put random beads on my string and threaded them around and through the size six seed beads. The reason I chose this size seed beads is because they have a very large hole, and can accommodate many passes through of the thread and needle.

And that's basically it. I just added beads until (in this case) I ran out of thread. You could do that, or create a more symmetrical stranding and stop sooner.

I hope you've enjoyed this, and so I'll leave you with some lampwork that's awfully pretty to look at.