Sunday, September 7, 2008

Stretching Myself Creatively

This was another recent project for a friend of mine. She needed a birthday gift for her neighbor who had a really nice new ring with a shell like finish to it. My friend wanted to have something designed to compliment that ring. I sent her some shell bead images to see what might work. She selected a pink shell from Artbeads that was described as "freeform." (i.e. no two pieces are the same shape or size)

This seemed like it could be a challenge as I am used to beads being pretty uniform. The shell beads were lovely but needed to be assembled like a puzzle. And what would I put with them? The photo below shows some of my ideas which I again asked people which they liked. And like before with the bronze and ivory pearl bracelets, I always got a different answer from each person I asked.



The sample on the top row had roundish ivory fresh water pearls, the center piece has flat purple fresh water pearls and the bottom piece uses stick pearls, one of my favorite beads ever.

My friend selected the version with the stick pearls and here is the finished piece. The light pink color looks so pretty when held up to your wrist. I sprinkled some sand out of the sand dollar for the last image!



7 comments:

Unknown said...

The bracelet turned out beautifully! Isn't it great when you try something outside your norm and succeed? :)

Carmen

Kristin said...

That bracelet is beautiful..I see how it was puzzle-like..very pretty!

Anonymous said...

Kim I agree--I love those biwa stick beads---they have that lovely pearl opalescence, but still show wonderful texture and natural shape! What a lovely piece--your friend must be delighted to give such a lovely gift! Teri
sandtcreations.com/wordpress

A Beaded Affair said...

Being a picture straightener this project would have driven me crazy. In my world everything around me has to be straight, level, plumb and square so that my mind can go in all the tangents and circles that make me happy.
You did a wonderful job on the bracelet and I bet she is very happy.
Lois
http://www.abeadedaffair.com

Wezz said...

Wow, I really love that bracelet! As I was reading your post, and looking at the pic with the 3 different versions I had my mind made up and was curious to find out which one would be "the choosen one". Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be my favorite!! :-)))

Hugs,
Wezz - http://cyberwezz.blogspot.com

Dave Robertson said...

Cool pearls & shell beads!!

They remind me of some cool varieties that we take out "on the road" to our bead shows...

Nice!

--Dave
at Rings & Things

KimberlyRies said...

Thanks to all for the comments. It was fun to try something different and create something I was really happy with!