Thanks to my mother's dear friend, Mikkey, an opportunity to learn the Dutch spiral fell into my lap. She sent a necklace kit for me to make up for her. Perfect! The beads were included, as well as wonderfully detailed instructions. I made my way through the pattern, row-by-row. It took me about 5 hours start to finish, which I think was pretty good time.
This blue version went back to #11 seed beads, and I added some deep iridescent fringe beads, which poke out of the design. Wonderful textural interest there!
More experimenting with color here: Reds, lavender, brown, green, and gold.
The ends of the rat-tail cord are embellished with tubular peyote stitch "cuffs" and beautiful art-glass button closures.
The original pattern had the bead embellishment as individually stitched parallel circles of beads. I didn't love this finishing method - the rows didn't nestle together neatly, and it took much longer to do than the peyote stitched ones I did later on.
These three necklaces are available through my Etsy shop - click on the pictures to view the individual listings. I'm hoping these will take off as they are a lot of fun to make!
Working with this new technique had me singing this fantastic song by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross as I stitched...
As I watched this, I wondered, "So WHEN does she get to take a breath?!?" Amazing phrasing there...
14 comments:
In awe (as usual)
oops!
that was me
Hello Kate,
I love the blue version.
~ Gabriela ~
I think I'm in love! Nice of Mikkey to come up with another kit for you to put together! :D :D
kate, you have left me totally speechless (i think i said the same thing the last time you finished a "mikkey kit"!)....your work is absolutely beautiful, and your attention to detail just blows me away! i can't imagine that these will be in your etsy shop for very long....
and....oh how i love these you tubes that you find! the scene reminds me of the old dick van dyke shows when they'd "have some people over" and everyone would be all dressed up, singing, playing the piano and dancing right there in that fabulous living room! good times, huh?!
hugs, :)
OM Goodness!! Kate your bead work is truly A M A Z I N G !!!!! I had fun watching all the music videos. Thanks for posting them.
Nancy
(Me, walking in to work one Monday morning wearing my favorite cocoa brown blouse with the fabulous teal spiral necklace)
"Ahem."
(Coworkers, gathering around)
"Oooh!! Aaah! Gorgeous necklace! It's like art! Wherever did you get it?"
(Me preening and prancing ever so slightly)
"Oh it's an *original* Kate Tracton."
(Boss, who loves beadwork)
"Thank you for showing it to us, I am so inspired! Take the day off with pay!"
(Everyone claps as I exit stage left for a fabulous day of shopping and spas)
Must.be.mine.
PS GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
You did it again...simply stunning!
holy smokes, Kate ... these are simply incredible! I especially love the blue one. :)
OMGoodness! Your work is incredibly beautiful! I LOVE it! Thank you for sharing those beautiful photos of your fabulous work!
I wanted to let you know that I'm having a giveaway! Be sure to come on over and join in!
Ya know, a lot of tatters put beads in their work! ;)
Wow! I really like these. I love the idea of making a "bead" out of beads and using the cording for a more understated look.
Way to go!
These are beautiful!I would've thought those took longer than five hours to create~my favorite is the peacock colored one:)
Do you ever make beaded headpieces? When I look at these I can see a slightly altered version that would look great worn in the hair:)
Hope all is great! As you ca see I'm up late trying to find some time to blog:)Have a great week~
I don't know how you DO it! These are intricate and beautiful! And to think you already made some many...leaves me out of breath! Love your choice of colors in each one. Happy sales!
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