Cuffed!

I have to admit to being a bit of an art slut.  As soon as I see an interesting project, I just have to go for it.  That's what happened recently when I saw my friend Teri's beaded cuff bracelet.  As soon as I got home I started ordering supplies.  They all arrived this week and I got to beading.  I didn't have to order any seed beads as I already have a stash of those.  Big surprise.  But I did get to spend a pleasant hour or two choosing some cabachons.  I ordered the brass bracelet blank, the material you actually do the beading on, the lining, the thread and the needles HERE.  They also have some very clear written directions, which were very helpful.  I got the cabachons HERE.

Teri was working from a book by Sherry Serafini, which, believe it or not, I do not own, but between seeing Teri's bracelet in person and reading some directions online I got the general idea. 

This is NOT difficult, but it is time consuming, and working with small beads and a very thin needle requires good lighting, so there was no 2:00am beading going on.  I'd work on it for an hour or so, go off to do something else, then pick it up again when I felt like it. 

You know I like to share my observations, so if this is something you'd like to try, I do have some thoughts that might help you.

You can't have too many needles and you MUST have a needle threader.  Working with these seed beads requires a #12 needle, which is very thin, very sharp, and easily bent.  I ordered a pack of 6 needles and went through 4 of them.

To have a really finished looking piece on the underside, I see now that having the lining (I used ultra suede) and the thread color match would have been much better.  But when I placed my order, the black ultrasuede I really wanted was out of stock, and being impatient (and an art slut) I just ordered what they had, which was grey.  I'd just as soon not have those black stitches visible, but it's hardly the end of the world. 

I have plenty of bracelet blanks so this won't be my last bracelet, but right now I'm thinking of ways to use this technique to make some bold dangly earrings.  Stay tuned.....