A Beader Special

[Pearl Dreams]

Can you have one spiral wire running the length of the bracelet to hold the "piglets" in?
Or two wires spiraling in opposite directions?

It is gorgeous!

 

[barbie biggs]

I guess 347.
Boo:
Have you tried winding the wire slightly 'around' a pen or other smooth object before fitting it? It won't have quite the same straight lines but will have less tension. Maybe that would reduce the 'piglet popping' effect. Sorry I'm so inept with pictures or I'd demonstrate. You could actually put the same slight wind in all 4 wires at the same time so it would look consistent throughout. I do this with earrings sometimes and it works fine.
barbie

 

[barbie biggs]

Fabulous bracelet.

 

[Heidi]

I still love this and am still laughing at the piglets image...

My guess is 218.

 

[Slraep]

Slraep - with all the respect in the world to Jeremy, who I am sure has enough charms of his own, can we just leave our new James Bond in a special class all by himself.... even my 15 year old daughter just sits and drools.

Poor Jeremy.

 

[la_corsetiere]

I'm guessing 165.

And I do love that bracelet! Perhaps the pearls would be less greased-piglet-like if you twisted the wires so they spiraled around the pearls a bit.

Sheri

 

[Nerida]

OK, I should have added..

..over Daniel Craig.


and if she was drooling over Jeremy, I would probably agree - poor Jeremy! I am sure he doesn't need a bunch of teenaged groupies.

 

[laurenb]

OK, I should have added..

..over Daniel Craig.

and if she was drooling over Jeremy, I would probably agree - poor Jeremy! I am sure he doesn't need a bunch of teenaged groupies.

The mental image of a multilingual, meticulous Gen Xer circling the globe and sorting treasures with a discerning eye is pretty swoon-worthy though, one must admit.


That's a beautiful bracelet! Those little piggies should stay put-- they just don't realize how good they have it!

Would the addition of a very fine mesh organically draped/bunched around the pearl help provide some traction? Maybe use a less flexible wire?

Or perhaps working one wire or a pair of twisted wires (perhaps half the gauge, so it would add up to the same gauge, or perhaps much finer in gauge ) diagonally around the basket, end to end? You could make it perpendicular to the existing wires, but I think that would be hard to secure and wouldn't work that well with the aesthetic of the bracelet.

I added a dreadful sketch for clarity's sake... you could have more or fewer circumnavigations and if the pearls still wanted to make a break for it, you could go around the other way, making an X/diamond shape.

If you used a twisted pair of wires, you could actually have your existing basket wires go in between the two wires, creating a stabilizing structure without covering up much more of the pearl, though the wire that passed to the inside might scratch the pearl... hmm...

 

[boo]

Wow - thanks, guys - those are all great suggestions. I won't be able to add anymore wires unless I find a different bead to use between the pearls - the lumen on these can only accommodate the 6 strands (they are onnly crimp beads, but I really like the look in this application). I may try a heavier gauge of wire, but I don't want to overwhelm the dainty pearls. Twisting the wires into a spiral basket may be the easiest next step, and then I can move on to the wire "weaving" if that doesn't do the trick. I actually do have a tubular mesh that is another way I want to play with these pearls, but I don't have anything on hand that I can use to separate the individual pearls in the mesh, except just a thread in matching color (the mesh is a silvery light blue). Some crimp bead covers will probably do the trick, but I need to order them. Sadly, I need to start concentrating on gift wrapping and last-minute shopping, so it may be a few days until I can return to this idea...

 

[Nerida]

Boo, I love this bracelet just as it is. All the suggestions to make it work are fantastic, too - but would it just be easier to get the pearls drilled somewhere but still make the bracelet look the way it dos now?? It seems like a lot of effort to avoid drilling...


I was fully intending to buy a drill when I was in HK - got completely sidetracked spending too many hours choosing and pairing white round pearls and ran out of time. It is definitely on my "to do" list fo next time.

 

[jerin]

Hi Boo,

I second Nerida in that perhaps it would be best to have the pearls drilled as I like the style very much, that you use in the original bracelet. it is charming and perhaps we other beaders may copy it as well?

 

[robinmce]

That bracelet is so pretty. I'm still waiting for rounds and peach/lavender undrilled.

My guess is 242

 

[boo]

Yes, I will definitely be repeating the bracelet with drilled pearls - I really like the look, and using drilled pearls will let me keep the clean lines and thin wires. I am waiting for some of the oval strands, and I need to get some more findings to redo it. I will keep you posted! However, I do still want to rise to the challenge of finding ways to use the undrilled pearls, so I will see if I can rework it in some way to let me use them

It's funny - what has happened is that in trying to find ways to use the undrilled lot, I am getting great ideas for things to do with the drilled pearls I have on hand. For instance, the mesh idea doesn't work very well for the undrilled pearls since they get rather overwhelmed, but it is great for some lumpy almost-klonks I have.

Inge, you (and everyone else) are always welcome to copy anything that I make...

 

[boo]

Okay, folks - there is a little under a day to take a stab at the contest. As of right now I have:
amanes1 - 160
Hanaleimom - 125
Nerida - 297
Pearl_dreams - 220
Drucilla - 181
Amrita - 171
barbie biggs - 347
Heidi - 218
la_corsetiere - 165
robinmce - 242

If I am missing a guess, let me know. I finished up the earrings: winner gets their choice of one of these 4 pairs. First is 2 pearls in luscious berry colors with a Hill Tribes silver spacer in between; second is a lavender pearl suspended over a s/s hoop with 3 round amethysts; third is a pair of white pearls with tiny g/f beads; and fourth is a trio of pearls (peach/white/lavender) on a s/s hoop. The last pair gave me some trouble finding a good lavender match, so the right-most earring shows that the pearl is a bit undersized. The other hoop has a better size match.

 

[pattye]

Gosh, is it too late to guess--223!

 

[GemGeek]

How about 210?

 

[dkan 168]

288 :d

Dk :d

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They are all very pretty, Boo.

How are you managing to do all this with Christmas around the corner??!

 

[boo]

Okay, the envelope has been opened and the actual number was 198 pearls, so it appears that the winning entry is GemGeek with 210!

Blaire, let me know which earrings you would like and PM me your address.

 

[boo]

Aw, heck - you know what, guys? It's Christmas time! Jeremy gave us an amazing deal on the pearls and I have bunches left (plus some ovals on the way), so I'm just gonna give away all the earrings to the 4 closest guesses. That means first choice goes to Blaire who was off by 12, second choice goes to Drucilla who was off by 17, third choice goes to Heidi who was off by 20 and whatever is left goes to Pearl_dreams who was off by 22

Thanks for playing! I had a lot of fun making the earrings, although I must confess to having developed a great deal of respect for the folks who sort pearls into strands - it is a lot of hard work to match them up!

Oh, and I made my first necklace from the mixed rounds as well - 7 pearls wire wrapped together on a s/s chain. Like everybody else, I am really busy shopping, wrapping and baking, but I tend to design things in my head during my commute and I have the pearls still in that box lid in front of me at the computer where I just play around with sorting and matching them while I surf. The actual construction part doesn't take that long and I find it very enjoyable and relaxing, so I have been squeezing it in to help keep me sane during the holiday bustle