Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas and Echo Creative Club Reveal!

Time for the second reveal with Jeannie Dukic's Echo Creative Club!

Here's what she sent me for December. Click on the picture to see the post where I name this bead "The Blue Forest".


It took me the longest time to figure out what to do with this. I started on Dec 8th, and finished only yesterday, on Dec 23rd! The focal wanted to be many different things, first a necklace, then a bracelet. It wanted to be paired with many different colors, first white, then red. Then it flitted back and forth between pendant and bracelet. It eventually settled on bracelet. Then went back and forth on how it wanted to be finished. Its such a long story, that I myself do not remember most of it!

I will cut the epic short and show you the end result.



I started off with the beaded loop around the focal. Was planning it as a pendant at the time, with the loop at the bottom. But once it was done, I liked it sitting sideways.




The fancy clasp is something I found while perusing old copies of Step-By-Step Wire Jewelry to find some interesting connectors. I knew I wanted to do this one the minute I saw it. I read through the instructions, and turned to last page, when I saw who the contributor was. No wonder I loved it at first sight. It was my close friend, Cindy Wimmer! Bet she will be proud of me :-)

I had asked folks in the CBC group on Facebook to help me figure out how to make a cascade of beads. I did tell them I wanted it to look like a bunch of grapes, but in the end, I went with a more free-flowing dangle. Like this. They are not sitting properly in this picture though :((
And I made a slight variation of the clasp for the other end of the focal. When I added that little red seed bead, the color looked very much like that of the larger red ones. But take it out in the sunshine, and you see whole new thing :((


I finished it off with two different chains in the back. Simply because I know everyone types, and large beads brushing against your desk or keyboard is highly annoying!
Here's another picture of it...just because I clicked it, lol :-)
So there you have it :-) Played around with Polyvore this morning, and this is how I would style it!



Thank you, Jeannie! I love the focal and its brilliant color. And am still amazed I made a bracelet. I am no good at them!

Please do visit the other participants for more eye candy :-)
Cindy Cima Edwards http://www.cindycima.com/
Donna Martin Bradley http://strandedbeads.blogspot.com/
You are here => Kashmira Patel http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

28 comments:

  1. Oh my Kashmira, I'm proud of you. What a unique and innovative design. That little seed bead on clasp just brings a smile to my face.
    This epic story had a GREAT ending. Thank you Kashmira and Merry Christmas to you.

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    1. Thank you, Jeannie :)
      The seed bead surprised me when I took it outside to take pictures, haha :)

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  2. The red is the perfect accent! It makes the blue of the bead just pop. Beautiful bracelet!

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  3. Very cool bracelet! love what you created with that beautiful bead! Love your connectors too!

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    1. Thank you, Cindy! I think the connectors are my favorite part...the new thing I learned with this piece :)

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  4. A gorgeous bracelet. I love your design with the sweet 'berries' and that lovely clasp.

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    1. I know...the berries, they look so juicy, right? :-)

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  5. Kashmira... what do you mean you're no good at making a bracelet?! this is wonderful! Nicely done, beautiful flow to the whole piece :)

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    1. LOL, thank you! What I meant was, I am *usually* no good with them, as in I am never happy with what I make as fa as bracelets go, and I struggle so much! I struggled with this one too, but like it in the end :)

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  6. What a unique bracelet, Kashmira! I would never have thought to make a beaded loop around the focal. The clasp turned out really well. You always come up with very innovative designs. :-) Like the color combo as well.

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    1. Thank you, Lisa :-) Not sure where the loop idea came to me from either, lol!

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  7. Kashmira, I absolutely LOVE your bracelet!! Now how in the world can you say you're "no good" at them?? I think this design really rocks! The color combination complements Jeannie's pretty focal nicely - and I really like how you embellished the focal with one strand of beads. The dangles are a great touch - adds great visual interest. And I'm so glad to hear you found some inspiration in one of my old SBS Wire articles - that is such a thrill for me to hear. Well done, Kashmira! :-)

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    1. Hey Cindy,
      Oh, what I meant was I am usually not good at them, I struggle a lot, unlike other things. And yes, the connectors are my favorite bit of this bracelet :) I used a thinner wire than you had though, but it still worked.

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  8. So pretty, Kashmira... looks like it would fit right in with the December ABS Challenge, also!

    Happy Holidays, and hope you are enjoying some downtime at work?

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    1. Oh yeah, work has been in "down-time" for a while now....too much fun going on there, and 4 days of holidays. I have to go back tomorrow, but we'll see....whether i feel like it or not :-)

      ANd I made something for the ABS entry too...its on my FB, check it out when you have a minute!

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  9. Merry Christmas Kashmira,
    Beautiful bracelet! You did a wonderful job with the focal bead that Jeannie sent to you.
    Therese

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    1. Thank you, Therese :-) Merry Christmas to you too!

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  10. A very Merry Christmas and an awesome new year to you too :)

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  11. Merry Christmas, Kashmira - see, you *can* make bracelets :) I love your design and the clasp is gorgeous too!

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    1. Thanks Alicia! I am hoping to make more bracelets and do more wire work this year!

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  12. What a fantastically unique design! From the colors to the swirls to the varying textures ... beautiful!

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    1. Thank you, Lola! I do love the variety in there too, that's what makes it one-of-a-kind, isn't it :)

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  13. Sounds like you went as many rounds with your design as I did with mine, but with better results! Very pretty! Your color and design choices really allow the focal to shine. Beautiful.

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    1. Thanks so much, Karen! Yes, bracelets always give me a hard time, am so glad it ended up well :)

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  14. I would not have gone with those colors but WOW you really made them shine! Maybe I have to rethink my color issues!

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    1. Kristen, thanks! Red and blue are my go-to colors. In fact, if you look at my store, red and blue in different shades is what you will see a lot of!

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  15. What a creative design!! I too don't normally use red and blue but you really make it work!! I love the entire outfit you paired it with too.

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    1. Thanks Jessica! I thought red and blue was quite common. I made a treasury even with those colors in mind. Here:
      http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTk0Njg1MzB8MjcyMzc1Mjg3NA/pretty-red-and-blue-things?index=2

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