Magnetic?

 I finally finished my third Urban Stripes Necklace.  I had run out of the gray background beads and really didn't want to purchase any more.  After doing two long necklaces I was tired of looking at them.  Since this was shorter than the other two, I had this hardware idea in my head for a join. It just took me five months to find the large ball chain and bell ends in nickel to coordinate with the nickel beads in the other two necklaces.

I was finishing things up this afternoon and bumped into my resin magnetic clasp prototypes on the work table.  So then I had to try and see if there was a way to make one bell function as a hidden magnetic clasp. I seem have magnets on the mind these days.

It's a semi-successful idea.  I need to see if I can close the gap on the bell so the joins inside don't show up quite as much.

I like the end look and it all furthers the Urban theme of the pattern set.  You can find a copy of the eBook at Bead-Patterns if you'd like to make your own set.

Creative Interlude

 I have this box of strange stuff that I've been adding to for a couple of years:  wire, keys, rusty things, found objects, etc.

Every once in a while I have a block of spare time to play with the contents of the box.  It's a complete opposite to bead crochet and liberates my creative brain.Wonder what some of it would look like combined with resin?

Then I have this idea for magnetic resin clasps for bead crochet necklaces and bracelets.  I've played around with a couple of prototypes made out of old vintage resin beads.  The idea is great, but I want to control the shapes and colors.  I've some theoretical shapes and colors floating that need to be explored.

I could spend a lot of time finding information on working with resin.  Then I could spend even more time and materials experimenting with it all.

Or, I could go take a workshop.

 Yea, light bulb goes off.... Bead Fest Santa Fe is right around the corner and it's only an 8 hr. drive.

Some quick looks at the Bead Fest site turns up what sounds like the perfect  workshop to learn the basics. The instructor's bio says, " Meredith Arnold is a comedian-artist specializing in jewelry and mixed media work. Her classes are like drinking from a fire hose with information, but lots of fun as well."  Sounds like I might have some fun along with learning something.  

Found a cheap motel room, got gas money and a man willing to take off and drive 16 hrs. round trip...... There was room in the workshop so I am all set to take a creative road trip.  

The icing on the cake is an opportunity to finally meet Mary Tafoya.  I've been in internet touch with her for years and have always liked what she does with beads and found objects. I also hope to catch up with a few other New Mexican beaders that I sort of know.  It's great to be able to put faces and personalities to names.

So now I need to quickly put life responsibilities in order to be able to take off for 4 days.  It'll be a great feeling to go do something so diffrent from my usual creative endevors.

Native Stripes - String-Along Progress

 The members have gotten the last pattern section of Native Stripes and I'm starting to see some beautiful finished pieces.  Just to show you what can be done with individual patterns, Julie made Section #7 into a bracelet.  The fish pattern was deemed to be cute and worthy of use as a stand-alone motif.

 

Karen has finished the necklace that I dubbed "Viking Stripes".  She decided to finish it as a continuous loop necklace.  Compared to the crayon bright that I'm doing, this is such an elegant, sophisticated rope.

Julie also finished hers as a closed loop.  When done this way, they will loop three times around the neck.  The subtle, earthy tones came out just beautiful. 

 As I've said before, it's a unique experience to see what each individual has done with the exact same patterns.  Helen's rope is finished through Section #6.  She used bright colors, but made her own mix. 

Although I like all of the ropes, Mariana's piece is one of my favorites.  The colors are still bright, but don't scream at you.  She's through Section #9 in this photo and it's going to be stunning when done.

Mel is finished, but is waiting for a unique focal bead to finish her necklace.  This is such a glitzy happy piece that I'd almost want to put it on and go dancing.




Two month's worth of patterns, many discussions about colors and beads, and we come to the end of another String-Along.  I'm writing up the finishing instructions and waiting to see more completed necklaces.  This is where I get to see how all of the detail parts/patterns come together.  It's fun!

Clasp Experiment

magnetic focal clasp for bead crochet rope

I had this old, vintage strand of fake amber beads sitting on my work table the other day.  Needing something for a focal-type clasp, my mind started to play with "what-if".


I gave the beads, a pair of magnets and a sample rope piece to a machinist and told him what I was thinking.  This is the prototype result.  What do you think?

I'm not enamored with having to glue a rope into the end of a clasp, but I can't find a solution to otherwise fasten it in.

I stuck the prototype onto my Native Stripes rope to see how it would look.  Now I guess I need to design an 8/0 rope to go with the magnetic clasp that came out of the mind play.

I'm thinking that short pieces of rope endings in 15/0 with 8 to 10-around necklace rope might balance the size better.

Feedback appreciated - especially some way to avoid glue.