Thursday, September 11, 2008

Quene.

I have finished the Ootheca Cuff bracelet kit from the fabulous Rachel Nelson-Smith. This week I worked late into the night (well, late for me at least) on the wirework and adding 270 crystals! I can't give you a direct link to the kit on Rachel's site, but if you click on "Projects" and "Beadweaving" you will find it.

I love the dimensional look of the bracelet. One of the really great things about the Quene colorway is that it's reversible. Today I feel like wearing black.

But the next time I might want to wear white.

The instructions call for a safety chain made out of beads, but instead I did a wire chain and dangled some of the leftover red crystals from it.

A former student of Rachel's is selling some Ootheca Cuffs on Etsy if you'd like to take a look.

Now... what should I work on next?

15 comments:

LeeAnn said...

That is stunning! I want to see what you'll wear with it! It would go perfect with the dress I am wearing to a wedding this weekend. :) excellent job!

Amber Leilani said...

amazing!!! just beautiful!

thanks fo the link to the auction. i couldn't stop thinking about her story all night. i would really like to try and help out if i can.

Christina J. said...

Hi LeeAnn,

I wore it to work yesterday with a white top and black slacks. It was hard to drive to work because I just wanted to look at it! The sun kept catching all the red crystals. Thankfully I didn't crash the car. :)

Hi Amber,

Thanks! I'll be watching the auction site for one of your pieces!

Christina

Anonymous said...

This is simply stunning!!! WOW! How long did it take you to make this?

AJ said...

Great work! I was really interested to see how it would come together, since you posted the black with white and then the white with black. Is it very heavy?

Anonymous said...

Poetry stones? Do you have any pics? Those sounds really cool!

Andrea said...

What an intricate bracelet! I can only imagine the hours involved in creating it. I love that it's reversible so you can wear it twice as much :) Nice work!

Jenn Maruska said...

Wow! That is amazing, Christina!! That bracelet is so cool.

I like the way you handled the wire and remaining crystals - so pretty!

How did you get any work done the day you wore it? I'd spend all day looking at my wrist!!

: D

Christina J. said...

I'm not sure how many hours it took me. I should have logged it! At one point I guessed 80 hours, but I might have been exaggerating. I'm not sure, but I do know it was a whole lot of hours!

It does have some weight to it. It is really comfortable to wear, though.

I've been carrying it around the house with me and setting it by me while I work or whatever so I can admire it.

Is that crazy? Yeah, probably. :)

Melissa J. Lee said...

Wow, beautiful! I wish I had the patience to do this kind of beadwork - I know I'd get an inch into it and then it would end up in a drawer (just like some of my knitting projects, sigh). Do you ever worry about spilling all of the beads on the floor??

Christina J. said...

I do worry about that! I kept all the beads in the individual bags they came in and only put a small amount on my tray at a time. I always have the stray beads that escape the tray. As we hear them bounce across the floor my husband shakes his head at me. :) He used to complain, but he's given up on that. Now he is amused that I can't keep them all on my tray.

Katrin mdmB said...

Oh, wow 8) This is so cool! So the wire was suppose to keep the two layers together? This is really cool piece, really-really :P

The Lone Beader® said...

wow! That's pretty elaborate!

a2susan said...

Hi, Christina. Thanks for visiting my blog. I love your cuff bracelet, you did a fabulous job. Rachel is so creative and has great designs. I took several days of classes with her and she is a lovely person to spend time with.

Unknown said...

What a fantastic job you did with this project.
And I love the reversability of this piece.