There’s nothing like a new craft book to get me motivated and scurrying off to my studio. A few weeks ago, I received a copy of beader extraordinaire Laura McCabe’s Embellished Beadweaving: Jewelry Lavished with Fringe, Fronds, Lacework & More (Beadweaving Master Class Series)
The book shows how to make several beaded floral components that can be mixed and matched to add a little movement and frill to a design. I was also inspired by the way she uses color. During the class I took from her, I worked with beads from one of her pre-assembled kits and I learned a lot from the bead colors that she put together. I see more of that genius for color palettes here, too.
I decided to “shop my stash” and see what raw materials I could put together as a starting point for an embellished beaded piece. I pulled out beads, buttons, and a few stamped metal pieces, confining my color palette to pinks and greens.
I started with the chain, following a pattern from the book. The rest of the piece was improvised, using circular peyote stitch, tubular peyote stitch, netting, and some embellishing.
