There will not be a Day 4. I am done!! And I went ahead and finished the first one too.
I made the triangles into charms.
BEFORE
AFTER
Tag Archives: charm bracelet
26 Months To Finish This!! No Way!!
Way!!
I couldn’t believe it either. But it’s true. I looked back at my posting when I finished the necklace. April 15, 2008.
https://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/sneaking-beads/
No clue why I never finished the bracelet. Guess I wasn’t inspired.
Until now. My new stuff. My word charms did the trick.
I have more of these peyote tube sections started. Have enough to make a 2nd bracelet. Hope it doesn’t take another 2 years!!
Charm Bracelet: Animal Planet On A Chain
Wednesday, July 30
Oh, my aching hands. Wirewrapping over 50 items will do that.
I had been wanting to make something with these beads for months. A friend sent me craft supplies she thought I could use in the jewelry I make. Ladybugs, butterflies, birds (both metal and plastic) and cat faces. I added them with the fish, turtles and elephants I already had and started making a charm bracelet.
As far as making it colorful, that happened by accident. My original plan was to add just a hint of color and focus on the metal beads. The butterflies were light lavender and the plastic birds were light aqua. After I decided to jazz it up, I searched my bead stash and came up with enough lavender, purple, turquoise and aqua beads to soften the metal look.
The bracelet base is a double strand of dark gray chain links connected with a sterling silver toggle clasp.
I decided not to wirewrap the pieces directly to the chain. Except for the black fish, each item is separately wirewrapped. Everything is attached to the chain links with jump rings. I am so glad I did because I changed and moved things around many times. Trying for balance of size, shape and color.
I knew I would get confused on where to place everything so I took a picture before beginning.
A lot of good that photo did me, LOL, because once I got to the green glass cat, I started making changes. The cat got ditched. Too large and my wirewrapping was horrible. The holes went ear-to-ear and I haven’t perfected wirewrapping going side to side. I will stick with bottom to top. The Tigers Eye elephant also got shelved. The brown stuck out like a sore thumb. I almost removed the ivory turtle but left it in to balance that side of the bracelet.
After attaching all the animals and birds, I started filling in the empty spaces. That’s when the color explosion happened. I kept adding glass beads until I was satisfied.
I hate to admit it but I spent roughly 10 hours working on this bracelet. I was on a mission!! I took several breaks but kept at it until it was finished. I like to think, I kept going with the fear my newly mastered wirewrapping skills would regress. 😀
I also made earrings. I had set aside several pieces I wanted to use and made them after completing the bracelet.
I took quite a few pictures trying to get different views to show you. So, what do you think?
