Back in April Diana over at the the Suburban Girl Studio blog decided to host a waxed linen twine blog hop. Since some of my first jewelry videos were done using waxed linen twine, I thought it would be fun to participate.
She recommended we incorporate an art bead, so I pulled out a few green & gold lampwork beads I’d made a while back. Then I started digging through my bead stash.
Imagine my surprise when after piling every possibility onto my workspace I discovered I had an ombre blend of colors!
The next decision was how to put them all together. Kumihimo seemed like a good way to keep all the beads close enough to enhance the gradient effect.
(Don’t know what kumihimo is? This link will bring you to a post with some links explaining the kumihimo braiding process.)
I used brown & black waxed linen twine to do the kumihimo braiding. Btw, I wouldn’t recommend going any larger than 12mm beads with kumihimo, as those dark green crystals just barely fit through the hole in my braiding disk
Then, it seemed to be calling for some funky metal. I’d made a bunch of copper “Little Orbits” from Cindy Wimmer’s book, The Missing Link.
After trying all sorts of configurations with the long tail ends of linen twine, I finally just strung them over all eight strands of twine. Sorta like those sections full of jump rings you see.
I love all the different textures AND the color kind of continues the gradient.
It only took a few minutes to make matching toggle clasp components, and those were just square knotted onto the twine. (That’s the lovely thing about the wax in waxed linen, those knots will never, ever slip.)
A few leftover beads were tied onto the tail ends, and that was that.
Oh, and I ended up not using the original lampwork beads that got it all started, funny how that happens quite often.
Here are all the other bloggers participating in this challenge. Happy blog hopping and happy creating!
- Diana Ptaszynski
- Kelsy Vincent
- Susan Kennedy
- Linda Landig
- Kashmira Patel
- Jenny Davies-Reazor
- Vanessa Gilkes
- Sandy Huntress (You are here.)
- Kay Thomerson
- Sarajo Wentling
- Kari Asbury
- Rebecca Anderson
- Melissa Trudinger
- Ann Schroeder
- Shai Williams
- Blanca Medina
- Cheryl Brown
- Johana Nunez Rivera
- Lori Bowring Michaud
- Kelly Morgan
- Barbara Bechtel
- Kristen Stevens
- Heather Boardman
- Janet Bocciardi
- Kathy Lindemer
- Lesley Watt
- Susan Kolovson
- Jayne Capps
- Michelle McCarthy
- Cynthia Deis
- Karla Morgan
- Erin Siegel
- Becky Pancake
- Kelly Hosford Patterson
- Sharyl McMillian-Nelson
- Inge von Roos
- Carolyn Lawson
- Linda Younkman
- Sandi Volpe
- Toltec Jewels
- Michelle Mach
- Jen Cameron
- Dorothy Winchell
- Darlene Mansue
- Cory Tompkins
That is gorgeous. I love it so much. Are you putting it up in your etsy store?
I’m glad you like it, Robin. I may put it in the Etsy store, hadn’t really thought about it.
Amazing! This bracelet is simply amazing. I love everything about it. I love ombre. The last few weeks I have admired quite a few things using kumihimo, so now I’m going to have to learn that! Love how you added the metal orbit rings. This is really beautiful. Great reading about your process. Thanks for the post!
Thanks so much, Ann!
OMG I love this! The use of color is stunning! Also, I love that you did kumihimo with the waxed linen. Fabulous piece! Thanks for participating!
Diana, that color blend just sort of happened all by itself on my desk as I hauled out beads. I almost feel like I shouldn’t take credit for it, lol. Thanks for stopping by and thanks again for hosting!
Sandy, Your bracelet is awesome. I love the ombre effect and you achieved it very well. Thanx for the tip on not using big beads when doing kumihimo. Isn’t Cindy’s book wonderful? I have been inspired by it several times. I did kumihimo in one of my BSBP8 projects so I wanted something different here.
Thanks for stopping by, Becky. I’ll have to check out your kumihimo work on the bead soup project. Cindy’s book is indeed wonderful and so very inspiring.
What a glorious bracelet and very original design – beautiful.
Thank you, Lesley!
I LOVE your bracelet and the great colors and the copper orbits.
Thanks, Susan! I love how when I made those orbits I hadn’t a clue what to do with them, but now they just seem to have been made for that bracelet.
Wow! Gorgeous bracelet. Your work is stunning. The ombre color effect is magnificent. Your bracelet is beautiful and very stylish. I love how you incorporated quite a few current trends in your piece, from the ombre to the kumihimo technique to the copper elements and the beaded tassel at the end. Well played, my friend. Well played. Also, I love the waxed linen bracelet tutorial you reference at the beginning of your post. I will be checking that out later for sure. Love it and it’s so right up my ally. I’m very happy to have been introduced to you and your blog. Nice to “meet” you! 🙂
Thanks so much, Erin, that means a lot coming from you!
I hope you like bracelet tutorial, it was one of my first and my video & photography skills have improved quite a bit since then.
You did an awesome job with the ombre effect. I like the introduction of the copper with the crystals, too. Great job!
Thanks so much, Janet!
Oh wow! Your bracelet is incredible! I love the ombre effect and the copper at the end gave it just the extra push into spectacular.
Aw, you guys are so nice. Thanks!
HOW FUN! I love the addition of the copper links. What a cool and unexpected touch.
Isn’t it great that those links were just lying around, waiting for something to be done with them?
Thanks for coming by, Kelsy!
I love your bracelet! It is gorgeous & the ombre color effect is fabulous – so eye catching! Kumihimo is so much fun. I like the copper rings you added. They give the bracelet an eclectic feel & yet elegant at the same time!
Thank you, Karla! Kumihimo is fun, if time consuming.
WoW. I love this. I didn’t think about using waxed linen for kumihimo but that is inspiring. You addition of the metal really turned this up a notch Love it!
I probably wouldn’t have thought of it either, except that it seemed like the best thing for what I wanted to accomplish. Thanks for your nice comments!
Gorgeous! Love your story of how it all came together and the bracelet is really beautiful!
Thanks, Kari, and thanks for stopping by.
What a great bracelet. The color and design are wonderful.
Thank you so much, Kathy!
Your bracelet is simply stunning! Gorgeous work. Yeah, that’s all I’ve got… I’m in awe of the overall effect.
You guys and all your kinds comments…. thank you!
I really love so many elements of your design…the ombre palette, the kumihumino, the little orbits, the decision to add a section of metal at the end. Very cool design!
I love your bracelet. Love the Kumihimo braiding and the color gradient. And the copper discs from Cindy’s book are great with this. They really fit in with the colors. Wonderful bracelet.
Your bracelet is beautiful – the ombre effect with that color palette is just spectacular! Great job!
So beautiful job Sandy!! I have the Missing Link book too and its an excellent resource. :)))
Wow! I love the ombre effect, love the kumihimo! Just beautiful!
Wow, I really love the ombre effect you came up with! Serendipity! I love that you did kumihimo, I didn’t think of that with waxed linen cord. I love your copper embellishments and your clasp too!
Hi Sandy,
Your bracelet is gorgeous! I love the colors and those copper rings are the icing on the cake.
Therese
The gradient effect how beautiful. I don’t know much about Kumihimo, but now I’m curious. What lovely work.
Wow, this piece is stunning! How clever to use kumihimo and the ombre colorway! You make me want to pull out my kumihimo disc!
Absolutely love your ombre bracelet. Fantastic mix of colors and textures.
Oh my gosh Sandy, what an absolutely fabulous bracelet! I would wear that ALL the time! I’ve had a kumihimo disk and booklet for years that I haven’t tried (well, I’ve had lots of supplies for years that I haven’t used yet) because it intimidates me! The look is wonderful! The copper was a nice, unexpected add as well. Just great!!
This is one of the classiest creations I have seen in this hop. Very pretty…love the colors, the style, everything. I am in total awe of your talent!
Stunning! I had thought of kumihimo for an evening, but wasn’t sure it would work with waxed linen instead of satin. So pleased to see it certainly does! And thank you for sharing your tut links. Much appreciated! And again, as for your glowing design: WOW! You knocked it out of the ball park. Exquisite & I love that you incorporated wirework along with an ombre cascade of marvelous beads ! Beautiful, breathtaking, brilliant. Happy Hopping! ♥ Rita
All that texture!!! Gorgeous!
Well, I came over to your blog via your YouTube channel. I wasn’t able to get to all the participants in this blog hop, so I was thrilled to see that you used the waxed cord in kumihimo! I adore kumihimo, and this is a stunning example of it. Absolutely love how you ended it with all those lovely copper links and the toggle. Well done!
I think this might be my favorite design out of all the blogs I’ve visited. Gorgeous!
Thank you so much, Jen!