May 25, 2011

Bead Table Wednesday - Cuff Bracelets

So I blogged about cuff bracelets on the Art Bead Scene today and had the idea to create a memory wire cuff bracelet with tiny charms at the end.  The first one is made with a mix of peanut seed beads and copper seed bead with one of my petal headpins and a Green Girl Studio pewter nest.

The second one is a little smaller with one of my tiny nest charms, a Vintaj brass bird and 3 amazonite bead dangles.  This color of peanut seed bead is called seafoam and I love it!  Reminds me of robin eggs.

And here we have a big ol' chunky bracelet with 5 stands of peanut seed beads in a copper color.  Using the peanut seed beads adds a nice texture and bulks up the strands.  This one almost reminds me of braided leather.  The charms are one of my tiny starfish and a ceramic sand dollar from Erin of Every Heart Crafts - I wish she still made beads!

So that was my quick afternoon diversion from a million unpainted and half-finished beads.  OH and speaking of quick - I used a handy little bead spinner to whip those seed beads unto the memory wire in just a few minutes. I use the end of the memory wire instead of the curved needle. LoVe that thing!

What's on your Bead Table today?  Are you getting ready for shows, making summer jewelry or just letting the beads speak to you through the piles?

P.S. - you can find peanut beads at Whimbeads.com, Fusionbeads.com or BelloModo.com.

19 comments:

KristiBowmanDesign said...

These are so cool, I so need to use memory wire. Thank you Heather!

Juli Cannon said...

Absolutely beautiful, Heather!

Anonymous said...

Inspirational design. Simple and appealing. Your charms look great on them! And what a cool use of the bead spinner. (I think sales on peanut beads and bead spinners went up today.)

Rebekah said...

I love your new bracelets Heather! Absolutely perfect for summer! ...And thanks for the links. I'm always on the hunt for places to spend money on more beads! :-)

Erin Siegel said...

These are fabulous, Heather! I have to tell you it does pull at my heart strings when I see one of my bead babies being used! Hmmm...maybe polymer clay would fit better into my life these days...

kimmykats said...

Oh Heather, these are wonderful. The ladies of our office have decided we need to have a summer project and these ae right there how fun!!

Off the Beadin' Path said...

What a surprise, I see so few memory wire bracelets and I just had a request for some! Grrreat idea to use the peanut beads, and thanks for the sources. I have some but will need more, more, more. Your beads look perfect with them. All very cute! Thanks for the tip! Hey, see you in Milwaukee!

Cindy said...

Heather, what pretty bracelets!! And that second one, the blue one, sure grabbed me - just LOVE it! :-)
I agree with you...wish Erin was still making her pendants. I'm still hoarding a few myself. :-)

TesoriTrovati said...

Simply.....pretty! I love them. I have never seen the beauty in memory wire, but you, my friend, are changing my mind! What is this bead spinner of which you speak? I am not fluent in seed beadery to understand what that is... but if it makes wrangling those little buggers easier, then count me in!
Enjoy the day!
Erin

Regina said...

Great summer bracelets, and you make it sound so simple.

Little Red Head said...

Gorgeous, I can't get enough of those little peanut beads. Love em!

Anonymous said...

Those are awesome! I've been scared of memory wire, but perhaps now I will give it a try. I've been inspired by you!

My Life Under the Bus said...

Oh my I have tons (feet?) of this I bought on a binge! Must go dig it out!!!

Ashleigh Becker said...

Love those peanut seed beads! I went to Hobby Lobby & got all of the stuff to make one, even the bead spinner!! Only down side - no peanut seed beads, but B&B is only a couple weeks away!

Loris Glassworks said...

I love your work. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
Lori

Gaea said...

So lovely!

Mary said...

Lovely, lovely work! I have been looking to bead a bracelet using just different sizes of seed beads that honors my great aunt - she was an interpretive dancer in the 1930's - 40's & all I can remember of her is long RED hair, matching lips, an arm-load of bakelite bangles & white sunglasses with emerald green lenses. She came to visit once when I was quite young & she was older, but she sat me on her lap & told me about all the people she met & stages she danced on. She told me she found slips "unneccesary" & the only men worth having around were those that could afford good jewelry! At that point, I was sent out to play, lol! She was so exotic in my eyes. I have been searching the web for inspiration, but so far have found nothing. If anyone has a tutorial for sale, or can point me in an art deco direction, I would be most appreciatve. Thank you for your time; this is a lovely site!

Linda Younkman said...

Love these. I love the peanut seed beads and the addition of the charms elevates the lowly memory wire bracelet. I love them.

Unknown said...

Love your bracelet and what you made with it! Really stunning and inspirational design bracelets.
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