If at first you don't succeed....

 Recently, after a long day at my "regular job", I decided to try making a bracelet from scratch without using a pattern to follow. I knew that I wanted blue diamonds surrounded by a complimentary color. I started out with blue and violet ESO beads. As I went along, I figured out how I wanted to add the beads to make my geometrical shapes. In the end, I was glad to be done (designing is harder than it looks!).

The next morning I looked at the work I did the night before, and found three glaring errors!! The horror!!! I was also a little disappointed in the color combination I used. The blue did not "pop" against the violet beads.

SO -  I bit the bullet and took apart the whole thing! I replaced the violet beads with a yellow gold and paid closer attention to the pattern (NO MORE MISTAKES!!)

In the end, I think I am pleased with the result, and like this better than the original. Sometimes, you just gotta keep on trying. And also, I now have a nice pattern to make more of these bracelets.

I am not kidding myself that this design has not already been done before! It is a simple pattern that I have seen in Native American beadwork for example. However, it was a nice adventure into the unknown and a good learning experience in designing a woven bracelet on my own.

Perhaps in the future I will make something really complex and special, but this will do for now!

Happy beading  -  Betsy

One busy weekend in Spring!

Fresh off the Bead Mat. Still needs fasteners!

These need ear wires!