Weekly Feature - Spring Fling Flower
Many jewelry designers get inspiration from other pieces of jewelry. This doesnt mean, however, that we “copy” other artists work. My “Spring Fling Flower” is a good example of this. I saw a picture in a magazine of Drew Barrymore wearing a Austrian crystal orchid bracelet at the 1999 Oscars. The bracelet reminded me of a wrist corsage. Beaded flowers are also very popular, and even though Id never made one before, I figured I could figure out a way to use the idea of this flower wrist corsage to create a bead and wire flower. Of course, my flower cannot compare to the one on Drews wrist, but it is the idea that I used to inspire me for this project.
To make a flower, youll need:
Japanese seed beads
1 8mm stone or glass bead
26-28 gauge colored wire
green florists tape
wire cutters
flat/bent nosed pliers
beading needle and thread
scissors
I would estimate that you need about 10 grams of seed beads. The 8mm bead will be the center of your flower, so you want one that will either match or contrast with your seed beads. Rose quartz looked good with my seed beads, so thats why I selected it. As for the colored wire, select a color that matches as closely as possible with your seed beads.
1. Start by using the ladder stitch and using 7 seed beads to create your ladder.
2. Then continue by using brick stitch to create a triangle piece making sure to end with one bead at the top of your triangle.