Saturday morning and school half term is here again! So getting ready for the trip to the seaside with the kids, seriously did we have this many breaks during the school year? I just seem to get a head of steam up and another one pops along. Now please don’t think I don’t want to spend some quality time with my over loud, over tired, under active, destroy all things minded little cherubs! And then there’s the dog which I’m not going to even list his points, Anyhow I wanted to write this blog up before I left as it will be June by the time I get back. This design came along by accident if truth be told I was actually making something else when I just started messing around with some beads and it sort of came together but I’m not complaining as it turned out rather good if I do say so myself. I must admit I do like making cluster bracelets as my mind tends to wonder (Mainly about being on a beach with a book and a bottle of wine) as I go onto auto pilot, I love the color coordination and the different components you can use. So to break this bracelet down to the base I used a new chain for this bracelet, Not my normal belcher 4 oval chain, It’s a really thick cable chain, As I knew I would be using lots of beads. When using freshwater pearls you are limited to colors and sizes and the availability of them so because I was looking for something a little different I used Swarovski crystal pearls which are fab, Little cheaper then normal pearls but I love the different colors you can buy compared to freshwater. So the two pearl sizes I chose were 3mm and 5mm and the colors are Rosaline – a lovely pinky color and cream very warm colors with a stunning sparkle to them but that’s Swarovski for you! I then added the trusty crystal quartz rondelles which make any design that little bit more elegant. I still needed a good contrasting color and bead then whilst digging through my box of goodies I found some AAA graded Garnet onion briolettes that I’d been keeping for a rainy day and they worked a treat. As I neared the half way point I decided to personalize it as you don’t seem to see many cluster bracelets with that personal touch and makes it even more unique. So I slipped on a charm holder and added one of my mock hearts I use for making designs. On this heart you can have 26 characters and that includes spaces but as always if you want more text we can make you a custom heart no problem. As happy as I was looking at the bracelet I just felt it could do with something extra and then I saw these little sterling silver open butterfly charms and that was that, It filled the cap that I could see so now it was just down to the back of the bracelet. Again I needed something to offset from the rest of the bracelet so I used the Swarovski BeCharmed crystal heart it really is stunning and to me give it that contrast I was looking for. The heart looked a bit lonely on it’s own so I have had this wonderfully detailed rose charm that I had wanted to use since I bought it but hadn’t really made anything to date which it could be used for until now, Considering the color combinations I had used it just fit in like a glove. So with all said and done it was finished before I really knew that it was, Maybe I should go on auto pilot more often. Oh just one last detail which was the heart toggle which I use on other designs it’s one of those dependable components not to mention it looks good. Well that’s it for this month I guess but while I’m away I can finish my next cluster bracelet off! Yes I’ve already started the next one and this one is using freshwater pearls because I’m just using white so I will be back on in a couple of weeks with that one. Till the next time don’t be like the rest be an IndiviJewel!
