DT Challenge #1: Purple and Green

For those of you that don't know, I am a frequent visitor to It's Crafting Time, and I couldn't have been more flattered, when following their DT call, they picked little old me to be their DT member for jewellery. Since I got the themes, I've been beavering away, and I'm proud to show you my first piece!

I've made this bracelet using a pattern for Russian leaves that I found through www.beadingdaily.com, and have been desperate to try for ages. I chose to use a couple of shades of each colour to create a bit of depth with the flower, and I added some texture using crystals and pearls on the stamens. The cuff itself is made with a tight right angle weave - I decided that the delicate nature of the flower needed a sturdy base.

For the Russian leaves, I used a mixture of thread and wire, and even though fiddly, once you have the technique you're well away! Instructions to follow on these. In terms of materials, this is relatively easy and inexpensive, as I probably only used about three pots of seed beads for the main bracelet, although obviously pearls and crystals are more.

Materials: 5g of rainbow purple seed beads, 13g of amethyst seed beads, 5g transparent nucleus dark green seed beads, 5g very pale sage greenseed beads, amethyst crystal rondelles 6mm, Pale Pink 3 mm bicone crystals, Pale Pink 6mm Pearls, 0.3mm copper wire in a complementary colour (I used red), Pale Green Nymo, Lobster clasp, crimp tubes, jump rings. Tools needed: Beading needles, scissors, crimping pliers.