Stream of Consciousness

Back while I was making the "Sweetheart Pin" .. which is a good sized piece of jewelry .. I was already thinking of a smaller, lighter version with some pearl embellishments wrapped around the larger side embellishments (with much lighter gauge wire). And, as it sometimes happens with these processes, it immediately struck me how cool it would be to make a bracelet using that kind of wrapped embellishment! Which is where this bracelet idea came from.

Before I'd even finished the smaller heart pin (which remains on my work bench awaiting embellishment), I had some copper wire out and was experimenting with some ideas for the bracelet. The tight-against-the-base-wire wrap on the large pin(s) didn't appeal to me for the bracelet (though maybe for a necklace!), so I had to think about how the larger swirly part might work.

Before I even began with the design of the swirl or wrapping stuff though, I had to think about the core bracelet. I was afraid if I made it as a simple large letter "C" cuff bracelet the act of opening it to put it on would stress not only the core wire but also the added swirl and wraps. I was able to use more core wire (and hence more swirly design wrapping) by moving the ends out and away from each other (sort of one end above the other). This way, it's easy to slide onto the wrist without having to pull the ends directly apart from each other. If any additional opening is necessary, the ends can be pushed a little bit further away from each other instead. If any of you are familiar with the proper way to open and close a jump ring, it's the same concept. Once you've got it on, you can then gently squeeze it to fit .. leaving the comfortable-for-you, top-to-bottom distance between the ends as is for continued ease in putting it on and taking it off. Did that make sense??










































Anyway, once I had that figured out I moved on to designing the swirly part and then attaching it. It was a bit tricky .. and didn't occur to me right away .. but I ultimately decided that rather than wrapping the swirly embellishment wire around the bracelet core and then adding the beads with finer wire in and around it, that I'd attach the swirly embellishment wire with the fine wire and beads. Took a while to work it out because the swirly wire kept sliding around on the core wire while I was trying to wrap and attach the beads. It becomes a little easier after the first few beads are attached.

The little dragonfly is actually a Thai silver charm I worked into the design. I had originally purchased them to use as one of the little trio of charms on the Thai trio necklaces I made, but the picture on the website where I purchased them showed the jump ring/bail on the charm was attached on top of the dragonfly's head .. not the case when I received them. The ring is in the back .. and low enough that it hangs funny if suspended from a chain. I was so incredibly happy to have found such a great use for them!

Very pretty, very feminine .. and it has a lovely weightiness. I'm still thinking about what to call it .. April Showers perhaps? or maybe Tranquility?? It's very Spring-like .. makes me think of a misty, moisty April morn.

UPDATE - Several folks wrote to ask what the stones were .. sorry, didn't even think of mentioning it! The large pale blue stones are aquamarine (there are also some smaller, more translucent aquamarine rondelles as well), a few small Swarovski pearls, several "Alexandrite" color-changing crystals (pale blue to pale lavender), a few darker "Montana" crystals, and some 2.5mm faceted blue sapphire rondelles.