June 16, 2009

Bracelet Exchange - The Beginning

Lorelei and I are hosting a bracelet round-robin swap. We each started with the beginning of a bracelet and then they were all sent to me. I added to each one and sent them to Lorelei. She'll do the same and send them along to our next participant. At the end of the swap we'll each get the bracelet back that we started. Sounds like fun doesn't it? The bracelets above are the starts that were sent to me. They belong to: Lorelei Eurto, Erin of Every Heart Crafts, Erin of Tesori Trovati, and Christine of Stories They Tell.
First up was Lorelei's bracelet. I added a lampwork SueBeads, a lime green branch bead and a big ol' Vintaj jumpring to echo the shape of the glass disks. I love the playful focal bead that Lorelei picked, should have bought some at Bead & Button. It was hard to know how much or how little to add to each bracelet, but I went by the guide of what "felt" right for each design.

Now, you may have noticed that Christine sent just a bead. She wasn't slacking, she really wanted a surprise and didn't want to influence the bracelet designs. Ah, complete freedom! I thought I'd work with the shape of the bead and had this great oval brass chain that works so well with the dark red color of Christine's focal bead. By pure happenstance I had made these poppy charms the week before - perfect. And to add a little zing, a bright green leaf from Earthenwood Studio.

Now Erin's bracelet was a little summer wisp of stones on waxed linen. I immediately thought it could use another strand via some gunmetal chain. I wanted to stay with the pastel color scheme and added in some stones, a crystals and a Humblebeads disk. And how could Erin not have one of her leaves on her bracelet, so I had to add one for her. Silly girl, she probably thinks I'm a nut for adding one of her beads to her own bracelet. Even if it wasn't Erin's bracelet I would have added the leaf, it was just calling to me.

I was so impressed with Erin's bracelet start. She packed more beads and work into 1" then I would have thought possible. I don't think my photo does it justice. The clasp is a coin that has been dapted and filled with resin, then a million little wire-wrapped dangles were added. I wanted to add to the earthy, opulent feel of the design so I added some glass disks from Blue Seraphim in the colors that were in the dangles. And the connector part of the clasp I decided to add my lime branch lentil. I hope Erin likes green! It will be fun to see how everyone fills in the space from the end of the chain to connector of the clasp.

And here is my start. I followed suit with the design that has the clasp and the connector and will enjoy seeing how this bracelet will come together. I used my Spring Branch lentil, a Mamacita Beadworks button as a dangle and some silver colored chain that has a great matte finish.
So that is the start of our swap. I've seen Lorelei's additions and they are amazing. I can't wait to see what returns to me at the end of our game! Lorelei took much better photos of the bracelets, read her blog post to see them in a different light.
The swap was inspired by the book, A Charming Exchange: 25 Jewelry Projects To Create & Share and I highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself!

8 comments:

Mari said...

Super interesante. Me encanta la idea. Seguire el transcurso del viaje.

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea, and I love what you've done so far! :) Really nice to see them all laid out next to each other, all so different but all so gorgeous. Off to follow everyone else so I can see the whole journey :-D

TesoriTrovati said...

This is the most fun I have had in a long time...and I haven't even seen them in person yet! I believe that I am next on the list of players...stay tuned...
And while you're at it....
Enjoy the day!
Erin
http://treasures-found.blogspot.com

Lorelei Eurto said...

I am so glad we decided to do this little side project! I love everyone's designs that they started, it was a lot of fun to add a little bit of myself to each one. I am looking forward to doing this again soon. Prolly right after this one is over! lol
Isn't that Jurk bead the best!? I always think of that movie with Steve Martin "The Jerk" SUCH a good flick!

Rosanne said...

Looks like a fun thing to do.
Love how it all comes together.

Jeannie said...

You crazy ladies!

Erin Siegel said...

This is so wonderful and so much fun! Everyone's bracelets look so great. I am in love with what you've done with my bracelet! :) Love the colors and the stones and that humble bead! And I love the addition of the chain, too. I was secretly hoping someone would add to it like that! You are so talented. And I love that you added one of my leaves! It's funny, when it came time to submit the bracelets, I was straight out of leaves! lol! I really wanted to add one. I did feel silly that I didn't even have one of my own leaves to add! I need to keep a little stash for myself apparently for just such occasions! I've learned my lesson! Thanks for coming to the rescue and adding it for me, Heather. ;) Can't wait to see the bracelets progress! Thanks for the swap. It's an honor to be included in this group!

brassologie.com said...

This is such a great idea and the curiosity is killing me! When will we see the finished products?