Beaded Beads, Boro and an Infinity Donut

Sometimes, I just like beaded beads strung simply on cord. In fact, that's what I usually wear.

For this necklace, I made 4 beaded beads, including the Octahedral Cluster in the center and the three smaller Diamond Net beaded beads (they're mini versions). Then, I added 7 borosilicate glass beads torched by 6 different artists. Together they make a pallet of leafy green, gold, brown, amber and blue. I think this is a really unusual and pretty strand of beads, eclectic yet harmonious.  It's for sale.  Click the photos to go to the listing.

This next piece is already sold, but I know you like eye candy, especially when that candy is a donut.  Doughnuts always make me happy, be they doughnuts or donuts, and beaded donuts have the fewest calories. This piece is one of my latest. I was going for muted steamy colors, just right for fall. Who am I kidding? I make stuff in these colors all year round. It's just that now, it's seasonally appropriate. A broken clock is still right twice a day. This is like that.

I'm also kind of excited about my little burnished metal stand in this photo.  It's the top of a mixed drink shaker, and it's just big enough for a beaded bead.  I think you might be seeing more photos like this in the future.

Ionic Rhombic Dodecahedron in Beads No.2

This is the second sample of the rhombic dodecahedron made with my Ionic Polyhedra technique.

If you would like to learn how to weave beaded beads like this one, I have a pattern that shows how to make 14 other beaded beads using this technique.   This particular shape is not covered in my pattern, but if you make a few of the other designs in the pattern first, you should be able to figure it out with a little help from this wikipedia page on the rhombic dodecahedron.

This piece is sold.

Want to see more?  I made another version of this Ionic rhombic dodecahedron beaded bead that I blogged about in 2010.

Seifert Surface for a link with 3 unknots in beads

Last night I was playing with herringbone beaded ribbon with four beads in each row.  I made three pieces of ribbon attached at one end, and twisted each piece (all with S-twists) before joining them at their other ends.  I colored the three edges orange, blue, and gray using size 8/0 seed beads, and I used black size 11/0 in the interior of the ribbons.   I ended up with this Seifert surface for a link with three components, in which each pair is linked.  I wasn't sure precisely what I was going for, so it was a fun challenge to identify what it was after it was finished.  This piece has two faces and three edges.  It's a little lumpy and crooked, but I was just fiddling around with a new idea, so I'm not going to worry too much about aesthetics.