Black and White Obsession

Black and white. It must be the colorless Midwest pseudo-winter we've had....but black and white seed beads are my current obsession. That and big, statement necklaces that cover the throat and upper chest  in bling!

SO, just how many black and white seed beads do I need? My favorite online bead suppliers (Bello Modo and Charlenes Beads) probably think I'm nuts. But their great "no minimum order" policies make it easy to go online and find the exact next size bead I want!!

 How many are out there? Lots - more than I have already purchased, but I have some cool ones.

I'll admit, the differences are subtle. But when focused on creating a round peyote-stitched medallion that looks good, lays flat and stays round, the beads make a huge difference.

Here are the current pieces piling up, waiting to be joined together into a black and white statement bib necklace. Here is the first one. see on Pinterest

For the detailed minded, note that the medallions are all a little bit different, except for 3 black on white starbursts and 3 spirals that are almost the same. Hence the spiral rope and the spiral sterling wire hook. Yay! It's a theme!

I should also  note that the whites are not all the same - some are WHITE shiny opaque and some are WHITE OPAL GILT LINED - which lends a slight goldish glint to the whole piece.

It' was my first time making spiral rope (so easy, so versatile - genius! Thank you whoever first figured this out!). BUT they don't tell you exactly  HOW to attach the spiral rope - which is woven with a single continuous thread - to a large piece or to a clasp. So I made up my own way....

and clasp

Strong. Reinforced. and Scaled appropriately. Guess I'd better write THAT out so I don't forget what I did.

Black and White

Like most everyone, I love color. And normally my beadwork reflects my color personality....my bead stash certainly does! I buy seed beads primary because the colors attract me - only rarely for a specific pattern. As a result, my library of seed bead sizes and colors is dominated by jewel tones, AB finishes, charlottes, greens, blues and bronzes. Sure, there is the occasional matte finish or opaque red or transparent yellow, but you will look long and hard to find many pastel beads, or lavender or orange.

But, I do have various black and white beads....so when I decided to experiment with my published peyote bracelet pattern by working a stripe into the design, I chose black and white beads.

Actually the first striped version was an attempt at an all-black bracelet for a friend and golly! It was very hard to see where I was. See what I mean???

The striped weave is mostly size 15/0 hex and 15/0 rounds. It looks great, sparkles nicely. Can you believe it wasn't what my friend had in mind, so she sent it back? But took so long to make I cannot bear to sell it and it now lives in my private collection.

So this time I used black and white beads...and I love the way it turned out! And it WAS a lot easier to see the pattern.

 Since the stripe pattern is so angular, I opted not to use my usual beaded toggle, but added a slide tube clasp, attaching with the same 15/0s used in the bracelet.

Now I think it's time to do more experimenting with black and white beads. Just ordered more from my favorite bead suppliers -- Bello Modo (free shipping!) and Charlenes Beads (hard to find colors, half kilo and kilo packages).