Rainbow bracelet

Seed beads have a way of mesmerizing me every time I look at them. To me they are simply beautiful, vibrant, little beings that need to be handled with love and care. Just think about it-they are so minute and because they are rounded, if not careful the beads will spill and scatter all over the place.

These colorful seeds are formed when a long tube of glass is broken into numerous tiny segments, melted a bit to soften their edges and then come up with the smoother, rounded shape.

Seed beads come in a variety of colors, sizes and finishes. Their sizes range from 1 ½ -4mm. The predominant color of the bead comes from the color from which the cane was made. The hues are then created when different minerals are added; the result if rich finishes like metallic, matte, silver-lined and others.

I find that seed beads I have purchased within Uganda tend to be uneven in size, whereas the ones I have got on eBay or Panda Hall have a more uniform shape. 

The bracelet below was inspired by my love for bright colors.

 I had earlier strung a 30 inch long strand of different colors of beads-1 ½ mm. Then I thought…”why don’t I make a bracelet?”

So as I was still toying with the string in my hands, I realized a pattern was developing. I was weaving it with my hands, just like you would with a crochet needle.

Mhmmm, this was getting exciting so I continued. However towards the middle, the loops were getting bigger making the whole thing less uniform. So I had to undo it and weave more carefully and slowly without getting too excited. When I was done, I attached a silver lobster clasp then thought of putting a center bead. This red acrylic button came in handy.   This was the result.