In 2004 our guild agreed to another designer sized bead exchange, but as these went on, the colour schemes became more and more diffuse, to the point that this one was simply to be ‘pastels’. I was not terribly enthused, (rightly) suspecting that we'd end up with a mishmash of colours that would combine poorly. —In fact, the bracelet shown has none of the beads I actually made for the exchange!

floral charm bracelet; assorted artists & metals, including sterling soldered rings; 8-5/8" long

Because I know that the valentine's day bracelet was the first one I made with basemetal components, this allows me to date this piece: probably some time around 2016, as (provided I recall correctly) I made it, then the st patty's day version and then this one, which I felt significantly less successful than the other two.

What coherence it does have is possibly helped by the tutorial I published —my variation on a Kristina Logan dot twist. Though it doesn't have any beads I made specifically for the exchange, it does one more green and white bead (center) from one of the oldest challenges I attempted, as well as some other pastel beads I thought would work with the design. The brown and green triangle bead is from another challenge in which we all did exactly the same colour scheme and design—that was too limited...

IOW, this was another one of those tidy-up projects: I hadn't done anything with these beads for years, so I decided to try making a bracelet. By using a plated clasp and basemetal headpins—of which I had a great deal lying around—I thought to make something a little more affordable.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.