Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Pretties I have been meaning to show

A wee bit of history:
A while ago I made the fatal 'buyer mistake' of not really letting my mind do the maths when my eye's were busy popping over the choices in AYU's special 'Bali Buy' for LE members. Being keen to fill up my somewhat empty Biagi bracelet I opted for a few choices that would help fill it quickly. My bracelet, in all reality, was a bit too big - even when I tried filling it will all the glass 'rejects' I had.

Others involved in the buy helped me save on shipping by getting my order in with theirs, so when I got emails jokingly saying "your bracelet wont be to big once these are on it" & making other references to the sizes of my choices, it didn't really concern me too much. How bad could it be?

I knew what I had chosen - & well, 15mm isn't really that big...is it?

Oh yes it is!!! What was I thinking? Usually I am pretty good at spatial perception & such, but I'd had an image in my minds eye of all my 10mm diameter spacers & went from there quietly confidant that, in general, beads for the European style bracelets tend to be a bit larger than your normal spacer.

When the Bali beads made it here - I think I just collapsed into a heap of laughter. A single glance at the smallest of them told me they were going to positively dwarf every other bead I had on my bracelet. So they just sat in their plastic bags looking pretty.
Until recently.



Fortunately, for me, the fabulously talented team of glass artisans at Seraphim FlameWorks have been producing some stunning large hole beads in a style that I am particularly attracted to. Actually I don't think I have ever seen a bead of theirs that I didn't think was beautiful - some I am just more enamoured of than others. I know full well that their beads are even better in hand than their excellent photo's portray & it never ceases to amaze me that each bead has such a fabulous depth to it, that often they seem to portray a wonderful feeling of movement, almost as if the glass is still flowing.

In particular one of the first sets of "Three Large Hole beads" that Seraphim FlameWorks listed in their Etsy Store caught my eye, or rather just seemed to call me above all others. I am indeed blessed to now be the 'keeper' & wearer of these beads.


The second I saw them I knew exactly what else would now work on my bracelet. Finally some beads that would not be overshadowed by those honking great Bali beads. This combination has drawn a lot of positive attention so far. It certainly got more than one look from the sales assistant at the Pandora counter the other day - I have to admit to feeling somewhat sorry for her, what with the very limited & very stock standard choices in Pandora's range of glass beads.
Now all I have to do is dress up the rest of my bracelet, those centre 3 big hole beads certainly deserve to be accompanied by something a bit better than my 'big hole' rejects & riff raff!!

If you are in the market for some big hole beads - be sure to check out Seraphim Flameworks' Etsy Store when they reopen on January 5th! I know I will be - I have Christmas 'loot' to spend ;o)


4 comments:

ShellyD said...

G*O*R*G*E*O*U*S

rosebud101 said...

Stunning bracelet, Deb! Wow!

Flame Slinger said...

Beautiful bracelet Dabratt! If you consider your beads 'rejects & riff raff' then you're confirming you indeed need those BIFOCAL glasses you swore you'd never wear, lol!

OOPS...did I say that out loud?

angelinabeadalina said...

Wow! I love the look of all that silver and the chunky beads!