Freeform Peyote Too Much Fun!

News flash! Freeform peyote officially declared too much fun...or perhaps just Too Much.  Wha-hoooo!!

You decide. I had never tried this technique before, and actually I'm glad I didn't. I needed some seasoning, some wrassling with various other techniques and getting really really comfortable with peyote in various incarnations. I learned odd-count peyote because I might need it for this, and it came in handy a time or two to know how to do that odd-count turn.

But mostly the experience came in handy in learning that in nearly every case, the Next Bead will tell you where it wants to go. Really.

So I pulled out the inspiration for the color scheme, which has been sitting on my desktop for months. The grapes against the green leafy background, some ripe, some not, just makes me long to drive through Napa and Sonoma again. Aren't the colors luscious?

And here is the main section of the necklace that resulted. The large stones are ametrine, a combination of amethyst and citrine. They're cut large so that in some stones you can see the color change gradation from purple to amber/brown. There are few that go all the way to light yellow like regular citrine.

I'm including some closeups of the center section as well. I wasn't able to get a good picture of the entire necklace. Used to be I could get good distance pics but not detail views. Now the detail views are crisp and sharp, but try to get the whole necklace in, no way.

There are some problems with the necklace laying flat when worn. It looked great as I designed it on a flat surface, but has some shape issues when worn on a three-dimensional body. Live and learn, I guess. 

I also learned some fun things about incorporating segments of bugle beads right into the peyote. Those puppies are stitched right into the peyote piece, with a continuous thread. Really nifty!  

I did have a hard time determining when to stop, though. Since I just started this piece with no real thought of design, it did come out a bit scattered. Next time, more planning. More concept. Less wha-hoooo! No, not that. It'll always have plenty of wha-hooo, if I have anything to say about it!