Small Wooden Box

 I now have a lovely collection of handmade glass beads, but nowhere to put them.  They've been sitting in an old ice cream tub on my desk, but that doesn't seem very approprate (and is quite easy to knock over), so I asked 'im outdoors if he could make me a box for them.

 

We had a chat about the rough size and design and then I left him to it.  This week he presented me with a small wooden box, which just needed to be lined to finish it off.

 

I had some navy velvet material in my stash which was perfect.  I used thin card to wrap the material round for the side panels and some foam to fill the lid space.

It's come out so well and it's a lovely space to store my special beads.  I feel they will be safe in there (and there is room for more...).

Braided Bead Bracelet

 Every time I show my beads to people, they say something along the lines of 'nice, what are you going to do with them?' as if having them in a pot on my desk to fiddle with when I'm thinking or in meetings isn't enough.

 

So I decided to try out an idea for a braided bead bracelet.  This is just a proof of concept, my glue had gone off so I couldn't finish it properly, so it'll probably come undone if I was to wear it much.

I started by making a kumihimo braid with a button at the start.  My first attempt didn't work as my thread was too fine, but this one worked ok and was a lovely match to my bead.  It's also the right size for the bead hole.

 

I made it about an inch longer than I wanted then made the loop.  As I said I didn't have any glue so used some nail varnish just to hold it together.

 

It's actually really comfortable to wear, although the bead does insist on being on the wrong side of my wrist (darn gravity!)  It needs a bit of work, but the concept is sound which is cool. I think it would work nicely with smaller beads, either just one or maybe a group - different colours in a set or a rainbow maybe?  Something to think about for the future.