Wednesday, September 16, 2009

New Bug Bracelet

I had bought this Emerald Borer insect encased in lucite last month at the Ohio State Fair. I knew that it had to be some piece of jewelry, but didn't know what to do with it. Then I bought some great looking bug wings (yes! real bug wings) from Mary SeriousBeader's Etsy shop, and knew what I was going to do with them...a bracelet. Since I did the challenge for ArtBeads, I've been focusing on jewelry lately. With this piece, I used some dyed pig leather which really dulled my needle fast & broke three while I was working on it, but I wanted to use a base that was a little more durable. I glued the lucite bug down & did a round peyote cage using Japanese 11s & Delica seed beads. Then the fun! I grabbed a bunch of just random beads that were all sitting on my work table & began to bead. Everything was green, so I thought I'd use a different color so I peered at that bug which is a relative to the Emerald Ash Borer that killed out big tree out front. I saw those legs & they looked sort of a brownish cranberry color to me, so I looked in my stash from the garage sale & found exactly what I wanted. I used just a little of the cranberry color on the actually bracelet, but decided to off set all that green by using it as edging. I like it. I'll have to be careful as I don't want those wings to break...oh & I used some teardrops from the "Vacation" swap on All About Beads. Cathy23 sent some that reminded her of Ireland...me, they matched perfect with the Emerald Borer.

11 comments:

Magpie's Mumblings said...

That bug is absolutely beautiful...the colours are spectacular, and your bracelet is a fitting complement. I love it!

Judith said...

Love it, love it!!

pam T said...

Oh this is GREAT! I love it, even though I think bugs are creepy. The colors in this are awesome. okay, I am seeing you use lots of green in stuff and I LOVE LOVE LOVE green.... hint hint! ;)

Georgina said...

It's beautiful, but my toes are curling because of the bug...hate bugs!!!! LOL

AJ said...

It's a good thing you edged that bracelet in pink, or you'd have to worry about me mugging you for it in Tahoe! I LOVE those trapped bug pendants, and the greens you chose to go with it are totally gorgeous.

Denise said...

Very cool! I would not wear it, cause it is a bit slightly, amazingly on the buggy, creepy side but it's an art!!
Cheers, Denises

One Gal's Trash said...

Thanks for following OGT! Your bead work is amazing!
Pam

flyingbeader said...

AJ...it is Cranberry, not pink, but thank goodness as I do adore it & won't give it up. I work it to work last night & some people backed away & others actually asked me how I got that bug in the glass. I wanted to tell a big ole fib about how I found it on my pillow & all...but I had to tell the truth...bought it at the Ohio State Fair.

Lisa Crone said...

I don't know how you do it!! No wonder you lose sleep to beads!!! These bracelets are just phenomenal!!I wanted to pass along a reminder about the Rings & Things bead tour coming to Worthington Holiday Inn, 10/2 from 2-6pm. You can visit their website for an official invitation. :)

Zoomer said...

Pretty, but not an Emerald ash borer. :-) Not that you'd want one...;-)

Zoomer said...

Pretty, but thankfully, not an emerald ash borer. :-) They are more "bullet" shaped.