Many jewelry designers get inspiration from other pieces of jewelry. This doesn’t mean, however, that we "copy" other artists work. My "Spring Fling Flower" is a good example of this. I saw a picture in a magazine of Drew Barrymore wearing a Austrian crystal orchid bracelet at the 1999 Oscars. The bracelet reminded me of a wrist corsage. Beaded flowers are also very popular, and even though I’d never made one before, I figured I could figure out a way to use the idea of this flower wrist corsage to create a bead and wire flower. Of course, my flower cannot compare to the one on Drew’s wrist, but it is the idea that I used to inspire me for this project.

To make a flower, you’ll need:

Japanese seed beads
1 8mm stone or glass bead
26-28 gauge colored wire
green florists’ tape
wire cutters
flat/bent nosed pliers
beading needle and thread
scissors

I would estimate that you need about 10 grams of seed beads. The 8mm bead will be the center of your flower, so you want one that will either match or contrast with your seed beads. Rose quartz looked good with my seed beads, so that’s why I selected it. As for the colored wire, select a color that matches as closely as possible with your seed beads.

1. Start by using the ladder stitch and using 7 seed beads to create your ladder.

2. Then continue by using brick stitch to create a triangle piece making sure to end with one bead at the top of your triangle.

3. Thread your needle back down through the triangle so that you come out the other side and are positioned to do brick stitch on the opposite side of the triangle.

4. Continue doing brick until you create a diamond shape, only this time end with 2 beads in your last row.

5. Now cut at least a foot of wire. You want to have plenty to work with.

6. Starting at one of the 2 seed beads in your last row as described in step 4, thread one end of your wire through this bead and continue to thread the wire up through outer area of your beaded diamond.

7. While threading through your beads, you may occasionally need a little help grasping the end of the wire, so use your bent/flat nosed pliers if necessary to pull on the wire. Think of the wire like a thick piece of thread that you want to thread around the outer beads of your diamond. However, handle the wire carefully as it can break if you bend and handle it a lot.

8. Once you have made it all around your diamond, you’ll have two piece of wire sticking out of the row that had 2 beads in it. Just wrap these wires together. It doesn’t have to be pretty because it will be covered up later.

9. Now make at least 4 more "petals" using the steps above, and set them aside.

10. Cut another piece of wire about a foot long, and thread it through your 8mm bead.

11. Use your fingers to wrap the wire together.

12. Cut a small piece of wire about 6 inches long or use some scrap wire.

13. Now gather your petals and insert the 8mm piece into the center of the petals. Hold all the pieces together like a little bouquet.

14. Use your fingers to wrap the small piece of wire around the bouquet, and try to get as close to the ends of the diamonds/petals as possible in order to secure all the pieces together.

15. Now get your florists’ tape out, and leave it on the roll that it comes on.

16. Starting at the base of your bouquet were your small piece of wire secured the petals and center together, start wrapping the tape around all of the pieces of wire.

17. If necessary, depending on how long your want your stem, trim off excess wires.

18. Finish wrapping to the end, then trim off the tape.

You could now make this into a wrist corsage by attaching it to a memory wire bracelet. There are all kinds of ways to incorporate the flower into jewelry: glue it on to a pin back, attach it to a comb or barrette, use it as a center piece for a necklace. Dimension can be created by adding more petals and using more than one color of seed beads. I hope I’ve inspired you to grow your own bead and wire flower.

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All graphics created by Tammy Powley.

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