The First Part of the Secret - Revealed!

I finished the first of the beaded ropes!



















Porcelain artist Marsha Hedricks contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in seeing some of her newest designs. I've loved Marsha's work ever since I saw her adorable little snow babies beads at Beadin' Path, and I jumped at the chance to design and create a series of beaded ropes with her newest components.

Marsha's work is truly extraordinary - her pieces are so thin and lightweight, but extremely durable. Her colors are beautiful (and easy to match with my seed beads!), and the textures of these pieces make them just a delight to hold in your hand.

I chose to do beadwoven ropes with her pieces, but they'll work just as well if you like to do kumihimo.

There are so many things about these pieces that I like - but the thing that I like the best is that there are holes in the cones so that you can wire-wrap your pieces instead of just gluing them on. I've never had a very good experience when it comes to gluing jewelry components together, and I always prefer to use wrapped loops when it comes to assembling pieces. With these cones, you can stitch the beadwork (or kumihimo) to an eyepin and then pull the eyepin through the hole in the cone to fasten it with a wrapped loop! I think that makes for a much better constructed piece of jewelry.

This is the first of four pieces I've designed using her components - three beaded ropes, and a leather collar that showcases an incredible porcelain cabochon!

You can see all of Marsha's newest slides and cones in her online store, Amazing Porcelain, and you can read her blog at Marsha's Porcelain Art.

She's got more new designs coming in the next few weeks!

And if you like this piece, you can find it in my ArtFire shop by clicking on the picture.