TOHO Challenge

Better late than never...
I finally finished my TOHO Challenge. I'd have finished on time if not for an awful flu season, but it's been totally worth the wait. Check out what I did with my set of beads, selected by TOHO, for me and others to do whatever we want without adding to the kit.
This felt so far outside my norm, but I love how it pushed me to think with new colors and styles of beads.
You'll notice I kept to my dodecahedron shape, but this is inspired by the Roman Dodecahedrons that have been found all over Europe. Their origins and purpose is unknown, so is the use for this little piece...Too big to wear, but too fancy to just put away.
This one was so much fun to do, I'll probably teach a class for it with a pattern later on.

Thanks for Looking!
I'm excited to try again this year.

12 Sides on the Brain!

Back to designing for the last few days, as the back pain allows... Spinal Stenosis in the upper back is the worst. BUT inspiration is everywhere and so are these snub dodecahedrons.

This first one is called In A Pinch because it just barely even works as a design. I'm torn as to if I should drop the 11/0s in the corners for 15/0s to see if it works better, but I just love the 11/0 size for the outside... Maybe use them on the inside, too? This one needs a little tweaking. Take a look at the prototypes.

These next two are one of my favorites. I love the way the crystals turned out on the corners. It gives them that little bit of shimmer that sets the whole design over the top for me. This one I'm debating on calling something between Concave and Convex-ing because they are both the same design, but have different thread paths that cause the faces to either be concave or convex. ??? I tried to duplicate the convex faces on the second one, and it just wouldn't go. The first one just had one face that didn't automatically want to face outward when I worked it up. Very perplexing for me as a designer to have to choose one over the other for the write-up vs. variation. I think a third will be the deciding factor, but I need more bicones first. You decide, Concave or Convex?

 

Thanks for Looking!  These will be a tutorial and class later this year.  BTW, look for new tutorials and kits in my Etsy Shop all year!