Not long ago I signed up to a forum called BeadSwap-USA. It’s a great little forum of beaders interested in swapping beads and jewelry with each other.
At its heart are the travelling bead boxes, which sadly only travel around the US at the moment due to the difficulties of shipping bigger packages internationally. I have hopes of getting an Australian travelling bead box established though, if I can persuade any other Aussies to sign up!
The site also hosts a series of person to person swaps of both finished handmade jewellery and beads/components, usually involving a specific type of jewellery or bead/component. I have signed up to take part in a few of those over the next month or two. The first was a Quick Bracelet Swap, in which assigned partners make each other a bracelet (taking into account their partner’s tastes!) and send it off. My assigned parter for this swap is Laura Singley, a beader living in Montana. And lucky Laura gets not one, but two bracelets from me!
I’ve recently seen a couple of fun tutorials for bracelets that I thought I would try out. The first bracelet is a quick and versatile little number from British beader Lesley Watt, which simply alternates beads on two strands of waxed linen cord, with jumprings separating each bead. It’s certainly been a popular design, as I’ve seen it popping up everywhere. I made my version using Czech cathedral beads in a teal green with gunmetal jumprings and a blossom button for the closure.
I’ll definitely be making more of these bracelets—they’re quick and easy, and look great. And they’d work with all sorts of different beads or as part of a larger design.
The second tutorial I was inspired to try comes from Tracy Statler, whose blog Make Bracelets has a number of fantastic tutorials and videos. Her most recent design of clusters of beads was perfect for a strand of glass pearls in rich colours that I picked up recently.
And I’m pleased to report that my partner loved both bracelets!
Make sure you check back in on the weekend when I reveal my Bead Soup Blog Party creations!
beadrecipes 
I did not know about Bead Swap USA and I love both of your bracelets. The jump ring between the clusters is a perfect addition Thanks for sharing! : )
Tracy
It sounds like so much fun…wish it could be in Canada 🙂
Julia, there are a few Canadian participants in the BeadSwap-USA group, don’t let the name put you off! I think they are even in the process of getting a Canadian travelling box going, so sign up and have a look (there is also a Facebook group you can join for chatting). Thanks for visiting my blog!
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thanks for the info…I’ll check it out 🙂
Lovely bracelets! Keep me in mind for the Aussie travelling bead box 🙂
Thanks Karen! Go and sign up on the BeadSwap-USA website, and check it out, and when we get a few more Aussies on there we can get a travelling box going!
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Bead Swap sounds like a lot of fun. I am going to check that out. Love both bracelets. That first one looks really simple and fun to make.
I’ve never heard of Bead Swap USA. . .thanks so much for the info and link. I’m heading over to check them out now. As well, both of your bracelets are really pretty! Thanks for sharing those also 🙂