Lovely beads Facebook

We reveal some of the designs from our winner, Vicky Sugarbean

Our May Designer Challenge featured a gorgeous pack of beads from JillyBeads and we asked them to supply an extra challenge pack to give away on Facebook.
The pack was a bright and blossoming selection of lovely colours and shapes from the striking painterly splash octagon beads to the cool white glass loops. With the addition of seed beads in fresh green and hot pink, this was a pack with lots of possibilities.
Vicky told us "This pack from the moment I saw it was giving me a sort of Art Deco feeling. the beads were beautiful but made me think they needed to be made into statement pieces. So I guess that i knew at this point I was going to use the whole pack."

A splash of summer

Vicky's first piece uses the painterly splash octagons on eyepins with a seed bead each side to stabilise them. A loop at each end makes them into perfect connectors. She uses alternate components using the square glass beads from the pack with seed beads at each end then joins them together using jump rings. With some added chain at each end, the necklace is complete with a little added chain at each end to make a longer necklace if desired.

Vivacious 'V'

Vicky's second piece makes clever use of the glass loops. She joins them using thick silver jump rings which creates a chain from which to hang bead drops. At the centre of the necklace, a large purple square glass bead and a green square bead along with a bicone bead give a definite 'V' shape to the necklace focal. She attaches four dangles on each side of the focal drop using silver jump rings. Each dangle is made from a bicone bead then seed beads on a headpin. By decreasing the number of seed beads by one with each dangle, she obtained a lovely graduated effect to the necklace. Just add a chain and clasp to complete.

RAW charm

Vicky's right angle weave bracelet uses the remaining pink and green seed beads from the pack. It has some clear seed beads to stabilise it and uses the last two bicones and remaining green square bead to make a raised focal in the middle of the bracelet. By sewing jump rings to the bottom of the bracelet, you can add dragonfly and flower charms.