Working on the ropes

Well, with all these new beads kicking around, I just don't know where to turn next. Too many ideas, just too many... I've finally settled on how the pearl ropes should be finished, which is now going to add a few hours to the project. LoL! As in my original intent, I used the large Swarovski Rondelles, however, I was stumped as to how I could add a tassel to the ends as well. See, I was afraid the Crystals sharp edges might slice through thread. And lets face it, if I'm going to spend this much time and effort on a project, I might as well make it worth its weight in, well, PEARLS! Bwah-ha-ha!... Oh, alright, I'm done...

I didn't want to wire-wrap. I didn't want to see any exposed silver, and I didn't like the idea of a beaded sleeve either. Not on these pieces. Nooooo! I had to go complicate things for myself... ;) Well, I settled on using a soldered 6mm silver ring as the stopper. My next problem would be the ring itself. How do I attach the tassel to it? And what kind of tassel should it be? I didn't like the exposed metal of the ring, and since I had a pretty long tail of thread left, I thought of maybe wrapping the ring with it. And then I remembered a macramé knot I had seen my mom do (yup! mom was into macramé something FIERCE! I so wish I had a photo of the giant 4 foot long orange owl she made. Designed to incorporate found objects, such as large wooden beads for the eyes, and the largest bone from a cow's pelvis she had found on a nature walk for the face... Oh Goddess I wish I was kidding!... GREAT conversation piece!!! LMAO!) Anyway... I digress. I'm so good at that, digressing... So, I decided to use that knotting technique (I believe it's a series of square knots), and covered the ring.









Not bad? I like it. And at any rate, I can't 'undo' it now, it's too late.


Now the tassel. I want the tassels to be removable. I think that the covered ring is wearable as is. (it's not like folks would come right up to the wearer and say "Hey, nice rings on the ends of that pearl rope there!", LOL!) But how do I design a removable tassel? The finger weaving on the rings has enticed me. I need to push this into a direction I've never been, I think. Problem now, is that I need to teach myself this new finger weaving technique. Sure hope I manage to learn it easily, so that I don't have to wait too much longer to see the finished project.

Oh, and I've been playing with the accent beads too. I broke into the Bone, Jade, and Silver beads, kicked in some Hematite, and made this really cool looking beaded bead. I'm going to make a few more for another project I've got in mind...