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by: Dwyn Tomlinson

This "Dark Garden" - all red and black and mysterious - uses Lucite beads to keep it light and comfortable to wear in summer. If you are used to just seeing the pretty pastel lucite flowers - this might be edgier than you thought lucite could be! 

You could also leave off the leaves and just go with the flowers if you want it less spiky.

The flowers are an assembly of

headpin
4 mm Swarovski bicone
small flower
larger flower - Wake Robin (Trillium)

then do a rapid loop - these make up quickly. (Go here for a refresher on Rapid Loops if necessary.)

The long leaves are each put onto a single jumpring.

They are then threaded on the cord, and knots between the flowers keep them from bunching up.

Take a metre of cord (the knots will shorten it considerably!)

Double over the end of the cord and knot it so that you have a small loop. It pays to attach the clasp to the loop to make sure that it is not too small.

Then add a flower assembly, and tie a simple knot in the cord, making sure the knot is not right against the flower - there should be some room to move.

Then continue: adding a leaf-on-a-jumpring, and a flower assembly, and tying a knot. My spacing worked out to about 4-5 mm between knots. Carry on the same way - I more or less alternated red and black flowers, but I wasn't religious about it. When it is long enough - mine turned out quite large, so you might want to leave a flower leaf pair out*, add your clasp and secure it by knotting the cord. (For the final segment, I left out the leaf again - making it a little smoother at the clasp. The clasp is the heavy part - it will slide underneath my wrist - so with two less leaves - it will be less bulky underneath - more comfortable when resting on a table, desk, etc. It pays to think of these little things, you know!)

My flowers consisted of 3 different types, black-on-red, black-on-black, and red-on-black. I did this for variety, and because - I had just bought the flowers with no clear plan, so I didn't have enough of any one to do the whole bracelet. Feel free to plan ahead and buy enough. ;-) 

Overall I really like the look and I love the way the sparkle of the crystal contrasts with the matte finish of the lucite flowers.

*Update - having worn this a couple of days now - I realize that the knots between the flowers have tightened up - enough to make the bracelet longer - so either snug the knots up when you make it, or make it a little smaller and let it stretch.

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Components Clicking on components links will open a new window so that you don't lose this page.
	Qty: 18	22601036 Headpins - 2in / 24ga Flat Head - Gunmetal (100)	Price: $ 1.75 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
		22801015-03 Jump Rings Open - 7mm - Gunmetal (10g)	Price: $ 1.99 per	In Stock
		23440049 Lobster Clasp - 26mm - Gunmetal	Price: $ 2.23 per	In Stock
	Qty: 4	s29914 Lucite Beads - 11mm Carrie Flower - Scarlet	Price: $ 0.55 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 10	s29991 Lucite Beads - 17mm Petunia - Jet (These are in the black on red combos)	Price: $ 0.95 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 10	s29964 Lucite Beads - 30mm Wake Robin Flower - Amaranth (18 in flowers in total if you want to mix it up)	Price: $ 1.95 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 8	s29953 Lucite Beads - 30mm Wake Robin Flower - Jet (18 in flowers in total if you want to mix it up)	Price: $ 1.95 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 7	s29693 Lucite Beads - 47mm Long Slender Willow Leaf - Bordeaux (12 leaves in total, if you want to mix it up. I think it was this colour. The shades of colour in the lucite can get pretty confusing.)	Price: $ 1.30 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 5	s29697 Lucite Beads - 47mm Long Slender Willow Leaf - Jet (12 leaves in total, if you want to mix it up.)	Price: $ 1.30 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 4	s29993 Lucite Beads - 9mm Teacup Flower - Jet (These are in the black on black combos.)	Price: $ 0.50 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
		76023122-m Stringing - 2mm Waxed Cord - Black (Metre) (The knots shorten it a LOT.)	Price: $ 1.00 per	In Stock
	Qty: 18	27753011337280 Swarovski Bead - 4mm Faceted Bicone (5301/5328) - Jet (36)	Price: $ 6.95 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.