The long spiraled road to Cellini

I have had a love-hate relationship with Cellini. I made my first rope several years ago but never finished it. I was happy with the colors at first, and even made a fabulous pendant from a button I found in a fabric store. The pendant is removable and has a snap closure. Unfortunately, once I got almost done with the necklace, I decided that I didn’t like the pendant with the rope. Several years later, the piece still sits in my UFO box, unfinished.

Sunspot Necklace

The next time I started a Cellini spiral was a year or so ago. I wanted to do a bangle and got about 2″ before giving up. I had been too ambitious for the time I had available and it was just taking too long. I was initially going to tear it apart but a friend asked me if she could have it. So I closed up the ends and gave it to her. She strung it on a leather rope and it turned out great!

Cellini Slider

I started again, with fewer beads per round, and still didn’t get very far. I liked the colors I chose but just wasn’t inspired, I guess. I decided to finish it off with a spiral rope chain.

Cellini Pendant Necklace

Cut to now. The theme for the latest ArtBeads Blogging Partner project was Fall. I had the option of choosing either fall colors that inspired me, or colors from the Fall Pantone Fashion Color Report. I chose Living Coral and Lagoon from the Pantone colors and started a netting project (those of you following this blog know my latest obsession with netting). It didn’t work. The coral and teal Delicas looked good together, but the other color I was trying to use with them just didn’t work. So my solution was to pull out more beads. I grabbed some metallic bronze iris, permanent finish metallic wine, color-lined teal, and a light silver lined brown.

I decided that it was time to try a Cellini again. Thank goodness for Fireline, because in order to make such a dramatic spiral, the tension needs to be super tight. I was a little worried at first that I would get a couple of inches done again and lose steam. What ended up happening, though, is that I loved the colors so much that I had no problem getting to the 12 inches of rope I needed for the bangle. Finally, success! I’ve named it Harvest.

Harvest Cellini Spiral Bangle

Harvest Spiral Bangle

*Please note: I have received the above items (the coral and teal Delicas) free of charge from Artbeads. This is my honest review of the product and I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.