Celebrating the Jubilee with Jewellery
May 20, 2012 § 3 Comments
You can’t possibly not celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee- even if you are a republican. You’ve got to admire the Lady. There is a sense of serenity about The Queen that is charming and so mesmerizing. I’ll be celebrating the first weekend in June – we have a street party planned for the 3rd – and I can’t wait to watch The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Here’s a clip about it:
And of course, I’ve been making my Jubilee Jewellery for friends and family …
Jubilee Shamballa Bracelet
These 12 mm Union Jack beads are from The Bead Store I visited last week. Only seven are required as they are larger than the more common 10 mm shamballa beads found in most stores. I’ve used 1 mm waxed cotton cord down the centre and 1.5 mm nylon cord to tie the macrame knots around the beads. Swarovski helix crystals finish off the pull cord ends. (See my earlier post for how to make these Shamballa-style bracelets and the origin of the Shamballa bracelet.)
The beauty of this Shamballa Bracelet is that it is versatile:
Alternate Blue and Union Jacks bracelet
Yes, it’s the same bracelet. Just rotate the beads a round so that the vibrant blue half of the bead shows.
A single Union Jack stands out against the vibrant blue
I then made another Jubilee Shamballa bracelet, this time with just four Union Jacks but the lots of macrame knots in blue nylon cord. Again, I’ve used two sizes, 1 mm and 1.5 mm, both nylon cords are from The Beaderie in Cambridge. As this is a smaller bracelet, meant for a child or small wrist, I’ve used smaller Swarovski cubes to end the pull cords.
Union Jack and Blue Cord Jubilee Bracelet
Inspired by Jubilee party buntings, I decided to make a swag bracelet, mixing plain, floral and foiled glass beads with Union Jack beads for the first strand. This proved more tricky than I anticipated as the Union Jack beads swivel round on elastic chord or beading wire. I then decided to use two strands of Beadalon stringing wire and thread one strand through the bead and the other around the bead to fix it’s position. (You can see this below)
Jubilee Swag bracelet
The second strand, is made up of light blue faceted crystals and red frosted glass beads. And of course, we have to have pearls – the Queen rarely goes without them. I chose to string button pearls spaced with silver lined seed beads for the third strand in the swag. The swag is fastened with a lovely silver box clasp to finish it off.
My oldest daughter wanted a Union Jack pendant to hang from her chain, so I made this really simple pendant by adding a single Swarovski bicone and using a beaded head pin to create a wire-wrapped loop.
Wire-wrapped Union Jack Pendant with a single Swarovski bicone
We’ll be sporting our Jubilee Jewellery during the celebrations and after that – well – there’s the Olympics and Team GB to cheer for. ♥K
How awesome!!!!
Thanks Lori!
I gotta say Wow and the Jubilee Swag bracelet is so beautiful!