Laura McCabe Conclusion

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I'll close my Laura McCabe series with three projects.  The first two are embellished spiral ropes and the last is a sphere for which I'm particularly proud.  This first spiral rope has the basic embellishment.  The rope is created in the normal method, then you go back and add a picot between every core bead on the spiral.  The result is lush and elegant, particularly when done with fresh water pearls

I so pleased that Laura is coming out with a new book in May of 2010.  You can pre-order it from Amazon.  The front cover shows a version of this project of  Laura's.  This necklace was completed the same as the one above, but uses keshi pearls in the back and an elaborate frothy fringe in the front.  This is a substantial and stunning necklace.

I love the basic picot embellishment and have used it often to liven up an otherwise plain spiral, especially when I'm not using crystal.  You can use anything to create these picots (leaves, magatamas, drops, seed beads, etc.).

I'd like to close with another project I did for my friend Loretta.  She purchased the kit from Laura and sent it to me, and was one of the most difficult of Laura's projects.  Not so much the technique, but joining and reinforcing the sides of the cube without breaking needles and beads created a huge challenge.  I almost didn't make a second one for myself.  But  I'm so glad I stuck with it.  I found some fabulous lampwork beads at my guild's semi-annual sale and created a kumihimo rope that goes through the center of the sphere.  The result is stunning and is one of my favorite necklaces.