Kaleidescope Cuff is a celebration of colour, form and texture.
I started off with a brass blank interior and covered this with pink Ultrasuede. I try to avoid using dressed leather as some people are allergic to the dressing. The Ultrasuede has been glued down with industrial strength glue and cut slightly larger than the cuff blank all the way around to allow for the final brick stitch edging. Then I dyed some Lacey’s Stiff Stuff with permanent black dye until I reached the tone I was happy with. Black is a good background as it makes my colour selections stand out.
I measured up the design perimeter to ensure it finished slighly larger than the brass blank and matched the dimensions of the Ultrasuede backing.
I stuck down the central magnesite cabochon with industrial glue and permitted the glue to fully set over a 24 hour period. The cabochon is then embellished with decorative lines of free form peyote stitch using 6lb test Fireline beading thread and my usual 12/0 sized nedle.
I glued down a variety of vintage German acrylic cabochons. All cabochons were then stitched down in my signature free form style. Other “matching” beads in terms of colourways, sizes and shapes are added in between to create a unique piece. This part of the design is always time consuming and requires concentration and careful planning to achieve the artistic compilation I am seeking to achieve. A lot of negotiation occurs during this phase of construction as the beads must both compliment and accentuate the larger cabochons and not take away from the core of the design. Whilst Kaleidescope Cuff appears a pleasant “random” selection, nothing could be further from the truth, design wise.
The cuff edging finished off in brick stitch. All intermediary beads and fresh water pearls have been selected for their shape, colour and texture. The pink/purple colourway of Kaleidescope Cuff has been permitted to dominate whilst the secondary colours are the “support act”, colour and texturally speaking.
Careful attention is also always paid to the colour/textural aspect of all my designs. Construction time: approximately 5 days in total. Kaleidescope Cuff is a labour intensive cuff to produce but the end results are well worth it.
