Variations: Cubic Bling Bling

When I first made the Cubic Bling Bling bracelet (instructions here) - little did I know how wildly popular it would be! This bracelet is a huge favorite and many, many people have come into the store, seen the sample, and purchased the components to make their own. Many more have started with the online instructions and made their own.

This was the basic bracelet as I made it the first time – I am very fond of the combination of the 8 mm Swarovski Cube and the 8 mm rhinestone squaredelle. I chose the 8 mm round because it fits nicely into the squardelle, making for a bracelet that moves & bends nicely. The diamond shape of the clasp echos the square shape of the cubes and squaredelles.

Supplies needed

This bracelet is 8 inches long, and has:

• 9 x 8mm Swarovski Cubes (see below)
• 10 x 8mm Sterling Rounds
• 18 x 8mm Swarovski Squardelles
• 2 sterling crimp tubes
• 1 sterling clasp
• Medium Softflex, 10 -12 inches

Tools Required

• wire cutters (to cut Softflex™)
• crimp pliers

This variation is using three colours, repeated.

• A | B | C
• A | B | C
• A | B | C

The colours are

• Khaki
• Lime
• Lt Colorado Topaz

starting from the left, and repeated 3 times.

Because the bracelet (at this length) has 9 coloured beads, a combination with 3 colours works out very well!

This variation is using 2 colours, alternating:

• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A

Because there are 9 colours, there will be one more of one colour (the one you start with), to make it come out even.

This is using:

• Khaki
• Topaz

starting at the left.

This variation is also using 2 colours, alternating:

• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A

This is a softer, more subtle variation of the one above, using:

• Light Colorado Topaz
• Lime

Winter Ice Variations

This variation is using but a single colour, in this case:

• Crystal x 9

But in this case, I've used Crystal AB:

• Crystal AB (x 9)

AB is short for "Aurora Borealis" and is a micro thin coating on the bead that is very reflective. The Crystal AB is much flashier and changeable - it reflects the colours of things around it much more than the plain Crystal (see below).

The AB coating was originally invented by the Swarovski company for Dior in the mid-1950s.

Royal Blue Variations

This variation is again using 2 colours, alternating:

• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A

Because there are 9 colours, there will be one more of one colour (the one you start with), to make it come out even.

This is using:

• Sapphire
• Light Sapphire

starting at the left.

This variation takes the Sapphire and alternates it with the Crystal:

• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A | B
• A

I like this better than the Sapphire and Lt Sapphire, because I like strong contrasts.

Self-Variations ;-)

Again, I used two colours. alternating Alexandrite AB and Lt Sapphire.

As the Alexandrite changes colour depending on whether it is sunlight or under fluorescent light - this version makes it's own variations, so to speak - see next picture below.

Baroque Variations

And here we get to some of my favorite colours. This is a three colour variation:

• Tanzanite
• Violet Opal
• Violet

Somehow, this colour combination just says Italian Renaissance to me. This is another 3 colour repeat:

• Tanzanite
• Violet Opal
• Indicolite

Indicolite is a rich dark teal, blue-green colour.

Again, we have a 3 colour variation, this one is:

Violet Opal

Indicolite

Violet

This one has a softer, more refined look than the previous, which, with more dark colours, looks bolder and more eye-catching.

This is a 5-colour variation, which means that with only 9 coloured beads, you are going to wind up with only one bead in one of the colours, so you want to make it count. This type of colour variation looks well if is shades from dark to light, light to dark, warm to cool, or some progression from here to there, rather than a random mix.

This is:

• Tanzanite
• Indicolite
• Violet Opal
• Violet
• Crystal AB

Back to the three colour variations, this is:

• Sapphire AB
• Violet
• Violet Opal

And one last variation:

• Indicolite
• Tanzanite
• Crystal AB

Now, when all is said and done, which one do you like the most? Or does it give you some ideas for other colour combinations to try? Show your friends - which ones do they like? Can they tell you why?

Of the ones listed above, I like the:

• Khaki & Topaz - for it's very strong colour contrasts
• Plain Crystal - it is so elegant and would go anywhere and with anything

Are there more variations? Sure there are! How about:

• All Jet
• all of ANY colour
• 5 colours that are very similar, to create a subtle graduation of colour
• 2 colours that are opposite on the colour wheel for a strong contrast. (no idea what that means? watch for an upcoming article to explain colour theory!)
• Crystal + any colour

I hope I've inspired you to try a few different colours, either with this project or your own. If you want to see the full line of Swarovski 8 mm Cubes, they are here.