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by: Dwyn Tomlinson

Oooo - a pile of LOOT. Pirate Booty. Shake your booty. Pirate Jack has a nice ... whoa - better stop right there with the free associations.

When this big box of gold-plated beads came it - it was like opening a treasure chest - piles and piles of gleaming gold beads. I had to make something that was just over the top and opulent and "In yo face Cleopatra!"

I wanted the strands to bunch up and overlap, like a stack of bangles. I deliberately kept them long, and doubled-up on the bottom loop of the clasp. I put bigger beads at the bottom (designed to go on the side closer to my fingers when worn) to add visual weight. And put copper beads in the top strand just to break it up a bit visually (end two beads are gold - rest are copper). The round metal beads in-between keep them moving and twisting against each other.

The whole thing makes a pleasant ringing sound when worn, and I am intrigued by the way the beads sometimes line up spontaneously in layers like scales, reminiscent of Japanese Samurai armor.

I strung the strands first separately - then attached them all on one side to the clasp, then to the other end. I used gold beading cable so that it would look nice and consistent at the ends, and kept the loops in the cable large enough to move around. I didn't put crimp covers on as the crimps slide inside the beads half the time, giving the bracelet more movement and flow.

It's a fun bracelet to wear, and definitely easy to make!

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Components Clicking on components links will open a new window so that you don't lose this page.
		hclsp22gp Clasp - 5-Strand Slide Tube - Gold Plated	Price: $ 1.96 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 12	96096052 Crimp Tubes - Seamless - 2mm - Gold-filled (25)	Price: $ 8.95 per	In Stock
	Qty: 64	s29168 Metal Beads - 12mm Ridgeback Square - Brushed Gold (15 x 4 strands + 4 on the strand with the copper)	Price: $ 1.10 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 11	s29182 Metal Beads - 20mm - Puff Square - Brushed Copper	Price: $ 0.95 per	In Stock
	Qty: 10	s29167 Metal Beads - 20mm Brushed Criss Cross Square - Brushed Gold	Price: $ 2.85 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 79	28811831 Metal Beads - 3mm Round - Goldtone (100)	Price: $ 5.49 per	In Stock
		961ext01930gld Softflex (tm) Beading Wire - 30ft .019 (Medium) - Extreme 24k Gold (Spool) (15 inches x 6 strands - finished length is 8.5 inches.)	Price: $ 54.74 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
		helbs06 Tools - Bead Stopper - (5) (These really make handling multiple unfinished strands a LOT easier.)	Price: $ 3.99 per	In Stock