Today's Valentine's day and I'm celebrating it by spending most of it beading.

The result was I finished a bangle (the first in a new series) that has been on and off my beading tray for about a year now. The end result may look simple enough but perfecting the switch from peyote to brick stitch along with the change in direction took a lot of experimentation to get right in a way that satisfied me both in is look and its ease of explaining to others.

It's very rare that I bead something that I don't plan to teach, or write up, so this guides my design choices all through the process as I contemplate how I will put a tricky manoeuvre into words and diagrams. I can 'get away' with more if it will only ever be a class, as I can be on hand to guide someone, but as so much of my work is done as patterns then I need to consider this right from the start.

With this I think I've cracked it and I'm pleased with the elegance of the solution.

Look out for this project as a class in 2013.

If you loved my recent lariat made using some of Merle Berelowitz's gorgeous hand painted flowers then you'll be pleased to hear that she's begun selling them online now and you can buy them here. A gift from her to us all.