Today's posting is a bracelet that also has a lot of good memories for me- Geometric 3-4-2.

I beaded this back in 2006 and it was the 2nd bracelet I beaded in this style hence its name. The 3 is because its based on a triangle, the 4 is a code I used for continuous bangles like these and the 2 shows it's the 2nd I beaded like this.

This bracelet means a lot to me as whilst beading it I learnt a lot about using using colour (this has 87 different colours in it!) and mixing bead finishes. All of those lessons I still use in my work today and I wrote about them way back in 2006 here.

It also means a lot to be as it won 1st place in the bracelet category of the sadly no longer around Bead Art Awards and it won an honourable mention in the jewellery category of the 2008 Wearable Expressions exhibition. This stood out to me as it was judged against what I was told was 'proper jewellery' i.e. that using gemstones and precious metals and held its place with them. I did find out subsequently that the judges hadn't fully realised it was beadwork and that it may not have got so far if they did... crazy. But I did also hear from many attending that it altered their view of beadwork and 'just seed beads' so I hope it went some way towards changing people's perceptions of beading and letting them see it is just as valid an art form and jewellery making technique as any other.