Keychains · Ornaments

Helical Key Fob

Anita

This month’s Art Elements challenge has the theme of Seed Pods, and is hosted by Jen Cameron. When I signed up for the challenge, I didn’t really have any idea of what I would make, but soon after, I was reminded of seed pods from my school days. On our way to school and back, we would come across these helical seed pods strewn all around. I don’t see them anywhere these days, and I still don’t know what kind of trees they were from. I thought it would be awesome if I could represent them.

Research using the vague terms I could think of didn’t turn up anything useful, and anyway, I don’t think I even remember those seed pods that well, so I eventually ditched the research and focused on the artistic. That’s when the Cellini Spiral sprung to mind. I’ve admired the effortless gorgeousness of this stitch but had never worked on it myself. After trying and discarding a few color combinations, I ended up with a viable one – I just love these colors!

Helical Key Fob

The Cellini Spiral stitch itself is easy to learn because it’s essentially a tubular peyote stitch, but the constant color change requires some attention, so it’s probably not TV stitching. 🙂 Mistakes are really easy to undo, though.

Since none of my bead caps seemed to really suit this piece, I ended up using a 16-gauge wire for the finishing. I strung the wire through the length of the helix tube and formed the ends. (This wire was so hard to work with!) I also made a jump ring for some extra swing. Now that’s a key fob I totally adore!

So it looks like this project wasn’t about technique-oriented challenges for me, but it makes up for that with the happiness it brought. Thank you, Jen, for the chance to channel a tiny piece of the past into the present. 🙂

This is a blog hop, so please check out the insanely creative ideas from the other guests and the AE team!

Guests: Tammy • Raven • Alysen • Anita (You are here) • Cat • Kimberly • Rozantia • Sarajo • Divya • Caroline • Catherine • Kathy • Jill • Norma
AE Team: Claire • Caroline • Lesley • Niky • Laney • Susan • Marsha • Jenny • Cathy • Jen

Published by Anita

A software engineer at heart and by profession, I take my creative skills seriously.

40 thoughts on “Helical Key Fob”

  2. You say it’s easy because it’s essentially a peyote stitch like that’s easy too. 😉 It took me hours to get a basic peyote stitch started and I gave up bead weaving after one bracelet. Love the colors in your bead.

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    1. Lol, that statement was meant to be encouraging since the stitch looks complicated. 🙂 My first peyote stitch turned out pretty bad too, but the varied translucent colors that I used saved it.

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  8. Beautiful bead work Anita! Great interpretation too. You can anneal (heat up) large gauge wire to make it easier to work with. If you have a common kitchen crème brulée torch or even a lighter would work for 16 gauge. Then just sand to clean and twist away to your heart’s desire. You don’t need to pickle it or even heat til red.

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  9. You could try annealing the wire. It would make it easier to bend or loop. The bellini spiral is so interesting. Does this color pattern have a particular meaning

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    1. I’ll try annealing next time, thank you, Divya! I chose the green and the teal since they are the most organic looking colors I own, and the rest are compatible contrasting colors.

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