Honorable Mention

No kit was provided, so I used a combination of purchased beads in colors suggested by the instructor, Melissa Grakowsky Shippee, and beads from my stash.

Each beaded bead is begun by creating a peyote tube of size 10 cylinder beads. They are then embellished with layers of netting using a variety of seed beads and shaped beads (tiles, daggers and magatamas). More layers are added to successive beads until the barrel-shaped largest bead is obtained.

I left off two layers from this final bead as I didn’t care for its size, weight or shape.

The chain is constructed next, entirely of size 11 and size 8 seed beads. The beads are strung on the chain and then the fringes are formed directly on the ends of the chain. The flowerets on the end of the fringes keep the beads on the chain.

I was amazed at how well the matte fuchsia beads coordinated with the whole necklace once the beads were strung on the chain. I used green Fireline throughout the piece as I like the brightening effect it has on green, yellow and red-hued beads. I also felt it added a natural look to the floral aspects of the design.

The lariat can be worn in multiple ways, none of them symmetrical!