Waterfall Bracelet

Some of you have followed this project, which started with a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge, then progressed as I continued beading at home.  Now have have finished the project:

I lengthened it into a bracelet and embellishing it with freshwater pearls, labradorite, and peridot.  I used labradorite and peridot chips for a more natural feel.  I used freshwater pearls with a little bit of texture to the surface for the same reason. I made the clasp out of a lampwork bead in my stash that reminds me of a waterfall:

Thank you all for your encouragement!

Waterfall Inspiration

Several days ago I took a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge with my beading. I shared my travels with all of you, but I never showed you what I made when I was sitting by Horsetail Falls.

 While I was watching and listening to the water thunder down into the pool, I became very interested in the look of the plant life growing on the basalt cliff face.  I liked the texture of the basalt, the line of the water, and in between, trailing along the edge of the falling water, the wildflowers and moss.

I decided I wanted to make something that would capture the way the cliff, the plants and the water all looked together.  The first thing I did was put together some color mixtures.  I had brought at least 12 boxes of beads with 20 colors each to choose from.  Here are my grays and greens.  I was sure to include lots of cube-shaped beads in my grays to mirror the basalt formations in the cliff (maybe I will write a post about basalt sometime - it's very interesting).

Then I was stumped for a while.  How was I going to portray a waterfall?  I had just finished a big project - a necklace inspired by the ocean.  I wanted something a little smaller and simpler this time.  After some mental debate, I decided I wouldn't worry about what my creation would be used for.  I just concentrated on the waterfall and beaded.  Here's how far I got before my legs fell asleep (I was sitting on big fallen rocks at the edge of the pool).

The next day I filled in a little more and added white for the water:

Now that my beading was looking more finished, I once again started wondering what I should make it into. It's really too long to be an earring (although waterfall-inspired waterfall earrings had a certain appeal). Necklaces are really my "go to" comfort-zone type of jewelry, but it felt awkward to try to make this piece into a necklace.  I finally decided that it would be easy to lengthen the random netting and make the piece into a bracelet.  I'm also thinking of adding some semi-precious embellishments, like fresh water pearls in the white (water), peridot in the green (plants) and my favorite stone, labradorite, in the grey (cliff).

What do you think?  Is bracelet a good choice?

Beading in the Columbia River Gorge

Yesterday I found myself with an unexpected windfall - a whole day of freedom.  My kids went to visit the grandparents and my husband had to work.  Don't get me wrong - I love their company!  It's just that I don't often get to decide how to spend my time by myself, without input from others.  After some debate with myself, I decided to go out to the Columbia River Gorge, which is about an hour from my house to find a scenic spot to do some beading.

The morning was overcast, but warm and dry.  I always feel excited as I enter the Gorge and the cliffs and bluffs come into view.  The Gorge is a huge place.  I decided to take the Historic Columbia River Highway until I found "a good spot".  This highway is beautifully constructed and passes many major waterfalls.  Here are some images of the highway:

The first few waterfalls I passed were impossibly crowded.  Bridal Veil Falls was closed for a wedding.  Wahkeena Falls and Multnomah Falls had absolutely no parking available.  In fact, it was a bit of a traffic jam to get past them.  But the next stopping point was Oneonta Gorge.  I knew it would not be a great place for beading, but it is a really magical place, so I stopped.


I love this place - the tall cliffs covered with mosses, lichens, ferns and wild flowers are amazing.  I was really tempted to get my beading stuff and sit on that log by the stream, but I wasn't ready to settle down yet.

I had been following the trail on the west side of the gorge.  It petered out, so to keep going, I needed to cross the stream.  Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead for this, and I wasn't exactly wearing water shoes:

Fortunately I made it across without getting wet.  It was a lot of fun to step across from stone to stone.  Once on the other side, I was able to continue down to a big log jam where the gorge narrows dramatically.  It was so worth it!

My next stop was Horsetail Falls.  I love the shape of this waterfall.  It isn't the tallest or the grandest in the Columbia River Gorge, but it sure is beautiful.  I brought my beading stuff down to the edge of the pool and sat down to do the beading.


I spent a couple of hours sitting at the edge of the pool and beading.  People came and went.  One fellow went swimming in the pool.  Most people only go wading because the water is very, very cold.  In the summer streams like this are mostly melted snow and ice running down from the Cascade Mountains.  This fellow was looking for crawdads.  He would catch them, admire them, and then release them.  His dad let me take a picture of one of the bigger crawdads they found.


Eventually my legs fell asleep, sitting on the big rocks at the pool.  It was time to move on.  The sun had come out while I was beading, so I decided to just enjoy the day for a while.

How about you?  What would you do with a day of unexpected freedom?  What places do you find inspiring?