I have made or finished three cabochon 
projects since Christmas, and have had an interesting experience with each of them.
projects since Christmas, and have had an interesting experience with each of them.The one on the left is actually half a geode, so it's not technically a cabochon, but let's not quibble :) I bought this geode from Gary Wilson at the Bead and Button Show in 2008, after seeing Laura McCabe wearing a fabulous necklace that she had made out of one. It sat in the drawer for ages, then I decided to try and do something with it. It's since been one of those projects that I pull out and put away again on a regular basis, never happy with what I'm trying. I've gotten to a point where I'm happy with how I've captured the geode, using a combination of peyote stitching and free-form netting. My difficulty is in the embellishment. I've tried several different fringe ideas and various other things, but haven't been happy with any of it. It's wearable as it is now, although very plain, so I'll probably just leave it now. I have another geode in the drawer, so maybe I'll try something more elaborate with that one. It's in projects like this that I really feel my lack of confidence in free-form embellishment - other people would just go for it and turn out something fabulous, but I have trouble visualising what the end result will be. So I have learnt from this project that I need to build confidence in going outside the boundaries.
The cabochon on the right was bought from a BSV member at the 2010 Bead Retreat [beadsociety.com.au]. It's a pretty teardrop shape piece of stone in an interesting shade of purple, with green and gold inclusions - really attractive. Sadly I've botched this one. It currently looks like it would belong on a Bollywood set, but definitely not around my neck! I've decided that the edging is in the wrong beads, and is slightly too much for this stone. I actually really like the way the edging came out - it was one of the technique's in Jamie Cloud Eakin's book Beading with Cabochons, which is one of my favourite beading books. I just used the wrong beads and the edging is too wide for the size of the cabochon. I'll have to unpick this one and start again unfortunately.
I'm actually really happy with the way the middle project came out. Funnily enough, this evolved quite by accident. I decided to join a couple of my fellow BSV committee members in going to the first BSV meeting in Geelong earlier this month. I was told that they were going to be learning spiral rope technique, which I know really well, so I rummaged through the stash and found some beads that I though would go nicely together in a spiral rope. Anyway, I started the rope at the meeting, and really liked the effect. It has copper coloured delicas as the core bead, then two shades of green 15s and a green lined crystal triangle in the outer beads. The 
triangles seem to lock together really well, making a tight and effective spiral that shows off the copper core very well, so I must remember that for future spirals. Anyway, I had only planned to do a small piece as a sample, but by the end of the meeting I had a length of spiral rope about 15 cms long - too long to unpick! So I decided I had better finish it and then find something to hang off it. I had a rummage around the stash again, and came up with this cabochon, which is another one of the cabs I purchased from Gary Wilson. I had actually completely forgotten about this particular cab, but it goes perfectly with the colours in the spiral rope. I also had several other different types of copper beads, so had some fun with embellishing the cabochon. I particularly like how the outer edge turned out. I sewed down the copper lined crystals first, then ran through them, picking up some 15s and a triangle each time. The bail has been made using herringbone stacks, but I figured out a minor variation on adding embellishment beads in between, which looks very effective.
triangles seem to lock together really well, making a tight and effective spiral that shows off the copper core very well, so I must remember that for future spirals. Anyway, I had only planned to do a small piece as a sample, but by the end of the meeting I had a length of spiral rope about 15 cms long - too long to unpick! So I decided I had better finish it and then find something to hang off it. I had a rummage around the stash again, and came up with this cabochon, which is another one of the cabs I purchased from Gary Wilson. I had actually completely forgotten about this particular cab, but it goes perfectly with the colours in the spiral rope. I also had several other different types of copper beads, so had some fun with embellishing the cabochon. I particularly like how the outer edge turned out. I sewed down the copper lined crystals first, then ran through them, picking up some 15s and a triangle each time. The bail has been made using herringbone stacks, but I figured out a minor variation on adding embellishment beads in between, which looks very effective. I suppose being happy with one out of three projects isn't too bad really, and at least I know what's gone wrong with the others. When I get around to re-jigging the Bollywood one I'll post the before and after pictures.
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