Saltillo goes Armenian

A few weeks ago I posted that I had started a wide peyote stitch cuff.  My husband actually expressed interest in having it, but when push came to shove, he backed out and I finished it to fit my wrist.

weighing in at 48 mm wide X 190 mm long

three snaps close this baby

you can see the overlap where the snaps are sewn

The pattern is by Pascale Guichaoua-Mikovic and appeared as an on-line project in Bead&Button magazine in 2009.  I altered it only a tiny bit, but have listed at the end of the post some other ideas I might try  if I make another.  Every time I make a wide, high contrast, highly detailed cuff which includes black, white, and some other bright colors, I get people who want to buy it on the spot. Except they want to pay $40. 

My goal was was to get a group of items up for sale by the end of the summer, but this hasn't happened.  One stumbling block is pricing.  I have seen loads of advice on this.  The reality is that I'm a hobbyist and I want to make enough to pay for my hobby.  But I also have feelings about undercutting artists and designers who make a living selling their work.  I have one avenue I need to investigate - an arts center in the town where I work which has an under $100 gallery. Perhaps I'll go and check out the local pricing.

I was wearing this today when I went shopping and a woman asked me if I had done the cross stitching.  I told her I made it but that it was about 4,000 tiny glass beads.  Her jaw hit the floor.  I wish I had a camera to capture the look on her face.  I took it off because she wanted to get a closer look.  Then she called over a friend who was with her.  Both were amazed.  I'm pretty amazed too.  But each time I finish something I start thinking about what I need to do differently (ditch the palest grey, which actually appears white - and use the cream, which is actually the Delica flesh-tone; give the center medallion the same interesting indentations with red dots that the triangle shapes surrounding the medium grey wedges have; use more of the metallic bronze which just reads brown in these pics, but actually really pops). 

The snaps were suggested by Kokopelli.  I was thinking that I would use a long tube bar closure.  Check out the link to Monsterslayer's selection.  They have a 40mm 7-loop clasp!  When I started playing with the piece, I realized that the ends joining formed just as interesting design as the center.