Bedeviled by Bezels!

I love the look of rivolis, (Swarovski’s brilliantly colored large rhinestones with pointed fronts and backs), and set out to create a pair of bezeled earrings. Since I said at the outset that I would document both my successes and failures here, I have to admit that it took me DAYS, not hours to produce these little treasures.

My first mistake was googling, and then following, some bad instructions. After ripping out the bezel nearly a dozen times, I ran out to B&N and picked up a copy of Laura McCabe’s Creating Crystal Jewelry with Swarovski. Great detailed directions that actually work! Now that I had the right blueprint to work from, I still had a problem creating a tight bezel with little or no play in the stone. It took me a long time to get the hang of it, but with Laura’s directions, I finally produced a pair that were worthy of earwires! They practically hum with the colors of spring and compliment my latest bracelets!



These bezels were woven in peyote stitch. Next, I want to try my hand at creating some bezeled earrings in right angle weave, using a free pattern Marcia DeCoster is offering on her blog. Stay tuned!