Serendib - not a secret any more :)

The Battle of the Beadsmith '13 has started, there are new designs published every day. The humble me beside the 191 great bead artists was waiting eagerly for the appearence of the photos, so I can finally show them here, too.
You can follow the competition (and maybe vote if you have the time on Facebook:

Battle of the Beadsmith '13

My battle piece Serendib (which is Sri Lanka's ancient Arabic name) is a vest sewn by me, embellished with literally hundreds of cabochons bezeled with peyote, sewn one by one on the ultra suede base, and further decorated with my favourite technique: bead embroidery. The inside is completely covered with soft leather to protect and hide the stitches.

I used the following material:
Silver-grey Ultra Suede for the west.
191 pcs of limited edition Swarovski Elements round stones: 10 mm Pacific Opal rivolis.
12 pcs of white opal pear-shaped Swarovski Elements fancy stones.
6 pcs of 18 x 25 mm turquoise cabochons.
12 pcs of magenta colored regalite beads.
Japanese seed beads: mat silver and light metallic bronze Miyuki Delica 11/0 and round 15/0. Color codes: 457 and 321.
Czech fire-polished beads: 3 mm dark bronze round ones.
Antique bronze focal component.
Nearly 2,5 m (2,8 yards) of cupchain: mat white in antique bronze base.
Bordeaux colored leather from Morocco as backing. It is glued and also hand-sewn all around by little stitches.
The idea was born while sitting next to a lake in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka - hence the name. The realisation took approx. 120 hours.
Size: the back is 38x30 cm, the front parts are 18x30 cm big.

I am really grateful for the following people:
Orhan Can from OrhanCa Photography for taking the pictures.
Zuzi Hake from Zzuzzi Handmade for being the model.
Slávka from Hogo Fogo for the beautiful headpiece Zuzi is wearing.
Ganesh Utsav, the best Indian restaurant in Bratislava, Slovakia for letting us take the pictures with their beautiful oriental furniture in the background.

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