Running With It 

Last post I showed you how I figured out how to use a large art bead by caging it between two beaded components.  I had some other large beads that I enjoyed admiring but didn't know what to do with and, well, now I did.

Around the same time, my beading buddies Bobbi, Karen and I were working through some of the patterns in Rachel Nelson-Smith's Bead Riffs. Her "Groove" pattern of six-sided earrings uses a built-up Right Angle Weave variation. It gave me the idea of making a five-sided unit with a netted inside "spoke" that would hold and keep stable a large bead.

Here's the result, a bead spacer for large (18 x 61mm) beads.
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Here's a close up:

The strap is Aleta Ford Baker's "Indespiral" variation on tubular peyote stitch. You can find her tutorial here. It was fun figuring out how to attach this spiraling peyote tube to the beads and spacers for a seamless (well mostly) look. I did run a length of 14 gauge wire through the beads and spacers for more strength and stability, creating a loop at each end, which I covered with beads.