Thursday, August 21, 2014

Bracelet of the Day: Celtic Bracelet

CELTIC BRACELET
  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
  • 4mm pearls "Antique Brass" (Chinese)
  • 4mm bicones "Denim Blue" (Walmart - no longer available)

Today's bracelet of the day is doubling as a review of a pattern by Juanita Carlos of Jaycee Patterns.  It's available HERE on her website and also on Etsy HERE


I followed the pattern as directed but I left off the little dangles and I changed the clasp loops. Of course you knew that I would do that, didn't you? Juanita doesn't mention this but I recommend that you use fine thread such as FireLine or Nymo B with this pattern because you will have to go through some of those tiny 15/0 seed beads a few times. In fact, I actually went around them a second time after each step to reinforce them. 

I love the pretty "Celtic" design between the pearl motifs. The bracelet is quite delicate and comes out about 1/2" wide. It's not too difficult to figure out the thread path from the diagrams and you'll be done with the whole bracelet by the time you've memorized the steps because you'll probably only need to make three or four motifs. My 5 3/4" bracelet has just three motifs but a medium to large size bracelet would probably need four. Because the motifs are so large, you may need to use one less than you think you might need and adjust the length with a longer clasp loop and more jump rings to attach the clasp. Or you could make a homemade clasp and loop as directed by the pattern. You do need to start and end the bracelet with the pearl motif.

Before I settled on the blue and bronze color scheme for my bracelet, I made a few samples with some pretty "Fruit Jade" bicones that I ordered from China. The eBay shop sells 100 bicones in 3mm and 4mm for only 99-cents and the shipping is free. Click HERE for the eBay shop where I got them. In the end, I wasn't happy with any of the seed bead colors that I tried with those bicones so I'll use them for a different project. I thought you might like to see my experiments though so here are some photos:



For the first sample, I used dark bronze seed beads with the jade bicones. I think I like that the best of the four colors that I tried but I liked the blue much better. I think that there is a little too much contrast between the dark seed beads and the pale bicones. I prefer the blue and bronze combination because the color tone of the seed beads and the bicones is almost the same. The design "flows" better that way, I think.




In those three samples, I tried another shade of bronze and two different "silver" colors. I wasn't keen on any of those with the green. Again, too much contrast between the bronze and jade and the silver ones just look washed out. I also tried different round beads in the second sample. Here are the beads that I used in all of the jade samples:

JADE & DARK BRONZE:


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
  • 4mm bicones "Fruit Jade" (Chinese)
  • 4mm round stone beads "Sandjet" (Chinese)

JADE & LIGHT BRONZE:

  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • 4mm bicones "Fruit Jade" (from China)
  • 4mm druks "Jet Picasso"

JADE & PEWTER:

  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (4222)
  • 4mm bicones "Fruit Jade" (from China)
  • 4mm druks "Jet Picasso"

JADE & SILVER:

  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Light Pewter" (4221)
  • 4mm bicones "Fruit Jade" (from China)
  • 4mm druks "Jet Picasso"


19 comments:

  1. I simply wait with sheer anticipation to see your choices of earrings and bracelet designs! Your choices have enough intricate detail to make them very interesting, yet not clunky. This celtic is no exception! Thank you for all you do!!!

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    1. Thanks for your nice comments. It's so much fun trying new patterns and I love that I can share the results on my blog to inspire others to try them too.

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  2. Jaycee's patterns are lovely and some of them are so intricate! This is just gorgeous. I bought some of those fruit jade beads, too; as well as blue jade and white jade. Haven't done anything with them yet.

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    1. What do you think of my "fruit jade" samples, Jeanie? Would you use them to make this pattern or do you agree that they'd be better in something else? I'm not quite sure why they didn't appeal to me in this bracelet but they didn't.

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    2. I agree. I'm not sure what to do with them myself! But they were so unique, I just had to get them. Maybe I'd like them in a summery pattern, using them to make flowers(?) Just my first thought.

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    3. Hmmm-I just thought-what would those fruit jade beads look like in the Tokyo Rows pattern?

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    4. I wasn't crazy about Tokyo Rows with 4mm beads. It came out much too big and chunky for me. That's why I made mine with 3mm fire polish beads. I do like your "flower" idea though.

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  3. Hi Linda
    Thanks so much for your review, I read your blog everytime you put up something new and always find it inspirational. xx PS Love the blue and bronze version of Celtic bracelet~~!

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  4. Do you think if a size 11 bead was used where the beads cross, that you could use FireLine? (and then use the size 15 beads everywhere else -- where directed, of course). I'm not a bead-pattern engineer . . . I wish I was more left brained -- but, then, I might lose creativity. Can't win . . . :-)

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    1. I'm not sure where you mean? FireLine should work fine using all 15/0 beads as directed. I used Nymo B thread because it's just as fine as FireLine but a lot cheaper.

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    2. Note that I said Nymo "B", not "D", which is the more commonly used size. B is much finer than D.

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    3. I use Wildfire in the .006 size and have no problem going through 15/0 beads repeatedly. I like Wildfire because it does not fray like the Fireline. I find the needle thickness more limiting than the thread size. Either the needle, or eye itself, can't make it through the beads several times, or I have a very difficult time threading the needle but no problem making several passes through the 15/0s. I found that the Beadsmith brand needles work better for me. I tried using the John James (that have almost the exact same packaging), but had a very difficult time threading them.

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    4. I've never used Wildfire but I've also never had any trouble getting through the beads with FireLine or Nymo B. I don't use FireLine often because it's so expensive and it's a pain in the butt to thread on the needle. It's also horrible if you get a tangle with FireLine. I dread getting a knot with it because it's nearly impossible to get them out and all that money is wasted if I have to start over with new thread.

      What size needles do you use, Jen? I learned beading with size 10 needles but almost exclusively use 12's now. I buy the cheapest needles that they have at the shop. I get 25 for $3.00. I was going to try some John James needles but the store was out of size 12 that day so I just went with the cheap ones. I can't remember if I've tried Beadsmith needles or not. I may have when I was starting out so they would have been size 10's.

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  5. Hi there,
    I went on the jayceepatterns website, and it no longer available.
    Love your inspiring site, I check in often!
    Thanks,

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    1. I'm glad that you mentioned it because I wasn't aware that Juanita had shut down her website. The pattern is available in her Etsy shop HERE. I will update the link in my post.

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    2. I see that I had already posted the Etsy shop link to the pattern.

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  6. This is such a fabulous pattern. It is fun and easy to make. From the get go, I made 3 bracelets. Super super fun and easy. Highly recommended.

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  7. Hi Linda, I can’t find this pattern on any link provided so far. Juanita’s Etsy shop link also doesn’t post. Is there another place we can find this patters? I’d really love make this bracelet.

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    1. Hi. I just checked her Etsy page and she's apparently taking a break for Thanksgiving. Try checking the Etsy link again in a few days. The pattern appears to still be available in her shop for $6.00.

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