PRINTEMPS EARRINGS
- 15/0 seed beads "Chocolate" (no info available)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (11-461)
- 4mm bicones "Rose Topaz AB" (Chinavoski)
- 4mm fire polished beads "Pink Coral Moon Dust"
- 3mm druks "Dark Brown"
After I put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven yesterday morning, I had a bit of free time before I started the rest of the cooking later in the day. So, I made a pair of Deborah Roberti's "Printemps Earrings" to go with the bracelet that I was wearing. I chose that pattern because it calls for the same kinds of beads that I'd used to make my "Bow Tie Bracelet", which is also one of Deb's patterns. Another reason why this pattern was a good choice was that the beads in the center of the earrings are in the same configuration as the "bow ties" in the bracelet. I was even able to use a 3mm dark brown/copper druk in the center "X" of each earring like I did on the "bow ties" of the bracelet. I followed the pattern with the exception of the loop for the wire at the top. Below is a better view of how I made my loop:
You can get the free earring pattern HERE and the free "Bow Tie Bracelet" HERE at Around the Beading Table. You can read my post about my bracelet HERE.
Note that the bicones don't look nearly as clear as they do in these photos. In reality, the color is like a sparkly version of the color of the fire polished beads. The AB coating keeps them from looking too transparent but the camera couldn't capture that very well.
Very pretty! Love the pink with chocolate color combination.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I was surprised at how well the sort of coppery "Chocolate" seed beads go with those fire polished beads. I wish that Miyuki would make that color in 15/0 and 8/0 too because it's one of my favorite metal colors.
DeleteWhere do you get yours seed beads?
ReplyDeleteI buy most of them from Charlene's Beads. She has the best prices on the metallic ones.
DeleteI made these earrings and have to say this pattern has the best instructions of any that I have used. I really like how the pattern tells you to make another pass through the beads and when to do it. I made them with 4 mm beads and also with 3 mm. I liked the 3 mm perhaps because the colors were better than my selection of 4's. I have one question. How many times do you tie off when you are ending? If I read it correctly, the pattern mentions once.
ReplyDeleteAlso want to mention in case others have this problem, that I am still having trouble commenting with my default browser Firefox. Even though I disable add-ons, it still won't work. Have to go to IE to comment.
Hi Sandy. I'm not sure what you mean by "tie off". Most of the time I just weave my threads around and around through the beadwork and don't bother making any knots. Although I do often make a knot when first starting a piece, I find that making knots at the end are more trouble than they're worth and I doubt that they really do much to secure the threads. Since you can't cut the thread close to a knot anyway, the odds of the end of the thread shrinking back into the beadwork as far as where I made a knot are very slim so why bother? I do think that weaving in the thread is very important though and I try to go around and around as much as I can before cutting the thread. Doing this is useful for securing the thread but it also can be used to help shape the work where needed. Does that answer your question?
DeleteI'm using Firefox and have no trouble commenting so it must be some other setting that's causing you trouble. Perhaps it's something to do with your anti-virus program. I don't think that I've done anything special in my Firefox settings.
Thank you for the information. Good to know how you end your work. At our local bead shop where I took classes, they recommended a half hitch knot at the end of the work. They described it as ending the same way you do when sewing on a button.
ReplyDeleteFirefox used to work for me in the comments so something changed. Must be anti-virus if you're using Firefox.
Bear in mind that it's just the way that I choose to end my beadwork and my method might not be the best method for everyone. Most patterns do recommend making half-hitch knots before weaving in the ends.
DeleteI did a search and someone else suggested the cookies settings may be the problem. I had it set to accept cookies from visited but it wouldn't work until I changed it to always accept cookies.
ReplyDelete