Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet & Mini Rondo Earrings

MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"

I made this bracelet for my sister for Christmas after she hinted that she could use some black bracelets. When I showed you a bunch of black bracelet samples in THIS post, I was getting ideas for bracelets to make for Cindy. I waited until after Christmas to show you these bracelets so that she wouldn't see them online.

Click HERE for the free "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet" tutorial.

After making three black bracelets for Cindy (I'll show you the other two in future posts), I decided to make earrings to go with each of them. I was hoping to use patterns that I have made before but nothing seemed like the right style to go with this modern-looking bracelet. So, I looked through my stash of untried earring patterns and this one caught my eye but I did tweak them a little. The pattern calls for 4mm bicones which didn't suit the look that I was going for. I used 4mm druks instead of the bicones. A 4mm druk would have been much too large for that spot at the very bottom center point of the earring so I used a 3mm druk instead.

MINI RONDO EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Bronze"
• 4mm druks "Jet"
• 3mm druks "Jet"

The free version of the "Mini Rondo Earrings" pattern by Rosina Ottolini is in Italian but the diagrams are very easy to follow. The free version can be downloaded from Craftsy HERE. If you'd like an English version of the pattern, it is for sale HERE on Craftsy and also on Etsy HERE.

NOTE: Since I typed up this post last week, Rosina has removed all of her free patterns from her Craftsy shop. You can still buy the English version of the "Mini Rondo Earrings" there and on Etsy. The earring pattern that I mention below is no longer available.
 

I recommend using Nymo D thread to make these earrings. It's thicker than Fireline so the earrings hold their shape a little better. I actually made one earring of this pair with Nymo D and the other one with 6 pound Fireline. Although you can't see any difference in the photos, the Fireline one is more flexible. I wanted to try one with Fireline to see if would be any easier to get my needle through the beads than with Nymo. It really didn't make any difference though. The beads are all large enough to get the thicker thread through the beads many times. Any trouble that I did have getting my needle through was due to how close the beads are together in the curved area near the top of the earring. I suggest using a flexible size 12 Tulip needle to make these. Take it one bead at a time as you go around the perimeter the last couple of times and you'll get your needle through the beads eventually with a little patience. It's important to reinforce the earrings several times or they won't keep their shape.

I have one other tip for making these earrings. The earring wire is attached using a jump ring that goes through the SuperDuo bead at the top. I tried that successfully a couple of times but later decided that this is too risky. If you do decide to go that route, make sure that you test to make sure that your jump rings will fit through the holes of the SuperDuos BEFORE you add them to the earrings. If your jump rings are too thick, you'll need to come up with an alternate method for attaching the wires. I added some 11/0 seed beads at the top with an 8/0 seed bead in the center for the jump ring to go through in two of my sample earrings below.

PICCOLISSIMI RONDO EARRINGS

I also tried Rosina's "Piccolissimi Rondo Earrings". They're a smaller version that looks similar to the "Mini Rondo Earrings". I'm not all that keen on them and I think the larger version has a nicer shape. Although I didn't end up using that pattern, I thought you might like to see the samples that I made. Note that the black sample doesn't have a wire attached. I was unable to find a jump ring that would fit through that SuperDuo. That's why I don't recommend using that method for attaching the wires.

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Bronze"
• 4mm druks "Jet"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Dark Bronze"
• SuperDuo beads "Chalk Copper Picasso"
• 4mm druks "Blue Luster"

Below is a sample of the "Mini Rondo" earrings done in another colorway. I didn't have any 3mm druks in the same color as the 4mm ones so I made the center point with seed beads instead.

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Dark Bronze"
• SuperDuo beads "Pink Luster Turquoise"
• 4mm druks "Pink Luster Turquoise"