RUSSIAN LEAF EARRINGS
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (4222)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (DB1852)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Opaque Mulberry" (DB662)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dyed Opaque Eucalyptus" (DB2131)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dyed Opaque Cactus" (DB2124)
While looking online for some ideas for decorating my Russian Leaf earrings, I came across Anna's blog which is chock full of beautiful Peyote and Brick stitch design charts. They're all free too. Visit her bog HERE and she also has an Etsy shop HERE. One of my favorite designs from her blog is the one below which is from THIS post.
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| Image courtesy of Anabel (Anna Belous) |
I particularly like the little motif near the top of the chart. Anna uses that same little motif in a lot of her designs and I thought it looked like it might fit at the bottom of my earrings. Before I attempted to add this decoration to an earring, I thought I'd better practice making it first on its own. That's the first bit of beadwork in the photo below. I was surprised to see how tiny it came out. It's not easy to imagine the scale of it while looking at Anna's huge color chart. That little bit of stitching is only about two thirds of an inch tall. I wasn't sure if that whole motif would fit at the bottom of an earring though so first I tried just adding the diamond part of the motif. That's the middle earring sample in the photo.
Once I saw how well the diamond fit, I determined that most of the original motif would indeed fit on the earring. You can see the result in the sample earring on the far right. I omitted the two "rays" at the top of the decoration because they would be where the opening is in the center of the earring. When I added the bottom rays, I decided to go ahead and extend them as a border that goes all the way up the sides of the earring. I like how that looks but I might try making them original size sometime to see how that looks.
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal" (451)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Matte Blue Grey" (DB301)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Galvanized Matte Berry" (DB1167)
- 11/0 Miyuki Delica beads "Duracoat Dyed Opaque Moody Blue" (DB2129)
I was very pleased with how pretty my sample turned out so I made a complete pair in the colorway that you see at the top of this post. It was so much fun making these that I've designed 26 more Russian earring color charts in a variety of patterns. I'll blog about them as I try them out. I'm sure that there will be some duds but hopefully there will be lots of nice ones too.
DOWNLOAD MY FREE PDF COLOR CHART
Click HERE to download my free PDF file that tells step-by-step when to add each color Delica bead while making these earrings. This is NOT a tutorial for making "Russian Leaf" earrings". You will need to use Jill Wiseman's tutorial but make them with seven accent beads instead of nine as Jill instructs. Read THIS post for more information about Jill's video.
Below are two color charts showing the placement of the decorations. These are both included in the PDF file.
I love Anabel's patterns and have made many of them. how cool to see them incorporated in russian leaves, pure genius! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have never done any seed beading but I think these earrings are so beautiful---I love your color combination. I do like the smaller size with seven beads. I'll check out the tutorial to see if I can figure it out.
ReplyDeleteHi Lynn. I recommend printing out the tutorial and then watch the video. I think it helps to see it both ways. It did for me anyway.
DeleteWhere can I find her tutorial on video?
DeleteJill's video is HERE.
DeleteIs lilac the "main color" A bead in this design?
ReplyDeleteYes. It's a sort of mauve or lilac. It's called "Opaque Mulberry" (DB662).
DeleteLinda,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the russian leaf directions. I have looked through 15 years of beading magazines and googled madly and found NO russian leaf.
I will leave a donation.
Laurie
I found another video that makes it so simple to follow its amazing. You do need to know peyote. ate video wont make sense if you don't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQykyAMUeSs
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie. That is an excellent video and I hadn't seen it before. They make them pretty much exactly the way that I do, even with the same number of rows. I don't add a beaded loop on mine though. I also reinforce mine by going around all of the edges. You couldn't wear them without doing that because they would be too soft unless you coat them on the back with clear nail polish, which I do with mine.
DeleteAnother bead you might try are cube beads. 1.5 or 1.8mm
ReplyDeleteYour work is so lovely. I am not finding the video.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me how to access it? thanks so much.
The video link is in another post which I linked to above. Click HERE to go to that post.
DeleteWow thank you for the PDF pattern, still learning this will help greatly!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
Delete