Playing with my beads...

Last night I tried a couple more things with Sidonia's "Little Dots" and "Sweet Romance" tutorials. I've decided that I'm not keen on "Sweet Romance" as earrings. I think it's because the motif is so flat. Either that or I didn't use the right colors perhaps. I chose topaz bicones because I had drop beads to go with that color. I've got a few other colors in drop beads so maybe I can come up with a nicer color combination. The topaz is pretty but the color is a bit too pale against my dark hair.

SWEET ROMANCE

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Light Smoked Topaz AB" (#C29 - Beads One)
• 4mm bicones "Light Colorado AB" (#C26 - Beads One)
• 6x12mm drop beads "Champagne" (#C26 - Beads One - not available online)

I do like the sample of "Little Dots" below. The color is also pale and muted but in a grungy sort of way that I love. I'm still not certain if I'd like this as a bracelet because of the fat motifs but I came up with a slight variation that fills the gaps between them a little more. I think that my tweak helps balance the tiny connectors and large motifs a little better than just the "X's". All I did was go back around them and added three 15/0 seed beads on each side of the X to turn them into diamond shapes. I was using cheap Nymo D thread last night so I didn't risk trying to go through the diamonds again to shape them up better but I would do that when using FireLine or Nymo B thread. I'd also skip the point beads of each diamond to pop them out. I had a heck of a time editing this photo to get the color right but this is pretty close: 

LITTLE DOTS BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Matte Bronze" (15-2006)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Champagne" (Nirvana Beads)
• 4mm fire polished beads "Smoky Topaz Luster"
• 6mm fire polished beads "Champagne" (Nirvana Beads)

I could have used "Metallic Matte Bronze" 11/0 seed beads in my sample but I decided to try the "Olive Bronze" ones to break up the monotony of all those matte beads a little. The difference is subtle though and I'm not sure if they made a difference or not. Below is a photo of those "Champagne" fire polished beads from the Nirvana site so you can see what they're supposed to look like. I actually edited the color of their photo a little to get it closer to how they look in real life.

Click HERE if you want to see how the photo looks on their website.

I may make myself a bracelet (I've got just enough of the 6mm fire polished beads for one) and wear it a few times to see how I like it. One great thing about beadwork is that you can always take things apart and recycle the beads into something else. I will at least make myself a pair of earrings from the Little Dots motif.