Pattern Review: Tiny Treasures Earrings

I thought you might like to see what I've been up to for the past couple of days. I was experimenting with a new earring pattern that I bought the other day. It's called "Tiny Treasures Earrings" by Cynthia Newcomer Daniel and you can get the pattern from Jewelry Tales HERE or on Etsy HERE. I found the instructions and some of the diagrams to be a little vague but I did figure them out through trial-and-error. There's no indication in the diagrams which beads were added in previous steps and which ones you're currently adding. I think that a few arrows showing the thread paths might also be useful.

The earrings come out really cute but it does make a difference what kinds of beads you use and also the colors you use. Some look great and others not so much. I like that the design is very unique and the shape is nothing like anything I've seen elsewhere. They look a lot like actual metal antique/vintage earrings when you're wearing them.

I went through my stash of bicones and 11/0 seed beads, etc. to come up with as many color combinations as I could. I also tried different "metal" colors. Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D) is the clear winner of the metals but I do like some of the others too. Dark Bronze has the most antique look, I think. Besides using 11/0 seed beads, I also used a couple other kinds of beads of the same size in my samples. One sample has tiny 2mm pearls and another one has tiny cubes that just happened to match some bicones perfectly.

Although the seed bead and bicone embellishments on these are a bit raised and dimensional, there is a trick that will make them look a bit more like they're set into the "metal" base of the earring. When you're weaving the three "petals", keep your stitching on the loose side so that when you add the embellisment beads later, they will sort of nestle down into the petals a bit. Cynthia does mention this in the tutorial, but she doesn't explain why you should do this.

I did change one thing and that's the loop for the earring wire. I wanted my loop to have more of a distinct shape rather than just a circle of beads. Mine are inspired by some of the loops that Sidonia often uses on her beadwork projects. At the point in the tutorial when you're instructed to make the loop, I picked up seven 15/0 seed beads then went back around through the 11/0 seed bead I just exited. Next, I went back up through the first 15/0 seed bead of the loop. I picked up a 15/0 seed bead and proceeded through the next five 15's of the loop. Then, I picked up one more 15/0 and went through the last 15/0 of the loop and the 11/0 bead where I started from. I went around the loop a couple of times to reinforce it. I also reinforced all of the other parts of the earrings to tighten up beads that needed to be snugged up a bit and also to even out the shape of the main open loop in the center of the earrings. I wanted nice, neat netting on mine.

I've got two more tips for this pattern. When you're making the main loop in the center of the earring, go back around once and "pop out" the 11/0 seed bead that's in the middle of the three at the top. This helps shape the earrings a little bit better. The other thing that I did was flatten my samples under a stack of very heavy books. It did seem to make a difference. I placed them on a paper towel and put another paper towel over them to protect them. I stacked about five huge books on top of them and left them like that overnight. The earrings still aren't flat, due to the embellishment beads, but they seem to look a little more neat and tidy, if you know what I mean.

Here's the break-down of the beads I used in each sample. Bear in mind that I don't have any color or brand info on a lot of the special beads. I have a lot of odds and ends that have been given to me that don't have that information. They're the sort of things that are perfect for this project because you only need a few beads in each color.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Seafoam/Aqua" (from Walmart)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Light Topaz/Sea Foam Lined" (TR-11-952/c)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Golden Shadow #C25AB" (Beads One)
• 2mm pearls "Light Champagne" (Aria Design Studio Etsy)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (15-458)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (11-458)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Sand Opal"
• 11/0 seed beads "Transparent Gold Lined" (no info)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Denim Blue" (from Walmart)
• 11/0 seed beads "Black Diamond" (no info)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Bronze" (15-457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Bronze" (11-457)
• 4mm bicones "Light Colorado #C26AB" (Beads One)
• 11/0 seed beads "Topaz Lined Aqua" (no info)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Emerald" (no info)
• 11/0 seed beads "Topaz Lined Teal" (no info)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Antique Silver-Nickel" (15-464A)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Antique Silver-Nickel" (11-464A)
• 4mm bicones "#C53" (Beads One)
• 11/0 seed beads "Dark Copper Lined" (no info)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Dark Rose" (no info)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Inside-Color Montana Blue/Oxblood Lined" (TR-11-363/c)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pale Mink" (D4221)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pale Mink" (D4221)
• 4mm bicones "Amethyst" (no info)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Silver-Lined Frosted Amethyst" (TR-11-26CF/c)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm bicones "Lavender" (no info)
• 11/0 seed beads "Metallic Purple" (no info)

[This is one of my favorites]

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (15-457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (11-457L)
• 4mm bicones "Vitral Green #C50" (Beads One)
• 11/0 seed beads "Champagne Lined" (no info)

 

• 15/0 seed beads "Metallic Chocolate" (no info)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (11-461)
• 4mm bicones "Pale Bittersweet" (no info)
• 11/0 cube beads "Pale Bittersweet AB" (no info)

[This is one of my favorites]