Wednesday, September 30, 2015

More Pearly Lace Earring samples


Sample #1:

  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Opaque Matte Olive Rose" aka "Metallic Khaki Iris" (2035)

Sample #2:

  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Matte Cassiopeia" (708)

Sample #3:

  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Antique Bronze Gold" (225)
  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Opaque Lavender" (52)

I tried a few more colors and, just for fun, I made a couple earrings using 11/0 seed beads instead of 15/0's. They came out quite huge and I probably wouldn't wear them because they tickle my neck. I was just getting a bit bored with my color options in 15/0 beads. I really like the black earring but nobody would see if if I wore that color. They disappear against my dark hair. Maybe they'll show up better once I've gone completely gray.

You can buy Iulia Postica's "Pearly Lace Earrings" pattern HERE on Etsy.



  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Rose Enamel" (372)


  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Opaque Black" (49)


 

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Pearly Lace Earrings

  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Opaque Matte Pale Seafoam" (2028)
  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Matte Pastel Pink" (764)

I'd had my eye on this pattern for a while and finally broke down and bought it yesterday. I made a couple of sample earrings last night just to try the pattern and I instantly fell in love with them. It's really hard to get a sense of how they look in reality by looking at the photos. Because the photos are so big, you see lots and lots of beads in a pretty lace-like design. In reality the beads are so tiny that you think you're looking at real lace made with crochet thread. They're super thin too.

This post is just a sort of preview. I want to try a few more bead colors and get better photos. I was just so excited about them that I had to share what I've made so far. I did run into one issue with the design that I was able to "fix" and I will explain it more in my next post about this pattern. My tweak does change the shape of the design a bit but I really don't like having thread showing between the beads. You can't really see the thread too much in my off white earring below because I took the photo on a dark background. That was my very first sample and I used some brown thread that happened to be on my needle. Of course I will use off-white thread next time with those beads. If you compare the off-white earring with the aqua one above, I think you'll see what I mean about the difference in the shape. Look at the area surrounding the star in the center.


UPDATE: I made another sample earring using my tweak and this time there is a pentagon around the star instead of a circle. Apparently it wasn't my tweak that caused the change in the shape of the aqua and pink earring. It was the beads that I used that made the difference.

You can buy this pattern by Iulia Postica from her BeadedTreasury Etsy shop HERE.

I'm going to bead some more earrings now and I'll hopefully have more to post soon.



  • 15/0 seed beads "Ceylon Ivory" (421C) *
* I bought these beads in a local shop and I can't determine the brand based on the number on the label. Neither Toho or Miyuki seem to have anything this color with that number. You can easily find similar beads though. These have a creamy off-white pearl-like finish.



Friday, September 25, 2015

Layered Tila Earrings & Tallulah Tila Bracelet Set


LAYERED TILA EARRINGS
  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (458)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (458)
  • Tila beads "Transparent Dark Amber Picasso" (TL-4502)
  • 3mm druks "Fiesta Sage Green"
  • 4mm druks "Fiesta Sage Green"



TALLULAH TILA BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
  • Tila beads "Transparent Dark Amber Picasso" (TL-4502)
  • SuperDuo beads "Green Turquoise Red Terracotta"

I was wearing this bracelet that other day and lamented that I didn't have any earrings that went well with it. I decided to make some "Layered Tila Earrings" that very day if I could come up with some accent beads in a similar color to the SuperDuos in the bracelet. I looked through my stash of druks and these sage green ones looked very similar to the SuperDuos. I figured that even if they're not exactly the same, I'll be wearing the earrings far enough away from the bracelet that the difference wouldn't be visible.

Both of these are free patterns. You can get Yvonne King's "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern from MyAmari, HERE. Download "Tallulah Tila Bracelet" from THIS post here on my blog.


UPDATE 6/6/19: All of the previous links to this pattern are dead. You can get the free "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern HERE on Bead-Patterns.com.


 

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet Set - Turquoise & Silver


You can read about this bracelet pattern HERE, HERE and HERE. To complete this set, I made two pairs of matching earrings. The free pattern for the "SuperDuo Flower Chain Earrings" can be downloaded from THIS post. The "Bethany Earrings" are my adaptation of Beth Clark's "Beth Duo Earrings" pattern, which you can buy HERE.

MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET

  • 11/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • 8/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • SuperDuos "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"

SUPERDUO FLOWER CHAIN EARRINGS

  • 11/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • 8/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • SuperDuos "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"

BETHANY EARRINGS

  • 11/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • 8/0 Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
  • SuperDuos "Jet Old Silver"
  • SuperDuos "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"




Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Mary Ann Bracelet Set


I've blogged about this bracelet and the "Duo Fan Earrings" in this color combination before but I recently made another set that includes a pair of matching "Gypsy Earrings".

You can download the free "Mary Ann Bracelet" pattern from THIS post.

You can buy Beth Clark's "Duo Fan Earrings" pattern HERE.

There is no pattern available for the "Gypsy Earrings" but you can read my previous blog posts about them HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

MARY ANN BRACELET

  • 15/0 seed beads "Metallic Hematite" (no info available)
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • Silky beads "Oil Rubbed Light Sapphire"
  • SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Orchid Aqua"

DUO FAN EARRINGS

  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Orchid Aqua"

GYPSY EARRINGS

  • 15/0 seed beads "Metallic Hematite" (no info available)
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
  • 6mm druks "Polychrome Orchid Aqua"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Montana Blue Luster"
  • SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Orchid Aqua"
 

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Playing with my beads...Brocade Bracelet samples

BROCADE BRACELET BY DEBORAH ROBERTI

Yesterday afternoon I finally finished the beading project that I've been working on for the past few weeks. I was very happy to finally be done with it so I decided to just have fun trying out a new pattern last night. This one is Deb Roberti's "Brocade Bracelet" which you can buy HERE. I picked out three color combinations to try. I like them all but my favorite is number one in the photo above. Number two is my second favorite. Note that I've made mine with just two rows instead of three as the pattern suggests. I might make a three-row sample sometime just to see how I like it but I really like how it looks with two rows. I had to order some beads for the project I'd been working on so I ordered those three CzechMates colors in order to qualify for free shipping and because I thought they were all beautiful.

I think that I will take it easy and have fun with my beading this week and then next week I will start working on my Christmas beading and make some greeting cards.

Here's the list of beads that I used in these samples:

SAMPLE #1:

  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • CzechMates "Milky Turquoise Pink Topaz Luster"
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Heavens"
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Stone Green Luster"
SAMPLE #2
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • CzechMates "Polychrome Copper Rose"
  • SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Copper Rose"
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Amethyst Crystal Luster"
SAMPLE #3
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
  • CzechMates "Turquoise Copper Picasso"
  • SuperDuo beads "Turquoise Copper Picasso"
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Green Crystal Luster"


Saturday, September 19, 2015

Earrings Update

Below are the two sample earrings that I posted yesterday, HERE, along with a new one that has the "Jet Old Silver" SuperDuos in the center instead of pewter ones. I do think that they're an improvement. There wasn't enough contrast between the two colors in the original samples. Even though the SuperDuo color isn't quite the same as the seed bead color, I think it works and gives the design of the earrings a little more character.

Left Sample:
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • SuperDuo beads "Pearl Luster" (they're a pewter color)
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"
Middle Sample:
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • SuperDuo beads "Jet Old Silver"
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"
Right Sample:
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • SuperDuo beads "Pearl Luster" (pewter color)
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"

Also, here is a photo of the final pair of "Coin Earrings" that I blogged about last Saturday, HERE.


  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • CzechMates "Capri Blue Gold Marbled"
  • SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"
 

Friday, September 18, 2015

Catching up and my search for silver Superduos

I'm still plugging away at my big beading project. So far I've made four bracelets and five pairs of earrings. I've also made lots of samples to try out bead colors, etc. It's a good thing that I'm not charging by the hour because I've already put in the equivalent of several 8-hour days on this project.

I thought you might like to see some of the earrings that I just made and also some samples of a pair that I'm still trying to decide on the colors to use. I'll be making a "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet"  and a pair of my adaptation of Beth Clark's "Beth Duo Earrings" tutorial which you can buy HERE.

While you're at Beth's ArtFire shop, check out her new "Fandelier Earrings" tutorial. I've got the pattern but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

Below are two samples of the earrings that I'm working on. I know for sure that I'll be using the turquoise SuperDuos but I'm still debating on the silver seed beads and the silver SuperDuos in the center of the earrings. I'm pretty sure that I will use the Toho "Antique Silver" (711) seed beads but I'm not sure yet what I will use for the inside "flower". Both of the sample earrings have pewter colored SuperDuos in the center. That color goes very well with the Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222) seed beads in the sample on the left but I'm not sure if I like it with the shinier silver seed beads in the sample on the right. So, today I went to two bead stores looking for silver SuperDuos. That's a color that I didn't want to take a chance buying online only to find out that the color isn't right.



  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • SuperDuo beads "Pearl Luster" (they're a pewter color)
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"
.......................................................................................
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • SuperDuo beads "Pearl Luster" (pewter color)
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Baby Blue Star Dust"

First I went to Beadoholique but all they had were "Full Labrador", which is a very bright silver, and some just called "Silver" which were about as bright as the Labrador but with a slightly different color tint. I already have some "Full Labrador" SuperDuos and had tried them in a sample and they're much too bright.
 
Next I went to 1960 Beads because I knew that they have a great selection of SuperDuos. They had two options: "Full Labrador" and one other silver called "Jet Old Silver", which is what I bought. The "Jet Old Silver" ones look like they might work well but I won't know until I've had a chance to make a sample. The beads look mainly silver but, if you look very closely at them, you can see spots where the black bead color underneath the silver coating shows through giving them an antique look.


I also made a pair of earrings that will go with a "Toying with Tiles" bracelet that I made. The bracelet is made with CzechMates tile beads and I happened to have some Silky beads in almost exactly the same color for the earrings. I used the Silkies to make an adaptation of Sam Wescott's "Diadem Bracelet" pattern, which you can buy HERE. You can buy the "Toying with Tiles" pattern HERE. I've made earrings with the "Diadem" motif before but the Silky beads are in a horizontal position because I made the motif according to the bracelet instructions. That's fine for the bracelet but I really wanted the bumps on the Silky beads to be vertical in these earrings so I figured out how to change the pattern to do just that.

Here is a photo of a pair of "Diadem Earrings" with horizontal Silky beads that I blogged about HERE:



Below is the pair that I made yesterday with my tweaked version of Sam's motif:




  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • Silky beads "Oil Rubbed Bronze Copper"
  • SuperDuo beads "Jet Iris Luster"

Here is the bracelet that I made to go with the earrings:




  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver-Nickel" (711)
  • CzechMates "Metallic Amethyst Luster"
  • SuperDuo beads "Jet Iris Luster"

While I was at 1960 Beads, I took a look at the Silky beads and found a couple of pretty colors that I didn't have. They are "Chalk Light Green" (aka Chalk Mint Green) and "Green Blue Luster" (aka Alabaster Teal Luster). I also bought a tube of "Crystal Violet Luster" SuperDuo beads. I'm not sure if I've seen that color for sale online anywhere either. They're transparent amethyst color beads with a gold luster coating on them. I couldn't find a good photo of the violet SuperDuos online but here are photos of the two Silky bead colors:





 
I just checked my stash of Silky beads and I've actually got some that are called "Alabaster Teal Luster" but they look very different than the ones I just bought today. The new ones are much darker and a lot more "teal" than the older ones. Also, the luster coating on the new ones looks slightly metallic. They're a much prettier color than the other ones, which I would call "Chalk Green Luster" rather than teal.



 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Lots of Layered Tila Earrings


This is my earring adaptation of Yvonne King's free "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern. I just found out the other day that Yvonne has a new blog and she's selling her beading patterns on Etsy. When her old blog disappeared some time ago, the only place to get her bracelet pattern was from her Craftsy shop. Now you can also download the PDF file directly from her blog, HERE. Below are links to Yvonne's Etsy shop, Craftsy shop, blog and Facebook page:

MyAmari Etsy
MyAmari Craftsy
MyAmari Blog
MyAmari Facebook



UPDATE 6/6/19: All of the previous links to this pattern are dead. You can get the free "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern HERE on Bead-Patterns.com.

 
I love these earrings so much that I've made them in sixteen different color combinations. The last four earrings below are just samples and I haven't decided if I will use those colors to make final pairs of earrings. For some reason it's difficult to get good photos of these earrings. Maybe that's because there are so many different kinds of beads very close together and some of them are partially covered by other beads. The beads in the center come out very dark in photos sometimes. So, don't be put off by these photos. These are very cute in real life and fun to make.

Note that over time I've changed the loop at the top of my earrings. I no longer make my loop like I did when I first blogged about the earrings HERE and HERE.

I later blogged about the changes that I made to the loop, HERE. Some of the earrings in the photos below have the loop that I was using prior to my final version. I saw no reason to re-make them just to change the loops.



Since the time that I came up with the idea of making the bracelet motif into earrings, I've occasionally run across photos of other people's earrings based on Yvonne's bracelet pattern. Great minds do think alike as they say. I found a couple of pretty bracelet and earring sets online HERE and HERE.

Here are all of my completed pairs of "Layered Tila Earrings":


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • Tila beads "Metallic Mauve Green Iris Matte" (TL-2035)
  • 3mm fire polish "Transparent Topaz Pink Luster"
  • 4mm fire polish "Luster Rose Gold Topaz"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Matte Metallic Bronze" (TL-2006)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Bronze Illusion" or "Rosaline Moon Dust"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Alexandrite Celsian"  



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Transparent Olivine Picasso" (TL-4506)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Transparent Green Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Transparent Green Luster"



  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Bronze" (221)
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Bronze" (221)
  • Tila beads "Mauve Luster" (TL-1867)
  • 3mm fire polish "Bronze Illusion"
  • 4mm fire polish "Stone Pink Luster"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Matte Metallic Bronze" (TL-2006)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold & Smoky Topaz Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold & Smoky Topaz Luster"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Transparent Saffron Picasso" (TL-4501)
  • 3mm fire polish "Golden Topaz Metallic"
  • 4mm fire polish " Jet Bronze Picasso"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Light Autumn Jasper Picasso" (TL-4505)
  • 3mm fire polish "Stone Green Luster"
  • 4mm fire polish "Stone Green Luster"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Transparent Saffron Picasso" (TL-4501)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Mustard Yellow Picasso"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Opaque Beige Picasso"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Light Caramel Pearl" (TL-593)
  • 3mm fire polish "Transparent Gold Topaz Luster"
  • 4mm fire polish "Lumi Coated Taupe"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Metallic Patina" (TL-2008)
  • 3mm druks "Jet Picasso"
  • 4mm druks "Jet Picasso"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Bronze" (TL-457)
  • 3mm druks "Blue Luster"
  • 4mm druks "Blue Luster"



  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
  • Tila beads "Metallic Steel Gray Blue" (TL-2064)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Black Diamond Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Sapphire Celsian"

And, here are a few sample earrings that I may or may not use:


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
  • Tila beads "Metallic Dark Bronze" (TL-457)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Brown Gold Champagne"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Brown Gold Champagne"


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Mink Bronze" (D4213)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Mink Bronze" (D4213)
  • Tila beads "Antique Bronze" (TL-457C)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Amethyst Crystal Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Alexandrite Celsian"


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Mink Bronze" (D4213)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Mink Bronze" (D4213)
  • Tila beads "Antique Bronze" (TL-457C)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Dark Bronze"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Copper Teal"


  • 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pale Mink" (D4221)
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pale Mink" (D4221)
  • Tila beads "Galvanized Grey Luster" (TL-1865)
  • 3mm fire polished beads "Black Diamond Luster"
  • 4mm fire polished beads "Sapphire Celsian"

I'm slowly making a little headway on the big beadwork order. I had a bit of a setback yesterday though. I spent all afternoon into the evening making a bracelet only to find that it's too long. It was one of those instances where I get near the end and had to decide if it needed one more motif or not. I thought that the stitching might "shrink" up a bit after adding some embellishments so I went ahead and added one more motif. Well, that was a bad move. Unfortunately it's one that's not quick or easy to take apart and I made it with FireLine which will make it even harder to cut apart.