More Beading News - New DiamonDuo beads

These beads are so new that there is only one pattern available for them that I'm aware of. I have seen a gorgeous bracelet on Facebook but there is no mention of a pattern for it. You can see it HERE.

I first heard about DiamonDuo beads from Donna from Queen City Bead on Etsy. She asked me if I would like to try some and see what kinds of projects I can come up with using them. She sent me three colors. They are Jet, Antique Chrome and Hematite. I love the Antique Chrome the best. Donna currently has 24 colors in stock and you can buy them HERE.

These beads have two holes that go through the short ends. They're flat on the back and have a raised diamond shape on the front. They're smaller than Silky beads but a little larger than SuperDuos. Here's a photo showing them next to some Silky beads and SuperDuo beads:

The free "Crystal Cascade Bracelet" pattern can be found HERE and there is also a YouTube video tutorial for the pattern HERE.

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• Silky beads "Jet"
• DiamonDuo beads "Jet"
• DiamonDuo beads "Antique Chrome"

I came up with this bracelet the other day but I haven't thought of a name for it yet. When I have a chance, I will probably write up a tutorial for it. This was my first time making a wrap bracelet but I'm sure that it won't be my last. To fit my 6-inch wrist, I made the bracelet about 20 inches long. I used a tip from Deb Roberti to roughly get an idea of how long to make it. She suggested that I connect three of my skinniest bracelets together by their magnet clasps and measure the total length, including the clasps.

Here are a few more shots of the bracelet:

UPDATE: The idea never occurred to me until my cousin asked me if this would work as a necklace. So, I put it around my neck and it's the perfect length. There is only a slight problem where the beads in the front sometimes flip up a little because they don't want to curve properly. It doesn't look bad though.
 

Beading News...Daisy Chain Bracelet Tutorial

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPINPLANET - ETSY

Marcie from SpinPlanet on Etsy has finally released the tutorial for her "Daisy Chain Bracelet". Click HERE to buy the pattern. You can read about my adaptation of the design HERE, HERE and HERE. I made a bracelet from Marcie's tutorial last night but haven't taken photos yet. The photo above is from Marcie's Etsy shop.
 

Bracelet of the Day: Quick SuperDuo Bracelet - Mocha

QUICK SUPERDUO BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 3mm Czech pearls "Fiesta Nutmeg"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Green Senegal Matte"

I called this bracelet "mocha" because the bead colors remind me of coffee with cream. I was revising my copy of the tutorial and needed to make a bracelet to check the tutorial for mistakes. I quickly pulled out some beads and I really liked the colors once I saw them together.

You can get the free tutorial from the Beading Daily site HERE. If you try that tutorial, there is a typo in Step 5 that you should know about. The sentence that reads "Repeat until you have a total of 4A and 3B." should say "...4A and 3D". Note the D instead of a B. The instructions are also a little vague in the next part of that step. They just say to "Pass through all beads again...". What they don't tell you is that you should go through the 15/0 seed bead (B), druk (D) and 15/0 seed bead (B) that are on the end of the previous motif. It's important to go back around through all three of those beads to get the correct result. Those three beads are shared by two motifs.

You can see in the photo below, which shows the back side, that the motifs are cupped. That's the way they're supposed to be and this gives the bracelet a more interesting appearance.

 

Bead Bounty from SupplyEmporium

Look what came in the mail yesterday from SupplyEmporium! All these pretty beads in colors that I didn't already have in my stash. Check out SupplyEmporium HERE on Etsy.

 

Playing with my beads: More Crossroads Variation samples

You can read my original post about this design HERE and also HERE. I have since gotten quite a few more Half Tila colors to work with so I tried a few more colorways.

You'll find the best selection of Half Tila beads at Red Panda HERE.

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
• 8/0 seed beads  Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
• Half Tila beads "Metallic Brown Iris" (HT-458)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Brown Iris"

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
• 8/0 seed beads  Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
• Half Tila beads "Light Gunmetal" (HT-464)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Metallic Amethyst Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Matte Bronze" (2006)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Matte Bronze" (2006)
• 8/0 seed beads  Miyuki "Metallic Matte Bronze" (2006)
• Half Tila beads "Metallic Matte Dark Bronze" (HT-2006)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Opaque Rose Gold Topaz Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads  Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• Half Tila beads "Matte Metallic Copper" (HT-2005)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Matte Brown Iris"

• 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)
• Half Tila beads "Metallic Purple Green Iris" (HT-455)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Navy Blue Luster Iris"

• 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)
• Half Tila beads "Opaque Lilac Gold" (HT-1867)
• 2mm fire polished beads "Iris Milky Amethyst"

 

Pattern Review: Fay Bracelet by Un-Roen Manarata

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Gold Carnival Iris" (513)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Gold Carnival Iris" (513)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Gold Carnival Iris" (513)
• 6mm 2-hole cabochons "Crystal Amber Full"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Mirror Gold"
• MiniDuo beads "Opaque White Ruby Gold Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 6mm 2-hole cabochons "Crystal Lila Vega Luster"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Bronze Illusion"
• MiniDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

Most of you have probably been to Un-Roen's Elfenatelier website where she has lots of cute beading patterns that you can download for free. They're not in English but they have such easy-to-follow illustrations that it doesn't matter. Did you know that she also has an Etsy shop where she sells beading kits and tutorials? Click HERE to buy the "Fay" pattern. Browse through the kits to get lots of color ideas for the bracelet.

Un-Roen asked me if I'd like to do a review of her most recent bracelet pattern and of course I said "yes". When she sent me the pattern, I looked over the bead supply list and realized that I didn't have any of the main beads that are essential for the design. In fact, I'd never seen those beads before anywhere. They're 6mm 2-hole cabochons and they're relatively new. They're like a 6mm druk that has been cut in half and has two parallel holes in it. I didn't have any luck finding them for sale online anywhere in the United States but the local bead shop, Beadoholique, just happened to be featuring them on their website so I went to see what they had. Unfortunately, most of the colors that they have don't appeal to me but I did buy two colors. I got them in Crystal Amber Full and Lila Vega Luster and I used both colors to make these two bracelets.

6MM 2-HOLE CABOCHONS

I can't wait to get more of these "2-hole cabs" when I can track down some nice colors online. I will let you know when I find some and will give you the links. In the meantime, HERE is a link to the main supplier for these beads where you can see what colors they come in. I also found a Czech Etsy shop that has some, HERE. I took the photo below so that you can see what the cabochon beads look like from the back:

A really nice thing about this bracelet pattern is that it also calls for MiniDuo beads. I've got quite a few nice colors of them now but still haven't found that many patterns for them.

As usual, Un-Roen's diagrams are simple to follow plus this time you can get the tutorial in English. The design is easy to make once you've learned the steps for the two basic motifs which are based on the Right Angle Weave stitch.

I was going to use bicones in my bracelets as directed but I liked the colors of the fire polished beads that I used. They went perfectly with the gold color of the cabochons. As you can see, fire polished beads work great as a substitute for the bicones so I used them in both of these bracelets.

I'm not sure why but both of my bracelets came out more straight across the top and bottom edges than Un-Roen's. Her cabochon motifs seem taller than mine even though I did everything according to the directions and used the same size seed beads that she used. I even used Miyuki beads in one of the bracelets and Toho beads in the other with pretty much the same results. The bracelet with Miyuki seed beads did come out a little shorter in length than the Toho bracelet though. I suspect that the reason why Un-Roen's cab motifs seem taller than the bicone motifs is because she used Swarovski 3mm bicones. I only have Chinese bicones in that size and they're 3mm in length versus the 2mm of Swarovski bicones. Swarovski 3mm bicones are 3mm in diameter but only 2mm in length which might account for the shorter motifs in her bracelets. The 3mm fire polished beads that I used are 3mm in length. I don't mind that my bracelets look a little different though because they're very pretty.

The pattern doesn't call for 8/0 seed beads but I used two of them to attach my clasp. Un-Roen attached her clasp a little differently than I did on mine.

 

 

Bracelet of the Day: Rani - Apricot

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Permanent Finish Matte Galvanized Rose Gold" (557PFF)
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque White Full Apricot"
• O-Beads "Crystal Full Amber"
• 3mm bicones "Bittersweet AB" (Chinese)

I showed you a sample motif in this colorway a couple of times, HERE and HERE. The pattern is by Puca and you can buy it on Etsy HERE (see the link below). I'm in love with this pattern and it's one of the prettiest patterns that I've ever made. It boggles my mind that it's possible to make something amazingly beautiful like this myself out of some thread a couple dollars worth of beads. If you haven't made this pattern yet I highly recommend it.

Puca has given me permission to post this pattern for download on my blog. Click HERE to download her free "Rani Bracelet" pattern.

Although I tweaked a couple of things, I did connect the motifs as directed by Puca's pattern. After making the first motif with the clasp loop on it, I made the second motif and connected it to the first one before weaving in the thread. Then, I made the third motif and connected it to the first two and so on. That's not quite as tedious as making each individual motif and then connecting them all later.

I ended up putting a toggle clasp on it even though the bronze doesn't go very well with the brighter bronze seed beads. I tried a magnet clasp but it was a little too snug even with three jump rings on each end. I didn't want to add even more jump rings and a toggle clasp is much flatter and longer than a magnet clasp. As a bonus, a toggle clasp is more secure so I won't have to worry about my bracelet coming off. I sure would hate to lose this one after all the work I put into it. Having said that, I have never lost a bracelet, yet.

 

Rani Earrings - Orchid Aqua

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Hybrid Opaque Matte Grey Bronze Vega" (Y0862F)
• SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Orchid Aqua"
• O-Beads "Crystal Full Amber"
• 3mm bicones "Purple AB" (Chinese)

As you can see, Puca's "Rani" motif makes very pretty earrings. You can buy Puca's pattern on Etsy, HERE (see the link below).

Puca has given me permission to post this pattern for download on my blog. Click HERE to download her free "Rani Bracelet" pattern.

Speaking of Etsy shops. If you haven't been to SupplyEmporium yet, go check it out. HERE is the link to the shop. Claire has a nice selection of interesting and unique beads for reasonable prices. Plus, she is offering readers of my blog a discount of 15% off any order over $30. The coupon code for this offer is: 15BLOG. In case you forget what the coupon code is later, and can't find this post, you can find it on her shop banner on the right hand side of my blog. It looks like this:

 

ADwade SuperDuo Earrings and Twin Cube Band Set

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 3mm druks "Bronze"
• SuperDuo beads "Chalk Rembrandt"

I've blogged about this earring design a few times before and I just recently posted the bracelet from this set HERE. The earrings are adapted from a photo that I saw online HERE. The "Twin Cube Bands" bracelet pattern is for sale at Around the Beading Table HERE.

I was wearing the bracelet recently and realized that I didn't have any earrings to go with it. I started looking through my earring patterns and this one came up first. Although the style of the earrings isn't quite as contemporary as the bracelet, I think they go well enough and they go very nicely with the top that I was wearing the day that I made them.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Twin Cube Band - Cornelian Picasso

TWIN CUBE BAND

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 3mm cube beads Miyuki "Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Cornelian Picasso"

Here is another Twin Cube Band that I made with the smooth type of SuperDuo beads. The pattern is from Deborah Roberti and you can buy it HERE. These unusual SuperDuos are available at Red Panda HERE.

Bracelet of the Day: Lucy Bracelet - Chocolate & Ivory

LUCY BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Half Tila beads "Berry Bronze" (HT-457B)
• Silky beads "Opaque Ivory"
• 4mm druks "Beige Luster Picasso" (from Opaque Brown Luster Mix)

Recently someone asked me in the comments if the Lucy pattern would work with 11/0 seed beads in place of the 15/0 beads. I wasn't sure so I gave it a try and they work perfectly. The bracelet doesn't come out looking very different but it will come out slightly longer due to the larger beads between the motifs.

As I told Jojo, replace any single 15/0 beads called for with an 11/0. And, whenever the pattern says to pick up three 15/0 beads, pick up two 11/0 seed beads instead. I also changed the clasp loop to three 11/0 + one 8/0 + three 11/0.

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