Playing with my beads...trying to recreate Puca's "Rani" colors

I love the colors that Puca used in the photo below:

The problem is that I have no idea what color beads Puca used so I looked through my stash and came up with a variety of colors that I thought might be close.

I didn't have any blue seed beads that were even remotely close to the color that Puca used so I had to search for some online. I'm pretty sure that I've got the right color even if none of my other bead colors are actually the same as the ones she used. I found the blue seed beads at Aura Crystals HERE. They're Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F). I only saw one other blue color that was close but the finish wasn't the same as what I see in Puca's photo. These seed beads are a very pretty shade of blue and I'm very glad to have them. I'd like to find this color in 8/0 seed beads but Aura doesn't have any in that size.

I also tried several different seed bead colors for the main metallic color and can't seem to pin down what Puca used. In the end, I will go with Miyuki Dark Bronze because it goes well with the other beads that I will use to make my bracelet.

The bicones are a bit of a mystery too. Assuming that she used Swarovski bicones, Swarovski makes at least three similar shades of blue. They come in Montana Blue, Denim Blue, Indian Sapphire and others. I do have some 3mm Montana Blue bicones and they are kind of similar to the ones in Puca's photo. They'll do in a pinch, but I think they're a little too dark. I also have some Indian Sapphire bicones in 4mm so I made one sample with those even though they're not the right size. I'm pretty sure that is the color that Puca used. It's a little brighter than Montana Blue and looks like the same shade of blue as the seed beads. If I make a bracelet in these colors, I will either have to be content with the Montana Blue bicones that I have or order some 3mm Indian Sapphire bicones. I might actually go with 4mm bicones because I like how they look in the motif. I only have twelve of the 4mm bicones on hand so I'll have to buy some either way if I want to use Indian Sapphire.

I came up with four different SuperDuo colors to try from my stash but none of them look the same as Puca's color. I'm pretty familiar with most of the SuperDuo colors that are available and I'm stumped. I have no idea what she used. My beads are all either too much like copper, silver or gold. Puca's look to me like they're a sort of light matte metallic bronze. The five colors that I tried in my samples below are Crystal Bronze Copper, Gold Matte, Pearl Coat Brown Sugar, Pastel Light Brown Coco and some matte metallic gold/brass SuperDuos from a Gold Iris Matte mix. The Gold Iris Matte ones are my favorite and those are what I plan to use. They give the motif a warmer appearance than the color in Puca's photos and that suits me just fine.

The O-Beads are puzzling me because I've never seen them in a color that's close to the ones in Puca's photo. I currently have them in three colors but none of them are quite right. However, I've decided that I like how the Gold Matte O-Beads look with the SuperDuos that I plan to use.

Read my previous posts about "Rani" HERE, HERE and HERE.

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

Below are all of my color samples:

SAMPLE #1

SAMPLE #1:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/ seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Bronze Copper"
• O-Beads "Jet Bronze"

This was the first sample that I made and I decided right away that the chocolate seed beads are too dark. I also think that the SuperDuos are too copper and not what Puca used. I do think that this colorway is pretty though.

SAMPLE #2

SAMPLE #2:

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 11/ seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Bronze Copper"
• O-Beads "Jet Bronze"

Everything is the same as the first sample but I used a lighter seed bead color. It's also pretty but not the same as Puca's colors.

SAMPLE #3

SAMPLE #3:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/ seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Light Brown/Coco"
• O-Beads "Jet Bronze"

I don't care for this colorway at all. The SuperDuos look too much like silver or gray.

SAMPLE #4

SAMPLE #4:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/ seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Pearl Coat Brown Sugar"
• O-Beads "Crystal Full Amber"

I really thought that these might be the SuperDuos that Puca used but they also look too much like silver.

SAMPLE #5

SAMPLE #5:

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/ seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Gold Matte"
• O-Beads "Gold Matte"

These SuperDuo beads are much more yellowish gold than the color in Puca's photos. I think they're a little too bright.

SAMPLE #6

SAMPLE #6:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/ seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Czech bicones "Montana"
• SuperDuo beads "Gold Iris Matte"
• O-Beads "Gold Matte"

I knew at once that this is my favorite colorway. I like everything about it except that the bicones are a little too dark. The Gold Iris Matte SuperDuo mixture has several colors in it and I picked out all of the ones in this shade of gold. It seems to be the main color in the mix so I think I have plenty of them to make my bracelet.

SAMPLE #7

SAMPLE #7:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/ seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Swarovski bicones "Indian Sapphire"
• SuperDuo beads "Gold Iris Matte"
• O-Beads "Gold Matte"

The only difference between this sample and Sample #7 is that I used different bicones. As I mentioned above, I only have this color in 4mm but, as you can see, they work quite well in the motif. Now I have to decide if I will make do with the 3mm Montana bicones or buy some Indian Sapphire bicones. Then, I have to decide whether to use 3mm or 4mm but I'm leaning toward 4mm.

SPILLING THE BEADS, I MEAN BEANS...

Since I wrote this article a few days ago, I've gotten information about the bead colors that Puca used in her examples. It turns out that one of the SuperDuo colors that I used was correct. She used "Gold Matte", which sometimes goes by the name "Crystal Bronze Pale Gold". The confusion was caused by the colors in Puca's photos not being true to life. So, I edited her photo to make the SuperDuo beads match the actual color as closely as I could without negatively affecting the other bead colors too much. The blue beads do look a little too much like turquoise in the edited photo but that couldn't be helped. Below you can see the before and after photos:

I did guess the blue seed bead color correctly and it turns out that Puca used some O-Beads that I've been meaning to buy but haven't gotten around to buying yet. Here is the complete list of the beads that Puca used to make her examples:

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 11/ seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Higher Metallic Matte Mediterranean Blue" (511F)
• 3mm Swarovski bicones "Indicolite"
• SuperDuo beads "Gold Matte"
• O-Beads "Metallic Mix"

The Indicolite bicones are a very vibrant blue color which you can see below. It's pretty but a little bolder color than I typically use. For that reason, I will probably go ahead and use Indian Sapphire for my bracelet as well as the other bead colors that I mentioned above. Although Puca's color choices are superb, I don't really want to be a copycat and make mine exactly like hers.

Here are the Indian Sapphire bicones:

Puca: Je vous remercie pour votre belle conception.

P.S. - Since writing this article, I have ordered bicones in 3mm and 4mm Indian Sapphire and Indicolite as well as the "Metallic Mix" O-Beads. I also ordered more of the "Gold Iris Matte" SuperDuos. I hope they get here soon so I can get started on my wonderful bracelet.