Bracelet of the Day: Regina Bracelet

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• CzechMates beads "Opaque Pale Jade Bronze Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Purple Picasso"

If you haven't visited Reggie's Etsy shop to see the beautiful bracelets that she has for sale, click HERE. She and I are kindred spirits when it comes to bead color choices. I love to browse her shop for ideas. One bracelet in particular kept drawing me back. Reggie calls it her "Czechmate Tile and Superduo Cuff Bracelet" and you can see some examples of it HERE, HERE and HERE. The design is Reggie's own creation and unfortunately she doesn't have a pattern available. I really wanted to make some so I figured it out and I'm calling it "Regina Bracelet" in honor of Reggie's pretty design. 

UPDATE: You can buy Reggie's pattern in her Etsy shop HERE.

I made the same bracelet twice with a couple of subtle differences. I used Toho seed beads the first time and Miyuki beads in the second bracelet. I also added an accent SuperDuo color to the second bracelet as I'd seen in some of Reggie's bracelets. I will need to experiment a little more to be sure but it looks like Toho beads might work a little better than Miyuki's because they're larger. The Toho beads add a little more space for the SuperDuos so the bracelet comes out more flexible. My bracelet with the Miyuki seed beads is stiffer and has a tendency to warp a little. What I'm not sure about is if it is actually the bronze accent SuperDuos that are the cause of the warping rather than the seed beads. They're a little fatter than the other SuperDuo beads that I used and I think they might be causing everything to go a little wonky. It's not obvious when I'm wearing the bracelet though and I doubt that anyone else would notice it. The two bracelets in the photos above were made with Toho seed beads and no accent beads. Here is a photo of the other bracelet, which was made with Miyuki beads and accent beads for comparison:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• CzechMates beads "Opaque Pale Jade Bronze Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Purple Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

I also made three small samples to try the pattern with transparent/translucent CzechMates. Instead of my usual black thread, I used thread that matches the bead colors so that it wouldn't show as dark lines through the tile beads. I'm happy with all of them and this design will be a nice way to use up some of my transparent CzechMates. I generally avoid using them because I'm fussy about thread showing. This is the ideal pattern for them because there aren't many seed beads for light colored thread to show badly between.

I should mention that I used Toho seed beads in all three samples and they don't feel stiff or warped even though I did add accent SuperDuos. However, something like that is not always readily apparent in such small samples.

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• CzechMates beads "Rose Gold Topaz Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Pink Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• CzechMates beads "Milky Pink Moon Dust"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Violet Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• CzechMates beads "Transparent Green Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Olive"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"