Friday, May 6, 2016

Tara Earrings - Turquoise



TARA EARRINGS
  • 15/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Carnival" (513)
  • 11/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Carnival" (513)
  • 8/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Carnival" (513)
  • 6mm 2-hole cabochons "Crystal Amber Full"
  • 2-hole Crescent beads "Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

My friend, Teejay, sent me a few turquoise Crescent beads in my birthday package last month. I'd never used them before and I have to admit that I'm not crazy about them even though they come in a wide range of gorgeous colors. I also find them a bit fiddly to work with. I've decided that I probably won't buy any more of them but I did want to find some way to use the few Crescent beads that I have.

While browsing through some Etsy shops for beading patterns recently, I came across Ellad2's pretty "Tara Earrings". You can buy the pattern HERE. I had enough of the crescents to make myself a pair of the earrings and I also have 2-hole cabochons in a few colors. I only have two colors that go well with the turquoise crescents and decided to use the gold cabs since I had enough of those left to make the earrings but not enough left to make anything else. Plus, after some experimenting, I determined that the earring pattern works the best with Toho seed beads and not very well with Miyuki beads. Miyuki seed beads cause the earring motif to cup too much. So, my chocolate bronze cabs were out because I don't have any Toho seed beads that match that color. Toho's "Galvanized Carnival" beads go quite well with the gold cabochons if I carefully pick out only the beads in that color from the mix.

As you can see, I did change the top part of my earrings. I didn't care for the way that Ella topped them in the pattern so instead I added a "Sidonia" style loop for the earring wires.

I like the earrings very much so maybe I will pick up some crescent beads in a couple more colors sometime just to make a few more.


UPDATE: I take back what I said about Toho seed beads working better with this pattern. This afternoon I tried Miyuki beads again and got even better results than I did with Toho beads. The earrings came out nearly flat this time. I honestly don't know what happened the first time I tried Miyuki seed beads but maybe I was pulling the thread too tight. I will show you the new earrings that I made in a few days.



 

15 comments:

  1. Yummy, yummy, I like these very much.

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    1. Thanks, Claire. Have you tried the Crescent beads? They sure like to spin around as you're working with them. They're a bit like claws, LOL.

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  2. They are very pretty. I've never tried crescent beads.

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    Replies
    1. I never would have tried them if Teejay hadn't sent me some.

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  3. Beautiful. The pattern is interesting but it's the colors that give it true life. Have a nice weekend :)

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  4. Hi Linda...I think these earrings are gorgeous. Never used crescent beads but I really love these earrings. The colour combo is beautiful.

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  5. Looking great!
    I'm little annoyed because I have not come across DiamondDuos, 2-hole cabochons, Crescent beads and many other bead types from bead shops in Finland

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    Replies
    1. That's too bad. Could you order them from the UK or somewhere else in Europe?

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    2. I may have too many beads already so I decide to 'survive' with SD:s, Twins, Silkys, Rullas etc but it does not stop me drooling after honeycombs, DiamondDuos and so on
      :D

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  6. Can you use 2 hole round beads instead of cabochons.

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    1. I don't have any so I can't try them. They should work as long as the holes are in the same position as they are on the cabs and they must be 6mm in diameter. It shouldn't matter that they would stick out more in the back of the earrings since you can't see that side anyway.

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  7. Perdone, ¿dónde podría encontrar los materiales necesarios? Me encantan estos colores. Saludos.

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    1. Hola Enma. Compré los cabochons de 2 agujeros en una tienda de cuentas local y las cuentas de Crescent fueron un regalo de Teejay. Las cuentas de la semilla son de cuentas de Charlene y están en la página ESTA. Charlene los llama "Olivine Bronze Iris - 460K". Charlene's Beads es el único lugar que conozco que los tiene en los tres tamaños. Puede encontrar las otras cuentas usando los enlaces "WHERE TO BUY..." en el lado derecho de mi blog.

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  8. Hi Linda,
    Do you think this pattern might work as a bracelet with the sidonia loop in between each component?

    I love your ideas and work!

    Heidi

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    Replies
    1. Hi Heidi. Yes, I think that would work very nicely and it's a great idea.

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