FINA BRACELET
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
- Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"
- Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
- 2mm Czech pearls "Old Lace"
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I've been trying to learn to like Puca's Arcos and Minos beads. Deborah Roberti's "Jolie Bands" was the first pattern that made me excited about using these beads. I have to say that I was super excited when I saw Ellad2's new "Fina Bracelet" pattern. It's just the sort of design that I love. You can buy the pattern HERE.
I tried the pattern as written first with two rows of motifs. My sample came out nice but I think it's a little more bulky and wider than I like to wear. Below is my first sample:
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
- Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
- Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"
I decided that a single row bracelet would be more to my liking. I love it so much that I'm eager to buy more Arcos and Minos beads just so that I can make more of these bracelets. I'm hoping that they will come out with some pretty colors in these beads because at this time the color choices are very limited. As is typical of a lot of beads, about 80% of the available colors aren't pretty or useful to me and maybe 20% are colors that I like. Then, the colors that I like tend to be the same colors over and over for all types of beads. I think it's about time for the bead manufacturers to try some new opaque bead colors.
Don't attempt to make this bracelet pattern with Toho seed beads. Both of my attempts failed. When I tried using the number of beads called for, the netting bulged out badly instead of gently curving around the Arcos. When I tried using one less bead there weren't enough beads to fit around the curves so there were gaps between the beads. Having said that, I have successfully used Toho 8/0 beads as accents as you'll see in a later post.
Here is my first sample of the single row version in the same colorway as the double row sample above.
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
- Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
- Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"
For today's bracelet, I switched the colors around so that green is the main color. Instead of adding 11/0 seed beads between the motifs, I used 2mm Czech pearls. They fit very nicely and add a pretty touch.
A great source for Arcos and Minos beads is Queen City Bead on Etsy. Donna has a nice selection of colors at very good prices.
I think I prefer the single row version too although I can appreciate the wider one would suit people who prefer a bit more of a 'statement'.
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