MINI RONDO EARRINGS
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- SuperDuo beads "Jet"
- SuperDuo beads "Jet Old Silver"
- 4mm druks "Jet"
- 3mm druks "Jet"
My sister-in-law asked me to make these two pairs of earrings for her after she saw the bronze and jet pair that I blogged about HERE. She wanted both pairs to be black but she wanted one pair with silver seed beads and one pair with gold ones. As I've mentioned before, there are no gold SuperDuo beads that match the color of any gold color seed beads. As usual, I had to pick and choose the goldish seed beads from the "Carnival" bead mixture which is a real pain. It makes no sense that nobody makes gold SuperDuos to match the metallic gold seed bead colors. Bronze isn't a problem, and there are silver SuperDuos that are pretty close to some of the seed bead silvers, but no gold.
Below you can see the bronze and jet earrings next to these two new pairs. The gold ones are on the left and the bronze ones are on the right.
The "Mini Rondo Earrings" pattern is for sale HERE on Craftsy and also on Etsy HERE. Read THIS post for more information about making this pattern. I ended up breaking one of my Tulip needles while making one of these earrings. Because of that, I've decided not to weave all the way around the earrings to reinforce them anymore. Instead I take a shortcut across the lower part of the earring and then reinforce only the bottom edge. It's too difficult and risky to attempt to get the needle between the beads around the sides and top part of the earring again.
UPDATE: This pattern is no longer available.
MINI RONDO EARRINGS
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Carnival" (513)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Carnival" (513)
- SuperDuo beads "Jet"
- SuperDuo beads "Crystal Amber Gold Full"
- 4mm druks "Jet"
- 3mm druks "Jet"
I've found my trusty John James curved beading needle, #10, to be very helpful with getting between tight beads, as long as I remember to work WITH the curve, not against it. I can usually tease it between, then out, even with superduos, which seem to have offset holes. You might give these a whirl- they really do come in handy, and if you break one (@ around $5 per pack of 25) it isn't the end of the world, moneywise, like breaking Tulips.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that there was such a thing as a curved needle. I'm so spoiled by my Tulip needles that using a "normal" one would probably drive me batty.
DeleteI began using them on beaded art dolls, because the non-flat surfaces of the dolls are not easy to get to with regular needles. Now, unless I am doing looming or long fringe, it is my go to needle. A boon is that I rarely have beads fall off my needle before I get them in place ;-) Here is my source. No connection with her, and she is on the other side of the country. http://www.miesbeads.com/contents/en-us/d242.html
ReplyDeleteHi Linda...the pattern I have for these earring calls for 27 duos in the first step. I wanted it to be smaller so I went down a size on everything and used mini duos. And it was still too big. It looks like yours is 21. Did that make it smaller and did you experience it wanting to cup? I love the pattern but just too big.
ReplyDeleteMine do have 21 SuperDuos. I just double-checked the PDF file that I have and the diagram shows 21 beads in the first step. I like that the earrings cup a bit. The earrings are kind of big but I like to wear them with certain outfits.
DeleteWhere are the instruction on how to make these beautiful earrings?
ReplyDeleteThere is a link in my post above to the Etsy shop where you can buy the pattern. Don't use the Craftsy link. Craftsy is gone.
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