Cute & Easy Earrings - Aqua & Gold

CUTE & EASY EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Gold" (4202)
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Light Cream"
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Aqua"

I used the motif from Nunzia Scalpore's bracelet tutorial to make these earrings. Read more about the video in THIS post. Watch the video on YouTube HERE. I got the "Pastel Aqua" SuperDuos HERE at Supply Emporium. Claire also has the cream ones HERE and she has both sizes of the gold seed beads.

I made a bracelet to go with these earrings but I'm waiting for some sunshine so that I can take photos. We might get some sun on Thursday or Friday.

Red, Black & Silver Bracelet and Earrings Set

CUTE & EASY EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Red"

I used the motif from Nunzia Scalpore's bracelet tutorial to make these earrings. Read more about the video in THIS post. Watch the video on YouTube HERE. These red SuperDuos aren't as bright orange-red as they appear in my photos. Red is a very difficult color to photograph.

SUPERDUO ROSETTE BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Nickel Plated" (190)
• 3mm druks "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Red"

I used Sam Wescott's "SuperDuo Rosette Bracelet" pattern to make the matching bracelet. You can buy Sam's pattern HERE on Etsy.

 

Cute & Easy Earrings - Aqua & Silver

CUTE & EASY EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Full Labrador" (27000)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Full Labrador" (27000)
• SuperDuo beads "Full Labrador"
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Milky Seafoam"

I used the motif from Nunzia Scalpore's bracelet tutorial to make these earrings. Read more about the video in THIS post. Watch the video on YouTube HERE. I showed you the sample earring below in my post about the video. For this final pair, I didn't add any extra seed beads on the sides and I left off the top loop.

Yesterday I made a bracelet to go with these earrings but I haven't had a chance to take photos. I will blog about the set after I take the bracelet photos.

 

Cute & Easy Earrings - Black & Ivory

CUTE & EASY EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Ivory"

I used the motif from Nunzia Scalpore's bracelet tutorial to make these earrings. Read more about the video in THIS post. Watch the video on YouTube HERE.

 

SuperDuo Rosette Bracelet & Cute and Easy Earrings Set

SUPERDUO ROSETTE BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "White Terracotta"
• 3mm druks "Bronze"

Instead of making Nunzia's "Cute & Easy Bracelet" to go with the earrings below, I used Sam Wescott's "SuperDuo Rosette Bracelet" pattern. You can buy Sam's pattern on Etsy HERE and watch Nunzia's video tutorial HERE. For more info about the video, read yesterday's post HERE.

The only place that I've seen this pretty purple SuperDuo color is HERE at Supply Emporium and Claire currently has a good supply of them in stock. I have to say though that they were difficult to photograph and get the color right so hopefully my pictures will give you a pretty good idea of what they look like. Don't be fooled by the color name. They're not white or terracotta. Well, they do have a chalk white base color with veins of purple and gold over it. Go to Claire's Etsy shop and take a look at her photos to get a better idea how these gorgeous beads look. I should warn you though that, if you go to Supply Emporium, you will be tempted by all the beady goodies that Claire has there. Go ahead and treat yourself to some lovely beads and tell Claire that I sent you. Use the coupon code "15BLOG" to get 15% off orders over $30.

CUTE & EASY EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "White Terracotta"
• SuperDuo beads "Lustre Gold"

 

Playing with my beads...Nunzia's Cute & Easy Bracelet Video

I wanted to try Nunzia Scalpore's recent "Cute & Easy Bracelet" tutorial but decided that, rather than spend the whole afternoon making one bracelet, I would make single motifs as earrings. That way I could try a bunch of different colorways and then choose my favorites to make as bracelets and/or earrings later. I also made two samples of the same color motif and connected them with a jump ring to see how well I would like a bracelet made using that method. Here is that little sample:

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede"
• SuperDuo beads "Blue Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

You can watch Nunzia's video on YouTube HERE. Although her videos are in Italian, they are pretty easy to follow and the video quality is very good.

I really like the bracelet motifs as earrings. They have a nice shape and Nunzia has added a pretty little detail between the center SuperDuos. The 15/0 seed bead picots sit on top of the outer row of SuperDuos. The motif is also puffed up in the center which gives it dimension. Nunzia makes her bracelets with just one SuperDuo color but I really like how the earrings look with two colors so that's what I used in all of my examples.

Below are some sample colorways. I actually made four more colorways but I will blog about them later. They were my favorites so I made complete pairs of earrings and also made matching bracelets to go with some of them.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate Bronze"
• SuperDuo beads "Chalk Blue Picasso Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Light Cream"
• SuperDuo beads "Halo Persian Pink"

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
• SuperDuo beads "Pearl Coat Cream"
• SuperDuo beads "Gold Shine Ochre aka Gold Shine Amber"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Full Labrador" (27000)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Full Labrador" (27000)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Full Labrador" (27000)
• SuperDuo beads "Full Labrador"
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Milky Seafoam"

This last colorway was actually one of my favorites but I tried something different with this sample motif. I will blog about the pair of earrings that I made another day.

I got these delicate pale aqua SuperDuos HERE at Supply Emporium and I love how they look with the bright silver. I added some extra seed beads on the sides of the motif and they give the earring a diamond shape. I like that look but I prefer the rounder shape so I made my final pair as directed by the tutorial. By the way, you will also need some 11/0 seed beads if you make Nunzia's bracelet. They are used to connect the motifs and to make the clasp loops. On this sample earring, I used 11/0s to make the top loop. For the rest of my samples and earrings, I omitted the loops because I like the simpler look but it's nice to have options for variations.

Bracelet of the Day: Claudia - Turquoise & Gold

CLAUDIA CALI BEAD CHAIN

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• Cali beads "Blue Turquoise Picasso"
• Smooth SuperDuo beads "Matte Gold"

I thought I'd give this pattern a try using the smooth kind of SuperDuo beads. Claudia usually calls for four SuperDuos on each side of the motif but I had to reduce it to three per side with these fatter beads. While I like the overall look of this bracelet, I don't think that the beads fit together as nicely as they do with regular SuperDuos. I also got an odd effect where every other motif either pops up or is slightly concave and I can't force them to all go the same way. I thought about flattening the bracelet under something heavy but decided that it wasn't noticeable enough while wearing it to bother.

Download my free "Claudia Cali Bead Chain" pattern HERE. You'll find a nice assortment of Cali beads at Queen City Bead on Etsy HERE. Supply Emporium also has them in a few colors HERE as does Red Panda HERE.

 

Liz Band & SuperDuo Flower Chain Earrings - Pink & Gold

LIZ BAND

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Starlight" (557PF)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Starlight" (557PF)
• Smooth SuperDuo beads "Jet Red Luster"  
• 3mm Czech pearls "Gold"

Here is another "Liz Band" made with the smooth SuperDuos in pretty spring colors. Go to THIS post to download the free "Liz Band" pattern.

You'll find these pink Superduos HERE at Supply Emporium and HERE at Red Panda. The gold pearls came from Robin's Beads in the UK. You can buy them HERE.

SUPERDUO FLOWER CHAIN EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Starlight" (557PF)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Galvanized Starlight" (557PF)
• Smooth SuperDuo beads "Jet Red Luster"

I wasn't sure if the smooth SuperDuos would work with my "SuperDuo Flower Chain Earrings" pattern but I thought it was worth a try. They work very nicely but I could only use eight of the smooth SuperDuos instead of ten like the pattern calls for. Below you can see one of today's earrings next to one made with regular SuperDuo beads. You can download my free earring pattern HERE.