Sunday, January 27, 2019

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet - Olive Iris Matte


MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET
  • 11/0 Toho seed beads "Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
  • 8/0 Toho seed beads "Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
  • SuperDuo beads "Olive Iris Matte"


I've had a blast creating and using custom SuperDuo color mixes with this pattern but these SuperDuos in today's bracelet come premixed straight from the factory. The beads come in a combination of dark gold, olive green, dark khaki, copper and red and these Toho seed beads go very nicely. I have a few other premixed "iris" SuperDuo mixtures that I might try with this pattern but this one was my favorite.

The free tutorial for Pascale G-Mikovic's "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet" is HERE on my blog.



 

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet Set - Violet Mix


BIG SUPERDUO MANDALA EARRINGS
  • 11/0 Toho seed beads "Nickel Plated" (711)
  • 8/0 Toho seed beads "Nickel Plated" (711)
  • SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Pink"
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Violet"
  • SuperDuo beads "Pink Luster Turquoise"
  • SuperDuo beads "Milky Amethyst"



I showed you this bracelet in THIS blog post and I used the same mix of beads to make these "Big SuperDuo Mandala" earrings. The free pattern is available HERE on the Matubo site. I was worried that Toho seed beads might not work with this earring pattern but they turned out quite well and nearly flat. It probably helped that I was very careful to pick up only nicely shaped smallish beads, especially when it came to the 8/0 beads, which tend to be very chunky and oddly shaped.




 

Friday, January 25, 2019

Crescent Link Bracelet - Matte Brown Iris


CRESCENT LINK BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal (451)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Gunmetal (451)
  • 6mm CzechMates tile beads "Matte Brown Iris"
  • Crescent beads "Matte Brown Iris"


Here is one more bracelet with CzechMates tiles. These particular tiles seem slightly smaller than the other colors that I've used with this pattern. Because of this, this bracelet came out a little short so I made longer clasp loops this time.


This is a free pattern by Deb Roberti and you can download it HERE at Around the Beading Table. If you need Crescent beads, I have a list of sources HERE.


 

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Crescent Link Bracelet Set - Celadon Blue & Khaki


COIN EARRINGS VARIATION
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
  • 6mm Czech 2-hole tile beads "Celadon Blue Halo"
  • SuperDuo beads "Pearl Coat Brown Sugar"


I blogged last week about this "Crescent Link" bracelet HERE. I wanted to use the same blue tile beads to make matching earrings so I used my adaptation of Deb Roberti's "Coin Earrings" pattern. I left off the dangle at the bottom and added SuperDuos between the tiles. You can buy Deb's original version of the pattern HERE.




 

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Crescent Link Bracelet - Chocolate Candy


CRESCENT LINK BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Black Bronze" (CZ55030)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Black Bronze" (CZ55030)
  • 8mm Candy beads "Alabaster Pastel Chocolate Brown"
  • Crescent beads "Matte Jet Bronze Vega"


As you can see, I tried something different this time with this pattern and I had a little fun with the name of this colorway because of it. Instead of CzechMates tile beads, I used 8mm Candy beads in a chocolate brown. They work very nicely with no tweaks to the pattern at all. They do make the bracelet come out slightly longer because they are 8mm across and the tile beads are 6mm across.


This is a free pattern by Deb Roberti and you can download it HERE at Around the Beading Table. If you need Crescent beads, I have a list of sources HERE. The only place that I know of that sells these dark copper seed beads is Red Panda. You'll find the 11/0 beads HERE and the 8/0 beads HERE. You don't need them for this bracelet but the 15/0 beads are HERE. Queen City Bead has these chocolate Candy beads HERE.


Below is a sample colorway that I've decided not to make into a bracelet. I like it well enough but I don't have anything green to wear it with.


  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • 8mm Candy beads "Red Luster Matte"
  • Crescent beads "Oxidized Bronze Clay"

Supply Emporium has these green (Red Luster Matte) Candy beads HERE.

 

Monday, January 21, 2019

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet - Halo Mix


MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Persian Pink"
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Heavens"
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Regal"
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Linen"
  • SuperDuo beads "Halo Shadows"


I don't often work with transparent beads because I don't like how the thread shows through them. However, I have all of these pretty "Halo" SuperDuo colors and they aren't quite transparent because of the golden coating on them. Even so, I used gold K.O. thread so that the thread wouldn't show at all. Black thread would definitely show through these beads and white thread wouldn't look nice because it would show between the beads. Gold thread is pretty much invisible next to the bronze seed beads and it's light enough that it doesn't show through the SuperDuos.

K.O. thread is very nice to work with but it's not easy to find in the gold color. I bought mine at Artbeads and they are the only place that I know of that sells this color. It isn't cheap so I waited until they had a site wide 25% off sale and I bought several spools so I could get the quantity discount. You'll find the gold thread HERE.

The free tutorial for Pascale G-Mikovic's "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet" is HERE on my blog.



 

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Crescent Link Bracelet - Milky Amethyst & Turquoise


CRESCENT LINK BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Light Pewter" (4221)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Light Pewter" (4221)
  • 6mm CzechMates tile beads "Milky Turquoise Pink Topaz Luster"
  • Crescent beads "Milky Amethyst Luster Iris"


This is the second of four "Crescent Link" bracelets that I have made. I like how these two bead colors go so well with each other. They both have a translucent "milky" look and the turquoise tile beads have a hint of amethyst on them.


This is a free pattern by Deb Roberti and you can download it HERE at Around the Beading Table. If you need Crescent beads, I have a list of sources HERE.


 

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Crescent Link Bracelet - Celadon Blue & Khaki


CRESCENT LINK BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
  • 6mm Czech 2-hole tile beads "Celadon Blue Halo"
  • Crescent beads "Saturated Metallic Khaki"

This is Deb Roberti's new free pattern and you can download it HERE at Around the Beading Table. If you're like me, and have a stash of Crescent beads that you don't know what to do with, this is just the thing. This bracelet is very pretty in a quirky sort of way. I think it has a Steampunk-ish look about it. I had hoped to be able to combine two Crescent bead colors like Deb did in her example photos but none of the colors that I have go well with each other. I really like this colorway though so I can't complain. I have made two more of these bracelets in other colorways but I probably won't be able to take photos of them until Saturday or Sunday when the sun returns.


Unfortunately, the site where I got these 2-hole tile beads no longer sells them and I can't find them anywhere else. I also think that the color name is wrong. I think they are "Halo Ethereal Shadows" but CzechMates brand tiles don't come in that color. They only come in the transparent "Halo" colors and the "Halo Ethereal" ones are opaque. They're such a pretty soft blue color and I'm very sorry that I can't suggest a place to buy them. I even checked several bead supplier sites with no luck.


If you need to buy some Crescent beads, I have a list of sources HERE.


 

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet - Violet Mix


MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET
  • 11/0 Toho seed beads "Nickel Plated" (711)
  • 8/0 Toho seed beads "Nickel Plated" (711)
  • SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Pink"
  • SuperDuo beads "Opaque Violet"
  • SuperDuo beads "Pink Luster Turquoise"
  • SuperDuo beads "Milky Amethyst"


This is another SuperDuo mix that I came up with. It has four colors this time and thankfully the colors go quite nicely with silver/nickel beads. I haven't had a chance yet to make some matching earrings but I'm thinking that I might make another pair of the "Big SuperDuo Mandala" earrings and use the colors at random this time like my first pair. I have a feeling though that I won't be able to use these Toho nickel seed beads with that pattern. I will give them a try and switch them out for Miyuki beads if they cause too much trouble.

The free tutorial for Pascale G-Mikovic's "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet" is HERE on my blog.



 

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet Set - Turquoise & Copper Mix


MYSTERY SUPERDUO BRACELET
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Vintage Copper" (55003)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Vintage Copper" (55003)
  • SuperDuo beads "Turquoise Copper Picasso"
  • SuperDuo beads "Bronze Copper"
  • SuperDuo beads "Umber Copper Picasso"

I made my own SuperDuo mix for this bracelet. Creating bead mixes isn't as easy as it might seem. For this one, I started out with four SuperDuo colors that really looked great together. I thought I was all set until I realized that I needed some seed beads that would go with them. So, after quite a few experiments, I got rid of all but two of the original SuperDuo colors and switched to some in a different shade of copper that goes pretty darn well with these copper seed beads. The two colors that I kept were the turquoise and the umber. The original copper color was too dark and harsh and didn't match any of my copper seed beads. The fourth color was pretty but it was transparent and somewhat sparkly and it didn't really work well with these soft matte colors.



The free tutorial for Pascale G-Mikovic's "Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet" is HERE on my blog. You can download the free "Big SuperDuo Mandala Earrings" pattern HERE on the Matubo bead site. 


BIG SUPERDUO MANDALA EARRINGS
  • 11/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Vintage Copper" (55003)
  • 8/0 seed beads Miyuki/Czech "Vintage Copper" (55003)
  • SuperDuo beads "Turquoise Copper Picasso"
  • SuperDuo beads "Bronze Copper"
  • SuperDuo beads "Umber Copper Picasso"



I was originally going to make these earrings like the sample at the top in the photo below. I think you can see that it wasn't an ideal color arrangement. By switching around the umber and the copper SuperDuos, it created a much more attractive pair of earrings with a Native American look that suits the bracelet and the bead colors nicely. I decided not to do a random bead mix with these earrings because I was only using three colors. It worked out perfectly that there are three rows of SuperDuos in the design.



Something else that I discovered, while switching the bead colors around, was that it made a big difference in the outcome of my earrings when I changed the order of the beads. That sample earring came out a little warped and is quite domed. That's because SuperDuos can vary slightly in size and shape from one brand to the next and also from one color to the next. The earrings that I blogged about HERE, which were made with this same pattern, came out perfectly flat. Today's earrings are slightly domed but not as domed as the sample.





While I was at Hobby Lobby on yesterday buying more of these copper SuperDuos, I found a sheet of the same scrapbook paper that I use to photograph my beadwork. This is the third sheet that I have bought over the years and each time the color of the print looks different than the original one. The second copy that I bought is a little too light and a bit too green for my liking. The one that I just bought isn't as blue as the original one but at least it is darker than the second one. 


In any case I'm happy to have a couple of back-ups should something happen to my original one and I used the new sheet for today's photos. By the time I finished editing and tweaking the colors in my photos, I sure can't tell that it's not the same one that I always use. When I edit my photos, my only concern is that I get the colors of the beadwork to look as true-to-life as possible. If that makes the background color go off, I don't worry about it. The beadwork is what matters.

Below you can see all three of them for comparison. The top sheet is the one that I just bought. The middle one is the bright one and the bottom one is my favorite original sheet.