Bracelet of the Day: Little Dots Variation

LITTLE DOTS VARIATION

• 11/0 seed beads "Copper"
• 15/0 seed beads "Copper"
• 11/0 seed beads "Metallic Blue"
• 3mm brass metal beads (Hobby Lobby)
• 4mm druks "Hurricane Glass Matte Light Olive/Red" or "Matte Hurricane Lace Lichen"

Monday was my birthday and Teejay sent me a package full of wonderful beading goodies and a couple of bracelets that she'd made. Today's bracelet is one of them. This is her take on Sidonia's "Little Dots" pattern. If you look closely, you can spot the similarities but there are enough changes that it's not really the same pattern anymore. I love the metallic blue accent beads that she put in the center of each motif.

You can watch Sidonia's YouTube video tutorial HERE.

Bracelet of the Day: Double Diamond with Pearls - Chestnut Coral

DOUBLE DIAMOND WITH PEARLS

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 4mm fire polished beads "Chestnut Coral"
• 4mm pearls "Antique Brass" (Beads One)

This is another version of the bracelet that I posted on February 22nd. It's based on THIS free pattern but I added a pearl in the center of each motif.

UPDATE:  The website above is no longer online. THIS pattern is very similar and the link is still active.

UPDATE 5/27/23: I removed a link in this post because it went to an infected website.

Bracelet of the Day: Fairy Bracelet

FAIRY BRACELET (CRYSTAL POSY VARIATION)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (15-457D)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Crystal Gold" (BCP-3312)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Opaque Smoky Topaz Gold Luster"

I found a photo of a bracelet on Etsy that I really liked but couldn't find a pattern for it anywhere. I figured that it must be similar to one of Deborah Roberti's patterns and her "Crystal Posy" seemed to be the closest one. I was still a very new beader at the time so Teejay figured out for me how to adapt Deb's pattern so that it looked like the Etsy photo. Teejay figured out how to connect the motifs with a single fire polished bead between them like the Etsy photo. Then, it was just a matter of omitting the seed bead embellishment that Deb puts around the corners of every other flower. I used fire polished beads instead of bicones.

Here is the original Etsy photo:

And, here is a photo of Deb's "Crystal Posy" for comparison:

While trying out Teejay's tweak, I just happened to pick out the two 3mm fire polished bead colors below and I loved how they looked together with this pattern. Since I used 3mm beads instead of the 4mm that Deb's pattern calls for, I used 15/0 seed beads instead of 11/0's. The pattern works perfectly with the tiny beads and the bracelet comes out very delicate and dainty. What you can't see well in my photo above is the pretty sparkle of the beads. The effect is magical so I call it my "Fairy Bracelet". I loved it so much that I made one for myself and a few for Christmas presents.

Crystal Gold

Opaque Smoky Topaz Gold Luster

Bracelet of the Day: Crystal Chain Variation - Wisteria & Copper

CRYSTAL CHAIN VARIATION

• 11/0 seed beads "Chocolate Copper" (11-459G)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Gold-Lustered Pale Wisteria" (TR-11-455/c)
• 4mm fire polished beads "Montana Blue Luster"

The pattern is Deborah Roberti's "Crystal Chain Bracelet" made with only one of the motifs repeated for the entire bracelet. Click HERE to download the free pattern from Around the Beading Table.

I'm not sure what brand the dark copper seed beads are and that's not the actual name for them. I bought them locally in a shop that mostly sells Miyuki seed beads. However, these aren't the high quality that is typical of Miyuki so I suspect that they're some other brand, perhaps Matsuno. The shapes are quite irregular like some other Matsuno copper seed beads that I've got.

Beading Tips & Tricks - Canterbury Bracelet

Today I was making another Canterbury bracelet and thought that I'd share the little tricks that I use whenever I make that pattern. I've already mentioned in previous posts that I leave off the final row of netting for a narrower bracelet. In doing it that way, I find that the scalloped strands of netting have a tendency to go a bit wonky and/or curl under if you don't take steps to prevent it. 

Here are some of my tips:

1. I highly recommend using 6 lb. FireLine instead of regular Nymo D type thread. That alone helps give the netting a bit more stability.

2. I like to add an accent bead in between the motifs to add a bit of interest. The point where you add this bead is in Step 4 of the tutorial where you pick up and add three seed beads. The second bead picked up is the accent bead. I've highlighted it in yellow in the diagram below:

3. After I've added the scalloped netting to both sides of the bracelet, I weave back around through each scallop to shape it then I make a half-hitch knot just after the pair of seed beads between each of the scallops. This little knot secures each scallop. What I do is weave through the 7 seed beads of a scallop and proceed through the next pair of seed beads before the next scallop (as shown in the diagram below). Using firm but not tight tension, I pull the scallop beads snug and shape them neatly. While holding the scallop beads firmly in place between my fingers, I make the knot with my other hand. Then, I continue on through the next scallop and pair of seed beads and add another knot. Don't make the knot just after the scallop. Going through those two seed beads helps keep the beads from shifting around too much while making the knot. I make a knot after every scallop on both sides of the bracelet.

In the diagram below, the 9 pink dots represent the 7 scallop seed beads plus the 2 seed beads between the scallops. The green dot is showing where to make the half-hitch knot. You really make the knot around the thread between the last pink bead and the one to the right of it. I had to place the green dot slightly out of the way so you could see the beads. It does show where you will insert your needle to start your knot.

4. After I've gone all the way around the bracelet shaping the netting and adding a knot between each scallop, I go around through the netting, and pairs of seed beads between the scallops, one more time for good measure. All of this is a bit time-consuming but I think it's worth it for a neater bracelet.

You can buy Nancy Peterson's "Canterbury Bracelet" pattern HERE.
 

Playing with my Beads...

I tried another beaded bezel pattern yesterday with mixed results. This one is the "Captured Crystal Cubes Earrings" from Beading Daily. You can get the free tutorial HERE. I like the earrings in the original photo on the Beading Daily site but their stones are a slightly different shape than the ones I used. The bezel doesn't fit quite the same on my stones. Here is the original photo:

I hadn't done herringbone stitch before so the other night I practiced the stitch on a larger stone with 11/0 seed beads instead of 15/0's. That was very easy to work but too large for an earring. 

The tutorial doesn't say what kind of thread to use but I knew that it would have to be very fine because of the number of times you pass through the tiny 15/0 beads. For my first sample, I used Nymo B thread and it was very tough getting through the beads after the first few rounds. Nymo D thread would never work for this pattern. It was such a struggle that I was going to give up on the pattern but today I gave it one more go with 6lb FireLine. That did help a bit and it gave me neater-looking stitches.

I didn't like the loop that they made for the earring wires so I tried a couple of different things. I'm not happy with either of them either. At this point I doubt if I'll make a pair of these earrings. The larger version might make a pretty pendant though if I can work out a way to add a jump ring to connect it to a chain.

In the photo at the top of this post, the sample on the far left is the one I did with FireLine. The photo below shows how pretty the design looks on the back of the bezel.

Bracelet of the Day: Canterbury - Rose Gold

CANTERBURY BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Light Bronze" (11-457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Light Golden Bronze" (D4204)
• 4mm fire polished beads "Luster Rose Gold Topaz"
• 6mm fire polished beads "Luster Rose Gold Topaz"

The "Light Golden Bronze" seed beads were added as an accent color between the motifs. For some reason I only took one photo of this bracelet before sending it as a gift last Christmas. I usually try to get a shot of each of my bracelets lying flat so that the pattern can be seen more clearly. The upright version is just the "glamour shot". In any case, I've already posted a few other Canterbury bracelets and I didn't change anything on this one other than adding the accent color.

You can buy Nancy Peterson's pattern HERE.

UPDATE 3/9/2021: Nancy is no longer selling her beading patterns but she has graciously allowed me to post her "Canterbury Bracelet" pattern on my blog as a free download. To download a copy, please visit THIS post.