Arula Earrings - Tweaks and Variations

For some reason I have never blogged about this pattern before now but I did briefly mention these earrings in my very first post, HERE. I adapted these from a free photo tutorial that I found HERE. The originals in that tutorial are made with Rulla beads and I wanted to make mine with druks or pearls instead. I don't remember what all I had to change but I can see that the original tutorial has you add an extra row of beads to fill the second holes in the Rullas. Of course I didn't need to do that. Here's a photo of the original earrings from the Mézesmama Gyöngyei blog:

Mézesmama Gyöngyei original earrings

Although I like my version with the drop bead at the bottom, I wanted to come up with a version without the drop that wouldn't just be round. I prefer more of a teardrop shape so I added a bit more to the top part of the earrings which gives the illusion of a more elongated shape. Here is a comparison of the one with the drop next to the variation I just came up with:

Below is a close-up so you can see how I added to the top part of the earring:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 3mm druks "Siam Ruby Copper Picasso aka Siam Ruby Bronze Picasso"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 3mm druks "Opaque Rose Topaz Luster"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Opaque Rose Gold Topaz Luster"

Here are a few others that made a while back. Some are just sample earrings and others I made for myself or gave as gifts.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Gilded Marble Black" (11-1706)
• 3mm druks "Bronze"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (458)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Olivine" (458)
• 3mm round stone beads "Picture Jasper" (Aura Crystals)
• Stone drop beads "Jasper Rice - Sand" (Beads One)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 3mm pearls "Beige" (Beads One)
• Oval pearl beads (Walmart - no info available)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Opaque Avocado Pink Marbled" (1209)
• 3mm druks "Champagne" (Nirvana Beads)

I used Miyuki "Dark Bronze" seed beads and some 3mm turquoise stone beads in this sample earring:

 

This morning I was searching with Google for information about Lunasoft cabachons and learned that they're made by BeadSmith. While looking around the BeadSmith site, I decided to check out their free projects section. I suppose this is old news to everyone but me, but they've got a few free patterns by famous beadwork designers there. HERE is the link to the main BeadSmith site. Once you get there, click on "Free Projects" at the top of the page. Click on a project and the link to download the PDF file will be near the top of the page and below that will be a list of products used to make that project. The BeadSmith site is a bit poorly designed so don't use your browser's Back button to try to get back to the main project listing after you've looked at one. Use the path at the top of the page. It will look something like this: "Free Jewelry Projects >> All Projects >> Blooming Vine Necklace >>". So, if you're browsing "All Projects", to get back to the index you'd need to click where it says "All Projects" in the path to get back to it. 

Bracelet of the Day: Lace Flowers Variation - Silver and Purple

LACE FLOWERS VARIATION

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 4mm fire polished beads "Tanzanite Silver Lined"

This bracelet was a Christmas present and made with my adaptation of Ellad2's "Lace Flowers Bracelet" pattern which you can buy HERE. I originally blogged about my tweaks HERE.

Playing with my beads...Plume Earrings

I saw this free tutorial on a Russian beading tutorial site HERE and thought they were worth a try. It was hard to judge the size of them from the photo and I was hoping they weren't too huge. They are a bit large but not outrageously so. I did run into a problem though. I made the sample on the left in the above photo first and really liked the shape of it. The earring curls inward at the bottom and on the sides, which I like. Although the earrings in the photo on the tutorial site look a lot flatter, I thought maybe this was how they turn out if made with metallic seed beads. So, I made the sample on the right using slightly different beads and you can see that it's much different than the first earring. No matter what I did, I couldn't make the beads curl in the same way and it looks like it has wings. I don't like that one at all. I do, however, like the way that I made the loop for the earrings wire at the top of that one.

NOTE: The link to the pattern has been removed for your protection.

ORIGINAL EARRINGS FROM TUTORIAL SITE

I suspected that the problem might be caused either by the seed beads in my second sample being a little fatter or because the SuperDuos I used in the second sample were too glossy or maybe it was due to both things. So, I made another sample earring using the first set of beads to make sure that the one I liked wasn't just a fluke. It came out just like my first one did. Now I knew that it was something to do with the beads. Next, I made another sample using the second set of beads but this time I was extra careful to pull my work tight as I added the bottom beads and I also omitted one seed bead on each side of the "wings". Pulling the beads tighter didn't really help but using one less seed bead did make a difference.

In the end, I still think they're a little too big and I think they'd drive me nuts banging against the side of my neck. They are kind of cool-looking though so give them a try and maybe you'll like them more than I do.

The earrings below are the ones that turned out the way that I like. If they weren't so big, I'd make a pair like these for myself.

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm rondelles "Smoky Quartz - #C24" (Beads One)
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Green Senegal Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Grey Travertin"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Bronze" (457)
• 4mm rondelles "Champagne AB - #C26 AB" (Beads One)
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Green Luster Iris"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Olive Copper Picasso"

The earring on the left above is the one with the wide "wings". The one on the right has one less seed bead on each side and the wings don't stick out quite as far. These still didn't curl under as much as the other pair because of the glossy SuperDuos and the fatter seed beads.

Pattern Review: Tracery Trinket for Silky Beads

TRACERY TRINKET BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Opaque Luster Ecru" (440)
• Silky beads "Opaque Ivory Copper"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Transparent Gold Topaz Luster"

You may have noticed that Sam Wescott came out with a new Silky bead pattern about the same time that I posted my "Sophia Silky Bracelet" tutorial HERE on my blog. Her pattern looks similar to "Sophia" but is a nice alternative for those who don't have or don't want to use SuperDuo beads. Click HERE to buy Sam's pattern.

The method for making Sam's pattern is totally different from "Sophia" and it's super easy. If you haven't used Silky beads yet, this is the perfect first pattern to try with them. Sam's instructions are easy to follow and the bracelet is very quick to make.

For my 6-inch bracelet, I used 13 Silky beads. I wasn't sure how much thread to use so I started with 3 yards. I just barely had enough to weave in the ends so you may want to use about 4 yards for longer bracelets to keep from running short.

I bought my Ivory Copper Silky beads from GC Supplies Texas, HERE, and the 8/0 Ecru seed beads that I used can be found at Charlene's Beads on THIS page. These seed beads match the Silkies very well.

Here's another example of this pretty pattern:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Matte Silver Lined Amethyst" (440)
• Silky beads "Alabaster Lazure Blue"
• 4mm fire bicones "Light Amethyst" (Chinavoski)

There were a few Silky beads in this batch that had a purplish tint on them so I decided to try accenting them with bicones and seed beads in a light amethyst color. I think it works very well. I used 8/0 bronze seed beads on the ends of this one because the amethyst seed beads that I used weren't quite the right shape for the jump rings to go through. You can buy the 8/0 seed beads at Aura Crystals HERE. I can't give you any information about the bicones because I bought them locally and they weren't labeled.

Bracelet of the Day: Eclipse Bracelet - Jet Vega

ECLIPSE BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Vega"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Amethyst Crystal Luster"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Alexandrite Celsian"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Bronze"

This is the last of the five "Eclipse Bracelets" made from Deborah Roberti's new pattern, which you can buy HERE. I just recently discovered "Jet Vega" SuperDuo beads even though the color has been around for a long time. They're not actually black, as the name suggests, they're a very dark metallic wine color. If I'd known how pretty the color is, I would have bought some ages ago.

I've got good news about some 3mm druks that I'd heard had been discontinued. The color I'm talking about is "Jet Copper Picasso" and they look like this:

It's one of my favorite colors because it goes well with so many other bead colors that I use. Here are a few examples of bracelets that have these druks in them:

 
Anyway, while browsing around Etsy, I found out that the color hasn't actually been discontinued. They're just going by a different name now. They're calling them "Matte Siam Ruby Bronze Picasso". I just bought some from BobbiThisnThat HERE. As you can see in her photo, they're actually translucent red beads with a dark picasso finish on them. You don't see the red at all unless you hold them up to the light. In normal light they appear to be a very dark grungy brownish bronze color. I checked my old batch with the old name and they're also red when held up to the light.

Also, last night I found another Etsy shop called DRBead that has a very nice selection of 3mm druks and in some colors that I've never seen anywhere else. I don't know how long the sale is on but they have a 25% off coupon code and they've got a flat $3.50 shipping rate in the US. I never would have found that Etsy shop by searching for "druks" so it can be helpful to search for other terms when looking for them. DRBead calls them "Smooth Round Czech Glass Beads". The reason that I found them was because I did a Google image search for a color name rather than a type of beads. I think I searched for "3mm jet bronze picasso". When I tried searching again adding the word "druk" in the search, that shop didn't come up. Oddly enough, when I do a Google image search for "Smooth Round Czech Glass Beads", that shop doesn't come up either but I do get hits for their ArtFire shop that way. Anyway, if you go to DRBead on Etsy, use the search box and search for "Smooth Round Czech Glass Beads". Otherwise you'll have to look through their entire shop to find anything and they've got over 5,400 items listed. Add "3mm or 4mm, etc." to the search to narrow it down to one size. One color they don't have is "Jet Copper Picasso/Matte Siam Ruby Bronze Picasso".

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bracelet of the Day: Eclipse Bracelet - Montana Blue

ECLIPSE BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Montana Blue"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Montana Blue Luster"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Bronze"
• 3mm druks "Bronze"

This is bracelet number four of Deb Roberti's "Eclipse Bracelet". You can buy the pattern HERE.

I just made two pairs of the "Esmeralda Earrings" for myself and thought you might like to see how they look. I learned something about that pattern while making them. It's best to keep your tension slightly relaxed, but not loose, so that the earrings will come out nice and flat. If you pull the beads too snug, the earrings will warp. You can read my previous post to get the bead information for these earrings HERE and HERE is the link to the YouTube video tutorial.

Bracelet of the Day: Eclipse Bracelet - Chalk Copper

ECLIPSE BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Matte Metallic Brown Bronze" (457P)
• SuperDuo beads "Chalk Copper Picasso"
• 4mm metal beads "Brass" (Hobby Lobby)
• 3mm metal beads "Brass" (Hobby Lobby)
• 4mm druks "Opaque Cream Luster" (from a "Brown Luster Mix")

"Eclipse Bracelet" number three is my favorite of the five that I made from Deb Roberti's new pattern. You can buy her pattern HERE. I really like the grungy look of the druks and SuperDuo beads along with the textured metal accent beads. If you have a Hobby Lobby store near you, they often have these metal beads on sale at 50% off.

The "Chalk Copper Picasso" SuperDuo beads are an usual color that's not readily available. I bought mine from Aria Design Studio but she no longer has that color. However, she has a new color that Lisa told me is pretty much the same. It's called "Chalk Lazure Copper".