Linda's Crafty Inspirations

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Silver Moon Earrings - Denim Blue

SILVER MOON EARRINGS

11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (8-457D)
4mm bicones "Denim Blue" (Walmart - no longer available)
3mm pearls "Bronze - HX30/13" (Beads One)

I thought I was finished making this series of earrings but at the last minute I decided to make one more pair to go with my Celtic Bracelet. I used the same blue bicones as Monday's earrings but replaced the black beads with bronze ones. I used the same bronze pearls that I used in the bracelet but in 3mm instead of 4mm. The "Celtic Bracelet" is one of my absolute favorites. I love wearing it and now I've got the perfect pair of earrings to wear with it. You can read about the bracelet pattern HERE.

For more information about this free earring pattern, click HERE.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Playing with my beads...

I haven't had a chance to make the bracelets yet that I posted about yesterday, but I thought you might like to see the earring that I came up with last night to go with them. I just made it up as I went along but it's based on the "Hana-Ami Motif" from Deborah Roberti's site HERE. I basically made one motif then went around and filled the gaps with 15/0 seed beads. I added a loop of five seed beads at the top for the wire and a drop bead at the bottom. I think that they'll go very well with both bracelets.

Silver Moon Earrings - Seafoam

SILVER MOON EARRINGS

11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (8-458)
8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Tan Luster" (8-440)
4mm bicones "Seafoam AB" (Walmart - no longer available)
3mm druks "Sky Blue Picasso"

For more information about this free pattern, click HERE.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Playing with my beads...

Today, while taking apart some beadwork samples, I came across the sample below:

I decided that I didn't want to make that bracelet but I really like the color combination of teal and pale gold. So, I looked through my patterns to see what else I could make that called for 4mm fire polished beads. I came up with two possibilities and I made samples of each. I've decided that I will make the "Crystal Tile Bracelet" to go with a top that I have but I really like the "Crystal Flower Bracelet" too so I think I might go ahead and make them both.

What I really wanted to write about in this post was about how much of a difference the color of your thread can make in your beadwork. About 99% of the time, I use black thread. But, as I think you can see in these photos, that wasn't the best choice for these particular beads. The black thread showing through and between the beads makes the beadwork look "dirty" and messy. It's much more apparent in real life than the photos show but I think you can get the idea. I have a spool of light gold K.O. beading thread that Dolly Smith sent me and it's the perfect color for this project. The samples made with the gold thread have a brighter, cleaner appearance. Although the gold thread does show a little through the teal fire polished beads, I think it actually enhances them. (Note: the fire polished beads that I used are actually teal and not quite as green as they look in these photos)

Here you can see the spool of gold thread next to the samples:

Here are more shots of the samples on a different background:

And, here is a photo of the samples with the top that I will wear the bracelet(s) with:

The top even has little rhinestones on it that are almost exactly the color of the seed beads and bicones. Both patterns are by Deb Roberti. You can buy "Crystal Flower Bracelet" HERE and "Crystal Tile Bracelet" HERE.

These are the beads that I used: