Playing with my beads...Bicones - French Rose Celsian

CZECH FRENCH ROSE CELSIAN BICONES

This will be the last post in the series about bicones. I wanted a slightly coppery color to highlight the rosy pink color of the bicones so I had to decide between two seed bead colors. I tried Metallic Chocolate first but it's much too dark. I think that the Montana Gold Luster beads are just right. They're close to the same color tone as the bicones and fire polished beads so the delicate color of the bicones shows up better.

I don't really like these beads with the "Ophelia Bracelet" pattern. It looks too boring. I like the "Venetian Bands" sample very well because there are more seed beads to give the design some character. My favorite of the three is the "Moon Ring Bracelet" sample. I have 100 of these bicones so I should have enough to make the Moon Ring and a Venetian Band as well as some earrings.

I bought these bicones from Red Panda HERE. All three of these bracelets are from Around the Beading Table. You can buy "Moon Ring Bracelet" HERE, "Venetian Bands" HERE and "Ophelia Bracelet" HERE.

Moon Ring Bracelet (about 36 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 4mm Czech bicones "French Rose Celsian"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Transparent Topaz Pink Luster"

Venetian Band (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 4mm Czech bicones "French Rose Celsian"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Transparent Topaz Pink Luster"

The motif on the left has "Metallic Chocolate" seed beads

Ophelia Bracelet (32 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads "Metallic Chocolate" (no info available)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Transparent Montana Gold Luster" (204)
• 4mm Czech bicones "French Rose Celsian"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Transparent Topaz Pink Luster"

 

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Hematite Luster Aquamarine

CZECH HEMATITE LUSTER AQUAMARINE BICONES

I tried four different bracelet patterns with these Czech bicones but I only like two or three of the samples well enough to make into bracelets. I have enough bicones to make three bracelets and I already have a pair of earrings that will go with the bracelets. I will also have enough leftover bicones to make another pair of earrings if I like.

Marquesa Earrings

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 14mm Swarovski rivolis "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Teal"
• 4mm druks "Bronze"

The earring pattern is by NannyPinksPassion and you can buy it HERE.

I tried three different color combinations with Ellad2's "Annelies Bracelet" pattern which I love. This was my first time trying it and it's very easy to make. However, I wasn't keen on my first sample. The SuperDuos in the center are too dark. I like the second combo a bit better but I'm still not crazy about the dark beads. Sample three is my favorite but I'm not sure yet if I'll make that one into a bracelet. You can buy Ella's pattern HERE.
 
I will make a "Bow Tie Bracelet" like my sample. That's my favorite of the bunch. This free pattern is by Deborah Roberti and you can download it HERE.

Next I tried these bicones with another of Deb's patterns called "Ophelia Bracelet" which you can buy HERE. I've made this pattern before and it's one of my favorites but I couldn't come up with anything that I liked with these beads. The bronze overpowers the bicones and the motifs look too square. I tried a few different ideas for rounding off the corners but ended up switching to another pattern that is very similar. It's called "Venetian Bands" and you can buy it HERE. I made the version that has the smaller motif between each larger motif. I like this sample very much and will make this bracelet.

I bought these bicones from Red Panda HERE.

Annelies Bracelet #1 (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Dark Teal"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

Annelies Bracelet #2 (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Dark Teal"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Teal"

Annelies Bracelet #3 (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Teal"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

Bow Tie Bracelet (28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Persian Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

Venetian Bands (about 28 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Bronze"

Ophelia Bracelet (32 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Hematite Luster Aquamarine"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Bronze"

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Aquamarine Celsian

CZECH AQUAMARINE CELSIAN BICONES

I tried three different bracelet patterns with these Czech bicones and I love all three. Luckily, I've got enough of them to make all three plus some leftover to make earrings.

I bought these bicones from Red Panda HERE.

Celtic Bracelet (24 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Aquamarine Celsian"
• 4mm druks "Bronze"

From Jaycee's Patterns - click HERE (near the bottom of the page)

Annelies Bracelet (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Aquamarine Celsian"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Light Blue Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Crystal Gold Luster"

From Ellad2 - click HERE to buy the pattern

Sunantha Bracelet (about 24 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Aquamarine Celsian"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Light Blue Picasso"

Free pattern from Elfenatelier - click HERE
 

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Burgundy Blue Zircon Blend

SWAROVSKI BURGUNDY BLUE ZIRCON BLEND BICONES

I only tried these bicones with one bracelet pattern but with two different seed bead colors. I tried the Metallic Chocolate beads first but decided that they are too dark. I do like the sample with Dark Bronze seed beads though. Both samples were made with Deborah Roberti's "Venetian Bands" pattern which you can buy HERE. I have 40 of these bicones which will leave me plenty to make a pair of earrings to go with my bracelet.

I bought these bicones from Artbeads.com HERE. One thing that I noticed while working with these particular bicones is that the quality isn't very good. I assumed that anything made by Swarovski would be of the highest quality considering how much they cost. What I found was that some of the bicones in this batch have a definite point on one end and are just chopped off on the other. And, some are chopped on both ends. That's the kind of thing that I expect when I buy cheap Chinese crystals but not from Swarovski. So far I haven't noticed any defects like this in the Czech bicones that I've tried so I think I'll stick to buying those from now on and give Swarovski a miss. I'm not keen on Swarovski's colors much anyway.

Venetian Band (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Burgundy-Blue Zircon Blend"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Dark Bronze"

Venetian Band (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Burgundy-Blue Zircon Blend"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Bronze"

 

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Chrysolite Celsian

CZECH CHRYSOLITE CELSIAN BICONES

I only have 50 of these Czech bicones so I'll have to choose between these three bracelets. I'm pretty sure that I will end up making the "Bow Tie Bracelet" though. I like the "Annalies Bracelet" sample but I'd rather make a narrower bracelet. I do like how well the bicones go with these SuperDuos though so I might make the "Sunantha Bracelet" and extend the length with jump rings if I don't have quite enough bicones. I went with light bronze for all of these samples because it goes nicely with the yellowish color of the bicones. I just happen to have the same Chrysolite Celsian in 4mm fire polished beads for the "Bow Tie Bracelet". I would have preferred to use something opaque but I didn't have anything suitable that matched. The SuperDuos are an unusual color that I bought in a local shop but you can buy them at Red Panda HERE.

Buy Ellad2's "Annalies Bracelet" pattern HERE or on Etsy HERE. You can download Deb Roberti's free "Bow Tie Bracelet" pattern HERE and the free "Sunantha Bracelet" pattern HERE from Elfenatelier.

I bought the Czech Chrysolite Celsian bicones at Red Panda HERE.

Bow Tie Bracelet (28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Chrysolite Celsian"
• 3mm druks "Bronze"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Chrysolite Celsian"

Sunantha Bracelet (about 24 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Chrysolite Celsian"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Grey Travertin"

Annalies Bracelet (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 4mm Czech bicones "Chrysolite Celsian"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque Grey Travertin"

 

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Crystal Purple Haze

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL PURPLE HAZE BICONES

I only have 48 of these bicones so I'll only be able to make one bracelet and maybe a pair of earrings. My favorite is the "Moon Ring" sample below. The others are pretty but a little too bland looking with these subdued colors. The detail of the "Moon Ring" design seems to have more character in spite of the dull colors. There are a lot more bicones in that design and I think the extra sparkle helps perk up the beads.

You can buy Ellad2's "Annalies Bracelet" pattern HERE. You can by Deb Roberti's "Moon Ring" pattern HERE and her "Venetian Bands" pattern HERE.

I bought these Swarovski bicones from Aura Crystals HERE.

Venetian Band (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Swarovski bicones "Crystal Purple Haze"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold and Smoky Topaz Luster"

Annalies Bracelet (about 26 bicones)

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Swarovski bicones "Crystal Purple Haze"
• SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Copper Rose"

Moon Ring Bracelet (about 36 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm Swarovski bicones "Crystal Purple Haze"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Opaque Gold and Smoky Topaz Luster"

 

Playing with my beads...Bicones - Cyclamen Opal

SWAROVSKI CYCLAMEN OPAL BICONES

Back in August I blogged HERE about some pretty 4mm bicones that I had splurged on. For the past few days I've been looking through bracelet patterns that call for bicones and making lots of samples in each color to try and figure out what I want to make with them. I'm going to post the samples as a series featuring each bicone color as a separate post. After making at least two or three pattern samples in each color, I'm pretty sure of what I want to make but there are some that I'm still undecided on. I actually have enough of some of the bicones to make more than one bracelet in those colors as well as matching earrings for most of them. Since I will be making all of the bracelets in this bicone series for myself, I will probably wait until after my Christmas beading is done to get started on them.

Today's post is about Swarovski's "Cyclamen Opal" 4mm bicones. I bought these some time ago and I thought I knew what I was going to make with them when I bought them. I even bought exactly the number of beads that I'd need so that I wouldn't waste money buying extras. After making some bracelet samples, I've changed my mind about the pattern I was originall planning to use. For one thing, I had some trouble finding a metallic seed bead color that I liked with these. Silver seemed to make them look blah and dark bronze didn't look well at all. I tried a couple other golds and bronzes but wasn't happy with them either. In the end, I've gone back to silver seed beads but with a different pattern that features the bicones in a different way. With this particular pattern, the bicones aren't surrounded by seed beads and that seems to make all the difference.

I used Deborah Roberti's "Venetian Bands" pattern for my first two samples below. I started with shiny silver seed beads but they looked too bright next to the bicones. The bicones became almost invisible. Pewter didn't work any better and it looked too flat. My first sample below has one motif in silver and the other motif has pewter beads.

With dark bronze seed beads the lavender pearls stood out too much and that wasn't the look that I wanted. Why spend a small fortune on Swarovski bicones if they're not the main feature of the bracelet?

So, as I mentioned, I went back to silver and the perfect pattern is another one of Deb's called "Craving Crystal Bracelet". The pearls are toned down by using only one per motif. And, there are no seed beads above or below the purple bicones to detract from the pretty color of them. This design doesn't use a lot of seed beads, which is another good thing, but there are just enough to make the bracelet look like jewelry. There is one small problem with using this pattern. I only have 40 of these bicones and I will probably need 48 to make the bracelet in my size. I will either buy a few more, and hope that the dye lot hasn't changed, or I will try to extend the length of the bracelet somehow with some sort of motif made with only silver seed beads. Since I won't be short by too many beads, I'll probably go with the second option.

It may seem a little odd to combine expensive Swarovski crystals with cheap Chinese glass pearls but I really like the lavender color and I already had them on hand. The pearls in the "Venetian Bands" samples are 3mm and the ones in the "Craving Crystal Bracelet" are 4mm. Although they're called the same color on the labels, they aren't quite the same in reality. The 4mm pearls are a little more blue and the 3mm ones have more of a pinkish cast. I like them both and they both seem to go pretty well with the Cyclamen Opal bicones.

You can buy the bicones at Artbeads.com HERE, or Aura Crystals HERE. The pearls are from Beads One and you can buy those HERE. You can buy the "Venetian Bands" pattern HERE and the "Craving Crystal Bracelet pattern HERE.

Venetian Bands (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Cyclamen Opal"
• 3mm pearls "Lilac - #19" (Beads One)

Venetian Bands (about 28 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457D)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Cyclamen Opal"
• 3mm pearls "Lilac - #19" (Beads One)

Craving Crystal Bracelet - Band #2 (about 48 bicones)

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Silver" (711)
• 4mm bicones Swarovski "Cyclamen Opal"
• 4mm pearls "Lilac - #19" (Beads One)