Bracelet of the Day: Duo Bobble Band

 
DUO BOBBLE BAND (LIZBETH BAND)

• 11/0 Miyuki seed beads "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 3mm druks "Jet Copper Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Matte Ultra Green Luster"

Today's bracelet is another of Teejay's variations of Deborah Roberti's "Bobble Bangles" pattern but this time with SuperDuo beads. They work great with this pattern and this may be my all-time favorite bracelet to make and to wear. The band is the perfect width; not too thin or too wide. It's very easy to make and the stitch works up with a soft feel to it. It's very comfortable to wear.

UPDATE 1/24/18: A free pattern is now available and the new name for this pattern is "Lizbeth Band". Visit THIS post to download the free pattern.

There is one trick to this pattern though. You have to make sure that you start and end the bracelet with the SuperDuo motif. Because of that, you might need to adjust the length by altering the clasp loops a bit or by using a longer or shorter clasp. I used a barrel magnet clasp on this one and it fits me perfectly with 17 SuperDuo motifs for a 6-inch bracelet.

You can also make this version using 3x4mm rondelles but they do affect the shape and length of the bracelet a little. They're slightly wider than the 3mm druks so they spread the stitch out a little. I only needed to use 15-16 SuperDuos when I made these with rondelles instead of druks.

I've made quite a few different color combinations of this bracelet, with druks and rondelles, which you will see in future "Bracelet of the Day" posts.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Crystal Elegance

CRYSTAL ELEGANCE BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki “Dark Bronze” (11-457D)
• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki “Dark Bronze” (15-457D)
• 3x5mm hematite tube beads “Golden”
• 4mm bicones “Rose Topaz AB” (from Beadoholique)
• 4mm bicones “Golden Shadow - #C25AB” (from Beads One)
  

I just made today's bracelet a week or two ago. The Crystal Elegance pattern is by Joanie Jenniges. I didn't know until after buying the pattern that it called for a very unusual kind of beads called "3x5mm hematite tubes". I had to track down a source for those beads before I could try the pattern. Nobody had them in any of the local bead shops so I had to buy them online. Most sites only have them in the normal gray hematite color but I found some gold colored ones in a Chinese eBay store. The good news is that they were only $3.00 per strand with free shipping even though they were sent all the way from China. I'm happy to say that the quality is very good. I also ordered some of the hematite colored tubes from this Etsy shop. Those were a bargain too, even with shipping. I got six strands for $3.50 plus $2.99 for shipping. I do prefer the gold color though since it blends better with the other beads in my bracelet than the dark gray.

Other than the matching earring pattern that Joanie sells for the bracelet that I made, I haven't seen any other patterns calling for hematite tubes but I'm keeping a lookout for some. Otherwise, I'll just make this bracelet pattern with them. By the way, it takes most of a strand of tube beads to make one of these bracelets. Because I wear such a small size bracelet (6-inch), I had quite a few left over from the strand but a 7 1/2-inch bracelet would use nearly a whole strand. 

It's an interesting pattern to weave because you first make a base out of the hematite tubes and then cover the base with the bicones and seed beads. You don't really see the tube beads while wearing the bracelet but they do make it very thick. I think they might have been more visible had I used the gray colored tubes in this bracelet. I would probably use that color if I was going to use silver or black seed beads.

Earrings of the Day: Layered Tila Earrings

LAYERED TILA EARRINGS

• 3mm fire polished beads “Transparent Gold Topaz Luster”
• 4mm fire polished beads “Lumi Coated Taupe”
• 15/0 Miyuki Dark Bronze seed beads (15-457D)
• 11/0 Miyuki Dark Bronze seed beads (11-457D)
• Tila beads “Light Caramel Pearl” (#593)
• 2 earring wires
  

The earrings I'm wearing today were adapted from the "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern on Yvonne King's "MyAmari" beading blog. I just made one motif turned on the diagonal for my earring and added a loop at the top to attach the earring wire. 

UPDATE 6/6/19: All of the previous links to this pattern are dead. You can get the free "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern HERE on Bead-Patterns.com. 

 

Bracelet of the Day: Teejay's Bobble Band Variation

BOBBLE BAND VARIATION

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Silver-Lined Amethyst Matte AB" (8-F639)
• 6mm fire polished beads "Opaque Green Luster"
• Clasp
  

My friend, Teejay, came up with this adaptation of Deborah Roberti's Bobble Bangles pattern. You follow the same basic procedure as Deb's pattern with a few changes, such as adding 6mm fire polish beads instead of pairs of pearls down the center. 

I'm also wearing these pretty earrings that I bought at Hobby Lobby using one of their 40% off coupons. They were normally about $5.00 or $6.00 so I got them for quite a bargain at 40% off.

 

Bracelet of the Day: SuperDuo Flower Chain Bracelet

SUPERDUO FLOWER CHAIN BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
  
• SuperDuo beads "Light Blue Picasso"
  

I don't remember where I got the inspiration for the flower motifs but the little links in between them are based on the ones in Kelly Dale's "Fun Floral Necklace". Check out Kelly's video on YouTube: Fun Floral Necklace Tutorial. Kelly also has lots of patterns and beading kits for sale in her Off the Beaded Path Etsy shop.

 

Since this bracelet, and also the earring pattern below, are my own creation, I'm posting the tutorials here for you to download:  

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE BRACELET PATTERN

If you like this pattern, please consider making a voluntary donation through PayPal using the DONATE button on the right.

NOTE: I don't mind if you sell the projects that you make with our patterns, but please mention that you got the pattern from Linda's Crafty Inspirations. Please contact me for information about teaching this or any of our patterns in a class.

SUPERDUO FLOWER CHAIN EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads "Dark Bronze" (11-457D)
  
• 8/0 seed beads "Dark Bronze" (8-457D) (2)
  
• SuperDuo beads "Light Blue Picasso"
  
• 2 4mm jump rings
  
• 2 Earring wires
  

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE EARRING PATTERN

If you like this pattern, please consider making a voluntary donation through PayPal using the DONATE button on the right.

NOTE: I don't mind if you sell the projects that you make with my patterns, but please mention that you got the pattern from Linda's Crafty Inspirations. Please contact me for information about teaching this or any of our patterns in a class.
  

 

Bracelet of the Day: Quick SuperDuo Bracelet

 QUICK SUPERDUO BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads “Metallic Chocolate” *
  
• 3mm druks “Bronze Antique” **
  
• SuperDuo beads “Opaque Green Luster”
  

* This color is not available anywhere that I know of in this size. Deb Roberti sent them to me in a huge box of seed beads that had no labels on them. Thanks, Deb!
 
** I bought these at Beadoholique. A while back they got in a large assortment of gorgeous druks from Nirvana Beads.

 
My friend, Teejay, came up with this variation of a Beading Daily tutorial called "Quick Bracelet with Two-holed Seed Beads", which we call "Quick SuperDuo Bracelet" for short. Her version is actually more like the motifs in this one called "More Right-angle Weave With Two-holed Seed Beads". You can also connect the motifs with SuperDuo beads instead of druks like Teejay did in this example:
 

Here are the earrings that I'm wearing today with this bracelet:

I made them with Vintaj charms that I bought at Hobby Lobby for about $3.00.
 

 

Wooden Trinket Boxes

 

I made several of these little trinket boxes to give gifts last Christmas. I found the unfinished wood boxes at Dollar Tree for only a dollar each. Thankfully, I bought several when I first saw them because they disappeared from the shelves quickly and they no longer carry them. I'd love to find another source for these boxes but I've had no luck so far. They have cheap unfinished boxes at the craft stores but they're smaller, not as nice as these and it would be more difficult to cover them as I've done with these.

I used some collage graphics that I created in Paint Shop Pro to cover the boxes. They're printed on glossy photo paper which I also bought at Dollar Tree. The paper comes in packs of eight 8.5x11" sheets for a dollar. I've been using that paper for calendars and other projects as well.

This is how the boxes looked before I painted them black and covered them with my printed paper:

I bought the black acrylic paint at Walmart and I think it was about 50-cents per bottle. Probably the most costly part of making these boxes was the printer ink. I'm guessing that each box cost me a total of about $2.00-3.00 to make.

Every time I visit Dollar Tree, I check to see if they have these wood boxes in stock again. I would love to make these in other colors and designs. By the way, they have a magnet closure which I really like because it leaves the front of the box clear for pasting my paper on. All of the other little boxes I've seen have a cheap-looking hinged latch on the front that would have to be removed temporarily to cover them with paper.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Mingles Tweak #2

MINGLES TWEAK #2

• 11/0 Miyuki Duracoat Galvanized "Light Pewter" seed beads (4221)
  
• 15/0 Miyuki Duracoat Galvanized "Light Pewter" seed beads (4221)
  
• 4mm fire polished beads "Sapphire Celsian"
  
• Clasp
  

Today's bracelet is my variation of Sabine Lippert's free "Mingles" pattern. I've changed so many things that it's hardly recognizable as "Mingles" anymore.

These are the earrings that I'm wearing today. They were about $2.00 at Walmart.