Playing with my beads...Tara Bracelet Motif Earrings

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• Rulla beads "Jet Copper"
• MiniDuo beads "Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

I really like this motif which is from a free pattern called "Tara Bracelet" by Nela Kábelová. This is not to be confused with Ellad2's "Tara Earrings" pattern. The "Tara Bracelet" pattern is available free from The BeadSmith site HERE. This is the photo of the bracelet from that site:

"Tara Bracelet" by Nela Kábelová

When I looked at the photos on the BeadSmith site, I assumed it was a large, chunky bracelet. Actually, the motifs are very tiny. They're only about half an inch square. I would like to use the motifs to make a bracelet sometime but first I need to come up with some kind of filler motif that I can use to connect the motifs together. I don't want to use wire like the pattern instructs. I like the large 2-hole square tile beads that were used by the designer but I've never seen them anywhere. CzechMates tiles are quite a bit smaller.

Until I come up with a way to make a bracelet, I thought I might as well turn the motif into some adorable little earrings. Because the motifs are double, and have a front and a back, they are kind of thick and make nice sturdy earrings even though they're very small.

Although I do have quite a few Rulla bead colors I had a hard time coming up with color combinations that go well with the MiniDuos that I have. I haven't been able to find Rulla beads in all that many nice colors and I've got most of the ones that I do like. I looked them up on the BeadSmith site and they make quite a few nice colors that I've never seen for sale anywhere. I might use them more often if I could get some of those pretty colors. You can view a PDF file of all of the available colors HERE.

These are some of the elusive the colors that I wouldn't mind having:

Gold Luster
Chalk Light Green Luster
Chalk Blue Luster
Chalk Red Luster
Chalk Ruby Luster
Opaque Violet
Opaque Violet White Luster
Opaque Violet Picasso
Opaque Green White Luster
Pastel Light Brown Cocoa
Pastel Burgundy
Pastel Bordeaux
Pastel Petrol
Pastel Montana Blue
Turquoise Blue Picasso
Turquoise Green Dark Travertine

I do have some called "Chalk Green Luster" but I don't know if they're the ones called "Chalk Light Green Luster" or the ones called "Opaque Green White Luster". I've never seen any of the other colors on my list for sale anywhere.

I do have some of the same colors in both Rullas and MiniDuos but I'm not all that wild about the motifs being all one color. I did make two sample earrings like that but they're not my favorites. It's the contrasting Rulla color that highlights the design created by the MiniDuos. The motif reminds me of a tiny patchwork quilt square.

I experimented with a couple of different kinds of loops at the top and settled on the one that I used in all but one of the sample earrings (it's the one at the top of this post). It starts by picking up seven 15/0 seed beads and going back around through the center two 15/0 beads on one corner of the earring. Then, I go back through the first 15/0 of the loop, pick up a 15/0 and go through the next 15/0. I weave through the next five beads and add another 15/0 then go back around to reinforce the loop.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• Rulla beads "Aztec Gold"
• MiniDuo beads "Opaque Rose Gold Topaz Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Rulla beads "Opaque Amethyst Luster"
• MiniDuo beads "Pastel Bordeaux"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Rulla beads "Opaque Gold Smoky Topaz Luster"
• MiniDuo beads "White Senegal Brown Purple"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• Rulla beads "Jet Copper"
• MiniDuo beads "Polychrome Indigo Orchid"

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Antique Gold" (225)
• Rulla beads "Chalk Lazure Blue"
• MiniDuo beads "Opaque Green Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• Rulla beads "Jet Copper"
• MiniDuo beads "Chalk Blue Luster"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Rulla beads "Turquoise Blue Senegal Violet"
• MiniDuo beads "Blue Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• Rulla beads "Aztec Gold"
• MiniDuo beads "Blue Turquoise Silver Picasso"

Bracelet of the Day: Fina Bracelet - Ivory & Gold

FINA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Bronze Gold Matte"

This is the last colorway that I could come up with using the few Arcos and Minos colors that I have. This neutral color combination will go with just about anything.

I like how these three bracelets look together so I took this photo:

The bracelet pattern is for sale at Ellad2 HERE. You can get the Arcos and Minos beads at QueenCityBead on Etsy and also at Red Panda.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Fina Bracelet - Violet & Ivory

FINA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Mix Violet Gold Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"

I swapped out the green Arcos beads with violet ones in this colorway that's nearly the same as Tuesday's bracelet. The other difference is that I used 11/0 ivory seed beads between the motifs instead of 2mm pearls.

I have no idea why but I had a little trouble with today's bracelet and also the one that I'll be blogging about tomorrow. The picots on both bracelets have a tendency to flip up or down and I didn't have that problem with the first three bracelets that I made. I reinforced the picots, which helped quite a bit, but they're still a little wonky. It makes no sense because I used the same beads that I used before.

You can buy the "Fina Bracelet" pattern HERE. You can get the Arcos and Minos beads at QueenCityBead on Etsy and also at Red Panda.

Bracelet of the Day: Fina Bracelet - Silver & Hematite

FINA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads "Metallic Hematite" (Czech)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Hematite" (81)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Hybrid Moon Dust" (Y369)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Silver Aluminum"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Silver Aluminum"

Once again, I used Ella's lovely "Fina Bracelet" pattern which you can buy HERE. I was determined to find a way to use these bright silver Arcos and Minos beads with this pattern. None of my silver seed beads go well with this silver and that would have been way too much silver anyway. These hematite seed beads were just the thing. They outline the details of the pattern and go well with the cool silver color. I think that the silvery purple accent beads add just the right touch of color too. Below are some sites where you can find the Toho hybrid beads:

Artbeads

Simply Beads

TamaraScott

You can get the Arcos and Minos beads at QueenCityBead on Etsy and also at Red Panda.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Fina Bracelet - Violet & Gold

FINA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Hybrid Rosy Mauve Gold Topaz Satin" (Y508F)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Violet Gold Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Bronze Gold Matte"

This bracelet pattern is from Ellad2 and you can buy it HERE. I didn't have any 11/0 seed beads in this purple color so I used more of the 8/0 beads. I bought the Toho hybrid seed beads at Simply Beads HERE and I couldn't find anywhere else online that has this color. You can get the Arcos and Minos beads at QueenCityBead on Etsy and also at Red Panda.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Fina Bracelet - Mint Green & Ivory

FINA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
• 2mm Czech pearls "Old Lace"

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I've been trying to learn to like Puca's Arcos and Minos beads. Deborah Roberti's "Jolie Bands" was the first pattern that made me excited about using these beads. I have to say that I was super excited when I saw Ellad2's new "Fina Bracelet" pattern. It's just the sort of design that I love. You can buy the pattern HERE.

I tried the pattern as written first with two rows of motifs. My sample came out nice but I think it's a little more bulky and wider than I like to wear. Below is my first sample:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"

I decided that a single row bracelet would be more to my liking. I love it so much that I'm eager to buy more Arcos and Minos beads just so that I can make more of these bracelets. I'm hoping that they will come out with some pretty colors in these beads because at this time the color choices are very limited. As is typical of a lot of beads, about 80% of the available colors aren't pretty or useful to me and maybe 20% are colors that I like. Then, the colors that I like tend to be the same colors over and over for all types of beads. I think it's about time for the bead manufacturers to try some new opaque bead colors.

Don't attempt to make this bracelet pattern with Toho seed beads. Both of my attempts failed. When I tried using the number of beads called for, the netting bulged out badly instead of gently curving around the Arcos. When I tried using one less bead there weren't enough beads to fit around the curves so there were gaps between the beads. Having said that, I have successfully used Toho 8/0 beads as accents as you'll see in a later post.

Here is my first sample of the single row version in the same colorway as the double row sample above.

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads "Ivory Ceylon" (unknown brand)
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Beige Luster"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Opaque Light Green Luster"

For today's bracelet, I switched the colors around so that green is the main color. Instead of adding 11/0 seed beads between the motifs, I used 2mm Czech pearls. They fit very nicely and add a pretty touch.

A great source for Arcos and Minos beads is Queen City Bead on Etsy. Donna has a nice selection of colors at very good prices.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Tammy - Jet & Gray

TAMMY BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• DiamonDuo beads "Jet Matte"
• DiamonDuo beads "Concrete Gray"

This colorway is hardly exciting but I recently bought the top in the photo below and had no bracelets or earrings to go with it due to the unusual colors in it. I knew at once that I'd have to use DiamonDuos. Their shape is perfect for obvious reasons and I happen to have them in just the right colors.

The colors in the top are very different from my usual colors but I love it. Ideally, I would have used either the blue or the green for the center diamonds in the motifs but they don't make DiamonDuos in either of those colors. They do make some matte blue ones but the blue is much too bright. In any case, by using gray ones I can wear this set with another one of my favorite tops, which you can see below.

I've struggled with bead colors to go with that top too. At first glance, you'd think that the flowers are a dark red but they're not. The black and light gray are making it look as if it's red. It's actually dark magenta. As far as I know, there are no beads in that color so black is the best choice. The gray in this bracelet is darker than the very subtle gray in that top but I think it goes well enough.

Below is a close-up of the fabric in that top. I pasted a swatch of dark red on the photo so that you can see that the color really isn't red.

You can download my free "Tammy Bracelet" pattern from THIS post. I blogged about this pair of earrings in THIS post from last Friday where you can download my free "Toni Earrings" pattern.