Bead Passion Studio

I'm hoping to blog soon about some projects that I made recently but the sun wasn't cooperating at all last week so I wasn't able to take photos and then we went out of town for a few days. I'm going to try to take the photos today.

In the meantime, I'd like to mention the new Bead Passion Studio ad on the right side of my blog. Look for this banner:

Michele is offering my readers a 10% discount when you use the coupon code "CRAFTY10". You will find a nice assortment of Czech and Japanese beads as well as other beading supplies there.
 

Playing with my beads...Black Bracelet Samples

I've been wanting to make some black bracelets so I made several samples using a variety of patterns. I thought you might like to see my samples and later I will blog about the bracelets that I end up making. In the photo below, I've numbered the samples so that you can easily tell which supply list goes with each sample.

SAMPLE 1 - Tweaked Jolie Band:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 6mm 2-hole cabochons "Jet"
• Arcos® par Puca® beads "Jet"
• Minos® par Puca® beads "Jet"
• MiniDuo beads "Jet"

Download the free pattern HERE at Around the Beading Table.

SAMPLE 2 - Sandra Silky Bracelet:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• Silky beads "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"

Adapted from Norma Jean Dell's "Lattice Gates" pattern which you can buy HERE.

SAMPLE 3 - Liz Band:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Matte"
• 3mm druks "Jet Matte"

There is no pattern available at this time.

UPDATE 2/13/18: A free pattern is now available and the new name for this pattern is "Liz Band". Visit THIS post to download the free pattern.

SAMPLE 4 - Mystery SuperDuo Bracelet:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuos "Jet"

The free tutorial is available HERE.

SAMPLE 5 - Duo Silky Bracelet:

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• Silky beads "Jet"
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"

This is my adaptation of the "Duo Kheops" pattern by Marina Beads. You can buy the pattern HERE.

SAMPLE 6 - SuperDuo Rosette Bracelet:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"
• 3mm Czech pearls "Antique Gold"

You can buy Sam Wescott's pattern HERE. I used 11/0 and 8/0 seed beads in this sample instead of 15/0 and 11/0.

SAMPLE 7 - Bandwidth Bracelet:

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Jet"

Buy Nanny Pink's pattern HERE.
 

Loretta Deco Earrings - Turquoise & Chocolate

 LORETTA DECO EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate White Luster"
• 4mm druks "Bronze"

I blogged about this bracelet a few days ago HERE and I thought I'd show you the matching earrings that I have made since that post.

The motif used to make these earrings and bracelet is my adaptation of the "Loretta Earrings" pattern by Ewa Kovács which is posted HERE on Pinterest.

 

Beading News - 5mm Mini Silky Beads

Have you seen the new, smaller Silky beads yet? They're super cute and look just like the original full-size 6mm Silkies but they're tiny. I have them in several colors but I haven't had much time to play with them yet. Below you can see the new Mini Silky beads next to some of the regular size ones:

Deb Roberti discovered that her "Silky Squares Bracelet and Earrings" pattern, which was written for the original 6mm Silky beads, works very well with the smaller Silkies too with a little tweaking. Read about it on her blog HERE. If you purchased the "Silky Squares" pattern from Deb, there is a free addendum available with instructions for making the bracelet with the mini Silkies. You can buy her pattern or download the addendum HERE. If you buy the pattern now, the addendum is already included in the PDF file. The pattern is also on sale for half price until 12/16/16.

I made some "Silky Squares" samples in three colorways to try out Deb's idea. These were all made with Mini Silky beads and either SuperDuos or MiniDuos. Both of sizes of those work well with the pattern too if you're using mini Silkies.

Here are the bead supply lists for my samples:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 5mm Mini Silky beads "Chalk Red Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Red Luster" OR
• MiniDuo beads "Ruby Luster aka Pink Luster"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• 5mm Mini Silky beads "Light Green Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Old Silver" OR
• MiniDuo beads "Matte Antique Silver"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 3mm Czech pearls "Antique Gold"
• 5mm Mini Silky beads "Blue Turquoise Travertine"
• SuperDuo beads "Aquamarine Dark Travertin"

I haven't done much searching for them online but I do know that you can buy the 5mm mini Silky beads at Red Panda, Queen City Bead on Etsy and also at Aura Crystals.

 

Bracelet of the Day: SuperDuo Rosette - Nebula with Pewter & Copper

SUPERDUO ROSETTE BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Matte"
• 3mm metal beads "Antique Copper" (Hobby Lobby)

I love the combination of pewter and copper and this combo is especially pretty with these matte SuperDuo Duets. The color is called "Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Matte" but they're not green or turquoise. They are a sort of grayish blue. The "ivory", which is actually a very pale copper color, is very subtle but it adds to the soft appearance.

I did something a little different this time when I made this bracelet. I wanted it to be a little wider so I replaced the 15/0 seed beads with 11/0 beads and replaced the 11/0 beads called for with 8/0 seed beads. This worked very well with these Miyuki seed beads but I don't think it would work at all with Toho beads.

Below you can see yesterday's bracelet next to today's to see the difference in the size:

 

LORETTA DECO EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Jet Old Silver"
• 4mm metal beads "Antique Copper" (Hobby Lobby)

 
I made my tweaked "Art Deco" version of the "Loretta" motif for the matching earrings. In my first post HERE about the SuperDuo Duet beads, I showed you two similar colorways. I didn't end up using either one but instead used pewter SuperDuos in the center of the earrings for more contrast. Below you can see the two samples that I didn't end up using:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Red Luster"
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate White Luster"
• 4mm druks "Turquoise Copper Picasso"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Ivory Nebula"
• 4mm metal beads "Antique Copper" (Hobby Lobby)

You can buy Sam Wescott's "SuperDuo Rosette" bracelet pattern HERE. You'll find the "Loretta Earrings" pattern HERE on Pinterest. You can buy SuperDuo Duets beads at Red Panda and Queen City Bead.

 

Bracelet of the Day: SuperDuo Rosette - Green & Ivory

SUPERDUO ROSETTE BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Luster"
• 3mm Czech pearls "Antique Gold"

It has been about two years since I last made one of these pretty bracelets designed by Samantha Wescott. It's one of my all-time favorite patterns and you can buy it in Sam's Etsy shop HERE. 

I recall that when I first bought the pattern it was hard to find 3mm druks in very many colors. I suspect that my blog increased the demand for them because more bead sites started selling this size. For a while there were lots of interesting colors available in 3mm but I've noticed that the selection is gradually dwindling again. They seem to be pushing 2mm druks and pearls and cutting back on the 3mm ones. That's really a shame because there are plenty of patterns that call for 3mm round beads and not really that many calling for 2mm beads. I don't see why we can't have a good color selection in both sizes. Today's bracelet is made with Czech pearls and it's a bit easier to find those in 3mm than druks.

I love the soft look of the SuperDuo Duets that I used in this bracelet. Putting the ivory side so that it's facing the center of each motif creates a sort of dreamy glow around the pearls. You can buy the "Duets" at Red Panda and Queen City Bead.

Bracelet of the Day: Loretta Deco - Turquoise & Chocolate

LORETTA DECO BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate White Luster"
• 4mm druks "Bronze"

The motif in this bracelet is my adaptation of the "Loretta Earrings" pattern by Ewa Kovács which you can find on Pinterest HERE.

I changed a few things to make the motif look more Art Deco and I connected the earring motifs with jump rings to turn them a bracelet. I got the bracelet inspiration from THIS blog post.

The two-toned effect on these SuperDuo Duet beads is very subtle and they look similar to other beads that have a Picasso finish. In my first post HERE about the SuperDuo Duets, I showed you three samples of this colorway with the beads arranged slightly differently in each one. I decided that I liked the combo that I used for today's bracelet the best and below you can see the two other combos that I decided not to use:

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate White Luster"
• 4mm druks "Bronze"

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• SuperDuo beads "Duet Green Turquoise/Ivory Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Chocolate White Luster"
• 4mm druks "Opaque Turquoise Picasso"

You can buy SuperDuo Duets at Red Panda and Queen City Bead on Etsy.