CLAUDIA CALI BEAD CHAIN
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
- Cali beads "Chalk Lumi Blue"
- SuperDuo beads "Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Matte Duets"
This is one of my favorite "Claudia" colorways. These SuperDuo Duets don't have a distinct line down the center like most of them. The two colors are softly blended.
I was worried that this bracelet might not show up well on my usual dark background paper so I also took some shots on a different background. I think that the bracelet colors do show up nicely on the lighter background but I wasn't happy with the wrist pose on that background. With my pale skin over the light background my camera got confused and no amount of editing could get the colors right so I discarded that shot. Rather than choose which photos to post, I'm posting both sets so you can compare them.
Download my free "Claudia Cali Bead Chain" pattern HERE. You'll find the best assortment of Cali beads at Queen City Bead on Etsy HERE.
I have five more "Claudia" bracelets ready to have their photos taken today. The sun is coming and going so I quickly took these photos so that I'd have something to blog about today. If I don't get them all taken this afternoon, tomorrow looks pretty sunny too. After that we've got two rainy days to look forward to.
CLAUDIA CALI BEAD CHAIN
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Bright Bronze" (221)
- Cali beads "Brown Opaque"
- SuperDuo beads "Green Turquoise/Ivory Dark Travertin Duets"
- SuperDuo beads "Opaque Light Blue Picasso"
My idea of using two SuperDuo colors worked. By doing that, I will have enough beads to make all of the bracelets that I was hoping to make. I don't think you can even tell in today's bracelet that I used two different colors because they're so similar. The SuperDuo Duets are the ones that are closest to the Cali beads. The distinction will be more obvious with most of the other colorways that I plan to make. The Cali beads in today's bracelet look kind of red but they're actually a caramel brown color.
Download my free "Claudia Cali Bead Chain" pattern HERE. You'll find the best assortment of Cali beads at Queen City Bead on Etsy HERE.
CLAUDIA CALI BEAD CHAIN
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- Cali beads "Dark Red aka Blood Red"
- SuperDuo beads "Jet Matte"
The other day I made sample motifs of "Claudia" in seventeen colorways using the thirteen Cali bead colors that I have now. They're all pretty but I do have some favorites. I want to make bracelets in most of the colorways but I ran into a problem. I don't have enough of at least half of the SuperDuo colors to make even small size bracelets. What I plan to do is make bracelets from as many of the samples as I can and I will just post samples of the ones that I don't have enough beads to make. I might also try using two SuperDuo colors with some of them to make the beads go farther.
I will make as many of these bracelets and samples as I can over the next couple of weeks but I won't have a lot of time for beading next week or the week after. I'll be busy getting the house ready for my sister-in-law's visit the week after next when she will be here for four days.
When I got my Cali beads, I was excited to see that this wonderful red color goes perfectly with the red Delica beads that I used to make the fringe earrings below. Donna at Queen City Bead calls this color "Dark Red" but the actual name is "Blood Red". The color is really closer to maroon, which is what Miyuki calls the Delica color #DB654 that I used to make the earrings.
I blogged about the earrings HERE and made them to go the top below. Today's bracelet will complete the set very nicely.
Download my free "Claudia Cali Bead Chain" pattern HERE. You'll find Cali beads at Queen City Bead on Etsy HERE.
CLAUDIA CALI BEAD CHAIN
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
- Cali beads "Patina"
- SuperDuo beads "Matte Chalk Picasso"
I'm not usually keen to try new bead shapes and there are so many unusual shapes coming on the market these days. However, every now and then I spot a new bead that has a pleasing shape and comes in pretty colors that I like. I was ordering a few beads on Etsy recently and decided to buy some Cali beads in two colors and see if I could find a way to use them. Cali beads come in some gorgeous and interesting colors so it was hard to choose. I hadn't seen many patterns online for Cali beads so I looked through all of my bracelet patterns for ideas. I found that they work quite well with the bracelet pattern that I blogged about HERE but I was hoping to come up with more ideas.
After making a bunch of THESE "Bisaneta Bracelet" samples recently, I had the idea to try the same pattern using Cali beads. Although they don't work with that pattern, I was able to make a few changes which evolved into a new design that even makes use of the third hole in the middle of the Cali bead. The motifs look a bit like flowers so my first thought was to name this pattern "Cali-Flower" but that sounded too corny.
 |
| CALI BEADS |
I made one of today's bracelets with Toho seed beads and they work equally as well as Miyuki beads with this design. For some reason the one with Toho seed beads came out a little shorter than the one with Miyuki beads so I added an extra motif to that one. It's slightly loose but I find that a loose bracelet is more comfortable to wear than a snug one. The bracelets in these photos fit a 6 to 6 1/2 inch wrist measurement.
Donna from Queen City Bead on Etsy sells pretty much every Cali bead color that they make HERE.
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
- Cali beads "Chalk Lumi Punch"
- SuperDuo beads "Opaque Blue Luster"
Click HERE to download the free 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 other patterns in a class.
I blogged recently about THIS bracelet and decided to try a few more colorways with this design using DiamonDuos and GemDuos. As I mentioned previously, there is no pattern for this bracelet but there is a YouTube video tutorial HERE for a very similar bracelet called "Bardot". The main difference is the placement of the netting along the outer edge. I make mine using a different method from the one in the video. I start by making the first clasp loop and I also add my netting as I create each motif. In the video she creates the base of DiamonDuos and SuperDuos first then goes back up and down the length of the bracelet adding the netting beads and clasp loops. The end result looks the same and you can easily add the netting beads where Bisaneta does instead of where she puts them in the video.
I have a few more color ideas that I'd like to try but I've got a new bracelet pattern that I'm working on and I'd like to finish it first. I think you'll like it.
- 15/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- GemDuo beads "Chalk Vega Purple"
- SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Black Raspberry"
This was the first colorway that I tried. I like it but it's a little plain.
- 15/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- GemDuo beads "Chalk Vega Purple"
- SuperDuo beads "Polychrome Black Raspberry"
- SuperDuo beads "Metallic Suede Blue"
I used the same beads in this sample but I added a pop of color with come blue SuperDuos. As you can see, I goofed and added one of the blue beads in the wrong place. Oops!
- 15/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Light Tanzanite Gold Luster" (325)
- GemDuo beads "Chalk Vega Purple"
- SuperDuo beads "Pastel Bordeaux"
- SuperDuo beads "Satin Metallic Arctic Blue"
I kept the same GemDuos and seed beads for this sample but went with lighter SuperDuo colors this time.
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
- DiamonDuo beads "Cocoa Airy Pearl"
- SuperDuo beads "Matte Chalk Picasso"
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Pewter" (4222)
- DiamonDuo beads "Cocoa Airy Pearl"
- SuperDuo beads "Green Turquoise/Ivory Nebula Duets"
This is one of my favorite colorways.
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Light Bronze" (457L)
- GemDuo beads "Jet"
- SuperDuo beads "Opaque Ivory"
I like this colorway but I think it could be improved by adding a third SuperDuo color in the center of each trio.
- 15/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
- DiamonDuo beads "Metallic Green"
- SuperDuo beads "Red Luster"
- SuperDuo beads "Black/White Red Luster Duets"
I tried two different placements for the "Duets" in this sample to see which way looked better. I've decided that I like the motif on the left best with the darker side of the Duet beads facing the center of the motif.
- 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Hematite" (451)
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Hematite" (451)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Hematite" (451)
- GemDuo beads "Chalk Blue Luster"
- SuperDuo beads "Black/White Blue Luster Duets"
This colorway is another favorite.
- 15/0 seed beads Toho "Olympic Bronze" (224)
- 11/0 seed beads Toho "Olympic Bronze" (224)
- 8/0 seed beads Toho "Olympic Bronze" (224)
- DiamonDuo beads "Pastel Petrol"
- SuperDuo beads "Metallic Antique Copper"
COIN BANDS
- 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
- 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
- CzechMates tile beads "Bronze"
This is a bracelet that I'd been wanting to make for myself for quite some time. The neutral color will go with a lot of outfits. You can buy Deborah Roberti's "Coin Bands" pattern HERE.
