Free Beading Pattern - Presa Linda Bracelet

PRESA LINDA BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83) *
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Metallic Bronze Iris" (83)
• Silky beads "Pastel Burgundy"
• Pinch beads "Chrome Antique Gold" **

* You can also use Miyuki's "Metallic Brown Iris" (458) which is nearly identical to the Toho color.

** I have purchased this color from two different sources and the dye lot of this batch is much darker than my other batch. There's no telling which dye lot you will get if you buy this color but both dye lots are very nice if you like old-looking metallic colors.

I mentioned in THIS post about my idea of turning the Silky bead motifs the other way around using Carole Ohl's "Presa Bracelet" pattern, which you can buy HERE in her Etsy shop. Well, Carole has created an alternate version of her original pattern based on my idea and she named it "Presa Linda Bracelet". What an honor it is to have a pattern named after you. Anyway, Carole is allowing me to give this pattern away free on my blog (see the link at the bottom of this post). Thanks, Carole.

Carole has put together bead kits in three different colorways for making this bracelet. Clicking the colorway name below each photo will take you to the page in her shop where you can buy the beads to make it.

Cinnamon

Bronze Pink

Lavender

You can download the free pattern HERE.

Playing with my beads...Layered Tila Earrings in silver

I've blogged about these cute earrings many times but I usually make them with bronze seed beads. I bought some nickel plated Tila beads just so that I could make some of these earrings in silver. After making these two sample earrings, I've decided that I don't like how they look in silver. They don't look bad here in the photos but I don't like the way they look when I have them on. I think it has to do with the contrast between the shiny silver beads and the colored accent beads. The silver is so bright that it makes the earrings appear to have an odd shape. When I make them with bronze beads there is usually very little contrast between the colors that I use so you see all of the detail and shape of the earrings as they are meant to look. I won't bother making any earrings in these colors but I thought you might like to see them anyway. I'll have to find another use for the silver Tila beads.

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• Tila beads "Nickel Plated" (TL-190)
• 3mm fire polished beads "Rosaline Moon Dust"
• 4mm fire polished beads "Rosaline Moon Dust"

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Nickel Plated" (711)
• Tila beads "Nickel Plated" (TL-190)
• 3mm druks "Suede Blue"
• 4mm druks "Suede Blue"

You can download Yvonne King's free "Layered Tila Bracelet" pattern from My Amari HERE. The earrings are made using a single motif from the bracelet for each earring and and I added loops for the earring wires.



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.
 
This pattern brings back memories of when I was just learning to bead. Every time I came across the photos of Yvonne's bracelet online, I would think to myself that I'd never be able to make anything as elaborate as that. But, the unusual design and the bead colors that Yvonne used appealed to me very much so I downloaded the pattern anyway. Eventually the day came when I knew that I was experienced enough to give it a try and I'm so glad that I did. It's a fun pattern to make because it's not repetitious. You do something a little different each time you go around the motif and add another layer. If you ever take one apart, you'll really see how layered it actually is.
 
Here are a few examples of these earrings that I've made and I love them in these colors very much:

And, here is one example where I used pewter colored seed beads that aren't as bright or shiny as the nickel ones and I love these:

You can find the bead color information for all of these earrings in THIS post.
 

Free Beading Pattern - Arabella Earrings

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• DiamonDuo beads "Purple Iris"

This pattern is made with the new DiamonDuo beads which I blogged about HERE. This design might look a little familiar because I adapted it from our "Elinor Earrings" pattern which you can download from THIS post. I had to make a few changes to make it work with the larger DiamonDuo beads. I like both patterns but I think these are especially nice because they are a little larger than the Elinore Earrings. And, in spite of the Art Deco shape of the DiamonDuos, the overall look of the earrings is actually more Art Nouveau.

As I've noted in the pattern, you can make these with Toho seed beads. However, you'll get better results by using Miyuki seed beads because they're smaller and Miyuki's 15/0 seed beads make much neater netting. Toho beads give the earrings a slightly lumpy appearance because the beads are a little crowded. I did use Toho seed beads in two of the colorways posted here so you can see that they still make a nice pair of earrings.

I should warn you that you may run into a bit of a problem if you want to make this pattern. Unfortunately, the new DiamonDuo beads have become kind of scarce just as more bead sites are starting to carry them. That's because the distributor that the beads sites get them from had completely run out of them. Queen City Bead on Etsy still has some HERE. Red Panda is sold out but Betsy hopes to get more in soon. Keep an eye on THIS page at Red Panda to see if they're back in stock. Potomac Beads has a few colors HERE. A site called Bead Passion Studio has quite a few colors listed HERE but I don't know how many of them are actually in stock. You might find a few other places that have them by doing a Google search or by doing a search on Etsy.

Here are a couple of sample earrings that I made while testing the pattern. The first one has Miyuki seed beads and the second one has Toho beads.

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• DiamonDuo beads "Pastel Burgundy"

• 15/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• DiamonDuo beads "Chalk Lumi Purple"

Below are four more colorways to inspire you:

• 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 "Chalk Lumi Blue"

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (4222)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (4222)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (4222)
• DiamonDuo beads "Antique Chrome"

• 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 "Coral Bronze"

You can get all three sizes of the Metallic Chocolate seed beads either at Red Panda or Aura Crystals. The last time I checked Aura Crystals, they were out of the 11/0 and 8/0 in that color but Red Panda had all three sizes in stock.

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.

Silky Squares Earrings & Vivian's Bracelet Set - Purple Velvet

SILKY SQUARES EARRINGS

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• Silky beads "Purple Velvet Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Purple Velvet"

I made the bracelet in the photo below quite a while ago and blogged about it HERE. The design is by Vivian Rodriguez and there is no pattern available for it that I'm aware of. You can read my original post about her bracelet HERE.

I needed some earrings to go with my bracelet and Deb's "Silky Squares Earrings" are perfect because they have Silky beads and SuperDuos in them just like the bracelet. You can buy Deb's pattern at Around the Beading Table HERE. The pattern also includes instructions to make a matching bracelet. I see that I used Pastel Bordeaux SuperDuo beads in the bracelet so it must be the same color as Purple Velvet because they match the Silky beads and the Purple Velvet SuperDuos that I used to make the earrings.

VIVIAN'S BRACELET

• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• 8/0 seed beads Toho "Antique Bronze" (223)
• Silky beads "Purple Velvet Matte"
• SuperDuo beads "Pastel Bordeaux"

I also want to mention that yesterday my blog hit 2 MILLION pageviews since I started it in January of 2014!!! That's pretty darn good for just over two years. I'm having a blast and I hope that you all are too!
 

Bobble Bangle & Cipollotti Earrings Set - Jet Hematite

I made this set to go with a top that was tricky to match. It looks like it has black flowers and decorative trim on it, but they have a somewhat blue cast. Pure black didn't look right but these slightly blue/black rondelles were the perfect color. I can't tell you where to buy them though because Teejay sent them to me. All I know is that they're Chinese. The bracelet is Deborah Roberti's "Bobble Bangles" pattern which you can buy HERE. If you look very closely at the bracelet, you'll see that I added some maroon accent seed beads. That color is pretty close to the main color of my top.

The earring design is from an Italian YouTube tutorial by lunasulmare1 but the video is no longer online.

BOBBLE BANGLE

• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Toho "Inside-Color Montana Blue Oxblood Lined" (363)
• 4mm rondelles "Jet Hematite AB" (China)

CIPOLLOTTI EARRINGS

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Dark Bronze" (457)
• 4mm rondelles "Jet Hematite AB" (China)
• 2mm Czech pearls "Antique Gold"

 

Bracelet of the Day: Quick SuperDuo Bracelet - Berries & Ice Cream

QUICK SUPERDUO BRACELET

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Metallic Chocolate" (461)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Opaque Dark Teal Picasso" (4516)
• 8/0 seed beads Miyuki "Opaque Dark Teal Picasso" (4516)
• 3mm druks "Red Picasso"
• SuperDuo beads "Opaque White Picasso"

My friend Claire, from SupplyEmporium, sent me a photo of her "Quick SuperDuo Bracelet" and I decided that it looked just like a fruity dessert with berries and chocolate chip ice cream or perhaps berries and toasted marshmallows. Take a look at her photo below and and you'll see what I mean:

I had most of the beads that Claire used and she sent me the ones that I didn't have or was short on so that I could give this combination a try. You can buy all of the beads that Claire and I used at her SupplyEmporium shop on Etsy. The links are in the supply list above. Don't forget that readers of my blog can get 15% off any order over $30 using the coupon code: 15BLOG.

You can get the free bracelet tutorial from the Beading Daily site HERE. If you try that tutorial, there is a typo in Step 5 that you should know about. The sentence that reads "Repeat until you have a total of 4A and 3B." should say "...4A and 3D". Note the D instead of a B. The instructions are also a little vague in the next part of that step. They just say to "Pass through all beads again...". What they don't tell you is that you should go through the 15/0 seed bead (B), druk (D) and 15/0 seed bead (B) that are on the end of the previous motif. It's important to go back around through all three of those beads to get the correct result. Those three beads are shared by two motifs.

 

Bracelet of the Day: Margareta DiamonDuo Bracelet

• 15/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• 11/0 seed beads Miyuki "Duracoat Galvanized Pewter" (D4222)
• DiamonDuo beads "Antique Chrome"
• 3mm melon beads "Turquoise Bronze Picasso"

On February 29th, I mentioned HERE about a pretty bracelet designed by Margareta Gustavsson that I saw on Facebook HERE. I haven't been able to determine if the designer is selling a pattern for it so I figured out how to make it by looking at the photo. It's really very easy to make once you know the stitch. I'll let you know if I hear of a pattern for sale for this bracelet and please let me know if you discover a pattern.

It's cute as a single row bracelet but I went ahead and made a double one. I didn't have enough of any one color of fire polish beads to make a complete bracelet so I used some 3mm corrugated melon beads instead. I think they look very cute with the DiamonDuos.

I made the little sample below while figuring out the stitch but I think that the colors are much too dark. Thankfully I had enough of the Antique Chrome beads left after making my wrap bracelet to make this bracelet.

• 15/0 seed beads "unknown color and brand" (457C)
• 11/0 seed beads Czech "Tarnished Berry" (CZ457B MR)
• DiamonDuo beads "Hematite"
• 3mm fire polished beads "Matte Smoky Topaz Picasso"

You can buy the DiamonDuo beads at Queen City Bead on Etsy HERE.

This will be my last blog post for a while. We have visitors coming for a few days and I need time to clean the house and get ready for their visit. I had to put all of my beading stuff away yesterday and won't have access to it again until later next week. After our company leaves, it will take some time to catch up with my beading and make some more things to blog about. In the meantime, play with your beads and have fun! I'll be back before you know it with more beadwork to inspire you.