Gold Sparkly Earrings

One of my proudest moments in the bead embroidery journey was when I finished my first bracelet. I just kept thinking that making a whole beaded bracelet was going to be such a huge ordeal and what if I don’t like the piece and what if I can’t do it and all that. It is funny that I am always one of those people who tells everyone to try something and if it doesn’t work out they will know for sure but I seem to not want to take my own advice. I mean giving advice is so much easier than taking it , right!

But I am glad I started making bracelets and its ironic that the reason that I like making bracelets now is the exact reason why I avoided them in the first place. Now I like having to spend time on a piece for more than a day or so, because the process is calming and it gives me time to think and plan new pieces in my head. Also because there is more space to fill out with beads I get to experiment more with different techniques and shapes, which I normally don’t do on smaller pieces. And sometimes when I am experimenting with the patterns on a bracelet I get inspiration for other pieces.

That is exactly what happened when I was done making the Golden Cicada bracelet. I loved the sides of that bracelet and when I was looking at it I thought why don’t I just turn that shape into earrings.

Good thing was that I still had enough of the material to make a pair of earrings and because I had already made that pattern once the pieces came together all too quickly.

For me these type of projects are the stuff I like to do when I am not inspired to make anything new but I still don’t want to sit around and twiddle my thumb. The pattern is already there I know what beads I am going to use so I don’t have to sit around for hours trying to decide which beads would work well together which is my main obstacle when planning my pieces

But having worked with this pattern twice now and liking how it turns out I know now that if I were to change the colours and use different beads it would still give me something unique. That’s the beauty of a good pattern and a pattern you like to work with!

LIST OF MATERIALS USED:

• 14x10 FACETED CRYSTAL AB
• 7MM GLASS BASED PEARL
• 3MM WHITE PEARLS
• 3MM SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL AB CHAIN
• 6MM CRYSTAL AB SWAROVSKI MARGUERITES
• FROSTED TRANSPARENT WHITE SEED BEADS SIZE 8/0
• TRANSPARENT SILVER-LINED GOLD DELICA BEADS SIZE 10/0
• 24KT GOLD FINISHED SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0
• GOLD METAL ROUND SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0
• CREAM LUSTRE SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0
• 24KT GOLD PLATED EARRING HOOKS
• LACY’S STIFF STUFF
• BLACK ULTRASUEDE
• FIRELINE 0.006 IN CLEAR
• E-6000 GLUE
• CRAFTER’S PICK THE ULTIMATE GLUE

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Posted by Mana © BeadFeast. All Rights Reserved

Golden Cicada Bracelet

I have been wanting to a completely bead embroidered bracelet ever since I started doing bead embroidery but I though the task was too daunting. There was just too much to consider from foundation, what sort of beads to use, how to finish the piece off and everything in between and I didn’t think I had enough skills to get me through the whole thing.

I kept running different scenarios of what kind of bracelet I wanted, what colour I wanted it to be and all that, and how it should be put together in my head but I really had no idea if my theories would work. I used to do that back in school whenever I had to tackle a new garment pattern. I would analyze everything in my head before getting into it and cutting the fabric and seeing how it would react. No matter how thorough I was in my analytical thinking before my practical work, something would always surprise me when I got to actually see the pattern all the way through.

 I knew that the best way to know if my way of putting a bracelet together would work was to actually make one and see. Worse comes to worst I would have to take all the beads off and do something else.

For foundation I measured my wrist and then cut a piece of Lacy’s stiff stuff foundation as well as the Ultrasuede I use for my backing and stitched them roughly together. The reasoning behind this was so that if there were gaps in between the beads the black Ultrasuede would be a better option to show through instead of the white fuzz of the Lacy’s stiff stuff and also the black would make the colours on top look more intense.

The whole basis behind the design of this particular bracelet was the fact that I really wanted to use some of these crystal and pearl chains that I had just purchased. Everything else in the bracelet from the cabochons to the rest of the beads were chosen to correspond in particular with the pearl chain. I introduced the crystal chain to the sides of the beadwork because as always I wanted more sparkle. As I always say more sparkle is always better :D

I really took my time with this piece and took it one step at a time. I chose a picture by Derek Nobbs who does these very interesting paintings most of which have a skeletal figures in them and you know how I like skulls. This painting is called “Cicada King”. If you are interested in the artist check out his work at http://dereknobbs.com/

 Now I have no love for bugs and insects usually but this painting came closest to the colour scheme I was going with and I also thought it would be an unusual centerpiece for a bracelet that I knew was going to be very elegant and ornate.

I did my bezel work, and then added my beloved pearl chain followed by another row of gold beads. Then it was time to start the sides of the bracelet. I rummaged through my stuff and found these smaller crystal cabs that gave off the most beautiful sparkle. You can see different hues of pink ,gold and little bit of green and magenta, which really picks up on the colours in the cabochon. For continuity I did a simpler variation of the bezel work I had done around the main cabochon around the smaller cab followed by a row of size 8 frosted white beads stacked with a size 15 gold seed bead. Once I was happy with this side I did the same work on the other side.

This was as far as I had planned but when I put the piece around my wrist it was apparent to me that I needed to add some other element to the side and I did have these flat back pearls which went absolutely perfectly.

I have to say I never thought a piece could go so smoothly. It just felt like everything was falling into place, I had all the pieces that could go together well and I have to say out of all the stuff I have made up to now, this piece really was a joy to work on. Even the marguerites, which were added as somewhat of an afterthought to cover the Ultrasuede that was showing through a big gap between the beads, worked out well.

I really wish all pieces worked out as well as this one did for me. After the main part of the beadwork was done I cut around the piece, glued it on top of another piece of Ultrasuede and did a sunshine edge all around the piece. I attached my toggle clasp and did a picot edge around the main cabochon and the piece was done.

LIST OF MATERIALS USED:

• 40x30MM GLASS DOME CABOCHON
• 14x10 FACETED CRYSTAL AB
• 7MM GLASS BASED PEARL
• 3MM WHITE PEARLS
• 4MM TRANSPARENT GOLD FACETED GLASS BEAD FROM THE BEAD GALLERY
• 14PP SWAROVSKI PEARL CHAIN
• 3MM SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL AB CHAIN
• 6MM CRYSTAL AB SWAROVSKI MARGUERITES
• FROSTED TRANSPARENT WHITE SEED BEADS SIZE 8/0
• TRANSPARENT SILVER-LINED GOLD DELICA BEADS SIZE 10/0
• OPAQUE CREAM LUSTER SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0
• DARK SILVER-LINED GOLD SIZE 11/0
• 24KT GOLD FINISHED SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0
• GOLD METAL ROUND SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0
• CREAM LUSTRE SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0
• 24KT GOLD PLATED TOGGLE CLASP
• LACY’S STIFF STUFF
• BLACK ULTRASUEDE
• FIRELINE 0.006 IN CLEAR
• E-6000 GLUE
• CRAFTER’S PICK THE ULTIMATE GLUE

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Posted by Mana © BeadFeast. All Rights Reserved

Blue Crystal Earrings

I love blue!! I mean I luhhhhhhhve blue! I think apart from black blue is the only other colour I am comfortable wearing and working with! I have accumulated a large collection of blue beads, stones and cabs within the past couple of months so I just really wanted to use them and since I have been working on making earrings I set out to make a pair of blue earrings!

Following up my theme of not being able to stop myself when choosing beads, I said to hell with it I am going to use any type of bead I want in these. Who knows it might even prove to be interesting.

 I had an idea of the cabs I wanted to use in this piece but after that I was clueless. I glued on my first cabochon, which was the lighter blue cab. And this cabochon is OMG beautiful. I can’t describe the colour but to me it’s the perfect blue and it has different hues of blue, navy, silver and green when the light hits it. its just a magnificent piece, too bad that it is one of those vintage pieces that is hard to come by. But I am keeping an eye out for these on my favorite websites.

After doing a row of variegated blue seed beads around the cab, I glued on my second cabochon, the small navy blue one with specs of gold.I had specifically bought this piece for another piece I was working on, but this cab came in a pack of four so I had two extra ones to play with and that’s how they ended up here.I decided from early on that instead of the smaller cab being on the top part of the earring I wanted to be on the bottom just so it would be different. I used the same seed beads I had already sewn around the oval cabochon to go around the circle one.

It was after this row that I went all crazy. I practically tried on every bead in the blue and silver colour family I owned which I had not previously used on any other piece to see which ones I liked. And because blue is a favorite colour I liked almost all of them. It’s a good thing that I ended up vetoing some because knowing me I would have ended up using them all on this earring.

 You can see the beads I ended up choosing in these pictures. But then when it was all done I felt the piece looked too flat and one-dimensional. I had such high hopes for the piece that I felt a little bit disappointed.

I went trough my whole stash to see what I could add to salvage this piece. That’s when I ended up using the swarovski marguerites to make the piece more interesting and bring in some different colours. But in the end the way to make anything look better is to add on some swarovski, I mean these crystals to me are like bacon, they just go with anything. I love these earrings now, they are about 5 cm long and the shape reminds me of those Russian nesting dolls or a ladybug for some reason and I think it’s just the cutest little earring ever.So I guess today’s lesson was: when in doubt add crystals!!

For some reason I could not get the lighting right for these pictures and I am not sure if these photos to the earrings justice but i really hope you can enjoy them.

LIST OF MATERIALS USED:

• 18x13MM COBALT BLUE AB CABOCHONS
• DARK BLUE GLASS OPAL
• GUNMETAL IRIS DELICA BEADS SIZE 11/0
• OPAQUE COBALT AB SEED BEADS 11/0
• SILVER LINED GREY AB SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0
• GREEN LINED TRANSPARENT SAPPHIRE SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0
• 2.5MM LABRADORE SILVER FIREPOLISHED GLASS BEADS 
• 6MM METALLIC LIGHT GOLD SWAROVSKI MARGUERITES
• 6MM VOLCANO SWAROVSKI MARGUERITES
• 8MM CRYSTAL TRANSMISSION SWAROVSKI MARGUERITES
• FIRELINE 0.006 THREAD IN CLEAR
• LACY’S STIFF STUFF
• BLACK ULTRASUEDE
• E-6000 GLUE
• CRAFTER'S PICK THE ULTIMATE GLUE
• STERLING SILVER EARRING HOOKS FROM MICHAELS

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Posted by Mana © BeadFeast. All Rights Reserved

Wine and Gold Earrings

Most of the cabochons that I have bought have come in pairs so I tend to work with them as a pair just so I won’t end up with an odd cabochon that wouldn’t match anything else. So I have been turning all my cabochon pairs into earrings.

 If you have followed my blog at all you will know that I have only made brooches so far and I think I have got quite a good handle on that but when it came to earrings I had no idea what I was doing. There was a little bit of trial and error in to how to get the earring hook to stay and not move about. When I first attached the hook the earring kept turning so that the back was showing instead of the front and I needed to find a way of sewing on the hook so that when the earring was on it wouldn’t turn and have the back on display. I don’t know if I am totally happy about the final way I have attached the hook but at least the earring is staying in the right place and there isn’t that much thread showing. I will need to do some more research on how to attach earring hooks and find a method that I like best.

This earring has an 18x25 vintage wine colored cabochon in the middle. The colour of the cabochon to me is a little flat. The other vintage cabochons I bought, have some different shades in them when the light hits them, but this cab is purple through and through so in order to make it pop a little bit I used this metallic melon seed beads as well as these variegated purple beads which I had not used before for the bezel.

For the next round I had these beautiful variegated faceted purple beads but I did not have enough of one size to go around both earrings but I did have a smaller size of the same beads so I ended up using both in somewhat of a staggered effect. The upper part of the earring holds the smaller size of the beads and the lower part has the bigger beads.

I did a sunshine edge around the finished piece and just used the same purple seed beads and faceted beads I had used for the main bead embroidery part to do an edging all the way around except for the very top of the earring where I made a larger loop where I trapped in the earring hook. In order to get both earrings to be as identical as possible I put them back to back to mark where the edging beads on the other pair should go.

I think for a first pass at making earrings I have done OK, I do believe there is room improvement when it comes to attaching the earring hook but I guess that will come with more practice. Let me know what you guys think. Do you know a better way to attach an earring hook?

List of materials used:

• METALLIC EGGPLANT IRIS SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0
• TRANSPARENT AMETHYST GOLD LUSTRE SIZE 11/0 
• GALVANIZED MELON SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0 
• METALLIC BURGUNDY BROWN SEED BEADS SIZE 11/0 
• GOLD METAL ROUND SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0 
• TRANSPARENT GOLD AMETHYST SEED BEADS SIZE 15/0 
• 3MM PURPLE IRIS FIRE POLISHED GLASS  
• 4MM PURPLE IRIS FIRE POLISHED GLASS BEADS 
• 4MM MULTI IRIS FACETED BEADS FROM THE BEAD GALLERY
• 6MM MULTI IRIS FACETED BEADS FROM THE BEAD GALLERY
• FIRELINE 0.006 THREAD IN CLEAR
• LACY’S STIFF STUFF
• BLACK ULTRASUEDE
• E-6000 GLUE
• 14CT GOLD EARRING HOOKS FROM MICHAELS

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Posted by Mana © BeadFeast. All Rights Reserved