Beaded spheres

As I promised in the last entry, two beaded spheres, pendants of course (can it be any different? ;) ). The first one is made from 4mm wax pearls, 3mm fire polished beads in two colours, Toho round seed beads size 11 and 15 and it measures 2,5 cm (1") in diameter. The other one consists of 4mm pearls, 3mm metal balls, Czech seed beads size 10, Toho beads size 11 and 15, as well as 3 mm magatama beads. It is slightly bigger than the first one and measures 3cm (1,18") in diameter. Both spheres are empty inside, so they are very light. There's nothing more to write, time to show them then. ;)

The first one:

And the second one:

Now I think I should make some more earrings, since there are quite a few pendants that have been made as of late. So see you some other day with some earrings hopefully. ;)

A simple beaded pendant...

Very simple, double-sided beaded pendant made from fire polished beads (6mm and 4mm), that is 4cm (1,57") wide in diameter. Despite being double sided it is also quite flat - only 1,3cm (0,39"). Not a very complicated pattern though, yet it doesn't look bad hanging on a long chain... One of my favourite ones to wear recently - at least until I make another one that I'll like better I suppose. ;)

Also, have made a few simple beaded balls recently that work as earrings for me now. A whole bunch of them really, so colorful that they look like candy. Yummy! ;)

Next time there will be some more crocheting... and tatting. So don't forget to check the blog again soon! ;)

Just another donut pendant... and a little thief ;)

It's been a long time since the last entry... Well the illness doesn't really help me in updating this blog more often, it doesn't mean though that I don't do any beading at all. In fact I do lots of beading, since it is more or less the only thing that helps me to relax and doesn't make me too tired either... So, there's a few new things for you to see. :)

As the title says, another beaded donut has been made recently. In fact it is more or less exactly the same pattern as the one from here, only with some different beads - oval spectra beads 11x8 mm, and some different embellishment too. And they do make quite a difference, don't you think? ;)

The other side of this pendant looks almost the same. But only almost. ;)

The pendant measures 4,5 cm (1,57") in diameter.

And since I got to like those beads quite much, I have used them for some other project too. A simple necklace with a core beaded bead, that can be slided up and down on the ropes, so it can be worn in a few different ways. It has been quite a challenge though to take a picture of it... It's all because a certain black devil has appeared out of nowhere...

...and decided to steal it for herself. ;)

The devil was generous enough though to allow me to take some more pictures before she had taken the necklace with her. Thank you, devil, for being so kind! ;)

So, this is how the necklace can be worn:

And the core bead (3,3cm long and 2,5cm wide) looks like this:



And soon there will be another blog entry with some new beadwork for you to see. :)

Ornamental beaded balls

Looks like I needed to rest a bit from the crocheting. So I managed to make four beaded pendants and two pairs of earrings just over one weekend instead. You can't see the earrings yet, since it's a present and a person who is supposed to get them can't see them before they reach her of course. But at least I have three out of four pendants (the last one needs a photo first ;) ) that I can show to you. ;)

The first one was an experiment with the Twin beads. Wanted to check how well they work for beaded balls. And looks like they really don't work too bad. They are accompanied by some wax pearls, and Toho beads in two sizes - 11 and 15 (Permanent Finish Galvanized Fairy Wings and Opaque Frosted Jet). With just some metal bail it works great as a beaded pendant. That ball is 2,5 cm (1") wide in diameter.

The tutorial for this pendant is available on Craftsy and Etsy.

Another pendant was in fact made a few years ago. Only it was just a simple beaded ball that I wasn't really satisfied with. Added some seed beads to that pattern, as well as ten tiny pink cabochons... didn't have the eleventh one so had to add some charm made of chain instead, to fill the last, bottom hole. And somebody has just commented that it looks like a shower... damn! ;P

The pendant is quite long, 9,5 cm (3,54") with the bail and the chains, while the ball is 3 cm (1,18") wide in diameter.

The last pendant is a little bit similar to the previous one, a bit smaller though (2,5 cm again), but it also consists of some Twin beads (the green one doesn't). They are the transparent ones (if you can see them on this poor picture). The base of that ball is made of turquoise bicone crystals with a very nice frosted effect... too bad the photo doesn't really show how beautiful they are. So thank you Julia for chosing them as a birthday present for me... just like the rest of the beads. ;D

The tutorial for this pendant is available on Craftsy and Etsy.

I have a few more ideas for using the Twins... so you should see more beadwork soon. ;)

Beadwork, beadwork...

Yes, lots of beadwork this time. ;)

As I am running out of time, I have been working harder than usually, making as much jewelry as possible. Good thing there's only some simple jewelry to make now... all the more complicated projects are already finished. Here however you can see the simpler ones too. ;)

The beaded sphere that can be seen below was actually made more than two weeks ago. It was only waiting to get a bail, so it could work as a pendant. Now it's ready to be shown to the world. ;) It is the same dodecahedron as used in the earrings from here, only that it is bigger, measuring 2,5 cm (1") in diameter. A pattern that I have designed by myself, which I'm extremely proud of. ;)

This beaded bead is made of Czech seed beads as well as 6mm crackle beads.



Have made a few bracelets too, a necklace, some earrings... some others are still waiting to be finished though. One of the bracelets is a beaded crochet rope (yes, I can't live without bead crocheting for long), with a silver spectra bead as a focal point. The second one is a turquoise macrame bracelet, with a peyote bead... that one goes with matching earrings. The third one was extremely time consuming, as probably it is the first and the last bracelet of this style I have made. Twisted peyote isn't something for me I suppose... too tedious. ;)

But here they are:

The necklace is a pretty long (70cm - 27,56") twisted herringbone rope with two decorative diamond shape elements, made with cubic right angle weave. Since it is possible to slide the rope through one of them, its length can be easily adjusted. I don't even want to count the hours I spent on making it... ;)

And finally, some small, simple earrings... Cubic right angle weave stitch combined with peyote, and light green metalic spectra beads. At least I could make them in less than two hours. ;)

And that's all... at least for this post.

Because another set I have recently made, deserves its very own blog entry... ;)

So see you soon again. ;)



The Earrings Challenge - Part 2. Back to wire-wrapping

So here we are, the Earrings Challenge is being continued again.

Not quite sure if I can still call it the challenge, since the idea of it died very quickly, as some other duties... yes, let's call it duties, although it was just a kitten, a monster kitten though, haven't let me do much. Had to hide the beads deeply if I didn't want to risk losing them... tried to hide my hands too to keep them safe, but with that I was constantly failing. ;) Eventually the little twister luckily has found a new loving owner, so I could get back to beading.

And not only beading. Whole ages have passed since I played around with wire for the last time... Once favourite jewelry making technique has been forgotten for a few years. Thought however that it might be a good idea to see if I can still work with wire... have I succeeded? I don't know. I know that my fingers were extermely aching the day after I returned to the wire-wrapping. Now though they're getting better, so I can continue with making more wire earrings once I post this entry.

The effects of my last days' work you can see below.

The earrings are made of silver plated copper, oxidized (at least the first three pairs) to achieve a dark grey colour of the metal. It didn't fit to the last pair though so it is going to keep the light silver innocent look. In all of the earrings the wire is accompanied by the wax pearls in different sizes and colours as well as the metal beads. And they required *a lot* of time to be finished... well, wire-wrapping is very time consuming, but the effect is worth the hard work.

But I couldn't forget about bead weaving either... And since I liked the beaded dodecahedrons from here quite much, decided to make some more of them. This time a little bit bigger than the last ones, since I used the bigger seed beads. They measure 1,8 cm (0,71") in diameter.

And another pattern that I decided to recreate... Originally it was designed as a beaded ball made of seed beads along with 6mm pearls. Good for a pendant, but not for the earrings, since it was just too big. It was almost a challenge too to make it smaller, so I could use 4mm beads and make the spheres more fitting for earrings. The earrings are already finished, as you can see in the picture below...

... and another pendant of this desing is being made and that's how the original one looks:

The next pair of earrings is quite simple, made of tiny metal beads using a cubic right angle weave stitch. The pearls however aren't that orange for real... the picture lies in this case. ;P

And the last piece of jewelry that I have managed to complete. A tiny wire wrapped pendant that is only 2cm (0.79") wide in diameter. Some wire, some chain, some metal beads and a gemstone I cannot name... couldn't oxidize it either, so it will remain the way it is...

Hopefully I can show some more effects of my work soon. :)

The Earrings Challenge

More than a month now to the market event, where my jewellery is going to debut... Feels like a lot of time, but in fact not too much to make enough items it seems... That problem I'm trying to solve with The Earrings Challenge - my private challenge to make one pair of earrings every day - at least during the first two weeks. Only then I can make some other projects. Well, so far I have managed to make two pairs... wanted to make something simple to be honest, but apparently it is beyond my possibilities and I spent almost two hours on one earring instead... ;P

The main part of the first pair are very tiny dodecahedrons (only 1,5 cm/0,6") made of black and grey silver-lined seed beads.  They are nothing else but simple beaded balls, just with one additional layer of beads. The dodecahedrons are combined with a square charm in matching colours, stitched with a cubic right angle weave.

The second pair was made again with cubic right angle weave, this time formed to a round shape. Woven with small metal balls, embellished with hematite seed beads and with a matte glass pearl hidden inside them. They were extremely time consuming, even though they aren't very big - each of them is only 2,5 cm (1 inch) wide in diameter.

And beyond any challenge I managed to make one more thing within the last few days. A transparent octagon Preciosa crystal, bezelled with grey (matte and silver-lined) and white seed beads, as well as 4mm bicone Swarovski crystals. Looks like a grey sunflower to me and it is going to be one of my favourite pendants. :)

And now it's time to start making more earrings! ;)

Beaded crochet bracelet

Must admit that I was very impressed when I saw the beaded crochet ropes for the first time. Mostly because crocheting sounded like a black magic to me. Yet, I couldn't give up too quickly, even though most of the tutorials available throughout the web haven't been very helpful to me. However once finally I've managed to learn it (thank you, weraph, for your wonderful tutorial!), it has become one of my favourite beading techniques. For ropes like this I have tried tubular peyote stitch before, but crochet ropes are faster to make, easier, and - what is the most important - are very flexible without losing their tubular shape.

This bracelet was waiting for over a week to be finished though, since I couldn't decide what kind of focal bead would fit to it. Eventually made a beaded sphere, using a peyote stitch. Think it was the best choice. ;)

Couldn't help myself though and had to make two more beaded spheres for earrings, however they are slightly smaller than the one used in the bracelet. Their size doesn't exceed 14 mm.

Should make more beaded crochet bracelets soon I think... :)