Pour the Coffee, Hold the Icing, Donuts are Done

My hat is off to those beaders primarily working with the teeny tiny 15/0’s and 11/0 seed beads. I had to keep telling myself, the end is near. And I kid you not. I kept falling asleep.

I love it though. And it feels great around my wrist.

As you can see, I ended up with six donuts for the bracelet and made two more for earrings.

It can stand up on its own.

And it looks great around my “model’s” wrist.

I have enough seed beads in both colors so I may make a larger donut for a pendant. Maybe…

Though I was challenged working with the 15’s, I have ordered more of them. A lot of the designs I want to now try, use them. So there is no getting around them.

What is your favorite seed bead size?

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This is my original design. Thanks for not copying or posting elsewhere without my permission.

More Triangles In Royal Blue and Hot Pink

This is what I have been working on for about a week. Making one triangle at a time. Taking my time. Can’t rush creativity.

I made the hot pink bracelet exactly like the orange and black one I showed you. But wanted something a bit different for the royal/black one.

Don’t know if you can see it, but there is beaded fringe along the inverted “V” shape of the first triangle and also along the bottom edge of the last triangle.

The clasp is a string of round black glass beads that the beaded toggle bar inserts into. Kind of different, huh? And that is exactly what I wanted. Different.

Earrings have the same round black beads.

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Here’s the pink set.

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These are works-in-progress. Not sure yet where I am going with them.

Have You Tried The Flat Spiral Stitch Yet?

What are you waiting for!!

It is so addicting.

For this one, I gathered up my “green” supplies. Light green, mint green, hunter green and olive. Sparkly, shiny and matte. Even though nothing seemed to match, I made it anyway. I know I said yuck a few times. In my head. But kept going.

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Next I tried pearls for the core beads instead of crystals. I used turquoise and aqua seed beads for the side arches. 5 of turquoise and 5 of aqua. I didn’t notice this until I was finished. The bracelet is reversible. Wear it one day on the turquoise seed bead side. Aqua side the next. An unexpected surprise!!

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This next one, I am using brown, burnt orange, olive and light beige.

I like creating my own beaded toggle bar. It becomes part of the bracelet design and creates a seamless look. Just have to make sure it is thin enough to easily go through the toggle circle. String 14 or 16 seed beads and peyote 4 rows works best for me.

I love these Swarovski crystal circles. Pricey, but I still love them.

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Every once in a while, I dust off my bag of wire. It has the “good stuff” I bought when I took a couple of wire making classes. It also has inexpensive colorful wire. Artistic wire. I would rather work with the cheap stuff and just toss my mistakes. I don’t work with wire enough to get good at it.

So… I guess I will forever make stuff like this.

Still Hot Where You Are?

Autumn is only a few miles away. It will be here before you know it. Until then, think dark colors to cool you off.

Here’s my latest. Using black, bronze, carnelian and topaz. With a hint of summer. Ivory, black and white.

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There’s a bit of everything in this set.

• gemstones: carnelian (red agate), banded agate
• wood
• glass: rondelles, faceted, round
• seed beads 8/0
• pony beads
• leatherlook black beads
• metal accent beads

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Different beading techniques: Stringing, memory wire, beadwork (peyote tubes)

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Some beads are probably older than you. Have had the ivory wood beads since my early macrame days back in the 80’s. Leftover from making Christmas wreaths. The round black faceted glass beads are from my “just learning to bead” stage from four years ago. The newest beads are the topaz glass rondelles.

Can you believe, with all the beads I have accumulated, I can still pick up each one and remember where it was purchased. And most times, I can pinpoint the timeframe when bought.

I can tell you where each item in this set came from. Munro Crafts, JoAnn’s, Michaels, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Etsy (destash). Probably the same places you shop.

Have you started your fall projects yet?

Couldn’t Sleep Last Night

Why?

Those silly pink and wine spiral earrings.

They weren’t like I wanted. Didn’t turn out like I wanted.

One looks like it has wings. And the other looks like the One Armed Man.

Ha!! You knew I was going to take them apart, didn’t you.

To ensure beads were the same for both earrings, I separated them into two little containers. And did just as I said I would do. Strung 2 needles. Sewed 4 beads on one. Sewed the same on the other. And it worked.

OK, I am happy now. Going back to bed.

Two More Spiral Necklaces and a Button Bundle

Busy, busy, busy. That’s been me for the last 2 weeks.

First, I had to take a time out for hubby’s family reunion which was two weekends ago. Friday through Sunday. Of course, the Queen Procrastinator that I am, I had lots to still do on the days leading up to it. So, hard as it was to neglect my beads, no crafting got done.

I had been working on the lavender spiral necklace I told you about. And was just about finished when I felt the urge to rip it apart. Something just wasn’t right. I liked it when I started. I hated it when I was near the end. I think it was the color. Too much lavender.

Here’s the old one. The one I took apart.

Here’s the 2nd version. I am happy with this one.

Using the dark plum (almost black) iridescent core beads also as spiral beads balanced the lavender color. And I added a separate strand of black Swarovski crystals. Large rondelles and smaller round crystals. With lavender seed beads as a filler.

Both necklaces measure 54″. Over the head style for the spiral rope and a silver clasp on the crystal strand.

I created this “Button Bundle” to gather all the strands together. Button can be worn anyplace on the necklace. I took photos of the button at the bottom and on the side.

To make the Button Bundle, I strung 8/0 seed beads in the back and through the button holes. And sewed them to a silver magnet.

Easy on, easy off. Move it wherever you want. Cool, huh!! Just one of the many ideas floating around inside my head. It probably works best with huge buttons. To hide the magnet.

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I also made this lime and plum spiral necklace. Using 8/0 seed beads. Core beads are plum. And lucky me!! I had round glass plum beads which matched perfectly with the plum seed beads. So I made a separate strand with the glass beads.

Both strands measure 46″. Over the head style for the spiral necklace and a silver clasp for the strand of plum glass beads.

You would think I’d be tired of the spiral stitch about now. Nope. Not. I am going to make up more. As soon as I decide which color will be the core and which colors will be the spiral.

My “What Have I Been Working On’s”

Double Cross.

Doesn’t that sound delicious. Sinister. How about Double Daisy or Daisy Double? Or Double D’s. 😀

What would you name this peyote cuff bracelet?

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For this necklace set, my first thought was Pretty In Pink (and Peach).

Both are original designs by This Year’s Dozen. Thanks for not posting or copying without my permission!!

Making Peyote Heart Cuff Bracelets

Tuesday, September 23

My favorite part of the day is deciding what to work on. As you know I am trying to use my existing craft supplies and stay out of craft stores. And since I love peyote beading that is what I have been doing. No surprise there!! LOL!!

Always on the lookout for something new and different, I found a heart online and plotted it out on peyote graph paper. So that is what I have been making… heart bracelets. I wish there was a way to make the heart rounder.

Next I am going to do a few with hearts facing in opposite directions. Making these bracelets should be fast and easy but with the irregular shapes and sizes of seed beads, each bead has to be examined before I use it. That part takes forever. But I would rather do that than be unhappy with the outcome.

I learned something new while making these bracelets. Decrease peyote stitch. It was easy. I used it for all of these bracelets. I like how the ends look finished. The “high” beads aren’t sticking out.

I am using size 8/0 seed beads. In the colors I have. I could bead all year and still not make a dent in my seed bead stash.

Supplies Used for the Clasp

• 6mm & 7mm sterling silver jump rings 18 gauge
• Swarovski crystal donut rings
• Bar with crystal ends
• Crystal heart charms
• 6mm silver plated jump rings 20 gauge
• Silver plated toggle clasp

Charm Bracelet: Animal Planet On A Chain

Wednesday, July 30

Oh, my aching hands. Wirewrapping over 50 items will do that.

I had been wanting to make something with these beads for months. A friend sent me craft supplies she thought I could use in the jewelry I make. Ladybugs, butterflies, birds (both metal and plastic) and cat faces. I added them with the fish, turtles and elephants I already had and started making a charm bracelet.

As far as making it colorful, that happened by accident. My original plan was to add just a hint of color and focus on the metal beads. The butterflies were light lavender and the plastic birds were light aqua. After I decided to jazz it up, I searched my bead stash and came up with enough lavender, purple, turquoise and aqua beads to soften the metal look.

The bracelet base is a double strand of dark gray chain links connected with a sterling silver toggle clasp.

I decided not to wirewrap the pieces directly to the chain. Except for the black fish, each item is separately wirewrapped. Everything is attached to the chain links with jump rings. I am so glad I did because I changed and moved things around many times. Trying for balance of size, shape and color.

I knew I would get confused on where to place everything so I took a picture before beginning.

A lot of good that photo did me, LOL, because once I got to the green glass cat, I started making changes. The cat got ditched. Too large and my wirewrapping was horrible. The holes went ear-to-ear and I haven’t perfected wirewrapping going side to side. I will stick with bottom to top. The Tigers Eye elephant also got shelved. The brown stuck out like a sore thumb. I almost removed the ivory turtle but left it in to balance that side of the bracelet.

After attaching all the animals and birds, I started filling in the empty spaces. That’s when the color explosion happened. I kept adding glass beads until I was satisfied.

I hate to admit it but I spent roughly 10 hours working on this bracelet. I was on a mission!! I took several breaks but kept at it until it was finished. I like to think, I kept going with the fear my newly mastered wirewrapping skills would regress. 😀

I also made earrings. I had set aside several pieces I wanted to use and made them after completing the bracelet.

I took quite a few pictures trying to get different views to show you. So, what do you think?

A Clasp on Memory Wire? Huh!!

Sunday, July 27

Trying to be different. That is me.

I made this new bracelet… from more black rubber tubing… but this time with a jungle flavor. Don’t know what the focal beads are called. I searched for them in my Bead Directory but couldn’t find them. I think they are bone beads but not 100% sure. They look like someone dipped their foot in brown ink and stomped all over them. 😀

Anyway… after adding the beads, I bent the ends of the memory wire as usual. Then added a few dangles. BUT I also added a few jump rings PLUS a toggle bar so when connected, the bracelet has the look of a chain going across the memory wires. You also do not have to worry about the bracelet falling off your arm.

I used various sized wooden beads, 5-6mm black glass round beads, black rubber tubing and the four larger bone curved rectangular beads.

This design is kind of what I have in mind to make jewelry for men.