Earrings with Twin Beads

During my brief respites from preparing for the Bead & Button Show, I found some time to play with the new Czech two-hole "twin" seed beads. Then these happened:

They remind me of snowflakes, but snowflakes have six-fold symmetry instead of four-fold symmetry. Perhaps I should call them squareflakes?

The above earrings also use the crystal luminous green shade of Swarovski crystal, another new bead. These use the traditional crystal with an AB finish, plus silver seedies:

Have you worked with twin beads before? How do you like them?

Crystal Ball Charm Necklace

A few years ago I bought a couple feet of silver curb chain, meaning to use it in some kind of necklace, but since then it had only been gathering dust in my findings box. So when the time came to put one of my new Crystal Ball beaded beads into jewelry, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to dust off that chain.

I wanted this necklace to showcase the beaded bead, so I decided against adding other beadwoven components to this piece. Instead, I paired it with an assortment of Czech glass beads and Swarovski crystals in matching colors, and sorted those off into little charms running up and down the length of the necklace. I also added some of them to a little tassel dangling off the end of the beaded bead.

Next time, I think I'll try using a slightly thicker chain so that it will be easier to add the charms, but at this point I'm pretty satisfied with this first attempt. I'm keeping this one for myself, so you might just spot me wearing it at the Bead & Button Show next week :)

New Pattern and Kits: Crystal Ball Beaded Bead

A new beaded bead pattern, plus kits are now available at my website. I've named it the Crystal Ball beaded bead because once it's completed it ends up very round. I also like how it is hollow yet completely self-supporting; indeed, it's one of the most solid structures I've ever beaded.

The first kit is in several shades of dark purple, with a hint of green supplied by some dichroic-lined seed beads that I found in Japan:

The next kit uses the new rose peach shade of Swarovski crystal with the AB2X finish, completed with permanent-finish galvanized seed beads and more purple seed beads. I just can't help adding purple beads to my designs...

The Crystal Ball beaded bead pattern and its kits are available at beadorigami.com, and I'll also bring some to the Bead & Button Show next week. Also, today is the last day to use the coupon code memorial15 for 15% off of your purchase!

New Rivoli Kaleidoscope and Crystal Helix Kits

Four new beading kits are now available at my website. First up is a kit in crystal AB and sapphire for the Rivoli Kaleidoscope design. The rivoli pendant crystals decorating the outer edge of the pendant have the AB coating on one side, and I wove this pendant with the AB side facing the back:

The next kit is also for the Rivoli Kaleidoscope design, and features a combination of fern green, copper, and amethyst. Unfortunately, I recently learned that Swarovski is discontinuing the crystal copper color for the rivoli pendant, so this will be a limited edition kit:

The next kit is for the Crystal Helix beaded bead, in several shades of lavender with a hint of silver:

The final kit is also for the Crystal Helix beaded bead, in shiny purples and green patina. I first tried using this color combination for a pair of Pagoda earrings, but I thought that this color palette could use some silver, so I added a few silver seed beads when I beaded this set:

The Rivoli Kaleidoscope kit makes one pendant, and the Crystal Helix kit makes one large and two small beaded beads. Both kits are available at my website.

Remember that through May 29, use coupon code memorial15 at checkout for 15% off of your entire order. The coupon is valid for both patterns and kits!

Memorial Day Sale

What better way to kick off a summer of beading with a sale? Through May 29, use coupon code memorial15 at checkout for 15% off of your entire order at www.beadorigami.com. The coupon is valid for both patterns and kits!

What are you going to create this summer?

Crystal Ball Beaded Beads

I finally finished putting together the kits for my Bead & Button Show classes, so I gave myself a brief respite from kit-making to play with a new design:

It's a rather big dodecahedral beaded bead with sparkly crystals and several different kinds and colors of seed beads. I'm particularly drawn to this design because it's hollow and completely rock-solid, which are two principles that I always strive for (but don't always accomplish) when I design beaded beads.

I like it with dark purple crystals or blue zircon crystals, but I took a leap into orangey-pink and tried it with rose peach AB2X crystals, one of Swarovski's newest colors in their Spring/Summer 2013 Innovations launch:

I've been calling it a Crystal Ball beaded bead, but I know that isn't a particularly original name. Perhaps I should call it something different? What do you think?

New Disco Ball Kits

Three new kits for the Disco Ball beaded bead are now available on my website. The first is in black and silver in a scheme I like to call Little Black Dress, because it will go with just about any outfit:

The next is in a Red Velvet color scheme:

And finally, I put together this kit with peach freshwater pearls. Since freshwater pearls vary so much from batch to batch and can be difficult to re-order in the same shape and color, this kit is going to be a limited edition:

Each kit contains enough beads and thread to create two Disco Ball beaded beads. However, with the same beads in this kit, you can elect to create five beaded beads in the smaller octahedral variation, or you can mix it up and make one regular Disco Ball and two smaller variations. Here's a picture of the smaller variation using the Little Black Dress kit:

Disco Ball beaded bead kits are available at my website, and include all the beads needed to create the design, a beading needle and thread, and a PDF of the pattern for the design (available for download as soon as you finish checkout!)