Pattern: Black lace earrings

Hi everyone!

These days I have been experimenting a little with the beautiful book Bead Romantique by Lisa Kan, so after the Autumn Sparkle and the Romantic Vintage earrings, I decided to create a new pair of earpieces using one more pattern from this amazing text.

This time, however, I based my creation on the instructions for making a necklace (the Black Lace Lariat at page 100). At first, I wanted to make one of the flower medaillons on page 102 and then simply attach it to a fish hook component but I soon realized that I did not have most of the beads suggested (and, after seeing such an inspiring project, I wanted to make the earrings right away!) so I adapted the pattern.

While the instructions of the lariat in the book are covered by copyright, my adaptation takes only a small part of the pattern, changing materials, bead counts and adding extra steps, hence creating a quite different pattern. I therefore felt free to share with you the step by step instructions of my variation. So, if you also would like to create these elegant lacy pieces, just follow the step by step tutorial and pattern below.

Time to complete the project: 1 hour

Difficulty: 2/5

Hope you enjoyed the pattern…if you did, don’t forget to leave a comment ;-)

Have a wonderful day!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Tutorial: Autumn sparkle (variation of pattern by Lisa Kan)

Hi everyone! 

I am very excited to show you this new creation I made some days ago. It is the first time I use Swarovski Rivoli in a pair of earrings…and I love them so much, it will surely not be the last!  

The design was inspired by the gorgeous Netted Rivoli Chain pattern I found in the beautiful book Bead Romantique by Lisa Kan (page 24) (full review of the book coming soon). As you could easily guess by the lack of chain in my piece, I changed the design quite a bit. First of all, I decided to incorporate in the creation the charming green rivolis I recently purchased. I therefore substituted the red and golden colors of the original pattern with olive and dark bronze shades. 

I then also modified the pattern, as I wanted smaller pieces that could be used everyday…If you would also like to try this alternative design, here are step-by-step instructions on how to stitch you own pair of sparkling little treasures:

1. Complete the bezel as suggested by the book (finishing round 8).
2. Weave back, reaching round 6 and exit from one of the size 11/0 beads inserted in round 5.
3. Insert 5 15/0 rocailles and pass through the next 11/0 from round 5. Repeat around the pattern 9 more times, for a total of 10 picots. 
4. Pass though the first bead added in the previous round. Add 4 size 15/0 rocailles. Stitch back into the last bead added in the previous round and through the 11/0 bead next to it (you will add the erring finding in this loop you just made, so my advice is to pass through all the beads of this round once or twice more in order to reinforce it). 
5. Pass through the next 5 picots you created in step 3 of this tutorial, reaching the opposite side of the round. Then, pass through the next 11/0 bead and through the first 2 15/0 rocailles in the next picot. 
6. Add 1 size 15/0 rocaille and pass through the last 2 15/0 rocailles of the previous picot. Pass throught the 11/0 bead next to them and the next 2 15/0. 
7. Pass through the bead added in the previous round. Add 3 size 15/0 rocailles, 1 glass drop, 3 more 15/0 rocailles and pass through the bead again in the opposite direction. 

You can now weave back through the beads and close the work. I however decided I wanted to cover all the back of the rivoli adding some netted rounds. I tend to like this solution, because these crystals have a foil on the back and, even if it is very well made, after a bit of wearing, it might get chipped and the sparkle of the stone will get affected. I therefore like to cover it with beads in order to ensure longer durability. If you wish to do the same, just have to keep netting, reducing the number of beads you add on each round (see the last picture below). 

I hope you will have fun creating these small earpieces…and come back soon! 

Have a creative day! 

p.s. Your feedback is very precious for me, so if you are using this pattern, please leave a comment to let me know if you liked it (or not)! Thank you!

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Romantic vintage earrings

Hi everyone!

Today I want to show you my first creation made from a pattern I found in an amazing book by Lisa Kan called Bead Romantique. 

I have to admit I love his author’s work. She beautifully combines all the elements I like to use in my own jewelry: flowers, nature, vintage look and elegant styles in subtle shades. I think this is the reason why Bead Romantique makes it with no doubt to the top 10 of my favourite beading books. 

But now, let’s talk about the pattern (I will soon devote a full post to the book review)! It is probably the simplest one among the stunning creations displayed: a pair of elegant, yet quick-to-make earrings called Bohemian Drops (page 54). 

I loved it so much, that I tried 2 variations: the first one uses  bronze-tone findings similar to the ones  presented in the book, with size 11/0 seed beads, 4mm bicone and rondelle transparent Swarovski crystals, 8mm fire-polished beads and a mother-of-pearl 10mm coin. 

For the second pair, which I created  to wear with my Snow Samoa necklace, I switched to silver tone findings, combining transparent with pearl-colored seed beads, substituting the fire-polished beads with glass pearls and using a slightly larger (11mm) mother-of-pearl coin. 

I love to use both of them, but which one do you prefer?

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Peach sparkle set

Hi everyone! 

Today’s creation has a long story. Once upon a time, a magic newsletter from Beadaholique contained a link to an extremely inspirational video (which  you can see here). Watching it, I was immediately captured by the beauty and sparkle of that peach color Swarovski rivoli, so I decided to buy one (and, thanks to my impressive self-control, I ended up buying 4, just in case). 

Once I received them, however, I realized that their edges were very thin and if I used them to create rings as the one shown in the tutorial, I would probably chip them after 2 minutes of wearing (definitely, the stereotypical Italian tendency to not keep hands still while talking wouldn’t help me to preserve them). 

The beautiful rivolis were therefore hidden in a drawer for a long time, until, one day, I was charmed by a gorgeous, perfectly matching filigree component.I decided to dust one of my little sparkling gems, cage it with a bronze-tone bead cap and join it with craft wire to the center piece. To add some interest, I attached freshwater pearls, 8mmm red aventurine beads and Swarovski crystals. 

Of course, no pendant can be happy all by himself, so I made a matching pair of earrings with the same types of beads, which I then attached to a pair of beautiful flower findings I bought on Etsy. 

Once they saw each other, the pendant and the pair of earrings fell in love and they lived happily ever after! 

What do you think? Don’t they make a lovely couple?

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Cream elegance earrings

Hi everyone!

I just finished this lovely pair of earrings inspired by a beautiful model called Sabina, which I saw on Beads Gone Wild (you can purchase the kit from their website here).

As you probably noticed by now, I am not a large and bold earrings kind of person. But this pattern was way too nice to leave it unused, so I took my beading needle and started working right away! Below, you can see my version of the design. Compared to the original model, I added two rows to connect the seed beads, therefore giving more stability to the work and I changed colors to make the final creation more versatile.

To complete the earrings, I used 4mm round glass beads in a cream color, 4mm transparent AB Swarovski bicones, size 15/0 gold luster miyuki rocailles, size 11/0 pearl Checz seed beads, and faceted crystal drops, all sewn together with a size B nymo thread.

And here they are! I hope they will inspire you as much as they inspired me! :-)

Have a beautiful day!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Spring flower earrings

Hi everyone!

March is finally here and flowers will start to bloom soon. Even if we will have to wait a couple of weeks before the arrival of colors in gardens and parks, happiness was already delivered to my mailbox. It was contained in a small package, together with some amazing colorful lucite flowers which I ordered on Etsy some weeks ago.

My first experiments with them were very simple: I made some small earrings combining the joyful blooms with sparkling Swarovski crystals and antiqued brass findings. Despite their simplicity, these little jewelry pieces are bringing a lot of colors in my first days of March, and I hope they will bring a taste of spring to you too!

Enjoy the gallery and have a colorful day!

My favorite parties: Under the Table and Dreaming -  Between Naps on the Porch - Dwellings - Creatively living - The dedicated house - Rain on a tin Roof - Its So Very Cheri - DIY Showoff - The Stories of A2Z - Coastal Charm - A Stroll thru Life - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Stone Gable - Cozy little house  - Knick of time -Savvy Southern Style - Ivy and Elaphants - Green Willow Pond - No Minimalist Here - From my front porch to yours - Craftberry Bush  - The Brambleberry Cottage - French Country Cottage - Common Ground - The Charm of Home - The shabby nest - Romantic home - Sunny simple life - The cottage market

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Be my Valentine

Hi everyone! 

Today I want to share with you the last creation I made for S. Valentine’s day. The theme of this bracelet and earrings set is red roses, the symbol of the lovers’ day. 

For the earrings, I used some Lucite flowers, glass beads and Swarovski crystals, kept together with the beautiful rose charm I purchased on Etsy by a 26 gauge bronze tone wire. 

For the bracelet I attached to a bronze-tone chain some glass beads, bronze leaves and bell-shaped Lucite flowers with a crystal center. 

I hope you like them and I wish everyone a happy S. Valentine’s day full of love!

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Native flowers

Hi everyone! 

The sun of this days has, once again, inspired a spring-looking necklace :-) . This time I decided to experiment with a technique that is quite new for me: bead embroidery. I read a couple of very good books on the topic and here you can see a more detailed post about this experience to find out everything, but now, back to the piece! 

I made this native-American inspired necklace for the January 2013 Beadaholique contest “January Gems” (you can see all the finalists here) starting from a 18x13mm carnelian cabochon. After attaching it to a Lacy’s Stiff Stuff base, I embroidered the circular motif using size 11/0 Czech seed beads, 15/0 Japanese rocailles and size B Nymo thread. I then finished sewing and Ultra Suede backing and fringes made of seed beads, round bamboo coral and 4mm fire-polished beads.  

To add a final spring touch, I decorated the pendant with Lucite flowers and made a pair of matching earrings. 

I hope you like them, and I wish you a great day full of creativity!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Spring flight

Hi everyone! 

I know it’s still winter, but some days ago the blue sky and the warm sun just made me think about green grass, flowers and flying birds. It might be that after the beautiful, but also very cold Danish winter, every day back home looks like a spring day, or it might just be that I bought these very nice links on Etsy and I couldn’t wait to use them! 

Here is the set! I designed the necklace, with some brass colored components, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystal beads and Miyuki size 15/0 rocailles. 

For the earrings I took inspiration from the pattern on page 20 of the October 2012 issue of Beadwork magazine and I added an extra raw in the center. I used 3 and 5mm Swarovski pearls, Miyuki size 15/0 rocailles, size 11/0 seed beads and size D nymo thread.

I hope you like them! :-)

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Sweet snowflakes bracelet and earrings

Hi everyone! 

Today more snowflakes for the January theme! :-) 

Here are some very simple earrings with an adjustable charm bracelet made with freshwater pearls, 6mm white agate beads and 8mm crystal rondelles.

Enjoy!

  

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)