Tiny blooms

Hi everyone!

Today I want to share with you a little pattern. It’s a very easy, fast (less than 5 minutes) to stitch crocheted flower I created while a was trying to find a tiny decoration to add to some of my pieces.

As you probably already know, my crochet skills are quite limited. I can only make very simple designs, provided I also have the help of excellent tutorials. You can therefore imagine how basic a pattern I created myself can be, so keep your expectations low.

Well, now, if you didn’t stop reading the post yet, I infer you are very motivated, so let’s go straight to the step by step instructions*:

1. Make a magic circle (wait, what? Seriously? Was this supposed to be an easy pattern? I can’t do this!  - This was my reaction when I first encountered this enchanted crochet creature, so, if you are a beginner like me,  you will find the super-easy video I used to learn how to make it right below the instructions)
2. Chain 3
3. Make 1 double crochet in the loop
4. Chain 3
5. Attach to the loop with a slip stitch
6. Repeat from step 2 (4 or 5 times depending on the number of petals you want. In the first picture below, you can see flowers made with 5 petals, while the ones in the second have 6)
7. Weave the leftover thread through the stitches or use it to attach the flower as decoration

* Since the design is truly trivial, probably many other people have already made it in the past, so please, if you know of some pattern/tutorial already published, leave them in the comments, and I will quote them (I really do not want to steal anybody’s work!)

For any further doubts about stitches, you can read my post on how to start crochet here (and, if you have more doubts, please leave a comment and I will do my best to help you ;-) ).

As for every crocheted creation, you can change size and texture by using different yarns (you can read this post to find out more on the topic). In the first picture below, for instance, the brown bloom was made with a thick cotton yarn and 3mm hook, for the purple one I used a thinner yarn and 2.5mm hook, while for the blue one I worked with a thin mercerized cotton thread and 2mm hook.

But now that you finished your tiny beauty, what can you do with it? I love to embellish my flowers by sewing a 4mm bead in the center and then attach them to any creation I can think of. In the last picture, for example,  I glued them to some Easter eggs decorations I crafted last spring (you can find out more about them reading the full  post here), but they can also be attached to Christmas decorations, gloves, wreaths, or anything you can think of, just let your imagination fly…

…and have a creative 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 ;-)

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 ;-)

Letter from Paris necklace

Hi everyone! 

I am very excited to talk about this necklace, as it was my very first piece to arrive finalist at a Beadaholique contest, in February to 2012. 

I still remember the moment in which I saw the name of the month’s challenge: “Love is in the air”. Yes it was…because I just LOVED that theme! My head started thinking about 1.000 words: love, roses, red, pink, romantic, love letters, Paris…but wait…how to synthesize everything in one necklace? I didn’t have a focal piece representing all of this, so I decided to create one! 

I started by composing an image with different graphical elements: a handwritten text, an Eiffel tower, a butterfly and a rose, Then I printed, cut and glued it to a bronze cabochon setting. Once the pendant was dry, I covered it with the amazing Ice Resin, making sure no bubbles were being formed. After 3 days, I attached it to a bronze chain, adding some glass and cherry quartz beads, a Lucite flower, a filigree component and a heart-shaped toggle clasp. 

As final touch, I crafted a small bow with size 11/0 pink delicas…and here it is, my little romantic creation, enclosing all the emotions a letter from Paris can bring.

Have a lovely 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 ;-)

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 ;-)