White Pearl Set and Craft Sale!

I finished another set of pearl jewelry. I originally meant for this set to follow a snowy winter theme, but it looks somewhat bridal too...

First, a pendant, in my Bubble Box beaded bead design:

Next, matching earrings, in my Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead design, with a slight modification that I've discussed before.

Finally, a bracelet, very similar to the gray bracelet I posted last time. This one has a Light Clusters beaded bead charm:

All three pieces are available at my Etsy shop, and you can also find them at the knit-one-one March Madness craft sale one week from today! Check out their blog for info on the other neat local artisans exhibiting at this show!

Grey Pearl Set

I just finished a grey pearl set for the upcoming craft show at the knit-one-one studio. I also listed these pieces in my Etsy shop. All of these pieces are in my Light Clusters beaded bead design:

The craft sale is on March 6, from 10 AM - 4 PM at the knit-one-one studio in Berkeley. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

Treasury Time

It's been a while since I posted a treasury here... I came up with this treasury after listening to the soundtrack from Wicked all weekend. The treasury itself ended up much more whimsical than the song it was inspired from, but I like how it turned out.

Royal Purples

Sometimes I go on a roll in a particular color scheme; once I get a particular palette of seed beads all set up on my bead mat, it can be hard to stop making beaded beads! Here are some of the results of my latest marathon, all of which are available in my Etsy shop.

An amethyst beaded bead pendant, just because. It's just a few beads away from a similar pendant I made last year using the same strand of amethyst beads from Rings and Things.

A Disco Ball necklace, with beautiful dark purple Czech glass beads. I love the shape of the fluted firepolish beads between the beaded beads!

Another beaded bead necklace, this time with Double Bubble Jacks beaded beads made to match the dark plum Venetian "luna" style beads. This was really fun to make; I've never used gold, silver, and copper-plated seed beads all in the same beaded bead before. The copper-plated seed beads are part of Toho's "Hybrid" line, and while I usually prefer Miyuki seed beads I'm really digging these Toho hybrids.

Finally, some lavender pearl earrings, made to match a necklace in my Etsy shop. I used the last of the particular strand of lavender teardrop pearls used in both pieces to make these earrings. Gotta find some more of these pearls - I love this color!

Etsy isn't the only place where you can find these purple pieces. I'll be at the knit-one-one craft sale on March 6 from 10-4! If you're in the area, stop by and say hello!

Pinks and Pearls

It's February, which means it's time for lots and lots of heart-focused jewelry. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of Valentine's Day, but I am a huge fan of freshwater pearls and working in pink. So when Artbeads.com declared January as their month of Valentine's Day for their blogger program, I headed straight for the pearl section to begin fawning over their pink pearl choices. I chose three different strands for these pink projects.

A word about pearl purchasing - I usually buy my pearls at bead shows for a few reasons. First, the bead shows offer some fabulous pearl deals. Second, I get to examine the pearls in person for the best size, shape, luster, and color quality that I can find. There is just so much variability in pearl quality out there that it's really hard to know what you're getting when you order them online.

That being said, I was very impressed with the pink pearls I received from Artbeads. The shapes are very consistent from pearl to pearl, which is a big must for my beadweaving designs. This is evident in the first necklace I made for this post:

This pendant is in my Disco Ball beaded bead design, which is also available as a tutorial in my Etsy shop. The pearls in the pendant are pink rice pearls, and have the best luster of the three strands I sampled from Artbeads. I had to increase the number of seed beads in the overlay to make the Disco Ball from these pearls, since the pearls are closer to 5 mm in length than the 4 mm called for in the tutorial.

I strung this pendant on a necklace with alternating rice pearls and fuchsia potato pearls. The dye job on these fuchsia pearls is very consistent:

I also managed to have enough of both pearls left over to make a matching bracelet:

For the next necklace, I used more of the fuchsia potato pearls and some pink large nugget pearls from Artbeads, combined with some larger magenta rice pearls from my own stash (although these pearls are a close substitute). I wove five Light Clusters beaded beads from 11° Japanese seed beads and the larger rice pearls, and strung them with the other pearls to create this necklace:

I love how the Light Clusters beaded beads look like fresh berries!

In all, I'm quite happy with how these pieces turned out and with the quality of Artbeads' freshwater pearls.

Full disclosure: The pink rice pearls, pink nugget pearls, and magenta potato pearls used in these projects were received as a gift from Artbeads.com. No payment was made for the review of these products.