Showing posts with label Beading Instructions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beading Instructions. Show all posts

Monday, November 9, 2020

New(ish) Pattern and Kits: Yukiwariso Necklace

I released a few new patterns in this past year. This one is the Yukiwariso Necklace.


This light and delicate necklace gets its name from hepatica japonica, a rare woodland plant native to Japan which produces a beautiful variety of early-blooming flowers. Designed for the Japanese publication Bead Art & Embroidery, this necklace features a light, airy style that embodies Japanese beaded jewelry.


The full pattern is 16 pages long and contains 47 full color illustrations and photographs. It's an advanced beginner project, so if you're just getting into beading, this is a great third or fourth project to try. 


Kits for this project are available in five colorways, and contain all the beads and findings needed to stitch the complete necklace. 


Thanks for looking!

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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Snowflakes and Hearts with CRAW and PRAW

Over the past couple of months I released a couple of patterns using CRAW and PRAW. Lately, my designs seem to use either shaped beads and two-hole beads, or just seed beads. These designs are firmly in the seed bead camp.

Snowflake Pendant



You need only a handful of seed beads and a needle and thread to stitch the Snowflake Pendant. This pendant features several units of CRAW and PRAW stitched side-by-side to create the finished snowflake. The concept behind this pendant actually goes back to my original experiments with PRAW, though I only recently managed to show how to stitch these units side-by-side.

Large and Small Snowflakes



The pattern shows how to stitch the finished snowflake pendant as well as smaller and larger variations. You can also use just one color of seed beads for a sleeker look. The full pattern is 19 pages long and contains 66 full color illustrations and photographs.


Peace and Double Hearts



My next creation with these stitches is two-in-one design. The Peace and Double Hearts Pendants use the same CRAW and PRAW stitches to create two types of beaded hearts. One is a heart within a heart, and the other is a combination of a heart with a peace sign.


The Peace Heart came about after I combined Gwen's Sweetheart Pendant with Marcia's Peace Sign pendant. It was actually the last piece of beadwork I created before Sophie was born, but it took me a while to carve out the time to write its pattern.


The full pattern is 30 pages long and contains 128 full color illustrations and photographs. I classify both patterns as advanced as I don't cover the basic CRAW stitch in detail. However, if you are experienced with CRAW and you're up for the challenge of stitching these shapes, these patterns are for you!



Thanks for looking!

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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Shimmer River Bracelets

A few months ago I made a new set of bracelets, the Shimmer River Bracelets.


The Shimmer River Bracelets feature a whole bunch of Swarovski's "shimmer" fallback crystals, along with either Toho's Demi Round seed beads or Miyuki's Spacer seed beads. These thin beads are available in two sizes and are half the width of traditional 8° and 11° Japanese seed beads.

I've noticed differences between Toho and Miyuki brands before. True to form, there are subtle size and color differences between Demi Round and Spacer beads too. But I was able to use them interchangeably in this design.


When I first set out to stitch this design, I wanted to show off the crystals without covering them up or overshadowing them with other beads. This design was actually my first attempt at this idea, but then I stitched another bracelet that used and exaggerated different beaded elements. Unfortunately, the crystals were lost in this second attempt, so I circles back to my original idea. Sometimes simplicity is better and less is more!


It works up so quickly that I stitched it in five different colorways!


The beading pattern for this bracelet is appropriate for advanced beginners. The pattern is 12 pages long and contains 37 photos and illustrations.


Kits are available in all five colorways pictured, and contain all the beads needed to stitch the finished bracelet (extra crystals and beads are included so you can make a bracelet longer than those shown here).

Thanks for looking!

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Monday, April 23, 2018

Astral Spore Pendant

My newest beading pattern is now available.


The Astral Spore Pendant features the new Quarter Tila Bead in this very tactile, geometric pendant. It uses four colors of Quarter Tilas and a whole bunch of bugle beads and round seed beads, and it's hollow and self-supporting so you can see right through it. This beading pattern is an advanced design, and it teaches you how to weave the finished pendant.


Like the Succulent Topiary Pendant, this design uses the geometry of an icosiedodecahedron, which is like a dodecahedron but with 20 extra triangles. In this design I've embellished each of the 12 pentagons so that they stick out from the base. I've also attached a tassel-like set of matching fringe containing Czech etched dagger beads in colors that just make me swoon. The whole design reminds me of something from astronomy, like a comet, but I already have a design that has "comet" in its name (I'm going to run out of names someday!). But it also reminds me of a grain of pollen, so it's the Astral Spore Pendant.

This is actually my third attempt at stitching a geometric design with Quarter Tilas; the first two attempts were a little smaller, and the smallest one was harder to stitch than this design. The pattern contains a few photos of the smaller attempts.


The beading pattern is 24 pages long and contains 70 photos and illustrations. Kits are available in the three colorways pictured, and contain all the beads needed to stitch the finished pendant.

Thanks for looking!

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Thursday, March 22, 2018

Succulent Topiary Pendant

I wrote a new beading pattern.


The Succulent Topiary Pendant features a whole bunch of shaped beads all woven together in a geometric floral pendant. This advanced beading pattern teaches you how to stitch the finished pendant.



When I set out to stitch this design, I wanted to play with some Tulip Petal beads that had been sitting in my stash for a couple of years. I didn't intend to use so many shapes to stitch these little beaded flowers and bits of greenery, but as I worked I found that a collection of Rizos, Gekkos, drops, and Spiky Buttons complemented the floral Tulip Petals. Oddly enough, by the time I finished the flowers didn't look much like tulips, but they do remind me of cactus flowers.


It's a relative of the Tila Garden Pendant. Both designs use shaped beads and Tilas on their edges, and both have dodecahedral symmetry, but the Tila Garden uses the geometry of a standard dodecahedron while the Succulent Topiary uses that of an icosidodecahedron. You can think of it as a dodecahedron with 20 added triangles. The Succulent Topiary Pendant is also quite a bit bigger.


The beading pattern clocks in at over 20 pages and 60 photos and illustrations. Kits are available in two colorways and contain all the beads needed to stitch the finished pendant.

Thanks for looking!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Please subscribe to my mailing list for updates on the latest and greatest Bead Origami news!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

New Pattern and Kits: Double Rosette Beaded Beads

I've finished my second beading pattern that uses QuadraTile beads: the Double Rosette Beaded Beads:


A Double-Layered Beaded Bead


This design uses two layers of QuadraTile beads, Japanese seed beads, and round beads to create two different sizes of circular beaded beads. The inspiration for this design originally came from the Double Pinwheel beaded beads, which use two-hole triangles for a more pinwheely shape. I had originally thought that the QuadraTile beads could combine with the triangle beads using a similar pinwheely technique, but that didn't pan out quite the way I had imagined it, so these turned into nice rosette beaded beads instead.


You might have seen these beaded beads in the print advertising for this new bead shape as well...


The beading pattern for this design describes how to make two different sizes of Double Rosette beaded beads using a variation on the peyote stitch, how to string these beads together with round beads to create an elegant bracelet, and how to finish the bracelet with a matching beaded button clasp.

This QuadraTile beading pattern is in the PDF format, and clocks in at 23 pages of step-by-step instructions with 81 full-color illustrations and photographs. This pattern is appropriate for experienced beaders who want to take up the challenge of beading with four-hole beads, but beaders who have already mastered the Double Pinwheel beaded beads are in great shape to try out this design.


Four Kit Colorways



Kits for this design are available in the four colorways shown, and include all the beads and findings needed to make the complete bracelet.

Thanks for looking! 

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Year-End Kit Clearance Sale

I'm having a sale on several beading kits available at beadorigami.com to make way for new exciting designs in 2015! Additionally, several of the beading patterns associated with these kits are on sale as well. Here's a selection of the kits available during this special sale:






Check out the full list of discounted kits at www.beadorigami.com/kit_clearance.html. The sale discounts are applied automatically at checkout so no coupon code is needed. The sale ends on December 31, 2014.

Happy New Year!

Monday, December 8, 2014

New Pattern and Kits: Sparkling Compass Set

I recently retired the Sparkling Compass Set from my teaching portfolio, and it's now available as a pattern on my website.


A Delicate Bracelet


The Sparkling Compass Set features the four-pointed Sparkling Compass component woven from a collection of round crystal pearls, bicone crystals, and shaped and round seed beads. This versatile component can be combined with galactic crystals for a delicate bracelet.


An Intricate Beaded Bead


Six components can be woven off of a common base for an intricate beaded bead.


Elegant Earrings


Finally, individual components can be attached to pendant crystals for a pair of earrings. This pair features rhombus crystals, but I've also created them with galactic crystals.


Several Bead Options


Different bead options are possible in this design as well. In this set of earrings, the pair on the left includes a couple of Rizo beads for a more four-pointed compass look.


Three Kit Colorways


The pattern for this design is now available on my website at beadorigami.com, and it describes how to make the beaded Sparkling Compass component, and how to use the components to create the bracelet, beaded bead, and earrings. The circular peyote and circular netting stitches are used to create each component. The pattern is in the PDF format, and clocks in at 15 pages of step-by-step instructions with 45 full-color illustrations and photographs. Kits for this design are available in three colorways, and contain all the beads and findings needed to create the bracelet, earrings, and beaded bead.


Thanks for looking!

Monday, August 18, 2014

New Pattern and Kits: Fairy Triangles Set

My newest beading pattern, the Fairy Triangles Set, is now available at beadorigami.com.


Triangle Components from Triangle Beads


Last week I blogged about making little beaded triangles out of triangle-shaped beads, and how they can be connected together to make bracelets or a large beaded bead. Here are several of the triangles that went into the large beaded bead above:


I liked making this beaded bead so much that I also made two smaller versions. Here's the medium-sized beaded bead, alongside a matching Fairy Triangles component:


This version also uses Tri-beads instead of O beads, just because I wanted to add extra triangles ;).

All three beaded beads are based on the geometries of the deltahedra; the group of 3D shapes made up entirely of equilateral triangles. The pattern for this design includes guidelines on how to join these components together to make all three of the above beaded beads, and these guidelines can be applied to the rest of the deltahedra as well.

An interesting note about this design is that it uses a different strategy than the one I usually use to make a geometric beaded bead; most of my beaded bead designs take an edge-skeleton and face-embellishment approach, as I discussed in my beaded bead webinar. The Fairy Triangles beaded beads, on the other hand, take a face-component and corner-join approach that's a little easier to tackle than my usual methods.

Petite, Quick Earrings


In addition to beaded beads and bracelets, these components also make a quick and easy pair of earrings:


A Solo Pendant


The large beaded bead can also be strung on a silk ribbon for a stunning solo pendant:


Beading kits for this design are available in four colorways, and include all the beads needed to make and connect 30 components together. Many different jewelry combinations can be made from this kit; it makes enough components for one large and one medium beaded bead, or three medium and one small beaded bead, or seven small beaded beads, and many other combinations are possible too. Additionally, you can combine these kits with your own findings to make earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.

New Pattern and Kit Pricing


Last month I made some big changes to the Bead Origami kits page: Bead Origami kits are now "unbundled" from their patterns. The kits are now "à la carte" and still include the listed materials and all shipping costs, but the pattern must be purchased separately (all kit prices have been lowered accordingly, and some of my pattern prices are also slightly lower). 

Under this new pricing method, you can now purchase the pattern and then sort through the beads that you already have before purchasing a kit. Plus you can purchase kits for a specific design in two or more colorways without paying for the same pattern twice. If you wish to order both the pattern and the kit at the same time, simply add both items to your shopping cart before completing your purchase. Finally, if you already have a copy of one of my designs that has been published elsewhere (such as in a magazine) and you want to purchase a kit for that design, you can now do so without purchasing another copy of the pattern.

It's my hope that this method will offer additional purchasing flexibility to my customers, while making the logistics a little easier on my end. I'd be very interested to hear your feedback about this change!

Thanks for looking!

Monday, March 31, 2014

New Pattern: Double Pinwheel Beaded Beads

My latest beading pattern, the Double Pinwheel Beaded Beads, is now complete!

Working with Two-Hole Triangle Beads


This is my first pattern that uses these new CzechMates two-hole triangle beads, but it's my second attempt at using them in a beading design. For my first attempt, I made a pair of earrings based on my Water Lily Windows pattern, using little flowers with triangle beads instead of the rizo beads.


I was quickly surprised at how much attention you have to give to the triangle beads - unlike SuperDuos and Tilas, two-hole triangles have a left hole and a right hole, and which hole you pass through really matters! It was a little too complicated to explain these earrings as a variation on the Water Lily Windows pattern, but I liked the effect of the triangle beads in this arrangement, so I explored this further in a second pair of earrings; I used another layer of triangle beads, with more repeats around a pearl center, and a more simplified arrangement without the Tila windows.

Pinwheel Beaded Earrings



This beading pattern makes a delightful pinwheel-shaped beaded bead, with tons of movement and texture! While you're making this beaded bead, you still need to pay attention to which of the two holes of the triangle beads that you pass through in each step, but other than that it's much more straightforward than some of my more complicated designs. It's a great project for an advanced beginner beader, and an excellent introduction to working with two-hole triangle beads. Two of these beaded beads make for a quick pair of earrings!

A Pinwheel Pendant


But this idea isn't just for earrings; a larger central bead, paired with more triangle beads, makes a dainty solo pendant.


And smaller central beads with fewer triangle beads make for a cute pair of matching earrings!


Five Different Beaded Beads!


By adjusting the size of the central bead, and the number of triangle beads, you can make at least five different sizes of this beaded bead. I describe how to make each of these five sizes in the pattern, and I incorporated all of them into this lovely necklace:


The round beads in this necklace were a Christmas gift from my sister, who found them in a bead store in Japan. I used a few O beads as spacer beads too!


The Double Pinwheel Beaded Bead pattern is available at www.beadorigami.com if you'd like to make your own!

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