Free Pattern: Tila Droplet Charm

I wrote up a pattern for the tila earrings that I posted a few days ago, and it's now available on my website as a free pattern. Presenting the Tila Droplet Charm!

I designed this charm to match the Dewdrop beaded bead. Like this beaded bead and the Dewdrop bracelet, this charm frames a tila bead with round and drop-shaped Japanese seed beads. Here it is in the lavender fields colorway:

Two Tila Droplet Charms make an easy pair of earrings, and conveniently only use a small spoonful of beads. They're the perfect design for any extra beads leftover from a Dewdrop kit.

This pattern uses the new illustration style that I've been tinkering with for the past few months. I'm very interested in your feedback on these illustrations, so drop me a line and let me know what you think!

The Tila Droplet Charm joins my other two free beading patterns at beadorigami.com, and it's the first free tila bead pattern available on my website. As always, if you make anything from this pattern, I'd love to see pictures!

New Tila Teardrop Earrings

A while back, when I was working on the Dewdrop beaded bead design, I wanted to make a pair of earrings in a matching style. I think I've finally succeeded with these tila bead earrings:

These earrings frame tila beads with the same drop-shaped and round Japanese seed beads that are used in the Dewdrop beaded bead:

I think it's a pretty good match, don't you?

New Tila Garden Pendant for BABE! Show

The online registration deadline for the BABE! Show ends a week from tomorrow! Have you registered for your classes yet?

I worked up an additional colorway for the Tila Garden Pendant as a kit option especially for this show. I like how it gives this pendant the aura of a classic garden with a white picket fence:

I tried this colorway a few times before and I wasn't as happy with the results. My first version used a clear core bead which detracts from the drop beads:

My next version used nearly-lime peanut beads, but color-lined clear drop seed beads. The drop seed beads in this version don't have enough color to compete with the peanut beads.

My latest version ditches the clear color-lined drop beads, and uses a more subtle shade of peanut bead. It would probably work well with the lime peanuts too.

You can find more information about the BABE! Show here, including information about class registration and a list of over 150 vendors who will be exhibiting at the show. You can still register for classes on-site, but many classes are close to selling out, so register online before October 27 to reserve your spot in your favorite class.

Next week is also the week to enter Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest! I can't enter, but since I love beaded beads so much, I wove a matching set of each of the five beaded beads in this series. I blogged about all of them here, here, here, here, and here.

Beaded Beads and Lampwork Beads, Finale!

I completed my necklace featuring Venetian glass beads and beaded beads!

I strung the original two Venetian beads, additional Venetian glass beads, and the seven beaded beads all in between size 6° seed beads, 11° seed beads, and 7 by 4 mm Czech fire polish roundelles. I debated whether to add additional Czech glass beads to this piece, but I wanted to prominently feature the Venetian beads and beaded beads, so I stuck with using the other beads as accents. A vermeil clasp finishes the necklace.

You can see the evolution of this piece in the other blog posts in this series here, here, and here.

Beaded Beads and Lampwork Beads, Part 3

I continued to work on my blue and copper necklace with beaded beads and lampwork beads. I made a thinner version of the original Dewdrop beaded bead by using a smaller core bead, and 4-fold instead of 6-fold symmetry around it. I also made some minor adjustments in the seed bead overlay:

I did the same with the streamlined version:

Now that I think about it, I think that these thinner versions would also make excellent matching earrings...

With just a few more beaded beads, I now have a complete set, all ready to string into the necklace:

Stay tuned next week for the finale of this project! For the previous posts in this series, please click here and here.

Dewdrop Bracelets

Over the past few days I wove a Dewdrop bracelet in the Lavender Fields color palette. I really love these blue-green matte metallic tila beads.

Here's a shot with a view of the custom toggle clasp. I like how it turned out, but it has an unusual thread path that's not very intuitive. I spend over a third of the bracelet pattern describing how to make the clasp! I think it would also make a nice charm, but I haven't explored that possibility as of yet.

Just like the Dewdrop beaded bead, the bracelet can also have its drop beads substituted with round seed beads. Here it is with this substitution in Pandora Sapphire:

The Dewdrop pattern contains instructions for both designs, and each Dewdrop kit contains enough materials to make a total of either five Dewdrop beaded beads, or one Dewdrop beaded bead and one Dewdrop bracelet.

More Beaded Beads and Lampwork Beads

I made some progress on my new piece featuring Dewdrop beaded beads and Venetian lampwork beads. For the next beaded bead in this piece, I replaced the drop-shaped seed beads with the same cobalt blue color of round seed beads:

The resulting beaded bead (left) is shorter than the original (right), but it also shows more sapphire blue than cobalt blue. It's interesting how a substitution in bead shape can also alter the color scheme of the entire beaded bead.

It still matches the original lampwork bead though.

Silver Seed Beads

Over the years I've grown quite fond of Miyuki's bright silver seed beads, and I use them often in my beadwork. They're a great accent to many designs, and they'll work well in just about any color palette. The silver and black combo is one of my go-to palettes, and in these mini Disco Ball beaded beads, the silver is prominent without dominating the beaded beads.

I think it packs much more of a punch with the larger drop seed beads in this Silvery Amethyst Dewdrop Bracelet:

But much of the time, I try to use silver seed beads in a more subtle way, such as in these Squareflake earrings:

So when I was designing the kits for the Dewdrop beaded beads, I incorporated some 15° silver seed beads into the Black Rose Tips version of this design. However, I ended up taking them out for the final version. My first attempt is on the right, and the final version is on the left:

In this particular design and color scheme, there is already a lot going on in terms of texture and complexity, given the combination of the square tilas with the rounded drops and three sizes of seed beads. Plus the permanent-finish galvanized 8° seed beads already give this beaded bead some shine. This is the first time where I felt that the silver seed beads just added too much to an already busy design, so I exchanged them for some dark purple seed beads which readily blend into the finished beaded bead.

Have you ever had a tried-and-true design element surprise you like this?

Beaded Beads and Lampwork Beads

Earlier this month my aunt lent me a collection of beads that she purchased over the course of her travels, including these two gorgeous Venetian foil lampwork beads:

One of my favorite ways to build a new piece of jewelry is to use lampwork beads as the color palette for the entire piece, and then build up matching beaded beads from there on. Since I have Dewdrop beaded beads on the brain, I picked out some dark metallic brown tila beads, cobalt blue drop beads, and sapphire round seed beads to match the sapphire blue of the Venetian beads. When I put them all together, this is the Dewdrop beaded bead that I came up with:

I took some liberties in matching this beaded bead to the lampwork beads, such as using proportionally more cobalt beads and some light metallic copper seed beads that are not really represented in the lampwork beads. But I think that it complements the lampwork beads quite well.

What do you think?

New Pattern and Kits: Dewdrop Beaded Bead and Bracelet Set

My newest pattern is now available at beadorigami.com; the Dewdrop Beaded Bead and Bracelet Set. The Bead Origami version of this pattern is expanded with additional illustrations and photographs, and includes a full pattern for the matching Dewdrop bracelet!

I got a little carried away with myself and put together kits in five different color palettes for this design. Here's one in Silvery Amethyst:

I've named this one Black Rose Tips in honor of a similar color palette Gwen used for her Cube Cluster beaded bead. I think that these two designs would coordinate quite well together in this color palette:

This one's Lavender Fields, because that's exactly what it reminds me of:

This one's Harvest Bounty. The red seed beads that I ordered for this kit turned out to be a little brighter than those that I used for the bead featured in Beadwork Magazine, but I kind of like how it makes the whole bead look brighter:

Finally, this one is Patina Lagoon, because I can't get enough of these matte metallic patina beads:

Each Dewdrop kit contains enough materials to make a total of five Dewdrop beaded beads, or alternatively, one Dewdrop beaded bead and one Dewdrop bracelet. Here's a bracelet in Silvery Amethyst:

Don't forget that the Dewdrop beaded bead is one of the five beaded beads required to enter Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest. The deadline for entering is October 26!

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Dewdrop Beaded Bead

The final beaded bead in Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Series is now published; the Dewdrop Beaded Bead, by yours truly.

This design features Miyuki's two-hole tila beads as well as two sizes of drop beads, which can also be substituted for round seed beads for a more sleek look to this design. Melinda writes about this and other variations on these beaded beads in her Editor's Note in the same issue of Beadwork Magazine, and Pixiloo already wove a gorgeous red version using this substitution. You can see images of it on her blog.

I wove one of these Dewdrop beaded beads in the silvery metallic color palette that I've used for the other four beaded beads in this series. I went with some matte metallic grey tila beads for this particular beaded bead, however Miyuki recently released a bluer shade of this tila bead which I think would look even better in this color palette.

Here's my complete set of all five beaded beads in this series (I tried weaving Gwen's Cube Cluster with triangle seed beads instead of 3 mm fire polish beads, but I'll switch back to the fire polish beads the next time I weave this one; the triangle seed beads don't fit quite as well).

I'm busy working on several kits for this design, which will be available on my website very soon. The kits will feature an expanded pattern, as well as a special surprise :).

More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, here, and here.

Beadwork's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest: Sneak Peek!

For those of you who have been following Beadwork Magazine's 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Series, I received permission from the magazine's editors to put together a special sneak preview of the fifth design in the series! Now presenting... The Dewdrop Beaded Bead:

This design came about after I created a related bracelet with tila beads and drop seed beads. I thought the bracelet pattern might look nice as a beaded bead, so I wrapped a small portion of it around a round core bead and joined the ends together. Then I wove in some netted caps to each side, and this barrel-shaped tila-and-teardrop design was born.

The Dewdrop beaded bead uses the three standard sizes of Japanese seed beads, Miyuki's two-hole tila beads, and fringe drop beads in both the 3.4 mm and 2.8 mm sizes. I've woven it in several color palettes, and several other variations are possible which I discuss in the pattern.

The Dewdrop Beaded Bead pattern will be published in the October/November issue of Beadwork Magazine. More information about the 15th Anniversary Beaded Bead Contest is available on the Beading Daily website. Check out my versions of the previous beaded beads in this series here, here, here, and here.