New Necklaces and a Bracelet in the Shop

Sometimes I find it hard to let go of the jewelry that I've made, even when I know deep down that I need to put it up for sale to make room for new designs. I finally did just that with several pieces that I've been hanging onto for quite a while (click on the photos to learn more about each piece). First up is this Crystal Helix necklace in silver night and hematite:

Next, we have this ocean-themed aqua and silver necklace featuring Pagoda Beaded Charms strung as beaded beads, complemented with lampwork beads handmade by glass artisan Melissa Vess:

This necklace features a Circle Starburst beaded bead focal and four Squared Circles beaded beads, strung with Czech glass and grey freshwater pearls. It reminds me of the foggy summers on the San Francisco peninsula where I grew up:

Finally, this little sparkly bracelet was the result of my experimenting with substituting crystals for Czech glass beads in some of my designs. It has a Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead woven with crystals as a charm.

All four items are available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Beaded Bead Sets in the Shop

In the time that I've been beading, I've woven several beaded beads that haven't made it out of my bead box and into jewelry. So I decided to list some of them my Etsy shop. Click on any of the photos below to learn more about each set.

First up is this Disco Ball and Double Bubble Jacks set in black and silver:

Next we have this solo bronze and green Teardrop Bubbles beaded bead:

And finally, a set of Squared Circles beaded beads using Swarovski crystal pendants, in crystal AB for some rainbow goodness. These would work great in a wedding necklace:

As always, more info about each design can be found on my website.

New Winter Starburst Set in the Shop

I listed a new jewelry set in my Artfire and Etsy shops today. It consists of a Circle Starburst beaded bead pendant and Squared Circles beaded bead earrings:

It's in sort of a wintery nighttime color palette huh? I think that the sharpness of the Swarovski crystal circle pendants accentuate the crisp feeling of this palette.

The Circle Starburst pattern is available at beAd Infinitum, while the Squared Circles tutorial is available in my Artfire and Etsy shops.


I also recently received the beads for my latest contribution to the Artbeads.com blogger program, which is also in a wintertime theme this time around. The colors will be in more of a black and light sapphire palette, and the beaded beads will be of a different construction, so stay tuned for this piece over the next few weeks.


What beads do you choose for a wintertime theme?

Craft Show on December 11

I'm participating in a craft show at the knit-one-one studio again this holiday season. The show is on Saturday, December 11, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the knit-one-one studio in Berkeley, CA. I really dig this little show; it's an intimate gathering of about 12 local artists featuring everything from textiles to jewelry, papercrafts, ceramics, and even chocolate! Check out the knit-one-one blog for more information about all the artists participating in this show. I can personally vouch for the ceramics from KoideStudio - I have two of her kitty mugs and they are the cutest mugs ever :)

Here's a sampling of some of the items that I'll have for sale: 

If you're in the area, I'd love to see you there!

Gold and Glass, and Silver and Pearls

I finished a few new pieces, which feature design and color variations on some of my previous pieces.

The first is a pair of mini Disco Ball earrings in purple and gold. This pair arose from a continuation of my Royal Purples color phase, although the purple Czech firepolish beads in these earrings have a goldluster finish, which tilts them towards the red direction on the color wheel.

This next piece arose from another color experiment, only in a color combination I don't usually work with. It's a pink and gold color variation of this necklace, only the lampwork beads are from the Czech Republic. I wove the Squared Circles beaded beads in colors to match the lampwork beads, and I used some Swarovski bicones as spacers.

This necklace turned out much more gold and pink than I had expected. I think it's because I usually don't wear so much pink or bling myself. If I could find these lampwork beads in red and gold, it should make a fancy holiday necklace.

For this last piece, I experimented in making 5- and 6-fold prism variations of my Double Bubble Jacks design, with peacock pearls and the appropriate design modification for pearls. Both variations worked! I used a 6-fold version strung though two points for the focal, accompanied by two 5-fold versions. I think that a 6-fold version is the limit for this design though; I tried making a 7-fold version but it didn't turn out very well.

I used Bali silver beads and green and purple round pearls to string this necklace, and I was amazed at how the green round pearls bring out the green and red colors in the peacock drop pearls in the beaded beads. Margie Deeb talks about this kind of color play all the time, and boy is it the truth!

The earrings and Squared Circles necklace are available for purchase in my Etsy shop, along with tutorials for all three beaded bead designs. As for the pearl necklace... I don't think I can part with it :)

Huge Squared Circles Beaded Bead

A little while ago, I came up with the idea of making a Squared Circles beaded bead with some large 12 mm lentils that I found at a bead show a few years ago. At first I was skeptical that it would work, since these lentils are twice the size of those called for in the original tutorial.

After only a slight adjustment in the seed bead count, I was able to get it to come together:

This beaded bead is huge! It measures 26 mm end-to-end, and it's even larger corner-to-corner.

Now that I've made it... What do I with it? I'm open to any suggestions!

What's Your Springtime Fancy?

Spring is in the air! Why not celebrate with a pair of very flowery earrings?

...Or perhaps spring makes you think of fields of green?

...Or a tropical paradise?

Maybe it's all about stargazing under the night sky...

...In a matching ensemble...

...Or is it time for something fancy?

...Or something fancier?

...Or is it all about a rustic walk through the woods?

...Or an artful Venetian vacation?

Whatever your fancy, I'll have something for everyone this weekend at the knit-one-one craft sale this Saturday! I'd love to see you there!

Merry Christmas Ornament!

I make at least one Christmas ornament for my Mom every year. One year I made her an entire set of origami snowflake ornaments out of fancy textured paper, but lately I've been into making beaded ornaments. Here's this year's ornament:

This ornament features a Squared Circles beaded bead and a Circle Starburst beaded bead, both woven from medium-sized Czech glass lentils and fancy Japanese seed beads. It was hard to get a picture of it on the Christmas tree since the tree casts so many shadows, but I think this one gives an idea of how it looks in tree-context:

A tutorial for the Squared Circles beaded bead is available in my Etsy shop, and I'm currently writing a tutorial for the Circle Starburst beaded bead. I meant to get it done before Christmas, but I've found that the busy holiday season is not conducive to writing!

In the meantime, I hope you have a warm, happy holiday!

Season's Greetings!

Craft Show This Saturday!

I'm participating in a craft show this Saturday, December 12, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the knit-one-one studio in Berkeley, CA! The show will feature about 10 local artisans, who will be displaying all kinds of crafts including jewelry, textiles, pottery, and papercrafts! The show will take place in the intimate knit-one-one crafting studio at 3360 Adeline Street, Berkeley CA, so it's a great chance to do some holiday shopping without the hassle and crowds of the malls.

I'll be bringing a wide selection of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets to the show, as well as some print copies of my beaded bead tutorials. In addition to the pieces available in my Etsy shop, here's a sneak peak of some of the items I'll have on sale at the craft show:

If you're in the area, I'd love to see you there!

New Tutorial - Squared Circles Beaded Beads

I just finished my newest beaded bead tutorial - the Squared Circles beaded bead:

I like how this design works with both Czech glass lentils as well as Swarovski crystal circle pendants. I used the air blue opal shade of these crystals for these very wintery earrings:

This design also works with both larger lentils and crystals, as well as oddly-shaped "ovaltine" beads such as those in the focal beaded bead in this necklace:

This necklace features Squared Circles beaded beads as well as a variation of my Circle Starburst beaded bead woven from "ovaltine" beads. Czech firepolish beads and freshwater pearls complete this grey necklace.

Remember that the SATeam Wrist Candy Holiday Giveaway ends on 12/6, and until then anyone who purchases an item from any of the participating SATeam shops will be entered in a drawing to win a beautiful charm bracelet valued at over $400! At my shop, this promotion is valid for each jewelry and tutorial sale, so it's applicable to this new Squared Circles beaded bead tutorial too :). Search SATEAMWRIST at Etsy for other fabulous sale items!

New Lentil Beaded Beads

I have a soft spot for lentil glass beads. Maybe it's because I like teardrop beads a lot too. I've been working on incorporating them into beaded beads for close to two years now, and it's been such a challenge to engineer a solid beaded bead structure without the lentils flopping all over the place! After many attempts (resulting in many ugly prototypes), I've finally come up with some structures that I'm happy with.

The first is about 16 mm in diameter, and is completely hollow. I've named it "squared circles" since the circle-shaped lentils form a cube-like structure, and I thought it was a rather quirky name :). I made three of these beaded beads for this necklace:

This necklace also features some of Melissa Vess's beautiful lampwork beads. I was happy to find that the high-luster lentils ended up matching the lampwork beads perfectly!

This design is so versatile; it also works very well with Swarovski circle pendants. Here are two in a pair of earrings:

The other structure is much larger (24 mm!) and was much more difficult to design. It took lots of work and experimenting before I finally constructed this design to my satisfaction, as the prototypes to this beaded bead were either too squishy, or so stiff that completing the structure was physically impossible. I named it "circle starburst," and made it into a solo pendant in a Southwestern color palette:

I hope to complete tutorials of these designs before the end of the year, and I'm working on incorporating crystals into the circle starburst design as well. I'm trying to come up with a special holiday deal for these tutorials, so keep an eye on this blog!