Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Beaded Choker Chain with Sterling Silver Snowflake Charms

This is another piece of winter/snowflake jewelry I created using some supplies given to me from Artbeads.com. These charms are pretty adorable and I imagine you can do just about anything with them. My mother is a huge snowflake fan—so when I saw them I thought of her right away.

You could make earrings with them or even a simple charm bracelet for the snow lover in your life. I wanted to do something a little different and I tend to really like to stitch beads. So,  I made a beaded chain.

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What’s neat about this design is that it looks like a chain but it’s made of really pretty soft blue delica beads. It wears SO nicely on your neck. Not heavy at all and the charms are equally spaced across the front making for a very cute wintery necklace.

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The supplies I used were Miyuki 8g 11/0 Trans Pearl Dusky Blue Delicas, Fireline, and Sterling Silver Snowflake with Blue Crystal Charms. You can download the free instructions here.

Full Disclosure: Most of the beads you see are from Artbeads.com.  Some of the items I had on hand but many of the items are from them. To be clear; they gave me the beads so I would create and then write. Nothing really very sinister but I need to tell you this all upfront so none of us gets into trouble.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Chevron Chain of Ice

The challenge was to make some jewelry that brought snowflakes to mind. We’ve had quite a bit of snow here in the Northeast and I’m honestly rather sick of looking at it. However, this bracelet is so pretty I don’t even mind that it reminds me of the cold stuff. I used a pattern from an old copy of Bead & Button I had laying around. The pattern is for sale on their site.

 

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Instead of alternating the beads to create a flower design I kept all the beads the same. My friends at Artbeads.com provided me with some really pretty beads. The seed beads are  Miyuki 8g 11/0 Trans Pearl Dusky Blue Delicas and the other beads, new on Artbeads.com, are 3mm Alexandrite Druk Beads.  I have to admit I’ve never worked with Druk beads before but really loved them by the time I was done.

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This bracelet design is nice because no clasp purchase is necessary. You use the same beads to create your own clasp!

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Full Disclosure: Most of the beads you see are from Artbeads.com.  Some of the items I had on hand but many of the items are from them. To be clear; they gave me the beads so I would create and then write. Nothing really very sinister but I need to tell you this all upfront so none of us gets into trouble.

Snowflake Pearl & Crystal Bracelet

I modified a simple daisy chain with right angle weave and created a bracelet you can finish in a day. It works up very quickly. The challenge was for me to create something that resembled a snowflake. My 5 year old daughter, Annabelle, says what I’ve made is not a snowflake because a true snowflake has 6 points. She said it’s still pretty anyway—so I’m grateful.

My friends at Artbeads.com supplied me with the seed beads for this bracelet.

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I used some really pretty silver toho beads. I also used some crystalized pearls I had on hand in a soft pink. The pink and silver beads look amazing together.

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If you’d like to make this bracelet, feel free to download my free directions.

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Full Disclosure: Most of the beads you see are from Artbeads.com.  Some of the items I had on hand but many of the items are from them. To be clear; they gave me the beads so I would create and then write. Nothing really very sinister but I need to tell you this all upfront so none of us gets into trouble.