Monday, April 25, 2016

How to make Rose Quartz POP!



Week 7 of the RedPandaBeads.com 2016 Spring Fashion Colors Series features the color Rose Quartz—a real wishy-washy color, in my opinion. I was wondering how Betsy was going to make this color pop and WOW, did she ever! My Rosaline Gold Bracelet and Printemps Earring patterns never looked so hot! Click HERE or on the photo above for exact beads used and links to these free patterns.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Need a burst of sunshine!


Week 6 of the RedPandaBeads.com 2016 Spring Fashion Colors Series features the color Buttercup, which Betsy has used to bead up my Twin Peaks Bracelet and Earrings pattern. Click HERE or on the photo below for exact beads used and links to this free pattern:

 Twin Peaks Bracelet and Earrings

Monday, April 4, 2016

The hottest new bead in town: DiamonDuo!

One of the latest new Czech two-hole beads is the DiamonDuo bead, manufactured and distributed by Bead Master. These two-hole, diamond-shaped beads measure about 5mm by 8mm and come in 65 colors… if you can find them! They seem to sell out almost immediately.

I got my DiamonDuo batch from Betsy at RedPandaBeads.com a couple weeks ago and they sold out within a couple hours. She’s got a new batch in today—a restock of most existing colors and 21 new colors, available for sale, click HERE or on the photo below:


There aren’t really that many patterns out yet for the DiamonDuo beads but Bead Master has a few free ones on their website, click HERE. The sweetest, I think, is the Desert Blossom:


Linda Genaw has a spectacular free pattern up on her blog called the Arabella Earrings that uses DiamonDuo beads and size 15/0, 11/0 and 8/0 seed beads, click HERE or on the photo below. I made some using Turquoise Bronze DiamondDuo beads and Miyuki  #4204 Duracoat Champagne rocaille seed beads in all three sizes:

While rebeading a couple of my existing patterns to see if DiamonDuo beads could be subbed in for other Czech two-hole beads, I fell in love with the color combination of the Pastel Bordeaux and bronze that I used to bead up a new Trestle Band (click HERE or on the image below for the exact beads used listed at the bottom of the pattern page):


…and my Roundabout Bracelet looks entirely different and just fantastic using those Turquoise Bronze DiamonDuo beads  (click HERE or on the image below for the exact beads used listed at the bottom of the pattern page):



These beads are a blast!

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Free pattern: Twin Peaks Bracelet & Earrings


Twin Peaks Bracelet and Earrings, free pattern

Twin Peaks Bracelet & Earrings
(©2016 Deborah Roberti)

BRACELET MATERIALS
• About 2.25 yards of 6 lb. FireLine
• About 325 size 11/0 seed beads
• About 20 size 8/0 seed beads (or 3mm round beads)
• 46 SuperDuo beads
• 11 two-hole beads (can be Silky beads, Honeycomb beads, DiscDuo beads or 6mm 2-hole Cabochon beads)
• clasp
EARRING MATERIALS
• About 4 feet of 6 lb. FireLine
• About 100 size 11/0 seed beads
• 8 size 8/0 seed beads (or 3mm round beads)
• 20 SuperDuo beads
• 4 two-hole beads (can be Silky beads, Honeycomb beads, DiscDuo beads or 6mm 2-hole Cabochon beads)
• two small (2-4mm) closed jump rings
• a pair of earring findings


Step 1: Thread your needle with about 2.25 yards of FireLine.

Leaving about a 10-inch tail for attaching the clasp, hold onto your tail thread and go down the left side of a SuperDuo bead and then around and up through the right side of this same SuperDuo bead:


String two 11/0 seed beads, a two-hole bead, two 11/0 seed beads and a SuperDuo bead:


Go around and down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead that you just strung:



String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the two-hole bead highlighted in RED:


String two 11/0 seed beads. Grab your tail thread and tie a tight double knot:


Step 2: Go down through the left hole of the bottom SuperDuo bead, around and up through the right hole of this same SuperDuo bead.

Continue on up through the two 11/0 seed beads, the two-hole bead, the two 11/0 seed beads and the right hole of the top SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 3: String two SuperDuo beads, two 11/0 seed beads, a two-hole bead, two 11/0 seed beads and another SuperDuo bead:


Step 4: Go around and down through the left side of the SuperDuo bead that you added in the last step:


Step 5: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the two-hole bead highlighted in RED:


Step 6: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 7: String another SuperDuo bead. Go down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 8: Go around and up through the right hole of the SuperDuo bead that you exited at the end of the last step.

Continue on up through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead above, the right hole of the next SuperDuo bead, the two 11/0 seed beads, the two-hole bead, the two 11/0 seed beads and the right hole of the top SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 9: Repeat Step 3 to Step 8 until your bracelet is the length you want it, minus about a quarter-inch and the length of your clasp:


Step 10: Go around and down through the left hole of the top SuperDuo bead and the two 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED:


Step 11: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and down through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 12: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 13: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 14: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 15: Repeat Step 12, 13 and 14 until you come to the end of the bracelet:


Step 16: Go down through the 11/0 seed bead and the left hole of the bottom SuperDuo bead. Go around and up through the right hole of this same SuperDuo bead and the two 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED:


Step 17: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and up through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 18: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go up through the right hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 19: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go up through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 20: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 21: Repeat Step 18 to Step 20 until you come to the end of the bracelet:


NOTE: If you don’t like the “peaks” (they can be too wobbly for some), skip Step 22 to Step 25. Just make sure that you exit from the right hole of the top SuperDuo bead to attach the clasp in Step 26 to Step 29.

Step 22: Go around through the beads highlighted in RED:


Step 23: String an 11/0 seed bead, an 8/0 seed bead and an 11/0 seed bead. Go around the SuperDuo bead and down through the 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED to form a peak:


Step 24: String an 11/0 seed bead, an 8/0 seed bead and an 11/0 seed bead. Go around the SuperDuo bead and down through the 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED to form another peak:


Step 25: Repeat the last step on both sides of the the bracelet:


Step 26: To attach one end of the clasp, string three 11/0 seed beads. Go through the clasp and then back through the third 11/0 seed bead that you just strung:


Step 27: String two more 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED, around and up through the right hole of this same SuperDuo bead:


Step 28: Go back around through the beads highlighted in RED and the clasp several times:

Weave back into the bracelet, knot in several places and then cut your thread.

Step 29:
 To attach the clasp to the other end of your bracelet, thread your needle with the tail thread from Step 1:


Repeat Steps 26-29.

TWIN PEAKS EARRINGS

Twin Peaks Bracelet and Earrings, free pattern

Step 1-8: Repeat Step 1 to 8 of the Twin Peaks Bracelet but start with about two feet of Fireline and leave a five-inch tail that you can weave in and make disappear at any time:


Step 9: String an 11/0 seed bead and an 8/0 seed bead. Go through the jump ring and then back down through the 8/0 seed bead that you just strung.

String another 11/0 seed bead. Go down through the left hole of the top SuperDuo bead and the two 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED:


Step 10: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and down through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 11: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 12: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go down through the seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 13: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and down through the two 11/0 seed beads and the left hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 14: String an 11/0 seed bead, an 8/0 seed bead and an 11/0 seed bead. Go around and up through the right hole of the SuperDuo bead and the two 11/0 seed beads highlighted in RED:


Step 15: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 16: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go up through the right hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 17: String two 11/0 seed beads. Go up through the 11/0 seed bead highlighted in RED:


Step 18: String four 11/0 seed beads. Go around the two-hole bead and through the two 11/0 seed beads and the right hole of the SuperDuo bead highlighted in RED:


Step 19: Go back around through the beads highlighted in RED and the jump ring:


Step 20: String an 11/0 seed bead, an 8/0 seed bead and an 11/0 seed bead. Go around the SuperDuo bead and around through the beads highlighted in RED:


Step 21: String an 11/0 seed bead, an 8/0 seed bead and an 11/0 seed bead. Go around the SuperDuo bead and through the beads highlighted in RED:


Weave back into your earring, knot and cut your thread. Attach your earring finding to the jump ring.