Lots of Bracelets were woven last week!

As I said in my last post, in addition to the double spiral bracelet I stitched with peanut beads, I also made quite a few other bracelets last week:

Last week was a productive week for beadweaving! (absent from photo: the peanut double spiral)

From top to bottom, in no particular order (more details below!):
1) Chevron Stitch bracelet, from BeadandButton.com, 2010  (Link to this pattern is no longer available - sorry!)
2) Flutter Bracelet, from AroundtheBeadingTable.com
3) Octopus Bracelet, which I found here as a free downloadable .pdf (it's in French, but all you need are the pics - I swear!)
4) Superduo and Peanut Bracelet ("Button Bridges") from Bead and Button Online.
5) Brick and Peanut Bracelet (Cherry Blossom Lattice) from FusionBeads.com.
6) Peanut Bracelet (Seurat") from Beadwork, June/July, 2014, pp. 74-75.
7) Pinch Bead and Freshwater Pearl bracelet from BeadandButton.com, 2006.
8) Superduo and Cube Bracelet (Skinny Twin Cube Band) from AroundTheBeadingTable.com (Abort! Abort!)

Double spiral with pink and purple peanut beads

I already talked about the double spiral in my last post, so let's look at some of the other bracelets - and be prepared; as usual, I'm gonna tell it like it is - at least, for me. Your mileage may vary....

1) The chevron stitch bracelet - this was a brand new stitch for me, and the pattern was super simple and fast ..... however:

1) This bracelet makes up much, much narrower than I expected it to be from looking at the picture on the pattern, partially because:
2) The materials list (in a box, at the top of the pattern, on page 53) calls for 5g of size 8/0 seed beads. So, I grabbed some 8/0s in my color scheme, and stitched away. The base makes up in a flash! Then, I proceeded through the rest of the pattern, and when I was completely done, clasp and all, I read the caption that accompanies the picture of the finished bracelet, at the very bottom of the page, where it says "The base of this bracelet is made with 8/0 Japanese cylinder [emphasis is MINE] beads." Um....seems like THAT piece of information should have been included in the materials list, because there's a difference between 8/0 seed beads and 8/0 cylinder beads. Jus' sayin'.

 Chevron Stitch bracelet, top

 Chevron stitch bracelet, underside

Nonetheless, it was a fun bracelet, and I am currently working on a much wider version. 'Cause that's the way I roll...

2) The Flutter Bracelet (top bracelet in picture below)- I am always looking for fun superduo patterns, and this one certainly was fun, and I think it's very pretty:

 3 superduo bracelets: Flutter, Octopus, and Skinny Twin

 I chose neon blue Superduos, capri blue 3mm Firepolish, Vitrail 4mm Firepolish, and galvanized silver 11/0s. The bracelet works up very quickly.

3) The Octopus (the middle bracelet in the pic above):
This pattern is free, and in French. I went to the trouble to run all the written instructions through Google Translate, but I urge you not to bother: half the important words get lost in translation anyway, and you honestly don't need them, because the illustrations are fantastic. Just know that this is a 2-needle pattern (my first! Ta-da!)

This one also works up very quickly. I love the gentle ruffling! I chose bright yellow superduos for the center motifs, because they look like flowers to me, so I made the surrounding 11/0s green (for the leaves!), and the outer and middle 11/0s purple, to look like more blooms.

8) The Skinny Twin Cube Band (the bottom bracelet in the pic above) (Yeah, I'm going out of order ... sue me!):

OK - the pattern calls for Twins, and I substituted Superduos. No problem.
The pattern calls for 2 colors of Twins, and I just used one color. No big deal.
The pattern calls for 3mm cubes. Check.
The pattern calls for 11/0 seed beads. Check.

I knew there was a problem when I finished stitching the second unit of Superduos, but I went ahead and added two more (thinking it would get better as it got longer...maybe?) before I finally bailed on this pattern. The bracelet's too narrow, but that's not the problem. The problem? It is so stiff it is almost inflexible. Part of this could be my tension, because I'm kinda known for my ultratight tension. But I lay the blame on the cubes. Round beads will all roll beside each other when you try to wrap the stitching around your wrist. Cube beads? Not big on rolling! You can actually hear the cube beads rubbing on each other as you try to bend the bracelet! I could see that this was going to be an uncomfortable bracelet to wear, so I quit, leaving just a sample for any interested customers to play with/inspect.

4) The Button Bridges Bracelet (superduo and peanuts):

In addition to always looking for fun Superduo patterns, I'm also on the lookout for fun peanut and/or brick patterns!

This pattern almost didn't get made ... it calls for something called "Crystaletts," and: I don't have any, and besides that, I think they look cheap and gaudy (there, I said it) in the pictures featured with the pattern. But it uses Peanuts and Superduos ... so I tried to look past the Crystalletts. It called for 3mm Crystaletts, and I am a big substituter, so I worked up the bracelet with 3mm Firepolish, which worked perfectly.

 Superduo and Peanut Bracelet, top

Superduo and Peanut bracelet, underside

The base of the bracelet is stitched first, with Superduos in herringbone. This takes awhile, and you have to really pull your tension tight after every stitch in order to get the beads to line up without your Fireline showing.

I really like this pattern, but again, it's a little too narrow for me. I love the netted and picot peanut embellishing on the sides, though! Peanuts are fun!

5) The Cherry Blossom Lattice (brick and peanut bracelet):

First, the pattern calls for a double row of RAW,

Cherry Blossom Lattice, picture courtesy FusionBeads.com

and that was a little too much for me, so I stopped with a single row.(I know, hard to believe, right? After all my talk about liking wider bracelets? But my issue here wasn't the width, it was the busy-ness of the pattern. Too many colors and shapes, and it just looked to fussy for ME. Again, YMMV.

Second, the pattern called for 3mm Swarovski pearls, so naturally, I substituted 3mm Firepolish. Worked great!

Brick and Peanut Right Angle Weave

Another fast project!

6) The all peanut bracelet (Seurat): Easily my favorite of all of these!

Nothin' but Peanuts ... Netted Peanuts

I fell in love with this bracelet the minute I saw it in Beadwork - I love the colors, and I love matte beads, so I knew I was going to try to duplicate the colors in the magazine as closely as I could.

The pattern calls for 11 different matte colors of peanut beads; I didn't have that many, so that was a minor speed bump. I ended up using 7 different colors (2 for the 1st row, 2 for the second row, and 3 for the 3rd row, although 2 of these are so close in hue that they might as well be the same color!). I unfortunately didn't have a matte purple (or matte anything else that would work) for the 2nd row, and had to substitute a shiny one - I can live with it, but just barely....

One word of caution about this pattern: I strongly urge you to at least use (at least) 2 colors for each row, and to alternate them in your pick-ups, as I did. Otherwise, you will lose your dang mind trying to count peanuts when you go to add the next row, trying to find the middle peanut of each net! If you are alternating colors, you can train your eye to aim for the color that the middle peanut is, and not have to worry that your count is off, because it won't be (unless you screwed up your bead order).

This is a really fun pattern (if you like netting), and very fast.

7) The pinch bead and FWP bracelet:

pinch bead and FWP bracelet, top

Pinch bead and FWP bracelet, underside

I had to really dig into the archives for this one, but I love the result - those irregular freshwater pearls (in my favorite color: Peacock!) look fantastic in this bracelet.

I had a good reason for digging this one up: In my zeal to add peanuts, bricks, 2-hole lentils, and 2-hole tiles to the bead shop's inventory, something had to go .... and that something was pinch beads. Pinch beads have been a regular item in my shop forever, and I frequently use them in spirals, Russian spirals, and more - but their popularity has fallen off among my customers, so they were the obvious choice to discontinue. My whole stock of pinch beads is now in the sale bin, and I wanted to work up a sample of something quick, easy, and pretty that used the pinch beads. Hence, this particular bracelet: Perfect!

So, that covers last week. Almost. I also started on some soldered bangle bracelets on Saturday, and will be working on them more today once I get this post finished. I'm also putting the finishing touches on the wider chevron stitch bracelet I mentioned above.... more details later!

Peanuts! Get Your Peanut (Beads) Here!

I've been playing around with Peanut Beads, and just finished this double spiral bracelet:

Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

 detail, Purple and Pink Double Spiral Bracelet by Sweet Freedom Designs

I capped the rope with some of my own enameled beads, in matching purple, then added a sterling silver toggle.

This is actually the 3rd bracelet I've made using Peanuts this week (and the 7th bracelet I've woven this week - very productive week!), but the other bracelets I made were patterns from bead mags, so this is the first one I've made without following someone else's directions. [In addition to Peanut beads, I have a LOT of new shaped beads in the shop, and have been madly working up various patterns to show customers how to use these fun beads. If you guys want to see what I've been stitching, let me know in the comments, and I'll take some photos and get a post up!]

I'm really loving this double spiral bracelet, for a couple of reasons.
1) It's gorgeous! I love the colors, and I love the textures the peanuts impart. Lots of fun!
2) This marks my first successful double spiral! Way back in 2012, I made a quite a few stabs at getting the double spiral into my repertoire - and 2 blog posts: Here, and here. Now that I have dared to try it again, I realize that all my problems and anguish 2 years ago were NOT the fault of the directions I was trying to follow -- the problem was that I was trying to work too many sizes and colors of beads into my double spiral.

I have made hundred of single spirals, and always use different sizes, shapes, and colors in the pattern. I love to mix up the colors and textures, and often end up with very chunky spiral ropes, which I love. Here are just a few (I swear!):

So, enough about my sordid past with spirals - back to the double spiral. Obviously (at least, NOW it is obvious to me), the secret to a successful double spiral is to limit your colors to TWO, and keep your bead sizes fairly similar. Too much business in either color or texture makes the double-ness and the spiral pattern disappear.

Can't wait to explore more variations, different bead types, etc.! I may even try a triple spiral!

And the purple and pink double spiral bracelet is available in my Etsy shop!

New Necklace and Earrings

As the owner of a bead shop, I make a lot of projects featured in various beading magazines, so that customers can see the designs worked up (they often look so different than they do in the mags!) and get ideas about colors, etc. My latest necklace and earring set all started when I was working on one of these bracelets...

This particular bracelet, a right angle weave (RAW) design, was featured in the October - November, 2013 issue of Beadwork (yes, I'm a little behind on my to-do list!):

RAW bracelet featured in Oct-Nov 2013 Beadwork

 RAW bracelet featured in Oct-Nov 2013 Beadwork

I chose some very luxe-looking, opaque, turquoise and bronze 8mm Czech firepolish beads, and paired them with metallic bronze 3mm Czech firepolish beads, and just love the result. It's so rich-looking, and everyone who sees it just drools over it!

As I was working it up, I was intrigued by the zigzagging shape, and once I completed the 3rd RAW unit, I had a little V-shaped beaded unit in my hand that started my brain thinking about other design possibilities. By the time I had added the 4th and 5th units, I knew that I would be making a necklace from these units.

After completing the bracelet, I started stitching up 3-unit segments with this pattern, using the same beads. I finished by stitching one 5-unit segment.

I tried many different ways to connect these RAW units before hitting upon the one I finally went with: lustrous 12mm bronzite rounds. I then placed genuine turquoise rondelles at the back to complete the design, and chose a Vintaj Natural Brass S-hook and chain for the closure:

Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

 

detail, Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

closure, Turquoise and brown handwoven necklace by Sweet Freedom Designs

Then I stitched up a couple of one-unit segments for the earrings, adding the netting embellishment to both sides, so there's no "back" as the earrings sway and move:

Turquoise and bronze handwoven earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

The necklace and earrings are available separately in my Etsy shop!

Well Traveled: A Beadweaving Tutorial for Superduos and Czech 2-hole Tiles

Drumroll, please.....

While I was without a camera for 3 months, I busied myself with my Superduos, and managed to create an original design using the Superduos and Czech 2-hole tiles. After stitching a number of the bracelets, then teaching it to a couple of willing students, I holed myself up with my computer, and set about to create a .pdf tutorial ... which I am quite pleased with!

Well Traveled, a tutorial by Sweet Freedom Designs

In addition to the 10-page, full color tutorial, full of diagrams, photos, and step-by-step instructions, I also have put together kits for 8 different colorways. The kits contain BEADS ONLY - no needles, Fireline, or clasp, although if you contact me through my Etsy shop (where the kits are available) I will be happy to choose a clasp for you for a small additional charge.

The tutorial is available in my Etsy shop, as are the kits. I hope you'll take a look!

Custom Earrings

I finally got my camera back (Yay!), and just finished creating these custom earrings for a friend I met on Facebook:

Sterling Silver and Copper Earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

I cut and pierced the sterling silver squares, then hammered and oxidized them. I added copper wire accents, and a champagne-colored Czech glass bead at the top.

I think she'll love them!

My heart is breaking

I haven't posted in awhile, despite having been very busy creating, because my camera experienced some technical difficulties, and I had been jury-rigging it (duct tape!) and limping along with it since Thanksgiving, but in mid March I decided to bite the bullet and take it to the camera shop. They don't do the repairs there; they ship everything to New York (I think) - and they told me it would be 2-3 weeks, and of course it has turned into 6 or 7 weeks, and they only called me 2 days ago with the estimate, so I know it will be many more weeks until I can post some new content.

In the interim, my sweet baby Bailey decided to become a finicky eater about 3 weeks ago, picking at his food lazily, but otherwise everything seemed fine. He has always struggled to maintain his weight (he could never get above 63 pounds). I drive an SUV, and it's kind of high off the ground, so when he started to limp on his right front shoulder/leg about 3 weeks ago, I figured he had re-strained his shoulder landing on it getting out of the car. It's happened a couple of times before.

My sweet boy, Bailey

We visited the vet, got some antiinflammatory meds, and he got a little better, but kept a residual limp. I had already increased the meds to the maximum dose, so when I ran out of pills, I called in for a refill, and went to get them last Monday. I took him with me, because he loves to go everywhere with me, and I wanted to recheck his weight anyway.

Well, he had lost down to 57 lbs, which really caught me off guard, and alarmed the doctor, who ordered a full battery of blood and urine tests. All the tests came back normal  - that was Tuesday - so the doctor told me he wanted to add another pain pill, and that I needed to do whatever necessary to get calories into him, even if that meant just feeding him treats. He had a terrific appetite for his treats; he just didn't want dogfood!

 my popcorn-loving boy

So I fed him treats, and gravy-covered treats, but he started to have terrible diarrhea, so we returned to the vet, and got more medicine - antibiotics and anti-nausea meds. That was yesterday.

Overnight he rallied a bit, but after lunch today he really started to deteriorate, and I had to lead him to the Rainbow Bridge at 4:45 this afternoon.

The house is just not the same - so empty - and I know it will be worse at the Shop, since he has worked there with me everyday, greeting the customers and keeping me company.

 Bailey, chillin' at the Bead Shop

He was the sweetest boy, and my heart is just breaking.

Custom Wedding Earrings

The granddaughter of one of my customers is getting married soon, so my customer wanted to gift her with some special earrings for her big day:

Custom Pearl, Swarovski Crystal, and Sterling Silver Bridal Earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

Custom Pearl, Swarovski Crystal, and Sterling Silver Bridal Earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

Custom Pearl, Swarovski Crystal, and Sterling Silver Bridal Earrings by Sweet Freedom Designs

As usual, my pictures don't do these earrings justice: the iridescent white freshwater pearls, the shiny sterling silver, and the sparkling Swarovski AB crystals are so pretty!

My customer loved them, and I wish I could be there tomorrow when her granddaughter (the bride-to-be) sees them, because I had a hard time letting go of them! I love how they turned out!