Phantom Quartz Ring finished

Finished the Phantom Quartz ring, used flat herringbone for the ring band for a change.

Phantom Quartz Ring

Working on a new project. The stone is a phantom quartz, a cabochon around 24mm x 16mm. Quite tricky for me to bezel as it is elongated.

It's quite lovely, there are flecks of green within the crystal itself so I decided to use a green Delica with silver lined brown size 15s to cinch it. Of course there's still the usual 13 Czech charlottes.

I bezeled it in such a way that the stone itself is clear and you can see right through it. It's interesting how the stone refracts images around it in such a way that even though the back is bezeled quite tighter, it isn't showing in front.

Here is the back.

Pearl Orbit finished

Finally finished Laura McCabe's Pearl Orbit bracelet and it actually looks like the one in the magazine picture. :)

The connectors were kinda tricky but once I got the hang of it I came to appreciate and make sense of it.

I just wish I had more gold-toned cylinder beads. The transparent topaz seems to be too much here. Or not. Maybe it's just right as it provides some other color to pop out.

The finished bracelet. Fits nicely too.

Pearl Orbit part 4

Continuing the Pearl Orbit bracelet and was able to connect five of the pearl axis rings. It's starting to take shape now.

Stitching the connectors was kinda tricky. The 4mm pearls got in the way a lot and you need to really look closely to see where you're at or else you could get lost. And while you're adding these pearls you have to maintain the herringbone form.

The next step would be to add the small pearl clusters to each end of the bracelet.

Seeing how it drapes across my wrist. I think it looks quite nice.

Cabochon Bezel Ring finished

Just finished the ring. The stone is a 8mm x 18mm blackstone diopside.

I decided to add single Czech 13 charlottes along the edge of the ring band.

Back to Pearl Orbit in a while. :)

Cabochon Bezel Ring

I got a request today to make a quick cabochon bezel ring. So I set aside the Pearl Orbit project for the meantime to work on the ring.

The stone is oval, around 8mm x 12mm. It's such a stunning stone. It has these little light refractions similar to Tiger's Eye, but it crisscrosses in two directions and only at a certain angle to light. It's pretty special.

The cabochon belongs to my client. She said it's just lying around and she was reluctant to have it set in silver and wanted something different.

I started working on the bezel itself a couple of hours ago, and I used size 11 Delica cylinders. I used size 15 rocailles for the reducers and size 13 Charlottes for the embellishment. I didn't want to overdo the embellishment because I didn't want to distract too much from the beauty of the cabochon and wanted to make it my focus.

I was thinking of making a flat herringbone for the band but decided that peyote flows more smoothly and therefore will be sturdier because everything fits together nicely. Will continue the band tomorrow.

The picture can't capture the beauty of the stone well enough.

Bead Crochet Dreams

Woke up at 4am and had a hard time going back to sleep so I ended up browsing youtube. For some reason I kept thinking of bead crochet. It's one of the techniques I haven't tried just yet so I looked it up. Found this video that makes it look so easy.

Bead and Button Magazine thru Zinio

I bought the December 2011 issue of Bead and Button magazine on Zinio today. It's a digital newsstand where you can purchase digital versions of many popular magazines. It's perfect for me because I can't wait for three weeks for my issue to arrive.

I signed up a few days ago and tried their free issues. I downloaded the iPhone app and apparently not all magazines are available yet for the iPhone.

So I downloaded the Zinio Reader for Windows so I can read my magazines on my desktop.

I was excited about the new Bead & Button and found this project I wanted to do. I was going to print it out but the Zinio Reader kept crashing everytime I tried to print.

I emailed them and haven't gotten a reply yet. I sure hope they resolve this.

Despite this, I think Zinio is great. It's so convenient to be able to get the magazines you need in a few clicks.

It's kinda like the Newsstand app of Apple iOS5, but Newsstand doesn't have beading magazines yet.

Pearl Orbit part 3

Continuing with Laura McCabe's Pearl Orbit bracelet.


Continued embellishing today. I could imagine that it might be cuter if I used size 15 Charlottes. Although I guess it still looks nice using size 13s.


Finished embellishing three rings, two more to go. The sixth ring will be the toggle ring. Can't wait to finish this!

Embellishing with size 13 Czech Charlottes

Finished one ring

Kinda looks like eyes!

Pearl Orbit part 2

Continued the bracelet parts today, finished the six rings and now I just finished adding the pearl and embellishing one of the rings.

Keeping the right tension was quite tricky. I guess one reason is because I'm using 13/o Charlottes instead of the specified 15/o.

The pearl I'm using is a bit less than 8mm in diameter. These are freshwater pearls so the sizes vary a bit and aren't exact.

Pearl Orbit

Fast forward to today. Started on a new pattern from Your Bead Style called Pearl Orbit. It's by Laura McCabe. I love her work, especially the Art Deco-inspired ones. Very structured.

Rummaged through my stash and decided to go with black pearls and rondelle crystals.

I don't have 15/o Charlottes, Czech or Japanese, so I attempted to make 13/o's work and I think they do so far for the peyote rings. I had to adjust my tension though. The first ring was a bi too tight, and considering I was using bigger beads for the clincher instead of the tiny 15's, I had to loosen up a bit Got the tension right with the second ring and so far I've only finished two rings.

I know they always say that you have to read a pattern through before you actually start, but I just scan everything then go right to the materials list. So I'm not sure if the 13s will be fine with the rest of the project. I sure hope so. I don't want to have to order it online and wait three weeks for it to arrive before I can continue something when I've already started.

More tomorrow.

The one on the left has tighter tension. The one on the right is a bit looser and I think it looks better.

Swarovski Fan Necklace and Earrings

My next project was the Swarovski necklace and earrings set on the cover of Bead and Button Magazine. I ordered the curved bar links from jjbead.com, the one specified in the resources page of the magazine issue. I did look around other online bead stores but only jjbead had the size that I needed for the necklace and earrings.

Also, since I was just beginning to follow patterns, I had to make sure I used only the materials listed or it might not turn out the same way and I had no way of fixing it.

I was able to buy the Swarovski bicones from a local bead shop, both 4mm and 3mm. I couldn't wait to get started!

And the magazine was right. It was a quick project and it was very pretty. It uses a crossweave technique and the curved bar links made it even more elegant.

Peyote Celebration Ruffle

I bought this kit from Fusionbeads.com last March and this is my very first project. I was so excited because after practicing with the only locally available Chinese seed beads, working with Miyuki delica cylinder beads was simply delightful!


It was also my first time to use Fireline and it was also a pleasant surprise and I've loved it ever since. I found that I couldn't cut it with regular scissors. That's how strong it is. I had to use a cutter blade a few times just to cut it off.

It was the perfect beginner project as it used even-count Peyote stitch. The fringe was also quite easy, but I just had to have enough patience for it! :)

Here is the finished bracelet. I love the clasp as it's multi-strand and magnetic, which isn't locally available.

Matching Earrings

Finished the earrings to match the peyote / right angle weave ring.

Made two components on each. Three seems to be too long. And then added the three crystals.

Combination Peyote and Right Angle Weave

I just realized that I'm also a newbie blogger so I'm still getting the hang of this.

Today I made a ring based on the pattern entitled Creative Connections as designed by Antonio Calles from the Bead and Button February 2010 issue.

I started out intending to make the bracelet, but when I saw that six of the small components could close and fit my ring finger, I turned it into a ring.

Initially I placed three elongated crystals in the center, but decided to rearrange them after some prodding from my boyfriend. He has some great suggestions sometimes.

I just had to reinforce the components with additional seed beads to make the connections sturdier.

Plan to make earrings to match.

First version of the ring. The individual components are only joined by a single bead.

Crystals rearranged. I think it does look better.

Introducing...

I'm a semi-newbie beader. I started less than a year ago but I got so hooked that I now call myself a Beadaholic.

I particularly find myself drawn to off-loom beadweaving. I love peyote and herringbone and everything in between. I found a Bead and Button magazine and I just had to make what they had on the cover. That was how the bug got me.

I live in the Philippines so finding the materials for the project wasn't exactly easy. But thank heavens for online stores so I bought my initial supplies online and had to wait a few weeks before I could even start.

But I got started all right. And kept going.

I bought a few more magazines, found local stores with some of the materials I needed, and bought the rest online. I had to follow patterns so that I could learn the techniques, and I wanted wearable pieces already instead of just practice swatches so I dove right in.

To date I've made nineteen pieces of beaded jewelry and sold eleven of them. I'm currently negotiating with a shop owner who wants to buy my pieces.

I can't truthfully say that I'm a designer just yet. I've made pieces from patterns designed by somebody else. I would choose different colors, add a little something here and there, but I still can't call them my own. I look forward to that day though when I've mastered enough of the techniques to let my own expressions flow freely. I know it doesn't happen overnight but I'm willing to take it a day at a time. After all, this is technically a hobby.

And every day is a beading adventure. Sometimes the ideas come and sometimes they don't. Sometimes inspiration comes and other times I feel that I really have to rely on a magazine pattern to tell me what to make. But I'll get there.

An early swatch attempt with square stitch using 10/o seed beeds with what I now know as Ceylon finish.