Bead Wish List: Flowers

One of my favorite times of year has arrived – the neighborhood is covered with drifts of pretty pink cherry blossom petals, and the light fragrance of flowers is everywhere. I’m especially fond of the way the blossoms look against a cloudless blue sky. The color combination is definitely bead-worthy!

Flowers are one of those special jewelry inspirations that go around and around in a circle. Everyone loves flowers, so there are lots of flower beads and beading patterns out there. Since they’re so abundant, flowers designs are great for inspiration, and they make us love flowers all over again. It’s also easy to use flowers as inspiration because there are just so many options. From daisy chains to orchids, the possibilities are endless.

I went on a search for some of the most exciting and inspiring flower beads available right now. I saw a lot of old stand-bys like chrysanthemum cabochons and such, and discovered a few new things as well. These are my favorites:

The green and blue palette of these Java glass rounds
from Happy Mango Beads are irresistible!





Another great color in a classic Czech glass bead design
from Czech Beads Exclusive. So yummy!





There are about a million variations of Lucite calla lilies out there, all of them gorgeous,
but it was these pretty Lucite daisies from Beadaholique that stopped me in my tracks.





Strawberry blossoms are another personal favorite, and this lampwork cab
by Iveta Linde on Etsy is simply perfect!





Pastels are fabulous in floral motifs, like these Czech glass
opal buttons from Ms. Bijoux Beads on Artfire.





African sandcast beads are always a treat, and the contrast on these
baubles from Artbeads.com is lovely.





Another great focal in lampwork, this pendant from Fire Mountain Gems
features a totally adorable ladybug!





What could be more inspiring than the amazing motifs of Golem Design Studio focals?
I love the colors on this one from FusionBeads.com





Lampwork is really where it's at for flower beads, and these pretty buds
by Solar Salamanders on Etsy don't disappoint.

What’s your favorite style of flower bead? How do you like to use them in your designs?

Mortira

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Bead Wish List: Spring Candy

With two very kid-friendly holidays to enjoy, this time of year is full of candy and brightly colored treats. There’s a lot of inspiration to be had in spring confections, like the rainbow appeal of a bowl of jelly beans, or the soft pastels of sweet-hearts. I’m really excited about the return of certain chocolate eggs, but the colors are really the best part of spring. With Valentine’s behind us and Easter ahead, I went on a hunt for beads in candy colors, and those that just look good enough to eat. These are my favorites!

These unusual Czech glass ovals from Maya Honey definitely look like they’re made with tasty flavors, with a mix like rock candy or salt water taffy. The pink patina even adds an additional layer of frosted appeal. I’d definitely want to pair these treats with some luminous orange-lined seed beads for an extra pop of color to bring everything together. This shade is a near-perfect match for the filling in fondant eggs. I think the combination would be great in a chunky multistrand necklace.

There’s something really special about the candy-coated look of these epoxy resin charms from Fire Mountain Gems. The mix of colors and the smooth finish can definitely cause a sweet craving. The round shape was absolutely my favorite, which brings to mind all kinds of classic sweets. I also found some delicious glass bead strands, although it was tough to choose just one. I like this jewel tone mix, which looks a bit like gourmet gummies or fancy jelly beans. With a great neutral backdrop, this duo would make a pretty memory bracelet.

More rock candy inspirations can be found in Czech glass, especially when it comes in a gorgeous pastel palette like this Spring Fling rondelle mix from Lima Beads. The Picasso finish is gorgeous anywhere, but in this case I think it makes these beads look a little like malted robin’s eggs. All the rondelles need is a nest, and the sour-sweet of apple green sliced seed beads is perfect for the part. I’d probably want to use this combination in a fringe design, or perhaps something minimalist and asymmetrical.

Pearls of any kind are wonderful when you want to create food themed jewelry. These shiny glass pearls from Fusion Beads have a tasty lustered finish that is perfect for spring jewelry. I particularly like the pink, but they also come in pumpkin, yellow squash, pea green, and light plum. Yummy! Toho seed beads in cotton candy-lined crystal would make a great backdrop for any combination of glass pearls. I’d love to use them in a freeform design or a cluster of circular brick stitch medallions.

Not all treats are candy-colored, so for my next duo I started with lovely chocolate howlite rounds from Auntie’s Beads. The color is delicious, and the perfect companion for sweet hues. To complete this set I picked a pretty mix of pastel Super Duos with hints of pink, green, and blue – all great colors to pair with chocolate. This combo would make a great cuff bracelet or perhaps a chunky collar.

Clearly mixes are so ideal for candy theme, and it was impossible to resist this Carnival Candy seed bead blend from ArtBeads.com. The darker purple really pops with the other soft colors. I finished this duo with some Czech glass coins featuring a cute bird motif. Though they might not look tasty, they’d definitely be at home in a basket of goodies. I think this pair would look great in some simple earrings or a bead embroidered cuff.

Finally, I fell in love with these confetti jade rounds from Beadholique, which look so much like a birthday cake-flavored treat. The hints of pink and blue in the buttery jade is adorable and a great way to add just a bit of color. Since the bird coins had looked so great, I decided to finish this combo with a pretty lavender hummingbird focal in vintage style Lucite. This mix would make a great pendant, perhaps with some white seed beads to match the hummingbird and round out the palette.

Do you have a favorite candy color or tasty bead shape?

Mortira

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Get to Know the Multi-hole Bead Cornucopia

Ever since the innovative two-hole Tila bead by Miyuki landed in bead stores, multi-hole beads have been It for beadwork. New stitches and variations are being created all the time to make use of these exciting beads. It seems like every week a new style is being manufactured, and they’ve evolved into all manner of shapes and styles, with 3 and 4-hole varieties being added to the mix.

With so many new multi-hole beads coming out recently, chances are you may have missed a few. I scoured some of my favorite bead shops and created a list of all of the multi-hole seed beads (and seed bead-sized glass beads) that are currently available. Then I picked a few in my favorite colors to share!

First, we should definitely go over the more obvious beads – the ones that we’ve all seen somewhere, if not used in our designs. As Tilas were the first to make a splash, we’ll start there. (If you'd like to learn more about a particular bead style, just click on the image.)

Tila Beads by Miyuki

These tile-shaped glass beads by Miyuki came in a limited range of colors at first, but the selection has grown considerably since then. Like many shaped seed beads, vitrail and Picasso finishes are very common.




Half Tila Beads

With the two-hole bead style’s instant popularity, new shapes were inevitable. The slightly more versatile Half-Tila followed shortly after the larger Tila bead, with a similar range of colors and finishes.
These beads are exactly half the size of a regular Tila at 2.5x5mm.




CzechMates Tile Beads

Not to be outdone, Starman Inc. of the Czech Republic started developing their own line of two-hole seed beads and pressed glass beads. CzechMates Tiles were among the first to arrive, and provided a smoother, sturdier alternative to Tilas in a slightly larger 6x6mm size.




CzechMates Twin Beads

Czech Twins by Preciosa gave us a similar bead to the Half-Tila, again with smoother finish that pairs well with any and all round seed beads. This time the Czech variation matched the Japanese size of 2.5x5mm.




SuperDuo Beads

SuperDuos are similar to the oval-shaped Twins, but with a pinched design that creates lot of texture in beadwork, and allows these beads to fit into tight corners. Their sides are somewhat diamond-shaped, and they ends are slightly narrower at 2x5mm.




MiniDuo Beads

The unusual shape of most two-hole beads often means that it's all or nothing. Luckily, MiniDuos are slightly smaller than SuperDuos at 2x4mm, making them perfect accents for everyday beadwork using 10/o and 11/o seed beads.




Bi-Bo Beads

Also similar to Twins are the Bi-Bos. These beads have dogbone-shaped sides, and are essentially the opposite of SuperDuos, although they are a bit larger at 2.8x5.5mm.




Rulla Beads

Rullas did away with all of the extra curves and provided us with a simple tube shaped bead in a double-hole design that is great for all kinds of beadwork. The plain design makes them great for stacking and stitching with ease, though they are even larger still at 3x5mm.




Brick Beads

The CzechMates Brick bead achieves the same simplicity as the Rulla, but in a boxier shape. These two-hole rectangles are more similar to the classic Half-Tila, but with smoother edges. They are also 3x5mm, making them easy to pair with Rullas for interesting texture.




Two-Hole Bar Beads

A CzechMates Bar bead is like a hybrid of the Brick and Rulla, with a rectangular shape and rounded ends. These ones are sized a bit differently than the other two at 2x6mm.




Two-Hole Daggers

Though designers had been doing their best to keep new ideas for two-hole beads coming, there’s always room for more. To go along with all of the new bead shapes, Starman also started making their classic dagger beads with double holes for embellishing two-hole beadwork.




Multi-Hole Lentils

The Lentil bead also got a multi-hole update with two or four-hole varieties available. Rounded, or convex, on either side, both the double and Quadra-Lentils come in at 3x6mm.




Crescent Beads and Half Moon Beads

After that, things started to get pretty interesting! We now have the two-hole Crescent (2x10mm), and the slightly bulkier two-hole Half Moon (4x8mm). Not quite as versatile as other multi-hole shapes, but they do present some exciting possibilities.




Piggy Beads

Similar to Lentils, the 8x3.5mm Piggy bead has a cupped shape with double holes just off-center. Though unusual, there are some great accent possibilities here. Luckily, Czech glass looks great with everything.




Chexx and QuadraTiles

CzechMates Chexx take the orginal Tile bead and places the holes along the top of the square surface (3x6mm). The slightly thinner QuadraTile has four surface holes and comes in at 2x6mm.




Two-Hole Chilli Beads

The Chilli bead has a similar shape to daggers, but with the holes at the wide end, and a concave detail on one side. Like daggers, these ones are slightly larger than your average bead at 4x11mm.




Es-o Beads and Super8 Beads

SuperDuos recently got an update with the introduction of the Es-o bead. These have the same pinched design as the duos, but start with a round shape instead of an oval (2x5mm). The Super8 is also similar to the SuperDuo, but with a lozenge shape and slightly smaller 2.2x4.7mm size.




Twin Roller Beads

Upgrading from seed bead sizes to more traditional glass accents was a logical next step in the evolution of multi-hole beads. Similar to Rullas, but with rounded ends, the Twin Roller is a whopping 9x3.5 mm.




RounDuos and RounTrios

The RounDuo is essentially a two-hole druk in a dainty 5mm size. The 6mm RounTrios have three holes and also come in a faceted firepolish design. These beads are exclusive to the Potomac Bead Company.




DiscDuos and Crisscross Cubes

The DiscDuo is a two-hole coin that currently comes in a puffy 6mm size. The Crisscross is a 4x4mm cube with off-center holes moving at right angles – one up and down, one side to side.




Czech Glass Silky Beads

The Silky bead is similar to the original Tile bead, but the holes pass through the corners of the square, creating a diamond shape instead. The ruffled shaped tiles come in at about 3x6mm.




Two-Hole Honeycomb Beads

The Honeycomb bead isn’t quite as common as some of the other two-hole shapes, but this hexagon tile is worth hunting down for the way that the beads lock together when woven. The Honeycomb comes in at about 3x6mm.




CzechMates Triangles and eMMA Beads

With all of the round and square variations, triangle beads were certain to get their turn. We currently have the CzechMates Triangle, with a double hole at the base of a triangular 2x6mm tile. There’s also the eMMA with three surface holes in each corner and a wider edge at 3x6mm.




Kheops par Pucas and Tango Beads

The Kheops par Puca triangle bead has two-holes passing up from the base and through the top of the remaining sides, and is available in a chunky 6x6mm. Then there’s the Tango, which flips this idea on its side. Each 3x6mm bead has two holes that both run through the same two sides of the triangle.




Two-Hole Pyramid Beads

There’s also the Pyramid bead, which has a more 3-D shape, and two holes running across the bottom of the pyramid base. (6x6.5mm) Also known as pyramid studs, these beads are quite a big chunkier than most other two-hole varieties.




Infinity and Trinity Beads

Last but not least, we have Infinity and Trinity. These beads are very unique compared to other multi-hole beads that have been developed so far. They are essentially two or three round seed beads merged into one. The Infinity bead measures 2x6mm, and the Trinity is 4x8mm.

Which multi-hole beads have you tried so far? Which ones are your favorites?

Mortira

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