Bees Heart Honey Necklace Tutorial

It’s the first day of September, which means that no matter how many more sunny days we may have to look forward to, it’s officially time to say goodbye to summer. With help from the Monochrome Bead Box from Blueberry Cove Beads, I decided to create a pretty necklace with a hint of summer colors, inspired by bees and honey.

This asymmetrical design is super easy to stitch, and you can create it with just about anything that you’ve got in your stash. You’ll need two focal beads of similar shape and size to get the effect – otherwise you can mix and match any seed beads and round beads that you’ve got on hand. I’m using a pair of faux lava rock hearts from the Monochrome Box in black and white; accents of yellow and topaz bring out the summery honey bee vibe. Have fun experimenting with different palettes of your own!

Materials:

About 4 yards of Fireline or your favorite beading thread
2 x 18-25 mm focal beads
2 8mm rose beads
11 6mm druks
22 5mm howlite beads
44 size 8 seed beads (yellow)
26 size 8 seed beads (black)
4 grams size 11 seed beads
Button clasp of your choice

Bees Heart Honey Necklace:

1. Attach a stop bead to a 2 yard (1.8 m) length of thread, leaving a 10 inch (25 cm) tail. String on one 11/o, one 8/o, one 5mm, one 8/o, and repeat. Add one 11/o, one 8/o, one 11/o and one druk. Slide all of the beads down to the stop bead.

2. Pick up 7 size 11/o seed beads, and pass back up through the druk again. Pull snug to form a loop of seed beads around the druk. Repeat to add a second loop.

3. String on one 11/o, and one 8/o, followed by the same pattern from step 1. Repeat until you have 4 looped druks.

4. String on one 11/o, one 8/o, one focal bead, one 8/o, one 11/o, and one rose bead. Add two loops of seven seed beads around the rose.

5. Repeat the pattern from steps 1-3 until you have added 3 druks. Add one 11/o, one 8/o, one 11/o and the second rose bead. Add seed bead loops to the rose.

6. String on one 11/o, one 8/o, and the second focal bead. Add one 8/o bead, then repeat the pattern again until you’ve added 4 more looped druks.

8. Pass back through the first 2 seed beads from the set of 10. Continue through the 8/o, 11/o, and druk and pull snug. Weave around the loops in the druk and retrace the thread path to secure the button. Weave any remaining thread into the beadwork, tying 2 half-hitch knots, and trim.

9. Remove the stop bead from the start of the necklace. Pick up enough seed beads to form a loop around your button. Pass back through the first seed bead again, and through the following beads to the nearest druk. Retrace the thread path to add strength to the loop, then weave in any remaining thread and trim.

Happy beading!

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more! Powered by Patreon

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Bead Color Ideas: Sunscreen Hues

There are so many different ways to find color inspiration in the seasons, and many of the ones we turn to again and again are natural. For summer this might be the colors of the beach, summer fruit, or even a purple-and-gray thunderstorm palette. Then again, traditional and nostalgic color palettes are pretty inspiring as well – like the red, blue, and white of a rocket pop. This summer, I wanted to explore some colors that would bring to mind some of the best things about getting out in the sun, and perhaps the scent of coconuts.

The first palette was so easy to create. Nothing says sunscreen like aquatic blues and yellows. For this Kids’ Sunblock trio I used canary yellow, transparent capri blue, and opaque turquoise blue. It’s fruity and vibrant, and definitely has a beach feel to it. I would love to see this palette in something with lots of exotic, playful fringe.

Next I went in the opposite direction and concocted a trio for lovely coconut scented Suntan Oil. I started with opaque terracotta, though I would have loved to use some transparent rootbeer as well. Next I added smooth orange luster and lustered pearl cream. This palette has so much warmth. I think it would look great in a spiral design, particularly a double spiral rope with lots of chunky accent beads.

Finally, I combined both of these palettes for a final trio inspired by everyday Sport Sunscreen. This time I went with the transparent rootbeer and opaque patriot blue, finishing with a dark Ceylon cream. This palette is more shea butter than coconut, and would be perfect for a geometric cuff or perhaps a colorblocked rope.

What colors and scents make up your favorite summer inspirations?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more! Powered by Patreon

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Bead Color Ideas: Green Duo

While working on the often-earthy Greek and Roman projects for Ancient Worlds Modern Beads, I ended up accumulating more shades of green seed beads than I would normally ever use. Since then most of them have been untouched in my stash, waiting for another Geb-inspired design or something that would require a lot of green. For this week’s color ideas, I thought it would be both inspiring and useful to try out some accent beads against a two-tone green palette and see if anything sticks.

I had a lot of choices for the seed bead duo, but I immediately went for a hank of transparent rainbow mint that I haven’t even cut into yet. It was meant for the Atlantis lariat project, but proved to be much too shimmery for the rest of the palette. I paired it with some metallic June bug and then picked out a few ideal accent beads, starting with a strand of metallic blue drops. The finishes on all three beads play together very nicely, and would make a great collar, or some wing-inspired bead embroidery. I call this trio Lady Dragonfly.

Next I tried out some flat rounds that have been in my stash for ages. I picked them up with a particular project in mind, but when it went sideways I never found another use for them. Once again the shimmery finish works really well with the seed beads, but this time in a coppery hue. This Scarab Beetle trio is exactly the sort of palette I’d been hoping for, and would be great in a medallion or an embellished cuff.

Finally, I had to go with something a little more spring-inspired. It took a while to find the packet of pink freshwater pearls, as they were hiding behind some olive ones, but it was worth the effort. I love the way the soft pink complements the mint green, while the June bug adds depth. Curious Caterpillar would be great in something spiraled or fringed, but I would love to use it in a full-sized collar.

What are you favorite colors to pair with green?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more! Powered by Patreon

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Bead Color Ideas: Tropical Delights

What with my latest blue coconut dagger project and the cool spring weather we’ve been having in my area, I’ve really been in the mood for warm colors and anything that will make it feel like summer. Tropical themes are always great for adding a little spice, and offer plenty of options for inspiration. There are colorful flowers and fruits, and gorgeous blue waters to draw on – everything looks better and brighter when it’s illuminated with bright sunlight. This week I wanted to capture that warmth with seed bead palettes.

To start I went with florals, using three sweet, saturated colors. To make Island Lei I combined a most cheerful shade of purple - wisteria lined crystal – and aqua white-hearts for that touch of intense light and ocean blue. Gel sol pink topped everything off with just the right amount of sugariness.

Naturally, I had to start at least one palette with intense yellow, so I grabbed some opaque canary 8/o’s. I wanted some equally bold hues to go with it, so next came opaque vermillion red. I haven’t really had a chance to use this color yet, but it’s a perfect match for the yellow. Passion Fruits is finished with lustered orange sherbet, though I would have preferred a more peachy or pumpkin-y orange.

Finally, I had to go with a palette to represent my favorite tropical flavors. Coconut Lime includes some transparent lime green long magatamas, and opaque white 8/o’s. The lovely brown of transparent dark topaz seed beads looks gorgeous with the green and definitely brings out the coconut in the white beads. Delicious!

What’s your favorite tropical inspiration?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Wardrobe Inspiration: Summer Berry

While putting together our Pantone inspired fashion picks last month, I came across this fabulous chunky bead necklace and bookmarked it for later. It has an amazing palette of deep raspberry, orange currant, cream, and black. The contrast between the neutrals and the incredibly juicy colors was very inspiring, and I couldn’t resist using it for this month’s fashion picks.

Summer Berry by mortira featuring leather handbags

I considered going with a colorblocking theme for this collage, and started with a colorful geometric frock with hints of orange. I loved the purple that it added to the mix, and things just started rolling along from there. I found lots of fun accessories to go with a palette of red, orange, purple, and cream. The damask bangle in bright purple is definitely a favorite.

I wasn’t able to find any tutorials for such a chunky beaded necklace, and that’s okay. Assuming you could locate (or make) the big beads, all you’d have to do is string them. Instead, I found some other chunky necklace projects that are great for summer outfits, and a lovely damask pendant project with an easy painted patina.

I love the ingenuity of DIY jewelry designers.
The magpie in me can’t stop looking at this wrapped stone necklace project by Trinkets in Bloom.




The custom clay beads in this chunky necklace project by Katie at Crafts Unleashed make it really adaptable.
I’d love to see it in lime and turquoise!

The floating glass pearls in Beadaholique’s Sea Treasures Earrings have
the same dew-drop effect as our red leaf ones. Very pretty!




These super-easy stamped polymer clay pendants from Doodle Craft are so pretty
they make me want to drop everything and get out my paints.

What’s your favorite berry-inspired palette?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Bead Color Ideas: Blue Mother of Pearl

With summer just around the corner I’m looking forward to light and airy designs, aquatic themes, and lots of gorgeous color. For this week’s bead colors I started with a strand of aqua blue mother of pearl coins that I’ve just barely tapped into. They’re always sitting in my stash, calling out to be used, but I rarely have any ideas for their shape. The best solution, of course, is to find the perfect color palette and wait for inspiration to strike.

I didn’t have any particular colors or themes in mind when I started looking for seed beads to back up these coins. I just pulled out colors that I thought would look good and then matched them up. My first trio features the always ready-to-work transparent medium topaz for a lovely beachy look. I added a dash of flotsam in the form of metallic olivine. I love the moody earthiness of this particular color, which works really well with the nacre patina on many of the coins. The Baked Boardwalk trio would be great in a design with lots of geometric elements - perhaps a cuff bracelet or some brick-stitched fringe earrings.

I’ve really been in the mood for my precious white-heart seed beads lately, so I was quick to grab what’s left of my cobalt stash. The glow of white hearts plays really nicely with the shimmery shells. To complete this palette I ended up with some buttercream Ceylon with its barely perceptible hints of pale yellow and an equally pretty shimmer. Though Vanilla Milkshake doesn’t pop quite as much as the first palette, it still has plenty of potential. I’d love to use in in an ombré-style design with the shells spanning between the seed bead colors. An asymmetrical mulistrand necklace would be perfect.

Finally, I couldn’t resist some transparent cherry red to get a coral and turquoise effect. This color combination always makes me happy and eager to get creating. It’s equally great for aquatic, Western, and ancient Egyptian themes. I added a backdrop of jet black 8/o's to really make both colors shine. The Fire Urchin palette would be lovely in something fringed, as well as netting. It would be so much fun to make a scarf lariat in this palette.

What colors do you like to use in summer designs?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading

Wardrobe Inspiration: Strawberry Soda

Mixing up the Pantone Spring 2016 picks again, I came across another gorgeous trio using Snorkel Blue, Peach Echo, and Iced Coffee. I love the contrast of the blue and pink, and either color would pair off so well with the earthy neutral. Once I had decided on this trio, I couldn’t wait to start looking for jewelry and garments to work with. The colors are fresh and exciting without looking too organic or floral. This is the kind of combination that would be right at home in an ice cream parlor – the perfect place to hang out when spring arrives.

Strawberry Soda by mortira featuring beaded jewelry

I couldn’t resist going with another multistrand necklace for this collage. The cascade of intense blue beads is totally captivating. Rather than contrast it with chunky accessories like in Spring Crunch, I went with very beady earrings and a wrap bracelet. The cut-out sandals and fringed bag join in with the tiny-scale theme as well.

I love how grown-up and vivacious the pink looks in this trio, while the dark blue just sings. So far this is definitely my favorite color combination of the season. The jewelry designs are also very do-able, and I was able to find lots of great projects to recreate this look.

Two multistrand bracelet projects from Beadaholique could easily be adapted to make a gorgeous cascade necklace. The Ahava Bracelet tutorial includes a lovely palette in Snorkel Blue, while the Square Root Bracelet has the cascade look that works so well in our inspiration necklace.

Mini scale maille earrings are the perfect way to recreate our Iced Coffee dangles, and this tutorial by Karen Karon on Jewelry Making Daily is great for beginners. These would look gorgeous in just about any color.

The Peach Echo teardrop and bugle earrings would be super easy to recreate. For variation, I found a gorgeous tutorial for extra large teardrop earrings with a wirework frame by Rena Klingenberg at Jewelry Making Journal.

There are oodles of tutorials out there for making leather wrap bracelets with crystal cup chain instead of individual beads. I like the Leather Wrapped Cup Chain video by The Potomac Bead Company. To get the same look with another take on the traditional method, try the Sonoran Sunset Bracelet project from Artbeads.com.

What’s your favorite combination for salmon pink?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading and Friends

Bead Color Ideas: Pantone Spring 2016

In previous years I’ve always been quick to snatch up new color inspirations via the Pantone Color Institute’s spring and fall picks. This year I’ve sort of dragged my feet, mostly because I find the Colors of the Year totally uninspiring. For the first time ever, there are not one but two annual highlight colors. This should have been pretty exiting except that the colors Pantone chose are Rose Quartz and Serenity – basically baby pink and baby blue.

I know that I was quick to reject Rose Quartz and Serenity partly because I’m so very opposed to gendering colors and toys, and these two colors are a pretty strong reminder of a tired custom. But it wasn’t just the baby-ness of the colors that makes them fall flat for me. Although either shade would look fine in an adult garment or piece of jewelry, they’re not exactly exciting. The pink hue in particular, Rose Quartz, looks sun bleached, especially when held up against most of the other colors in this year’s fashion palette. Serenity has a hint of steely gray with lots of potential, but next to an equally soft pink it’s hard not to see outdated onesies. With these two colors leading the pack, I just wasn't eager to explore the new picks.

When I finally got a chance to really browse through the eight other colors in the Spring 2016 color line-up, of course I found plenty of inspirations. Nothing gets ideas flowing like playing with color. Once I tossed out Rose Quartz there were lots of possibilities for trio palettes to experiment with. I wanted to avoid making obvious choices like combining the very crayon-like Fiesta, Buttercup, Green Flash, and Snorkel Blue, as well as find a way to use Serenity that would bring out its moodier, less baby-blue undertones.

I started with my favorite color in the mix, Snorkel Blue. I’m always keen on shades similar to cobalt, so I wanted to begin where I saw the most potential for inspiration. It took some time to finally decide on a palette for this color. I felt that Fiesta red would be too obvious and Buttercup yellow too easy. I finally matched my blue up with Green Flash, then tried on a few different colors until settling on Limpet Shell, which completes the trio perfectly. For beads I chose transparent cobalt and transparent lime, with some aqua blue Czech teardrops. I love the light in this palette, which would be so great in a lightweight collar or some super long duster earrings.

Spring Lagoon

For the next trio I started with Buttercup. I knew that Fiesta would have to go with it, as it’s much too orange and would look garish next to most of the remaining colors. The final addition was Serenity, which looks much more blue next to these bright hues. Likewise, the softness of the blue seems to have a cooling effect on the red and yellow as well. For the beads, I picked some lustered lemon seed beads and lovely translucent red Java glass rondelles. The closest thing in my stash to Serenity blue was a pair of Picasso coins in a pastel aqua. I’d definitely want to use this trio with bead embroidery with lots of overlapping circles and whorls.

You Can't Take the Sky From Me

The three remaining colors make up a lovely pastel palette with Peach Echo, Lilac Gray, and this year’s neutral, Iced Coffee. I love this trio for spring, especially with the watermelon-esque Peach Echo. This is a hardworking pink that look's like it would be at home just about anywhere. For beads I started with my closest pink match – gel sol rainbow rose seed beads. Lavender-lined 6/o seed beads stand in pretty well for Lilac Gray and are a good match in finish. I finished this trio with some voluta shell heishi which look gorgeous next to these two candy hues. Although I’d love to use this palette in a multistrand piece, I think the voluta spacers would look much better as accents for a cuff or a fringed lariat.

Iced Peaches

Now that I've given the Spring 2016 colors a chance, they're providing all kinds of inspirations. The round up is much better off without Rose Quartz, although I wouldn't mind seeing that one with some chocolate and mint, or perhaps midnight black.

Which Spring 2016 color is your favorite?

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading
Pantone, Emilio Sosa and TOSIA

Cherry Bomb Fringe Earrings Tutorial

It’s kind of amazing what you can recreate with just a little fringe in the right colors. The idea for this super-easy cherry fringe design popped into my head when I was creating earring projects for Ancient Worlds Modern Beads, and it was just too fun not to make. These cherry bomb earrings look great in opaque or transparent colors, but I do recommend going with a bright green to avoid any resemblance to holly berries. On the other hand, you could modify the design a bit to get a cute holiday earring as well!

You will need:

2 black 8-10mm round beads
2 black 4mm heishi or spacers
4 black 8/o seed beads
4 or more red 6mm rounds
4 or more red 11/o seed beads to match
a few grams each green and black 11/o seed beads
2 jumprings and/or earwires
Size D beading thread such as Nymo

1. Attach a stop bead to 1 yard of stretched and conditioned thread, leaving a 6 inch (15 cm) tail. Pick up 1 8/o seed bead, 1 spacer, 1 8-10mm bead, and 1 8/o bead. Slide them down to the end.

2. Pick up green 11/o seed beads in multiples of three until the strand reaches the desired length for your earring – at least 30 beads are needed for the fringe base, but you can go as long as you like. Add 1 red 6mm round, and 1 red 11/o. Skipping the red 11/o, stitch back up through the round bead and the following 9 green seed beads. Pull snug, making sure there is no slack in the strand.

3. Pick up 7 green seed beads. Skipping the last bead added, stitch back through the 6th bead and pull snug.

4. Pick up 4 green seed beads, and stitch back through the first bead added in the previous step, plus the following three beads in the main strand, moving towards the black round. Pull snug to form a leaf stitch.

5. Pick up green seed beads in multiples of three until you have a second ‘stem’ of the desired length. You can make it longer or shorter than the first cherry stem – whatever looks good to you. Add a red round and seed bead. Skipping the red seed bead, stitch back through all of the beads just added, and the following 3 beads in the main strand. Pull snug.

6. Pick up 7 green seed beads and add a second leaf stitch (steps 3 and 4). Stitch back up through the remaining beads in the main strand, and all of the black beads. Pull snug.

7. Pick up 9 black seed beads. Stitch back down through all of the black beads in the base to form a loop at the top of the beadwork. If desired, string on an ear wire or soldered jump ring before securing the loop.

8. Pick up green seed beads in multiples of three to begin a second cherry fringe. Repeat steps 2-6, making your fringes as long or as short as you like. Weave through the black seed bead loop at least once more to add strength, then secure any remaining thread in the fringe and trim.

9. Add jump rings and ear wires as desired, then repeat all of the steps to make a second earring.

Happy beading!

Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com
Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!

Copyright 2016 Inspirational Beading