Double Bubble Rizo Beaded Bead

I picked up some of the new rizo beads earlier this month, and for my first project using these little rice-shaped drop beads, I incorporated them into my Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead design:

They move around a tiny bit in the finished beaded bead, but they fit well enough to work without making the beaded bead squishy. To use the rizos in this design, I swapped them out for the 4 by 6 mm drop beads called for in the original pattern, and applied the same variation that I used for incorporating pearls into this design. The resulting beaded bead is a very cute variation of the original design, and two would make a nice petite pair of earrings.

Rizos are still pretty new, so they may not be available yet at your local bead store. I bought mine from Whimbeads.com, who are unfortunately already sold out of these little beads, but they should be getting in more stock late this month or early next.

Have you Rizo'd yet?

Pondering Beading Illustrations

I've long prided myself on the number and quality of the illustrations in my beading patterns for as long as I've been writing them. I was fortunate to have picked up a few skills in Adobe Illustrator from my time in graduate school, so when I first started writing beading patterns, I used this software to make my illustrations look as close to the finished beadwork as possible. Here's one that I made of the Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead:

Except for the color differences, I think it's a pretty good representation of the real thing:

The problem is that this kind of illustration isn't as helpful for teaching how to weave this design. There's no space in between the beads to show the thread path, and most of the seed beads are hidden behind the larger drop beads.

To remedy this problem, last year I switched to a more open style of illustrating that shows the thread in between each bead. But I still liked my illustrations to look like the finished beadwork, so I didn't use dotted lines through the beads or very much shading of the background beads. Instead, I used labels: letters for newly-added beads during a step, and numbers for beads passed through during a step. Here's an example:

But now I'm thinking of making changes again. While the text that accompanies this illustration lists the beads that are added and those that are passed through during this step, many of my students are visual learners who would rather just follow a nice, clear illustration and avoid reading through the text as much as possible (I must admit that I'm partial to this method too).

So I'm thinking of ditching the labels, shading beads that were already added in a previous step, and adding dotted lines through the beads to show the thread path. This method is more in line with the illustrating conventions of the major beading magazines too. Here's the same step as illustrated above, but in the style I'm considering:

What do you think? Which one is easier to follow?

Price Reductions in Etsy Shop

I've been at work on several new pieces of jewelry, some of which I'm planning on putting in my Etsy shop. To make room for these new pieces, I've lowered the prices of several older items that have been in the shop for quite some time. This is just a selection of the available items - click on the images for more information about each piece.

Amethyst and Peach Beaded Pendant, $29 Now $22

Purple and Gold Venetian Necklace, $79 Now $59

Black and Gold Crystal Earrings, $20 Now $15

Black and White Bubble Box Necklace, $65 Now $49

Light Blue and White Pearl Pendant, $40 Now $30

New Necklaces and a Bracelet in the Shop

Sometimes I find it hard to let go of the jewelry that I've made, even when I know deep down that I need to put it up for sale to make room for new designs. I finally did just that with several pieces that I've been hanging onto for quite a while (click on the photos to learn more about each piece). First up is this Crystal Helix necklace in silver night and hematite:

Next, we have this ocean-themed aqua and silver necklace featuring Pagoda Beaded Charms strung as beaded beads, complemented with lampwork beads handmade by glass artisan Melissa Vess:

This necklace features a Circle Starburst beaded bead focal and four Squared Circles beaded beads, strung with Czech glass and grey freshwater pearls. It reminds me of the foggy summers on the San Francisco peninsula where I grew up:

Finally, this little sparkly bracelet was the result of my experimenting with substituting crystals for Czech glass beads in some of my designs. It has a Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead woven with crystals as a charm.

All four items are available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Beaded Bead Sets in the Shop

In the time that I've been beading, I've woven several beaded beads that haven't made it out of my bead box and into jewelry. So I decided to list some of them my Etsy shop. Click on any of the photos below to learn more about each set.

First up is this Disco Ball and Double Bubble Jacks set in black and silver:

Next we have this solo bronze and green Teardrop Bubbles beaded bead:

And finally, a set of Squared Circles beaded beads using Swarovski crystal pendants, in crystal AB for some rainbow goodness. These would work great in a wedding necklace:

As always, more info about each design can be found on my website.

New Kits: Bubble Series Beaded Beads

Along with the launch of my new website, I've also put together kits for several of my designs. These kits include all the beads needed to create the design, a beading needle and the appropriate thread, and the pattern for the design delivered electronically in the PDF format. Kits for the Bubble Series are available in two color schemes, Ocean Sapphire and Lavender Glow. Here's the Double Bubble Jacks design in Ocean Sapphire:

And again in Lavender Glow:

A slightly larger beaded bead in the bubble series is the Bubble Box design. Here it is in Ocean Sapphire:

And Lavender Glow:

Finally, here's the third beaded bead in this series, the Teardrop Bubbles design, in Ocean Sapphire:

And again in Lavender Glow:

The Teardrop Bubbles and Bubble Box kits make one beaded bead each, while the Double Bubble Jacks kits include materials for three beaded beads. All of these kits are available for purchase exclusively at my website. Also, from now through Monday, January 23, enter the coupon code 20off at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order! 

New Tutorial: Double Pagoda Beaded Bead

My newest beadweaving tutorial, the Double Pagoda Beaded Bead, is now complete:

It's a little bit bigger than the Pagoda Beaded Charm, and uses a similar collection of shapes and sizes of Czech glass teardrop beads, Swarovski crystal bicones, Miyuki drop Japanese seed beads, round Japanese seed beads, and the newish 2 by 4 mm peanut-shaped Japanese seed beads which I love so much. However, 8° Japanese seed beads can be substituted for the peanut seed beads in both designs, as in these two charms below:

I've categorized the Double Pagoda as an advanced design since it uses a combination of non-standard weaves, but intermediate beadweavers should be able to follow the tutorial since I included numerous detailed photos and illustrations. It's the perfect size for a petite pendant. Here's one in electric emerald:

I also finished a necklace derived from my color-matching experiments with one of Melissa Vess's gorgeous lampwork focal beads:

The focal is complemented by two Double Pagoda Beaded Beads and over a dozen cube beaded beads, made to match the colors in the focal. 

Finally, since I still had a leftover Double Pagoda that didn't quite match the focal, well as one extra cube beaded bead, I paired them with a simple variation of the Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead for a doubly-double (quadruple?) cascading pendant:

The Double Pagoda Beaded Bead is available in the tutorial sections of both my Etsy and Artfire shops on my website if you'd like to make your own. I think I'll make another one myself for Marcie's latest Margie and Me color challenge this weekend.

What will you be beading this weekend?

Christmas Berries Set

I've added two new pieces to my Artfire and Etsy shops. This pendant is woven in my Bubble Box beaded bead design, and features gorgeous green freshwater pearls and metallic Japanese seed beads:

I used the same materials to create matching earrings, in my Double Bubble Jacks design:

Both of these pieces will be available for sale this weekend at the knit-one-one holiday craft sale on Saturday, December 11, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the knit-one-one studio in Berkeley, CA. Check out the knit-one-one blog for more information about all the artists participating in this show. I'd love to see you there!

Craft Show on December 11

I'm participating in a craft show at the knit-one-one studio again this holiday season. The show is on Saturday, December 11, from 10 AM to 4 PM at the knit-one-one studio in Berkeley, CA. I really dig this little show; it's an intimate gathering of about 12 local artists featuring everything from textiles to jewelry, papercrafts, ceramics, and even chocolate! Check out the knit-one-one blog for more information about all the artists participating in this show. I can personally vouch for the ceramics from KoideStudio - I have two of her kitty mugs and they are the cutest mugs ever :)

Here's a sampling of some of the items that I'll have for sale: 

If you're in the area, I'd love to see you there!

Beaded Bead Flower Charms

The 2nd Annual Wrist Candy Holiday Giveaway is in full swing, so I figured that I would share the individual charms that I created for the charm bracelet:

These charms are based on my Double Bubble Jacks design, using a variation which I've been putting off trying for a while. The original design uses Czech glass drops, however Cynthia Newcomer Daniel showed long ago that this design could also be accomplished using Miyuki fringe seed bead drops. I finally tried this variation out myself and I'm pleased to report that it definitely works with fringe drops, especially with the adaptation for drop pearls.  


The Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead tutorial is currently available in my Etsy shop. Remember that through 11/28/10, anyone who purchases an item from my or any of the other participating SATeam shops will be entered in a drawing to win this beautiful charm bracelet!

2nd Annual SATeam Wrist Candy Holiday Giveaway!

For the second year in a row, the SATeam is having a fabulous promotion! Between 10/17/10 and 11/28/10, anyone who purchases an item from any of the participating SATeam shops will be entered in a drawing to win this beautiful charm bracelet, featuring an eclectic collection of handcrafted charms from many individual team members!

This year, we chose a floral theme for the bracelet. Doesn't it look like a fabulous garden?

Can you guess which charm I contributed? ;)

The full entry rules and a list of the participating shops can be found at the SATeam blog, which will be featuring tons of gorgeous items by the participating shops for the duration of the sale. You can also find sale items by searching for SATEAMWRIST at Etsy.

At my shop, this promotion is valid for each jewelry and tutorial sale, so you can enter this drawing by purchasing either handcrafted jewelry, or instructions on how to make your own beautiful creations!

Happy Holiday Shopping!

My Handmade Wedding, Part 1

It's been a while since I've blogged huh? Well here's just a little of what I've been up to for the past few months :)

A little over a month ago I married my best friend and companion of over 9 years. This being a crafty blog, I thought I'd talk a bit about the crafty and handmade aspects of my wedding. After going through our wedding pictures, I realized that so much of my wedding was handmade that there was just too much to talk about for one blog post! So for now, I'm going to show the jewelry and attire.

Before I start, I'd like to give a shout-out to the highly talented Jason and Juvenia, who took all the photos you are about to see and own the copyright on said photos. Check out more of their fantastic photography at www.jasonandjuvenia.com.

For my and my bridesmaids' hair, I taught myself to make wire-wrapped hairpins using Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls, and various shapes of silver-lined Japanese seed beads. They're surprisingly easy and fun to make!

I probably had 18 or so in my hair:

For my bridesmaids' hairpins, I used purple crystals and purple glass beads...

...To match their purple dresses. Anyone starting to see a color theme here? ;) Here's Alexa, a friend of many years to both me and my husband:

And my sister and maid-of-honor Peggy (left), and my buddy Lieza (right):

Since the bridesmaids' dresses came up high on the neck, I made all of them bracelets instead of necklaces, and I also made their matching earrings. The bracelets are in triangle weave, and use Czech drop beads, Japanese fringe drops, Japanese seed beads, Swarovski crystal, freshwater pearls, and the new peanut-shaped Japanese seed beads:

Did I mention how talented Jason and Juvenia are? Check out the resolution on the original size of the photo above; you can see the individual size 15° seed beads!

For my own bridal jewelry, I wanted to create something ambitious because I usually don't get the chance to wear extravagant jewelry, and what better excuse to do so than at my own wedding? I wanted a necklace with a bunch of beaded beads, in pearls and clear crystals to match my gown. I also wanted the beaded beads to hang like charms as opposed to being strung through, so I created a scaffold of three layers of loops of pearls and crystals, so that I could hang a beaded bead from each loop. I originally wanted to make over a dozen beaded beads alternating between pearls and crystals, but this many beaded beads wouldn't drape right, so I settled on seven beaded beads made out of freshwater pearls and Japanese seed beads:

The focal is a Teardrop Bubbles beaded bead (using the same pearls as this one), combined with two Bubble Box beaded beads and four Double Bubble Jacks beaded beads in two different sizes. The earrings are also Double Bubble Jacks beaded beads.

Here I am all dressed up :)

My mother sewed my gown out of smooth and quite comfortable silk. I know little about sewing, but I think she did a fantastic job:

We coordinated our efforts to balance the complexity of the jewelry with the simplicity of the dress:

Here I am with my Ma. Anyone recognize her necklace?

One final shout-out to Etsy sellers simplybeautyveils (my veil matched the dress perfectly!) and elegantgartershop (great for something blue!) for the rest of my bridal accessories. Next time: flowers and wedding favors!