Peanuts!

What wonderful undulations are created when you use a peanut beads in place of another! These stone color beads...of the #900 series, are beautiful when showcased on this bracelet next to black and silver. They would be equally pretty next to other shades of gray and brown I'm sure. A fun way to experiment with the peanut beads is to replace a seed bead in your pattern with these little beauties. Here, using a peyote stitch, they replace a line of size 8 seed beads. They have more vertical way about them and look good inside the piece as well as on the outside perimeter. Note the little detail on top of the loops of the slide closure, a size 6 sb with a Delica or size 15sb on top. Do this after you secure the slide to your work, used as embellishment only.

Star Power Bracelet

As promised here is the bracelet I designed using the Star Power influence from the earring pattern. Note the cute Beaded Bead Ball at the end , this was a vintage piece from a collection located in New Jeresy. It could be easily replicated using a 12mm wooden bead and several passes with small beads such as 15's or small Hex seed beads. The button loop was created using a simple peyote ring of beads, then making a few passes and on the last row forming a picot of five beads, the middle bead a peanut. Love these new shapes of beads!
Bead-weaving techniques such as peyote and right angle weave were used.

New Olivine Beauties

Away for the weekend up at the Crestline cabin...a first in about four or five months! Treated to a new Bead and Button magazine in the mailbox just waiting for me when we got home. A darling earring feature by Gloria Ljubich using peanut beads got my creative juices flowing again so here is the result. Of course, I had to try things my way and one thing led to another so this piece was stitched with one continous thread, not in separate components as in the pattern. I mananged this by using right angle weave, my stitch of choice. Wait til you see the bracelet I conncocted inspired by this project.

Now to make another set of earrings that I will actually be able to wear, as this runway length just looks silly on me! I'll share this with my Beading friends at my Sit-n-Bead Class tonight as I think everyone has the magazine by now.

p.s. a good issue (#103) with lots of goodies