Showing posts with label bead weaving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bead weaving. Show all posts

Monday, February 4, 2013

Metal Beads, Super Duos and Rizos

The challenge was to use three of my favorite bead shapes in one design, Super Duos, Rizos, and Metal Seed Beads.

I've been using metal seed beads for some time and love them for their consistent shape and size.  They work so well with right angle weave and I've used them in several different bracelet styles.  Here's my Trinity Bracelet using size 11 metal seed beads.

The super duo beads have two holes and have an unusual shape.  Here's a bracelet I made using super duo's.  I called this one Cinnabar because of the unique picasso finish on the beads.
 
 
The third bead is called Rizo and it is pretty new on the market.  It is shaped like a tiny grain of rice and has one hole in one end of the bead.  Here is a pair of earrings combining super duos with rizos.  The rizo's are used at the tips of the bottom triangles.
 
 
The design using all three types of beads with their own unique shapes and sizes was an exciting challenge.  My Luxury Squared bracelet is the result of the challenge.  Of course, I also had to add a bit of Swarovski crystal bling to the mix!
 
 
The moral of the story?  Don't be afraid of challenges.  They can inspire and bring out your creative muse in some very interesting ways.
 
 

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Bead Mavens Ice Queen Challenge

The Bead Mavens recently held an Ice Queen Challenge and the winners have been announced.  You can view all three winners on the Bead Mavens website and also on their blog

I was one of the donors to the prize pool and so I got to "meet" the 2nd place winner, Cindy Holsclaw of Bead Origami.. Cindy gave me permission to display her beautiful winning necklace.  The necklace contains 17 individual Pagoda Beaded Charms in a beautiful Icycle blue color.


You can read more about the necklace on Cindy's blog.  She also has her own website and Etsy shop where she sells her beadwork as well as tutorials - one of which is for the pagoda bead used in this necklace.

My donation was a gift certificate for something in my Etsy shop.  Cindy chose one of my dichroic glass cabochons which I called "Symphony."


It's a bold piece and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Cindy might use it.  Congratulations to all the winners of the Bead Maven's Ice Queen Challenge.  Every entry was outstanding.