Dance of the Damselfly

We all love a good Monthly Mix, don't we? Well, we especially love Alley Mori's mix! Created while she was visiting the Beadshop offices in February 2019, Alley's Kaleidoscope Mix was inspired by a gorgeous Stev'nn Hall piece of art that has been making the rounds in our private FB Group as an inspirational photo.

Alley put Kaleidoscope to work in this latest wrap bracelet masterpiece...adding O Beads, SuperDuos and CzechMates Tiles to round out the mix, this wrap is just heavenly. See more photos and her ingredients list below! We've added some "or" options to the list, since Alley used a button from her own stash and also because some of these items are very popular and are often sold out! Check out these substitutions on Kate's FTF, which we'll embed below after the Live Broadcast airs.

Ingredients:
1 Small to Medium Silver Button, we suggest  Little Fish Pond Button OR Humble Lotus Button
1 Spool Eggplant Micro C-Lon
1 Spool Grape OR Amethyst Micro C-Lon
1 Spool Teal Micro C-Lon
1 Pkg 1.5mm Metallic Maroon Leather
1 Pkg 1.5mm Metallic Purple Leather
1 Pkg 1.5mm Metalic Teal Leather
1 Tube Kaleidoscope Monthly Mix
1 Tube SuperDuos- Pastel Bordeaux OR Halo Magenta
1 Pkg O Beads- Crystal French Rose
1 Pkg O Beads- Crystal Magenta
1 Pkg O Beads- Crystal Cerulean Blue
1 Strand CzechMates Tiles- Pearl Coat Teal
(Are we out? Take a peek at our other Blue-Green CzechMates Tiles or try these colors: Gold Marble Rosaline, Metallic Flax or Matte Metallic Copper)
1 Dragonfly Pebble Bead OR Bali Dancer Slider
2 Jardin Round Rings- Antique Silver
1 Pkg Transitions Beads- Antique Pewter

**FYI, Alley paired her Leathers and Micro C-Lons as follows:
Metallic Maroon with Eggplant
Metallic Purple with Grape or Amethyst
Metallic Teal with Teal

Additional Learning:
How to Ladder
How to Macramé
Alley's Splice, four on Page 13 of these Episode Notes
FTF 4.5.19


Check out how Alley does her "splice" here...this joining of the leather at the middle of a wrap enables her to use lark's head knots at both ends...isn't that clever? Kate shows this more in-depth on the FTF episode linked above and embedded below. Check out these photos from Alley and Kate's broadcast to take a closer look at how this comes together! Note how Alley's splice can be covered by a variety of large-holed beads...in her sample she uses the Dragonfly Pebble Bead, on Kate's it's the Bali Dancer Slider...but you could also use Czech Rollers, Transitions, Evolve, River Shannon, a variety of Sliders...you do you! You can also see, above, how Alley attaches all three of her laddered sections of her Alley Bracelet (AKA Kate's Favorite on Steroids) by tying one strand in a lark's head knot through the button shank and then attaching the other two leathers to that knot itself rather than to the shank, chichis so smart!

Finally, here's the video! Enjoy...

Buttons and Beads

Buttons and beads make a perfect match when married together in your beading designs, and Beadshop is constantly adding to its collection of both. Sometimes the inspiration for a jewelry design develops around a button. This may be why Beadshop's newest arrivals of full moon buttons have been very popular with beaders lately.

Red Luna

Measuring 18mm in diameter, the Red Luna button is made of glass and comes from the Czech Republic. On the back is a 1.5mm metal shank. 

Amber Luna

Enhanced with the color of amber, the Amber Luna Czech glass button has an Aurora Borealis coating, and like many of the beautiful buttons in this collection, the coating on each bead may vary due to the unique nature of each button.

Total Eclipse
Project by Brittany Ketcham-Roney ~ Sample by Karen Marshall 

Clearly, the moon button clasp on Karen Marshall's Total Eclipse bracelet influenced the design of this wrap bracelet. The laddering technique was used for this, and it is a free project available on Beadshop. You can download the free pdf instructions and quickly collect all the ingredients you need to make one for  yourself on the Beadshop's Total Eclipse project page. 

Here are some other free projects that incorporate unique buttons in the finished piece:

In Across Cultures, Toes in the Sand, Design by Janice Parsons ~ Sample by Grace Noland - A gold-tone sand dollar button became part of the toggle. 

Toes in the Sand 

Garden Path, Project and Sample by Janice Parsons - This button has a beautiful dragonfly on it. 

Garden Path

Whether making a necklace or bracelet using simple crochet techniques, like those in Grey Gardens, using a button as a clasp adds even more character to this beaded jewelry piece, designed by Emily Miller. An interesting square-shaped button, called Off Beat, was added to this piece. 

Grey Gardens

There seems to be no end to the possibilities of buttons teamed up with beads. 

Three Bracelet Projects Working Together

Save time and get the most out of your beading supplies with His, Hers, and BFF Wrap Bracelets. Make a single wrap for him, a triple wrap for you, and a double wrap for a BFF with this free project from beadshop. Along with a list of ingredients, this project also has a thirteen page PDF file with instructions and how-to images. There are currently ten sample projects available in a range of colors: Fire Sign, Forest Green, Stormy Skies, Sea Green, Cloudy Day, Steel, Wander Around, Party of Three, Deco Gold, and finally a design in the Beader Showcase by Lisa LaBarre-Kurz. 

Since these three bracelets incorporate the same type of beading ingredients as well as beading techniques, you save time and supplies. Each colorway uses just two tubes of beads, one spool of C-Lon, some 2mm Leather, and three Buttons (one for each bracelet).

Party of Three ~ Design by Janice Parsons
Sample by Beckie Ten Eyck ~ Single Wrap

The His version of this bracelet is a single wrap that is long enough for an eight to nine inch wrist. Some guys might have wrists that are a little larger, for example ten inches, and if so, just add a few more rows on the end to get the extra length you may need.

Party of Three ~ Design by Janice Parsons
Sample by Beckie Ten Eyck ~ Three Wraps

The Hers version is much longer, around twenty-one inches total, and thus can be wrapped around an average seven inch wrist three times. This extra length means you can also wear it as a necklace too.

Party of Three ~ Design by Janice Parsons
Sample by Beckie Ten Eyck ~ Two Wrap

Finally, the BFF version wraps around a seven inch wrist twice, so the full length of this bracelet before you start wrapping is about fourteen to fifteen inches. 

Along with having plenty of the right ingredients to make all three bracelets, you will find yourself using the same techniques, most importantly the ever popular laddering technique. In fact, it is recommended that if you are new to laddering that you make sure to watch beadshop's free video tutorial on this technique:

After making all three bracelets, you will be a master at the laddering technique and have some beautiful beaded jewelry pieces to share. 

FB Live Wrap-up on Looming & Laddering with SuperDuos and Duets

Hi Gang!
Thanks for watching our Facebook Live broadcast this week. It was great to share Looming and Laddering with SuperDuos with so many viewers. Thanks so much for your questions, comments, link shares and likes! It really means a lot.

L to R Acanthus (version 1), Smoke Signals and Hide and Seek.

As promised, here is the wrap-up with a tools and materials list from Looming with Super Duos and Duets.

Tools
Jewel Loom
Xuron Thread & Cord Scissors
Size 10 Seed Bead Needles 
Ruler

Materials
1 tube 10 or 11/0 seed beads. I used Aged Czech Picasso 10/0.
1 tube Size 8 seed beads. I used Gilding Matte Gold Plate.
SuperDuo Duets. I used Green Turquoise + Ivory Dark Travertine.
Fine C-Lon Olive for warp
Micro C-Lon Olive for weft
Ultra Suede. I used Topiary.
Compassion Suede. I used Brown,
or a clasp like Cool Luke Brass.

Find the PDF handout for the Acanthus motif at this link.  Find the tutorial for adding the leather as I did to the ends on our Tricks to Looming & Bead Weaving Project.

For the lovely Laddering Projects from Janice, we created two landing pages on our website. Find all the info you need for both projects. Hide and Seek here, and Smoke Signals here.

We also chatted about some of our Skill Builders. Find our tips on Macramé and our Stitchionary.

All this week you save an extra 10% through 11/10/16 on all SuperDuos in stock including all of our Duets. Remember to add your storewide coupon from the website banner for even greater savings!

I hope you enjoyed this journey into designing with this very versatile two-holed glass bead. If you missed our LIVE broadcast, find it on our video tab on the beadshop.com Facebook page.

Thanks again for watching and see you all next Wednesday at 10:30 AM Pacific time!