Winter Wonderland Bracelet Tutorial ~ Mandi

I am so excited about sharing this tutorial with you! Last week everyone was all worked up about the snow in the forecast here in Dallas. We got the cold, and the rain, but no snow...Bummer!

So, I decided to create my own Winter Wonderland with this free bracelet tutorial. It is two rows of chevron chain, embellished with snowflake sequins.

For a downloadable version of 

this tutorial click here.

This is a small preview to give you an idea of what to expect, but why squint when you can download ;)

Variations and More

Colorful sequin variation- perfect to go with my "tacky" Christmas sweater.

I love this design because it's kind of a blank canvas for your creativity. I used round colorful sequins in each intersection to make a bracelet that goes perfectly with my outfit for the Tacky Christmas Sweater Party! To uplevel the sophistication, you can embellish with loch rosens, rose montees, or Swarovski margaritas.

Big thanks to my PIC, Ralonda Patterson, for creating the graphics. I have never had so much fun with a kit until I made her Hook, Line, and Sinker fish kit found here. She has so many fun color options it may be hard to choose! Glub, Glub :)

Hope you enjoy the tutorial!

Peace & Love,

Mandi 

www.beadcircle.com

Creating a Bezel with RAW & Peyote ~ Mikki

An early work  from 2010 when I was just starting beadweaving

By far the most common component in beading seems to be a 'bezelled' something or other, it can be a simple pendant, part of a larger necklace or bracelet or be a feature of earrings and rings.  It's a 'must-have' technique in any beader's arsenal.

There are many ways to create a bezel but this is my tried and true version.

You can get a downloadable copy here.

Tips on Bezels

· When working on smaller stones omit the overlap. The larger stones need a little give as the peyote rows ‘snug’ the bezel around the stone.

· With smaller stones work less rows of peyote...work one row in B beads and one row in C beads.

· If the bezel is too loose add another row of C beads to each side.

· For thin stones or flat back stones you may need to omit the peyote row of A beads. 

My polymer butterfly wings had holes to anchor the bezel where the wings dipped in.

Formula for Circular bezels

When working with circular stones there is a formula for working out how many RAW stitches you will need.  You will need to know the diameter of the stone.

Diameter of stone x 2.5  divided by 2 = number of RAW stitches

This means for a 12mm stone:

12 x 2.5 = 30  30 divided by 2 = 15 So you will need 15 stitches.

This means for a 14mm stone:

14 x 2.5 = 35  Round up to 36.   36 divided by 2 = 18 So you will need 18 stitches.

This means for an 18mm stone:

18 x 2.5 = 45  Round up to 46.  46 divided by 2 = 23 So you will need 23 stitches.

NOTE: If you are embellishing the edge of the bezel it’s easier to work with

an even number of stitches so you would round up to 16 stitches

for a 12mm and 24 stitches for an 18mm.