Hi.  I'm back at last.  I have recently renewed my interest in bead weaving, have updated my blog, and I hope to be sending you more project pictures soon!

"Dangle Berry"

"Dangle Berry"

This is my own variation of the "Bead Origami" pattern from BeadInfinitum. I started by playing with the colors to see if I could create a flower, and ended up with a pink flower, front and back, surrounded by green. I added a stamen and sepals to one "flower" and noticed it was looking a lot like a berry. I've been meaning to make a beaded bead for my cell phone. so I added a loop and some tiny glass leaves to the other end. Then I wondered if the thread loop on the cell phone might eventually break, so decided to add a small lobster claw to my leafy loop. The lobster claw means the bead can be removed and clipped onto something else - zipper pull? purse loop? Very versatile! This pattern was fun to make and I loved the extra embellishment of the 12 faces of the bead.

Beaded by Sharon Erwine, 2011

Item 1652

"Seven Sisters"

"Seven Sisters"

Here is another version of the "Seven Sisters" pattern by BeadInfinitum (Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour). This one has the complete embellishment as shown in the pattern. I added it to a Minerva Spiral necklace (from the book "Minerva Spiral"), added some embellishment to that, and attached the beaded bead to the embellishment on the spiral.

Beaded by: Sharon Erwine, 2011

Item 1651

"Carnelian Flower"

"Carnelian Flower"

Designer of beaded bead: "Seven Sisters" by BeadInfinitum (Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour)

This is my first "Seven Sisters". At a certain point in the pattern, I realized I had some carnelian colored petal beads, so of course, I just had to turn this into another flower. I simply added them to the circumference at the obvious places - very easy! I'm very pleased with these summery colors.

I skipped the embellishment beads to expose the center beads on this one, but my next project features all of the embellishment.

Beaded by: Sharon Erwine

Item 1650

"Emeralds Forever"

"Emeralds Forever"

Designer of beaded bead: "Double Rose Window" by BeadInfinitum (Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour".

Once I saw these emerald cathedral beads, I wanted to make an antique looking necklace. I ran into a big problem - the green emerald color was so dark that my first attempt using all black just lost the green color. The owner of my local bead store suggested I use some crystals in the center, which worked well to bring the green color out. I had to omit the lace overlay embellishment, though, because it darkened the green.

Next, I wanted to make a larger bead unit, so I made three beaded beads, then carefully stitched them together at the centers to align the cathedral beads. The whole necklace was still difficult to photograph to catch the greens, but when worn, the necklace sparkles the subtle greens of emeralds.

Beaded by: Sharon Erwine 2011

Item 1649

"A Little Black Dress and ..."

"A Little Black Dress and . . .

Designer of beaded bead: "Double Rose Window" by BeadInfinitum (Gwen Fisher and Florence Turnour" - variation: I used 8 mm beads instead of 6mm beads, resulting in a larger, flatter beaded bead

When I made "Sweet Charity" I thought the bead looked like a flower, my special interest. So I made another and combined my idea to add a beaded bead to a simple strand of pearls. So here it is, and I hope you like it.

Beaded by: Sharon Erwine 2011

Item 1648

"Sweet Charity"

Side 1 - embellished

Side 2 - not embellished

"Sweet Charity"

Design of beaded bead: Bead Infinitum's "Double Rose Window". I varied the design by using 8mm Chinese Charoite beads instead of 6mm beads , and by using some 2mm sugalite beads for embellishment in place of seed beads.

Beaded by Sharon Erwine 2011

Item 1647

Have you heard of "The Best Little Bead Box" and "Beads of Courage"? Beads of Courage is a charity to benefit children who have cancer, and The Best Little Bead Box is a related means for beaders to help Beads of Courage. I recently participated in The Best Little Bead Box and obtained these Chinese Charoite and Sugalite beads as a result of my participation. I am choosing to return this completed beaded bead to The Best Little Bead Box to be included in their Ebay charity "lots" at the end of Round 2.

To read more about this worthwhile cause, please see my entries , as follows:

http://thebestlittlebeadbox.blogspot.com/

March 15, 2011 My adventures in Fort Worth with the Beads of Courage tiger

March 15, 2011 The beads I added to the boxes

March 15, 2011 The beautiful things I selected from the boxes