Free Pattern: Diamond O Beaded Chain

I wrote a free beading pattern! This one is for the beaded chain I've been using so much lately, the Diamond O Chain.

A Delicate Beaded Chain

I first developed this beaded chain for the Annular O Necklace, because I wanted to use a light, delicate chain that included O beads, and also matched the angles in the beaded rivoli components. Two lengths of chain attach to either side of the focal to complete the necklace.

I liked this beaded chain so much that I used it again for the pendant in the O Stars Set. This time, I kept the chain unattached so it can be used with other pendants as well. This particular chain is 24" long, but it can be woven in any length desired!

Attach a Beaded Chain to a Focal

The Diamond O chain can be attached to many other kinds of focal components. Here it is again with a theobromine beaded molecule, most famously found in chocolate!

Tons of Variations!

Several variations are possible on this design. In the necklace below, I added in 4 mm bicone crystals in every third link to include a touch of sparkle in the chain. I describe several other possible variations in the pattern.

The Diamond O Chain is the fourth free beading pattern available on my website at beadorigami.com. Now that I look at it, I think it would pair nicely with a couple of Tila Droplet Charms!

As always, if you decide to work up this pattern, I'd love to see pictures!

Tila and Rizo Charm Earrings

Have you Rizo'd? After making a Double Bubble Jacks beaded bead with these little rice-shaped drop beads, I tried them out in my new Tila Droplet Charm design. I substituted both the 2.8 and 3.4 mm drops with rizos, and came up with these purple and copper earrings:

The rizos definitely give this design a different look and shape! Though since some extra thread shows around the rizo beads when they're used in this design, I added a couple more 15° seed beads to these earrings compared to the charms described in the original pattern. Two extra seed beads sit on either side of the rizos on the sides of the charm, and four extra seed beads sit at both the top and bottom of the charm, between the circles of four rizo beads.

Would you like to make your own rizo bead earrings? The Tila Droplet Charm design is available as a free pattern on my website as a PDF download, where I explain how to weave this rizo'd variation. As always, if you find this pattern useful, drop me a line and let me know!

Tila Droplet Charm Necklace

While I was weaving the Tila Droplet Charm earrings, I experimented with stringing them on thin beading wire like I did for my Sakura Charms. They fit though the beading wire rather effortlessly, and I thought, "these would make a great charm necklace." So I made one:

This necklace features seventeen Tila Droplet Charms, all woven from the free beading pattern available on my website. I strung them with additional round and drop-shaped Japanese seed beads and the new rice-shaped rizo drop beads.

This necklace matches the lavender fields colorway that I used for this Dewdrop Bracelet:

Combined with the earrings that I posted the other day, this makes a complete set of tila bead and drop bead jewelry!

The Tila Droplet Charm is available at beadorigami.com if you'd like to make your own Tila Droplet Necklace. As always, if you make anything from this pattern, I'd love to see pictures!

Free Pattern: Tila Droplet Charm

I wrote up a pattern for the tila earrings that I posted a few days ago, and it's now available on my website as a free pattern. Presenting the Tila Droplet Charm!

I designed this charm to match the Dewdrop beaded bead. Like this beaded bead and the Dewdrop bracelet, this charm frames a tila bead with round and drop-shaped Japanese seed beads. Here it is in the lavender fields colorway:

Two Tila Droplet Charms make an easy pair of earrings, and conveniently only use a small spoonful of beads. They're the perfect design for any extra beads leftover from a Dewdrop kit.

This pattern uses the new illustration style that I've been tinkering with for the past few months. I'm very interested in your feedback on these illustrations, so drop me a line and let me know what you think!

The Tila Droplet Charm joins my other two free beading patterns at beadorigami.com, and it's the first free tila bead pattern available on my website. As always, if you make anything from this pattern, I'd love to see pictures!

Free Pattern: Candy Dodecahedron Beaded Bead

I've written another free beaded bead pattern which is now available for download at my website. This Candy Dodecahedron beaded bead uses the structure of a dodecahedron to gather thirty beads into a round ball shape, and also features a unique color distribution:

Six beads in each of five colors are symmetrically distributed evenly throughout the structure so that no two colors sit right next to each other. It's a color combination I've explored before in origami. It reminds me of a ball of candy, hence its name :)

Of course, you can also make a dodecahedron beaded bead with just one type of bead. Here's one in peachy freshwater pearls:

I also wove one with keshi pearls for a rather irregularly-shaped structure. It's amazing how you can use different bead types with the same pattern for a completely different piece of jewelry:

I strung this beaded bead through two of its openings with Czech glass beads and additional pearls for a purply necklace:

The Candy Dodecahedron beaded bead is available on my website as a free download. Have you ever woven a dodecahedron beaded bead? I'd love to see your interpretation!

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Free Pattern: Candy Cubes Beaded Bead

In the time that I have been writing patterns, I've often been asked if I have any patterns suitable for a beginner. Regrettably, until now, most of my patterns have been for the intermediate or advanced level, although I've always sought to write my patterns clearly enough that anyone with a basic understanding of beading diagrams will be able to understand them. But if I were to recommend a beaded bead design to someone with no previous beading experience, my first choice would be a basic cube. I've written a pattern for such a cube, and it's available as a free download at my website.

The basic cube beaded bead is woven in right angle weave, and is also the simplest unit of the box stitch. Once you learn how to make a cube beaded bead, you can change the bead type and color patterns to get a variety of different effects from this simple design. Here I've used AB2X Swarovski crystals in three different colors for a very sparkly pair of earrings, perfect for a night on the town:

But this design also works well with Miyuki drop seed beads. Here I use four colors of these seed beads in an even color distribution for a petite pair of earrings. In the pattern, I describe how to use two, three, or four colors of beads to get an even color distribution throughout the beaded bead, a color pattern strategy often used in origami. The result reminds me of candy, so I like to call them Candy Cubes.

The Candy Cubes can look very elegant with just one or two types of beads. The bracelet below uses two types of cube beaded beads; one made from 3 mm round grey freshwater pearls, the other from irregularly-shaped "keshi" freshwater pearls.

Strung with alternating 4 mm and 6 mm round freshwater pearls, they make an elegant pearl bracelet.

Finally, I experimented with several different types of beads that can be woven into cubes. The picture below shows Candy Cubes made from 4 mm Swarovski bicone crystals, 4 mm fire polished Czech glass, 3.4 and 2.8 mm Miyuki drop seed beads, and drop-shaped freshwater pearls:

Gathered all together, they make a tactile cascading pendant:

The beaded rope for this necklace is another variation on the right angle weave technique, woven with Japanese round seed beads, drop seed beads, and fire polished glass beads.

The Candy Cube beaded bead pattern is available on my website as a free download. Have you woven a cube beaded bead before? I'd love to see what you made!

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Website Re-Launch - Instant Download Patterns, Kits, and More

After much coding, writing, designing, and editing, I've finally finished rewriting my website:

I re-wrote the entire site from the ground-up, and it includes tons of new features. To start, all of the beaded bead patterns/tutorials previously available through my Artfire or Etsy shops are now available through my website to download immediately after payment; no more waiting for the pattern to be e-mailed to you! In addition to rewritten versions of the first six patterns I ever wrote, my website also contains my newest pattern, the Crystal Helix beaded bead:

For beginning students, or if you've never woven a beaded bead before, I figure that the best place to start is with a basic cube. With this in mind, I wrote a free pattern for a cube beaded bead in several different color combinations. It reminds me of candy, so I've named it the Candy Cube beaded bead: 

Kits are now also available for several of my patterns. Here's one of the color schemes available for the Teardrop Bubbles kit:

I'll be talking more about the new features of my website over the next couple of days. In the meantime, to celebrate I'm offering a special discount valid only at my website: from now through Monday, January 23, enter the coupon code 20off at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order!

And don't forget, Bead & Button Show Registration opens at noon CST today! I've heard that some classes sell out within minutes, so don't delay!