April 06, 2012

Twin Spades Necklace and Bracelet

This is a new set of necklace and bracelet I designed with Twin beads. The pattern created by the arrangement of beads reminded me of the shape of spades, so Twin Spades is the name I gave to this project.
A tutorial for both necklace and bracelet is available in both my Etsy and Artfire shops.




I purchased some Twin beads not long ago, without knowing that actually there are two different brands of this bead with two holes - Twin beads, manufactured by Preciosa-Ornela and Superduo beads, manufactured by Jablonec (both are Czech copmanies). I haven't tried Superduo beads, but thanks to Sabine Lippert posting an image on Facebook, I learned that Twin beads are a bit non-uniformed, compared to the Superduo beads (which are much more expensive than Twins) and that there is a larger selection of colors of  Twins compared to Superduos.

I can tell from my experience working on this new necklace & bracelet project, that in a pile of 50 gr of Twin beads I found a few beads with irregular shape, but there were not too many of them - most of the beads were fine. But what really turned into a nightmare was finding out that I can't continue working and pass the needle through the free hole of one bead, simply because it was blocked! I tried to open the hole, but had not succeeded. So the only thing I could do was to break the bead using pliers and replace it with a new one. Breaking a Twin bead seemed to be a challenging task - I had to use great force and to try different angles before it finally broke. Then I had to re-fill the two spaces the removed bead created (that was the easiest part..).So I know that I will be sorting and selecting my Twin beads before I start the next project, in the hope that I will detect and take out any beads with blocked hole...

But except all of the above, Twin beads are really beautiful and fun to work with I love the texture they add to the beadwork!




It's Passover Eve today, so I wish all who celebrate it Hag Sameach
Passover means that spring had officially sprung!... I love the smell of spring and the warming weather is doing wonders to my energy. :) And to those who celebrate Easter - Happy Easter!

12 comments:

  1. An amazing design with the new special beads.
    Happy Easter, enjoy the Holidays!
    With best greetings from Lower-Austria:
    Uli

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  2. Splendida! Non ho resistito: forse sono stata la prima ad aver acquistato lo schema!

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  3. Wonderful design, amazing beadwork!
    Happy Easter!
    Greetings Manouscha

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  4. Another gorgeous design! I love it!

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  5. Beautiful! I haven't tried twin beads but your set is wonderful!

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  6. Thank you again so much! Happy Holidays!

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  7. As usual - you are superb ! I love your creations! Zvia - ZviaGil Designs

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  8. Smadar, as usual your creations are superb!
    Zvia - ZviaGil Designs

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