MY FIRST COLLAR...

Stitching a collar design and having it lay flatly around the neck (without buckling) ... hmmm... a quandry for a tight beader like myself!  This is really a fun pattern (a design by TrendSetter Yasmin Sarfati) and has so many color combination possibilities - it's like a rainbow of color around my neck.  This was my first attempt at a collar, and I feel like I need to try it again - right away - so I can try to bead softer with less pull.  The problem I noticed as I was beading was the thread showing in-between.  Not a look I love.  On the very top row of RAW, I went back through, adding 8 sb in-between the 3mm fp.  That seemed to work, but the subsequent rows buckle slightly.  So, if someone knows the secret, please share! 

SPRINGIN' EARRINGS

New beads and new patterns keep it all fresh!  In that vein... using the new 2-hole CzechMates crescents, on a loverly afternoon with my beading sistahs, a pattern by TrendSetter Nichole Starman called "Chrysanthemum".  Try to say that quickly three times... and then, try to spell it without looking!  Nichole's pattern was for a bracelet, but the components make darling earrings, so that's where I got off the train.  Love these springs colors...and the blue on blue tones at the bottom. An issue for me again was working the pattern tightly so my thread didn't show (and I'm a tight beader!).  I struggled with that until on the final set, the blues at the bottom, I went around each section twice, and inserted 15.0 on either side of the 6mm.