I recently revisited my Heart-to-Heart bracelet pattern, since Valentine's Day is coming up soon. I thought I would see if I could re-arrange the two hearts to make a necklace. 

Here is the original bracelet.

Heart-to-Heart Bracelet designed by Janet Palumbo

The pattern was published in BEADWORK magazine, Aug/Sept 2013 and it was the first of our patterns to be published, so it holds a special place in my heart!

The pattern, with more photos and updated instructions, is available for purchase from our Etsy shop at this link if you would like to make your own.

For the necklace, which is for sale at the Red Tulip Gallery in New Hope, PA and from the gallery's online store, I thought I would make the hearts two different colors and intertwine them, since I was going for a Valentine's Day sale! I used luminous raspberry Czech farfalle beads for one heart and white Japanese peanut beads for the other. Both hearts have Swarovski crystal pearls in Rosaline for the embellishments. I finished the necklace with a heart-and-arrow shaped toggle clasp in pewter.

Heart-to-Heart Necklace by Janet Palumbo

  

 

While I was working on this necklace, I got the ideas for two more necklaces--a bead embroidered heart that can be worn as a pin or as a pendant on your favorite chain, and a delicate little necklace made with tiny faceted crystal flowers with a red and pink color scheme that worked out beautifully. Both necklaces are also for sale at Red Tulip Gallery and online.

Bead embroidered heart pin/pendant
by Janet Palumbo

The back, showing the pin with a bail.

Tiny Crystal Flowers Necklace,
by Janet Palumbo

Tiny Crystal Flowers Necklace, detail

Bead Fest Philadelphia 2016 Workshops

We are thrilled to be offering workshops again at Bead Fest Philadelphia. It is a HUGE beading event and we love being part of it. This year, we will be teaching two projects: Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet and Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings. Both projects have been published in BEADWORK magazine. Since publication, we have been tweaking the patterns, improving the instructions, and adding new color combinations! We look forward to helping the class participants make these two beautiful projects.

On Saturday, August 20, from 4:30-8:30 pm, we will be teaching Reem's Heliotrope Earrings. These beautiful dome-shaped earrings combine herringbone and peyote stitches. We will be offering kits in a variety of colors, including our newest one--Orchid. The other colors available will be Pink, Blue, and Bronze.

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings in Pink, Blue, and Bronze

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings, in Orchid

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet

On Sunday, August 21, we offer Janet's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet as a full-day workshop, from 8:30 am-4:00 pm. Right-angle-weave, made with either Czech farfalle or Japanese peanut beads, is used to create the double-heart centerpiece, embellished with Swarovski crystal pearls and Czech fire-polished beads. Three colors will be available: Magic Lilac, Bronze, and new Storm cloud Gray.

We hope you can join us!

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet in Gray and Coral

Heart-to-Heart Bracelet

The first of our designs accepted for publication was Janet Palumbo's "Heart-to-Heart Bracelet" which was featured in the Aug/Sept 2013 issue of BEADWORK magazine.

Heart-to-Heart bracelet by Janet Palumbo

For this bracelet, I used Czech farfalle beads, Swarovski crystal pearls, seed beads, and Czech fire-polished beads. I figured out a way to take simple right-angle weave strips of farfalle beads and shape them into curves to create heart shapes, ovals, and circles. Using the peanut-shaped farfalle beads, I was able to achieve a look that is similar to cubic-right-angle weave but without quite so much work! I hope many beaders enjoy making this bracelet!

Kits for this bracelet, in both the Magic Violet and Copper colors, will soon be available on our Etsy shop, 2BeadsRBetterThan1.

The kits available from our Etsy shop include two variations for the clasp used in the Heart-to-Heart bracelet and I would like to share these variations with everyone who might use the published instructions to make this bracelet.

The clasp is a bead-and-loop type, but for security it uses two beads that go through one ring made of farfalle beads, using RAW stitch. Getting the clasp ring just the right size is a little tricky and relies on culling your farfalle beads to choose some of the fatter ones. If that is too fussy for you, here are a couple of alternative ways to finish the clasp.

Pass back down through the 4th bead added.

Variation 1:
Don't change a thing from the published instructions, but add a second loop of 15º beads. To make the second loop, after adding the two clasp fringes, weave half way around the final RAW unit so that the thread exits the farfalle bead in the last RAW unit that is opposite the farfalle bead that has the two fringes for the clasp. Pick up 27 size 15º beads; pass back down through the fourth bead picked up, making a loop of 24 beads. Pick up 3 size 15º beads; pass through the farfalle bead. Repeat the entire thread path twice to reinforce, then secure and trim the thread. 

Ready to pick up the last 3 size 15º beads.

To use the clasp, you pass only the 6mm bead on the long fringe through the RAW farfalle ring. Then pass both 6mm beads, one at a time, through the second loop made of 15º beads, starting with the short fringe. Using this variation, you don't need to fuss with the size of the RAW farfalle ring since only one of the 6mm fringes needs to fit through it. But you have the security of the second loop: once you pass BOTH 6mm beads through it, they will be tight enough to not slip back out easily.

The completed loop

Variation 1: only the long fringe goes through the RAW ring;
both fringes go through the second loop 

Variation 2: 
Make the RAW farfalle ring larger than the published instructions and make the two clasp fringes longer. Then, add the second loop of 15º beads (as in variation 1). With this clasp variation, you will pass both of the fringes through the RAW ring and then pass both of the fringes through the second loop.

• First, when you make the RAW farfalle clasp ring, add one or two more RAW units so that when you close up the rings there are 13 (or 14) farfalle beads at the center of the ring. While the two fringes pass snugly through the original 12-unit ring, this 13- or 14-unit ring is large enough to allow both 6mm Czech beads to pass through easily.

• Second, when you make the two clasp fringes, make each of them longer than the published instructions. For fringe 1, string 24A, 1E, and 1A. Complete this fringe as in the magazine, except you will pass back through 21A. For fringe 2, string 32A, 1E, and 1A. Complete as in the magazine, passing back through all but the last 3A before adding the final 3A.

• Finally, weave half way around the final RAW unit of farfalle beads so that your thread exits the farfalle opposite the one to which you just added the fringes. Follow the instructions for Variation 1 above to add the loop of 15º beads.

To use the clasp, pass the long fringe through the RAW ring first and then pass the short fringe through (they should fit through this large ring easily). Then pass the long fringe through the loop of 15ºs, followed by the short fringe. This variation is easier to use and very secure!

Variation 2: Larger ring and longer fringes make this easy to use and
very secure. Both fringes pass through the ring and the loop.