THE NEW TOHO DEMI ROUND INSPIRATION - By Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!

Have you been looking around for ways to use the new TOHO Demi Round beads? As part of the Starman TrendSetter team, I'm lucky enough to get my hands on the beads early on, so I've been using them for a while now. While it's such a new bead, there is not too many patterns out there yet, but soon there will be! For now, I just wanted to give you this fun little inspiration piece to look at, and maybe help get your creative juices flowing. 

This is a simple RAW I did with 6mm Firepolish in Halo Ethereal - Linen (1-06-P29270). I used 2mm Rounds in Matte Metallic Flax (5-02-K0171) as well, and then I basically added the Opaque-Frosted Jet (TN-11-49F) as an embelishment. I gathered them in the center with a Bronze 15/o round. 

This design is very simple, but still makes a great statement, especially with these colors. The reason why I love the Demi bead is because you can use it just like any other TOHO seed bead with all of your designs, but it also works so great to create loads of added texture that you could not normally achieve! And I'm a texture freak, so this is great!

I also made a pair of matching earrings by taking the same design as above and turning it into a 4 sided cube. It turned out very elegant. Hopefully I'll get some better photos of it since this one doesn't do it justice.

What are your thoughts on the new Demi bead so far? I can't wait to see what all the great designers start coming up with!

Good luck!

-Lisa J.

TREASURE ISLAND BEADED BRACELET - By Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!

I just realized that I hadn't made a blog post about one of my most popular designs, Treasure Island Bracelet!

This design is fairly simple using beads you already have in your stash, but can be made to look so different depending on what colors you use. 

CzechMates Tiles are so great for using as a base bead to create all sorts of designs, but they are also great as a focal piece in the design! They are one of my favorite beads!

You can find this pattern HERE.

These are the versions I made for the tutorial:

And here are some versions that were sent to me by others:

Have you tried this pattern? I'd love to see your version!

Happy Beading!

NORTH STAR BEADED BRACELET TUTORIAL - By Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!
I finished one of my favorite patterns yet!
This design was so fun to make and takes on many different looks depending on how you connect the components or what colors you use. 
This design uses the CzechMates QuadraLentil for structure and Crescents for texture. 

I'd love to hear your feedback on this one! You can purchase the tutorial on my Etsy shop HERE.

Happy beading!

-Lisa J.

CELTIC SQUARE EARRINGS - Pattern By Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!

I have a new pattern available now in my Etsy shop! I call it Celtic Square. 
Since I love the TOHO Magatama drops so much, and I used them in my Quatrefoil Pattern, I used them once again for this gorgeous and versatile earring.

This pattern is a 7 page, full color PDF that takes you through step by step instructions with very detailed color photos. 

I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did, and I would love to hear your feedback or see your color choices! 

Happy Beading - Lisa J.

QUATREFOIL BRACELET - Designed for Starman TrendSetters

Hello Bead Lovers!

My latest design is out! I created this for the Starman TrendSetter team. I call this design the Quatrefoil (thanks to my girl Amanda for helping me come up with a name). This pattern is currently available to bead stores, as pattern of the month, for those who place orders from Starman. 

When you look at the design from the top it looks almost like a vintage 4 leaf clover the way the seed beads curve around. 

I was looking to make something with the new QuadraLentil from Starman so I paired it with the classic CzechMates Tile as the base. The tiles make a great base for almost any design. It's so easy to work with all of the CzechMates beads because the holes are the same spacing so there's no worry about bunching. They fit perfectly together! With the new 4-hole CzechMates beads, it's really easy to get beautiful textures and dimension without a ton of work. The QuadraLentil is the perfect bead to hold this design together and give it depth that it would not normally have with any other bead.
Once you make the main component in this design, you can do all sorts of things with it. It makes good earrings, bracelet, or even a necklace. There are also plenty of ways you can make the same design have a totally different look. Here (photo below) I've added tear drop beads to the center, and it looks more like a flower. (Also the colors really change the look too)

I hope you enjoy this design as much as I do! I'd also really love to hear your feedback if you try it out. 

Thanks! 

Happy Beading,

-Lisa J.

HOT CROSS BARS COMPONENT - Pattern By Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!

I have a new pattern available now in my Etsy shop! I call it Hot Cross Bars. 

This is a sweet little component that works well as a bracelet, earrings, or even a necklace. It features the CzechMates QuadraLentil (4-hole) from Starman as well as the CzechMates Bar (2-hole). I absolutely love the texture you can get using the QL. The bar is the perfect little connector and can be used in so many ways in different designs.
This pattern helps you learn how to use the 4 holes of the QuadraLentil in a pretty easy way. It is a 9 page, full color PDF that takes you through step by step instructions with very detailed color photos. 

I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did, and I would love to hear your feedback or see your color choices! 

Happy Beading!

- Lisa J.

BRACELET TUTORIAL VIDEO - Right Angle Weave - By Lisa Jordan

Hello Beaders,

I wanted to share a video with you. I made this video with my iPad just testing to see if I could make something at all worth watching, or informative. This was my first attempt. In this video I made the bracelet you see below using TOHO seed beads, SuperDuo, and Mini Daggers from Starman. This pattern is very similar to the Dagger Duo bracelet that I designed last year, with just a few small differences.

I'd love for you to watch the video and tell me what you like and dislike about it. (I know that the quality isn't great for lighting, etc.) I would like to know what parts of the instruction are helpful to you, and what parts you would like to know more about. I would also love to see your finished product!

Thanks! And enjoy making it! :)

A PINCH OF ELEGANCE BRACELET - By Starman TrendSetter Lisa Jordan

Happy Holidays Beaders!

My latest design is patterned, and out for your enjoyment. It is available for free at the Starman Pattern site.

This one is so quick and easy to make, you'll want to make 2, 3, 4 or 5. Make them in all different colors and stack them on your wrist, or give them to friends as gifts. When I sit down to make one of these, I can easily do a bracelet in less than a half hour. You can extend the bracelet pattern to make a matching necklace. You can even shorten the pattern and make matching earrings. There's so much you can do with this fun design. 

Hope you like it!
If you try it, I'd love to see the color ways you choose! 

- Lisa

You will need: 

• Pinch Beads
• TOHO 11/o Seed Beads
• 3mm Rondelle

HOLIDAY EARRINGS - By Starman TrendSetter Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders! 

Check out the Holiday workshop download on the Starman Pattern site! You'll see my cute little Holiday earrings featured. These are so fun to make! Quick and easy gifts for all of the special ladies in your life. 

I plan to get a group of my friends together to make these in multiple colors. This is a beginner pattern so anyone can participate! 

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

-Lisa J.

The nice thing about this pattern is how versatile it is and the beads used to compliment the pinch beads can be substituted. You can also make them as short or as long as you want.

Beads I used are:

Matte Metallic Lava Red Pinch
Chrome Green Pinch
Matte Metallic Flax Pinch
4mm Matte Metallic Flax Rondelle
4mm Metallic Suede Blue Round
5mm Silver Melon
3mm Matte Metallic Lava Firepolish 
3mm Silver Rondelle
11/o TOHO Seed Beads

DAGGER DUO BRACELET - Design By Starman TrendSetter Lisa Jordan

Hey Beaders!

Here is a design I created that is available for free on the Starman blog. 

It's called the Dagger Duo. It's a very simple design that anyone can do. I love using the Starman Mini Dagger beads (which you see on the outside of the design), and they fit perfectly with the SuperDuo and the Takumi 9/0 seed beads from TOHO. 

This one is so easy and fun to make that I could sit and make 10 of them in different color ways just for fun.

You should give it a try!

Materials you'll need:

*TOHO Takumi Large Hole Seed Beads 9/0

*SuperDuo Beads (I used the Halo color collection here)

*Mini Dagger Beads (I used the Metallic Suede color collection)

*TOHO One-G Thread

*And your favorite clasp

Happy Beading! 

-Lisa