Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Four leaf clover bead weaving ring design

It's just a couple of days before March rolls around, but it will be here before you know it so I would like to show you an easy four leaf clover bead weaving ring design that will put you in the St. Patrick's day spirit.

Here are the materials you'll need to create the ring:

5mm 5301 swarovski crystal beads - 6 (emerald)
5mm 5301 swarovski crystal beads - 6 (blue zircone)
6mm bugle beads, silver, (use toho or miyuki) - 8
3mm round beads, silver - 1
2mm round beads, silver - 70~80
Monofilament string (clear beading thread) .25mm - 40 inches
Flush cutter

What I discovered when I created this design is that you can use bugle beads as a base for the ring to create many interesting shapes on top of the base. The bugle bead base does a very good job of holding together the shape of the beads on top of it.

For this ring, I used the bugle beads to create a triangle shaped base with groups of three swarovski beads on top of each triangle to create a clover shape.

What I also did was vary the green color of the beads slightly which makes the clover image come through better than if you used
just one color.

One thing I highly recommend when you get bugle beads for this design is that you use Japanese bugle beads (toho or miyuki) because the size of the holes in those beads is larger. That helps the string pass through more easily.

I used 2mm round beads to create the ring band using a simple criss cross technique.

You will notice after you create the band on your first pass through that the band doesn't have a very nice shape.

If you want to create a prettier round shape for the band all you need to do is go back through the band a second time with your beading string.

I hope you enjoy creating this design to show off your beautiful beadwork for St. Patrick's day!

Beading Video Part 1:



Beading Video Part 2:



Beading Video Part 3:



This video was created by Eri Attebery of JewelryMakingProfessor.com. Eri offers a variety of jewelry making and beading videos on her website including a free online video course for beginners that shows how to make beaded jewelry.




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