Featured Brand of the Month: Miyuki - Week Four

Here at Beadaholique we love to use Miyuki beads in our projects. So it's only fitting that for our final week highlighting this wonderful brand we share with you some of our favorites. If you are looking for a new project to try, explore our free beading projects or start by learning a new technique from one of our instructional videos. Sometimes when I get stuck, the best way to get out of my head, and my comfort zone, is to learn something new. Check out these cool projects and their corresponding techniques.

The Deco Darling Earrings show off the square stitch using a fun color blocking pattern.

The Crest of the House Necklace is an example of how you can use peyote stitch decreases to create various shapes.

To complete projects like the Wide Beaded Bangle, you can use the technique shown in our video for how to create a seamless join in peyote.  

We hope that the projects and patterns that we design help fuel your creativity. Be sure to check out our Bead Weaving 101 page to learn all about the different things you can make with seed beads. Try each technique to find out what you like best.

Featured Video: How to Bead Weave a Triangle Using Peyote and Herringbone Stitches

Here's a great video that explains an advanced technique using peyote and herringbone stitch to make a triangle. The Equilateral Earrings are the perfect example of using this technique with the Miyuki 11/0 Delica seed beads.


Designer Picks

Megan

My favorite Miyuki project is also one of my favorite projects over all.  It's the Deco Knot Bracelet, and it's made with shimmering black and steel colored tiny hex cut beads woven together in herringbone stitch.  I made two long strips, doubled them up, and tied a knot for a dimensional look.  Herringbone is one of my favorite stitches too, because it gives a really interesting texture to your weaving.


Kat

My favorite project is the Midnight Metallic Bracelet. This project uses the Miyuki 10/0 Delicas in a two drop peyote stitch pattern. By keeping the pattern very simple, I was able to show off the complementary palette of the metallic beads. If you have not yet tried the two drop peyote, I highly recommend it. Not only is it very fast, it also gives you more options in your pattern than a traditional single peyote.

Karlin

Although I'm not much of a bead weaver, I enjoy using Miyuki beads in Kumihimo braiding and simple stringing projects. My project pick for this week's blog post is my City Lights bracelet, which is a color variation of Julie's Marseilles Beaded Kumihimo Bracelet. I love the lush look of the 24k gold plated 10/0 Miyuki Delica seed beads sprinkled throughout the braids and how they add a slight touch of glamor to this piece.



Share with us in the comments below what your favorite Miyuki project is. We want to know what you love!

Featured Brand of the Month: Miyuki - Week Three

In addition to all of the beautiful colors and finishes, Miyuki continues to come out with new shapes to wow us.  This year, Beadaholique added a new shape from Miyuki, the long drop.  But there's more to come - we will be introducing you to a whole new shape at the end of this month.  We know you will love working this shape into your designs.  This is your chance to have a lot of fun experimenting with different shapes as well as a great opportunity to mix and match to find new elements for your creations.

This is a wonderful video showing you how you can use multiple shapes within one design.  In the Sundance Tila Bracelet, Julie uses two different shapes: the two hole square tila beads and the delicas in sizes 11/0 and 15/0.  With many of the shapes you can mix and match.  For example, try mixing the long drop beads with the hex cut delicas.


We currently have eight shapes to choose from:
Baroque Pearls
Delica Hex Cut Beads
Delica Beads
Long Drop Beads
Cube Beads
Tila Square Two-Hole Beads
Berry Beads
Long Magatama Beads



Designer Picks

Megan

I love the Delica Hex Cut Beads.  They have such a vintage look to them, and they really lock together in bead weaving, giving your pieces a fabric-like quality.  The hexagonal shape of these beads allows them to be geometric and uniform while still giving the sparkly look of a cut bead like a charlotte.  For me, it's the best of both worlds.

Kat

I have to go with a classic: the Delicas. Here you will find the most color variety of any shape, which for me is very helpful when I am designing. I love the way the delicas are so uniform.  They click right into place when I am bead weaving.  By using the various sizes that the delicas come in, I can add visual interest to my design very easily. 

Karlin

My favorite bead shape by Miyuki is the Long Drop. I think their unique shape makes them perfect for making simple stringing pieces or even vintage-inspired jewelry. They dangle delightfully and would look lovely incorporated into a collar necklace. Some of my favorite colors include the Matte Metallic Silver Gray and the Gunmetal.

Featured Brand of the Month: Miyuki - Week Two

Last week we talked about the various finishes offered by Miyuki.  This week I want to focus on their gorgeous array of colors. With such a spectrum to choose from it can be hard to pick a favorite.  However, when making a project, the thing you desire most is choice.  Many of the Miyuki colors come in various finishes to provide you with many options for your projects.  I would recommend that you look to their color mixes for inspiration.  They can help to guide your designs if you are stuck on choosing just the right colors.

Above is a wonderful example using the Miyuki Delicas Blue Tones mix.  Megan has bead woven a strip of peyote around a wide channel bangle.  This Wide Beaded Bangle requires no guess work or color matching.  Miyuki has done all the work for you by designing perfect mixes of complementary colors.  The Bountiful Garden Necklace showcases another way to use one of the Miyuki color mixes.   Let the colors inspire you as a jumping off point for your designs.


Designer Picks


Megan

It won't surprise many people that my favorite Miyuki color is a bright, colorful, hot pink.  Galvanized Bright Pink, to be specific.  I love this particular shade of pink, and the metallic finish makes it super shiny and intense.  These little beauties really make your bead weaving stand out, and if you use them as an accent, they sure do pop!




Kat

It might just be that I have Summer on the brain but my favorite color is Lime Lined Crystal Green.  What I love most about this particular lime is the rich color saturation it gives the beads.  For a really powerful combination try accenting with the Magenta Lined Pale Blue. 





Karlin

My favorite Miyuki seed bead color is Matte Metallic Silver. I think the matte finish looks really pretty paired with the metallic silver, giving the bead an almost metal-like appearance which I love. This neutral shade works well when mixed with other colors as well, giving it a very versatile appeal.




Which Miyuki color is your favorite?  Share with us in the comments below.  We love to hear from you!

Featured Brand of the Month: Miyuki - Week One

It's May, and here at Beadaholique we are going crazy for all things Miyuki!  Many of our bead weaving projects feature all different varieties of Miyuki glass seed beads so we are proud to have them as our featured brand of the month for May.  These beads are very easy to use because of their high quality and uniformity.  Among the beautiful Miyuki beads are the long drops, the baroque pearls, the two-hole square tilas and the most popular: the delica beads. 

If you are new to off-loom bead weaving, be sure to check out our Bead Weaving 101 page for some great information to get started.  Below is a helpful tutorial video highlighting one of the basic stitches in bead weaving, even count peyote.

Miyuki is a wonderful brand, always coming to us with new colors, finishes and shapes. This week I want to talk about the various different finishes offered by Miyuki. One of the most popular finishes is silver lined.  The silver gives a wonderful reflection to the glass color, and adds a lot of dimension to the bead.  Another finish that we use a lot is opaque due to its saturated solid color.  Opaque delicas are great to use in your peyote stitch to give it some wonderful dimension.  Some of the other finishes include transparent, luster, iris and color lined.  I encourage you to explore all of these finishes and to mix and match them in your projects. 


Designer picks


Megan

My favorite Miyuki finish is semi matte silver lined.  I know, it's a bit specific, but it's GORGEOUS.  Look at the way these purple beads look like they're glowing - and you should see them in person.  These beads are amazing!

Kat

I love the galvanized finish on the Miyuki delicas.  It is striking in my personal favorite, gold.  These beads are glass surrounded by a colorful metallic coating.  It adds so much shine to your project.  The galvanized coating also comes in matte finish as well like in these matte silver long drop beads. 





Karlin

When it comes to Miyuki beads, I love the matte finish. I think it adds an interesting, somewhat antique-y effect to the beads. I especially like Matte Metallic Silver Gray and think the muted look works wonderfully with an assortment of other colors and styles.  





Keep checking back in with us over the course of the month to find out more about Miyuki.