So, this months I was supposed to check in and review at least three of my patterns, but I only had time to revisit two of them. Oops! It’s been a very busy month for me in my non-beading life. Family stuff was a big one – my grandma celebrated her 80th birthday (!) and we had Easter shenanigans. I also took a long weekend to celebrate my 6th wedding anniversary. It was all really great, but boy, I did not get as much beading done as I would usually like!

First off, I did check in on my Vistella earrings pattern. I had almost worked through my stash of Ava beads, so I used the last of them making a pendant and a pair of earrings.

The pendant is a combo of copper, chestnut, and gold. I kept it very warm-toned and put it on a looooooong chain so in slips over the head and sits mid-bust. For the earrings, I did a classic turquoise, black and silver.

After than, I wanted to check in on my Joystone pattern – which is still my longest pattern I’ve ever written! Both of the rings I had made have sold and I don’t have any available in my shop, so I definitely wanted to make a ring. For this one, I used a bronze rivoli with black and gunmetal beading and pale, pale, pale turquoise.

After that, I was a little paralyzed with choosing what colors to make into earrings – my rivoli stash is a little embarrassing at this point. But a friend of mine messaged me and instructed me to use the coral, so I did. Thanks for help, Leah!

I used seed beads in matter gunmetal and fire-polished crystals in a soft peachy pink. They’re super girly and I love them.

Both of these patterns were written fairly recently, so I didn’t need to change or update the patterns. Next month, though, I’ve planning to investigate some of my older patterns that need more of a makeover.

The other reason I didn’t do much beading was because I was finishing this monster!

If you’ve been following me on Instagram (which you should! It’s great!), you’ve definitely seen me posting progress photos on this one. It’s part of a series of brick stitch workshops that Wanda Pitzele has been teaching at my local bead shop, Beaded Bliss. I’ve gotten to take two of her classes so far and I feel like I’m finally showing brick stitch who’s boss!

It’s so round and crisp and it took forever, but I’m so proud of it! If you’re interested in the pattern, you can go to Wanda’s website and use the contact form to send her a message. It’s really well written and I feel so much more confident with brick stitch now.

Hopefully, I’ll be much more productive in May and will come back and swamp you with pattern updates and beady adventures. Until then, Happy Beading, guys!