Disco Lemonade: Another Learning Experience

Etsy's BeadOrigami designs such neat beaded beads, I had to try one of her tutorials for myself. Her descriptions suggest doing the Bubble Jacks bead first, but I thought, this Bubble Beaded Bead is at my beading level, it'll be easy to do once I glance at the graphics (which is how I usually learn), right?

 WRONG! It took me three tries, meticulously following the instructions, step by step. But I was determined to finish that bead, and, paying close attention to the super-detailed instructions, I finally understood, and finished my bead! Thank you beadorigami, for all the labour you must have put into that tutorial; without those truly step-by-step instructions and graphics, I would NEVER have been able to do this!

After starting the project, I realized the teardrops I had were one size up from the recommended size; I had 8x5 drops instead of 6x4s. But I was determined to make them work, and they did! I had to bead the thing over a 12mm vintage crystal core bead though. I chose matte scarlet seed beads (blending in with the glossy drops), matte orange beads, clear pink-lined beads, and bright fuschia 15/o's.

I left out the second colour of 15/o's, as I had no suitable colour. You can't reallly see the orange, as it's close to the base, but it gives off just a little glint.

I strung the finished bead on a headpin with a lone pair of hot pink firepolished faceted beads sitting in my glass drawer for ages, then used it as a centerpiece amongst my remaining glass drops, pink-lined seed beads and chalcedony briolettes from the Bead & Button show, finishing off the whole necklace with vibrant pink silk and a hammered wire clasp.