Frances

Banana & Chocolate Cupcakes

Normally when I have a few over-ripe bananas I tend to make Banana Nut Bread, but, recently when I had a few bananas that were past their prime for eating in my opinion I decided to make some cupcakes with them instead. Following the recipe Gina’s Banana Cupcakes from the Food Network’s website I made some really moist and delicious cupcakes that weren’t overpowering with the flavor of banana.

I started off by mashing two very ripe bananas.

I then combined my dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and set it aside.

To begin making the batter I creamed together butter and sugar.

I then added in sour cream and vanilla.

And then two eggs, which I added in one at a time.

At this point I added in the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

After mixing it well it was time to finally add in the bananas.

Once the entire banana was incorporated into the mixture I used an ice cream scoop to fill my prepared cupcake pan.

The batter was the perfect amount for twelve cupcakes!

After baking for 18 minutes in a 350 degrees preheated oven they were done and smelled incredible.

I let them cool for a bit before frosting and since I was running a bit short on time I decided to take a short cut and use store bought chocolate frosting.

Once they were cooled I frosted them using a piping bag attached with Wilton’s 1M tip to create the 1M Swirl.

Overall… the cupcakes were absolutely delish!

Gina’s Banana Cupcakes*

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and granulated sugar. Beat with a handheld mixer until combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla. Slowly beat in the eggs, one a time. Incorporate the dry mixture and wet mixture together until thoroughly combined. Add the bananas, being careful not to over mix.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner three-quarters of the way full. Bake in the oven until the tops turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before frosting.

*The original recipe included 3/4 cup walnuts from the batter which I omitted and was paired with a molasses frosting which I opted to replace with a chocolate frosting.

A Key Lime Cookie Miss

So after baking my Key Lime Pie I had quite a few key limes left over and wanted to put them to good use so I decided to bake some Key Lime Spritz cookies. Unfortunately this was one recipe that didn’t work for me for numerous reasons.

The ingredients were basic enough: butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, an egg, key lime zest and juice, and flour.

Two things attracted me to the recipe I followed, it sounded simple enough and it gave me an opportunity to use my Wilton Cookie Press.

I followed the direction to make the dough…

And then it was time to bring out the cookie press – this is where things went downhill.

I filled my cookie press with the dough and was ready to start pressing out cookies in my selected shape.

Instead of dropping cookies onto my cookie sheet this is what happened instead.

Frustrated after numerous tries I turned to my trusted cookie scoop instead.

I scooped the dough and pressed it down to make round cookies.

I baked them for about 7 minutes until the cookies looked firm but weren’t browning.

I didn’t even bother using the rest of the cookie dough… I tried one of the cookies from the first batch and was extremely disappointed. The cookies had no lime flavor whatsoever and the overall taste of it was nothing to rave about. Not sure if it had to do with the recipe itself or just my technique.

Besides the recipe not being all that I was hoping for I was disappointed that my cookie press didn’t work as it should again – yes, this was the second time I had a failed experience using it. At this point I am not sure if I will try for a third time with it. So, has anyone ever had success using a cookie press? And if so, how did you get it to work? Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

Freshly Squeezed Key Lime Pie

They say you should never go to the supermarket hungry and I think the same should be said when your creative baking juices are running wild. Living in New York it’s extremely rare to see key limes at my local supermarket but during a recent trip I found just that… three lonely bags of key limes and I immediately thought why not make a key lime pie (I should note that prior to this I had only tried it once and didn’t care for it since I couldn’t taste the lime). I put a bag in my shopping cart and then called a friend to see if she knew anything about making one – I wasn’t sure how many limes I needed and wondered whether or not it required any oddball ingredients. She did a quick Google search for me and it turned out that it wasn’t all that difficult and the ingredients were all ones that I already had home – except for the key limes of course.

Once I got home I did a few Google searches of my own to find the perfect recipe to follow. I decided on one that I found on the website the Joy of Baking. But then the following morning as I was getting ready to start making the filling I noticed that there was a recipe right on the bag of the key limes so I decided to combine the two of the recipes to make the filling.

I knew that I needed a 1/2 cup of key lime juice, but, I wasn’t too sure how many limes I would need to squeeze to get that amount. From looking at recipe online I got all different numbers ranging from 12 – 20. I decided to start on the smaller side and opted to start off with slicing and squeezing 10 limes. Prior to slicing the limes rolled them to make sure I would get the most juice out of them.

After squeezing the 10 limes I had just about a 1/2 cup of juice.

Since I did have pulp and seeds in the juice I strained it using sieve. My sieve also doubles as sifter from time to time. In all honesty they are both one in the same.

After straining it I was just shy of a 1/2 cup.

So, I rolled, sliced and squeezed 2 more limes which got me exactly to a 1/2 cup. I wised up this time and squeezed the limes over the sieve so I wouldn’t have to strain out any pulp or seeds.

Along with the lime juice I also needed 4 egg yolks, a can of sweetened condensed milk and the zest of one regular lime to make the pie.

I also needed a pie crust… I cheated and opted to use a Keebler Graham Ready Crust instead of making one myself. I figured squeezing the limes was enough work… LOL!

To begin I used the whisk attachment of my stand mixer and whisked together the eggs yolks.

I then slowly added in the sweetened condensed milk.

Then the freshly squeezed lime juice.

And finally I added in the lime zest.

Here’s what the filling looked like prior to being poured into the pie crust.

As you can see the filling barely filled the pie crust. Which I didn’t mind since it meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about it overflowing into my oven while it baked and more importantly it meant that there would be enough space for a whipped cream topping!

After baking for a mere 15 minutes it was ready to come out of the oven. I let it cool on the wire rack for a bit and then placed it in the refrigerator so it could cool.

Once it was in the refrigerator for at least two hours I started working on the whipped cream frosting. It’s a basic recipe… one cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar whipped until stiff peaks form.

Using my favorite Wilton tip -1M – (my favorite because I don’t need to use a coupler on the decorating bag for it, it creates a nice sized star for decorating and you can use it to create a nice swirl topping on cupcakes) I decorated the top of the pie with dropped stars. I started by adding stars around the outer perimeter of the pie and then for the second round I placed the stars in between the stars from round one and continued that for the remaining rounds.

The pie was delicious… Definitely something I will make again.

Key Lime Pie*

Ingredients

1 9-inch graham cracker pie shell

1/2 cup key lime juice (approximately 12 key limes)

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

Grated lime zest of one lime

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) Whisk together the four eggs yolks until pale and fluffy

3) Gradually add in the condensed milk and continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy

4) Add in the lime juice and finally the lime zest.

5) Pour the filling into the graham cracker pie shell and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling is set.

6) Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack and then cover and refrigerate for a few hours.

7) Decorate with whipped cream or save for serving and drop heaping spoonfuls of whipped cream on each slice.

*Recipe is a combination of the Key Lime Pie recipes from Joy of Baking and Susie Key Limes.

Whipped Cream

Ingredients

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Using a whisk attachment on an electric mixer beat the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

A Quick Multi-Strand Necklace

During a shopping trip to my local A.C. Moore I came across this pendant while perusing the jewelry section that immediately caught my eye.

I knew that I wanted to use it as the focal point of a multi-strand necklace. At first I wasn’t sure what type of multi-strand – all chains, a combination of chains and stones or all stones. After attending a bead show and a few trips to A.C. Moore and Michaels I was able to find strands of stones that perfectly complemented the colors in the pendant.

I started off by laying out the strands using a multi-strand bead board.

Once I had them strung on beading wire I haphazardly intertwined the three strands.

I actually got these three hole end bar links on clearance at Jo-Ann’s (what can I say I’m a craft store junkie) and they ended up being just what I needed for this necklace. It’s not pictured here, but, I attached a toggle using jump rings to the single loop side.

To attach the pendant to one of the strands I created a messy wire wrapped loop .

And as simple as that the necklace was done.

Vanilla Pound Cake

Dinner at a friend’s house last week meant trying out a new recipe for me. I decided to keep it simple and bake a simple Vanilla Pound Cake from Martha Stewart.

The recipe consisted of ingredients I already had on hand: butter, flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt.

I started by beating the butter and sugar together on a high speed until the mixture was light and fluffy.

Following that I added in each of the eggs one at a time.

After the four eggs were added and mixed in well I then added in the vanilla extract and salt.

I then switched my mixer to a lower speed and gradually added in the flour until the batter was just coming together.

It was then ready to spread into my prepared pan – I sprayed it with baking spray.

After baking in a 350 degree preheated oven for just shy of an hour it was ready to come out of the oven. I let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes…

And then removed it from the pan and allowed it to cool completely.

While the cake looked good I had a feeling that it was going to be on the dry side since the sides were a little dark and since dinner was rescheduled at the last minute I opted to bake another cake and make some tweaks to the directions. First off, the recipe called for a 6-cup loaf pan (8 1/2 inches x 4 1/2 inches) but since I didn’t have that size I just used what I had which was a 9 1/4 inches x 5 1/4 inches pan I had a feeling that this slight disparity in loaf pan size may have had something to do with the baking time and the oven temperature. So, for the second I decided to lower the temperature to 325 degrees and then baked the cake for approximately 50 minutes which was still a little long I found, but, produced a cake that was lighter in color and definitely moister. I definitely think you need the 6-cup loaf pan to make the most of this recipe. Next time I want to bake a simple pound cake I think I will go with Martha Stewart’s Classic Pound Cake recipe. The only reason I didn’t bake it this time was because it produced two cakes as opposed to one… In hindsight though I probably should have just gone with that one since I ended up baking two cakes anyway.

Vanilla Pound Cake

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup (8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch) loaf pan; set aside

2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined (do not overmix).

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with aluminum foil if browning too quickly). Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack, and turn upright to cool completely.

Sweetened Ricotta Cheesecake

Unbeknownst to me July 30th was National Cheesecake Day and coincidentally that day (I’m a little behind in my postings!) I decided to try out a Ricotta Cheesecake recipe from Marcela Valladolid that I came across in People magazine. What interested me in the recipe was that instead of using sugar as the sweetener it uses sweetened condensed milk. It was also super simple to follow which is always a plus.

I started off by making the crust. While I know there are traditionalist out there who like to crush their own graham crackers to make their crust – I’ve done it a few times and this recipe actually called for that as well – I am not a big fan of graham crackers so buying a box of them is a waste so I opt to buy them already crushed and ready to use for the specific purpose of making a crust.

Along with my graham cracker crumbs, I needed butter and sugar from the crust.

I mixed all of the ingredietns together…

And then pressed the crumbs into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pand and about an inch and a half up the sides.

After baking for 7 minutes I let the curst cool while I got to working on the cheesecake filling.

The ingredients were basic: cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest.

I started by beating together the cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk.

Following that I added in the ricotta cheese, vanilla extract and orange zest.

Prior to adding in the eggs I couldn’t resist the temptation of trying the filling and I found it to be awfully sweet and was concerned that the final product would be so as well, but, after adding in each of the four eggs individually the sweetness level of the filling dropped considerably. While I know some people would say it’s not a smart idea to try batter with raw eggs in it I haven’t got sick yet… I’m going to go knock on some wood now!

And finally I poured the filling into the cooled crust.

After baking for about 50 minutes in a 350 degrees oven the cheesecake was done and looked perfect – yes, it was a little brown, but, it didn’t crack which I was very happy about!

I did attempt to make a quick strawberry topping for the cheesecake by heating strawberry jam, sugar and fresh strawberries in a saucepan on the stove, but, it was a completely fail. I believe the jam I used wasn’t the best quality and it produced a horrible flavor. Luckily though the cheesecake was perfect on its own.

Ricotta Cheesecake

by Marcela Valladolid

18 cinnamon-sugar graham crackers

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz.) can condensed milk

15 oz. fresh ricotta or requeson cheese

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. fresh orange zest

4 large eggs

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Process graham crackers in food processor until finely crumbled. Add butter; process until blended. Pat crumbs over bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Place on baking sheet; bake 10 minutes until golden. Cool completely.

3) Beat cream cheese and condensed milk at medium speed in bowl of electric mixer until smooth. Add ricotta, vanilla, and orange zest; beat until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

4) Pour mixture into cooled crust. Bake 50 minutes until cheesecake is puffed and golden and a tester inserted 1 inch from center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 35 minutes. Cover and chill at least 2 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Bluberry Crumb Cake

I’ve always enjoyed baking, but, it wasn’t until a few years ago that it really became a hobby where I would challenge myself to actually make things from scratch… frostings, pie crusts, pie fillings, cakes and so forth. One of the first things I attempted back then was Barefoot Contessa’s Blueberry Crumb Cake and it instantly became a favorite amongst my friends. It had been a while since I made one but during a recent trip to the supermarket I decided to bake one when I came across some perfectly ripe blueberries in the produce aisle.

To start, I began by making the crumb topping for the cake. First I combined granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and then added in melted butter and lastly flour. Once it was mixed well I set it aside and began working on the cake.

I gathered all of my ingredients together so they would be within arm’s reach.

As with most cakes I started by creaming the butter and sugar together.

I then added in 2 eggs one at a time.

Following that I added in vanilla extract, lemon zest and sour cream.

I set the wet mixture aside and sifted together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.

I then added the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mixed it until it was just combined.

And finally I folded in about a cup of fresh blueberries.

I then spread the batter into my prepared – I sprayed it with baking spray – 9-inch round pan.

And then it was time to add the crumb topping.

After baking for 45 minutes the cake was ready to come out of the oven. You definitely don’t want to over bake this cake because then the crumb topping will burn and become dry and a bit crunchy.

Once the cake was completely cooled I sprinkled it with confectioners’ sugar. You may be tempted not to add the sugar, but believe me, that little touch of sweetness makes such a difference.

The cake was delicious, so much so that I ended up making another one a few days later.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the streusel:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

Shortcut Cupcakes

There’s nothing like baked treats made from scratch, but taking a shortcut can create something just as delicious – as was the case when I recently made Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes and Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes. The shortcut for these cupcakes came in the form of using packaged cupcake mix. I came across these Betty Crocker Cupcake mixes that are perfectly proportioned for 12 cupcakes.

I got the idea for the Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes from a fellow bloggers website – Eat My Shortbread – and while she made hers from scratch I mixed in about 1/2 cup of sour cream to the batter of the yellow cupcake mix. Once I had my batter divided up among my twelve-cup muffin tin I swirled in a mixture of cinnamon, brown sugar and melted butter. After baking for 15 minutes this was the final product.

For the frosting, I made a Cream Cheese frosting and piped in on to each of the cupcakes and then sprinkled them with cinnamon.

I usually make Strawberry Shortcake as a whole cake but decided to try out my method of making the cake on a smaller scale… i.e. cupcakes. To start I followed the directions to make the cupcakes on the white cupcake package. I then used a cupcake corer to make a hole in each of the cupcakes to fill them.

For the filling I made fresh whipped cream and folded in chopped strawberries.

I then filled each of the cupcakes. I actually made too much of the filling but it definitely didn’t go to waste… It was a nice afternoon snack.

For the frosting I whipped up another batch of whipped cream and piped it on to each of the cupcakes.

Overall the cupcakes were a hit, especially the Cinnamon Roll ones.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsealed butter

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream, cold

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Chill a large bowl (stainless steel or glass) and a whisk or mixer beaters for 30 minutes. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in the bowl and whisk or beat at medium speed until cream holds soft peaks. Yields approximately 2 cups.

Chocolate & Raspberries… Always A Good Combination

There’s nothing like a homemade birthday cake and whenever I bake one I usually let the honoree pick whatever they want – as was the case when I recently baked one for a friend’s mom. She had loved the Raspberry Cream Cheese frosting I used when I made the Lemon Cupcakes so I wanted to make a cake that would complement it and at the right moment I received an email from Real Simple with a Classic Chocolate Layer Cake recipe that sounded like the perfect match.

I started off by combining all of my dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda & salt) in a large bowl and whisking them together.

I then combined two sticks of unsalted butter and a cup of water in a small saucepan and brought it to a boil.

Once it boiled and the butter was completed melted I added it to the dry ingredients.

Once it was combined I added in two eggs one at a time.

Then sour cream.

And finally vanilla extract.

I then divided the batter between two 9-inch round pans and baked it in a 350 degrees preheated oven for 35 minutes.

I let the cakes cool completely before frosting them.

I whipped up a batch of Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting and folded in about a cup of fresh raspberries into half of the frosting and used it as the filling between the two cakes. I used the other half of the frosting to crumb coat the cake and then refrigerated it for about fifteen minutes so the filling and frosting could set. Meanwhile I made another batch of the frosting to cover and decorate the cake. I also used some fresh raspberries to decorate the cake and this was the final outcome…

It looked and more importantly tasted delicious. Definitely something I’ll make again!

Classic Chocolate Layer Cake

Serves 8

Hands-On Time: 45m

Total Time: 2hr 00m

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into pieces, plus more for the pans

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350º F. Butter two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a small saucepan, combine the butter and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Add to the flour mixture and, using an electric mixer, mix until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla.

4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions

Begin by creaming the cream cheese and butter together and then add in the vanilla extract. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add in the confectioners’ sugar, once the sugar is incorporated add in the raspberry jam and continue mixing on medium speed.

Tiles, Tilas & Triangles

While round seed beads are fun to work with – they are versatile and offer a uniform look to most jewelry pieces – sometimes it’s nice to try out different shapes and sizes to get pieces that are unique and more intricate looking.

One such bracelet is the Tila Token bracelet by Marcia Balonis that was featured in the June 2012 issue of Bead & Button Magazine Bead & Button Magazine. When I started working on this bracelet I went by the material list that came with the pattern; 5mm Miyuki Tila beads, Size 11 Japanese cylinder beads (Delicas) in 2 colors and Size 15 seed beads.

Things were going well through the first few steps…

But when I started to add the Tila beads they weren’t lying flat and although it’s not pictured here I was having a hard time keeping the Delicas close together on the sides of the bracelet. I tried restarting the bracelet a few times but in the end decided to try it with different size beads altogether.

I opted to go with Czech Tile beads, Size 8 seed beads in 2 colors and Size 11 seed beads. Czech Tile and Miyuki Tila beads are similar in that they are square beads with two holes but they differ in that Tila beads are 5mm and Tile beads are slightly larger at 6mm and are more rounded around the edges and corners. Because of that roundness I prefer the look that Tile beads give a bracelet over Tila beads.

I started off by working in ladder stitch to create the first two rows of the bracelet.

I then switched to flat herringbone stitch to create the next few rows and to add the Tile beads throughout the bracelet.

This was actually the first time I used the herringbone stitch and while it took a few minutes to get the hang of it once I did the bracelet came together rather quickly.

To complete the other end of the bracelet I once again worked in ladder and herringbone stitch and then attached a magnetic clasp and the bracelet was done.

Using the same Czech Tile beads again – along with Size 11 seed beads – I created a bracelet I will call Squared V’s.

I knew that the bracelet was going to be four tile beads wide so I began by stringing the following pattern for my desired length: one seed bead, one Tile bead, eight seed beads, one Tile bead, one seed bead, one Tile bead, eight seed beads, one Tile bead, etc. Once I reached by desired length I went in the opposite direction and sewed through the Tile beads adding seed beads by one where my starting point was one seed bead and decreasing by one seed bead where my starting point was eight seed beads.

I kept this pattern going adding the Tile beads where necessary and it wasn’t long before the bracelet was done. FYI… The greatest amount of seed beads between your Tile beads will always be the number wide of Tile beads you want to use times two. For example, if you only want your bracelet to be three Tile beads wide the greatest number of seed beads used would be six, if it was five Tile beads it would then be 10 seed beads. I then added seed beads to the ends to attach the clasp and the bracelet was done.

Since I did have some Miyuki Tile beads sitting in my stash waiting to be used I decided to make a few more of these bracelets.

And finally I used Triangle beads to create a pair of earrings that I came across in the April 2013 issue of Bead & Button Magazine under the pattern called Triangular Opulence by Ana Rao. To be honest I am still on the fence as to whether or not I like them. I am thinking it has something to do with the color; I opted to buy clear Triangles to make them since I figured I should stick with something neutral. I guess I should have gone with something bold instead. Along with the triangles I also used 11mm crystal drops, Size 11 seed beads, and Size 11 cylinder beads (Delicas) to make the earrings.

Using the ladder stitch I stitched together six triangles to form one unit and then stitched four more triangles to that unit to add on a second unit. I then added triangles to each of the end units, once again via the ladder stitch.

Once the base was done it was time to start embellishing it. I started by adding the crystal drop.

I then stitched a Delica bead to the front of each of the triangles and a Size 11 seed bead to the two centers of the base units. I attached an earring finding to the top and as simple as that the earrings were done.

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