Yay for Jeanne!

Jeanne, owner of Gems by Jeanne Marie on Etsy, is the winner of the Acculon beading wire!  Congratulations Jeanne!!



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Jewelry artist: Lena Phoenix

Have you ever thought about your feet when it comes to stringing beads? Lena Phoenix has! Check out these adorable barefoot sandals that she sell son Invisible Shoe. Lena writes:

Last year, my husband and I started a web site selling "barefoot" style sandals to runners and other people who have come to recognize the health benefits of minimalist shoes. Once I became addicted to wearing them all the time, I realized I had to figure out how to make them more fashionable. So I pulled out my beads and began to play with how I could dress up the 4 mm cord that we use to string our sandals.

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"Blow a Fuse" necklace

Over the summer, I helped a friend clean out a storage unit.  Everything had to go, except for the few small items that caught my eye for future use.  Two boxes of different colored fuses?  Why not...I'll think of something to do with them!

Materials and Tools

Fuses of different colors
28 gauge colored craft wire
Seed beads, sizes 11/0 and 8/0
Beading wire
4 crimps
4-5 mm round beads
Magnetic clasp

Wire cutters
Flat nose pliers

1. Cut off a 5 to 6 foot piece of colored craft wire.  In the center of the wire, wrap the first fuse and twist the wire tightly to secure. 

2. Add an 8/0 seed bead over both wires.  Bend one wire out of the way and work from the center outward with one wire at a time.  On the first wire, add another 8/0 seed bead, 6 11/0 seed beads, and 2 more 8/0 seed beads.  Wrap the wire around the next fuse, take the wire down through the top 8/0 seed bead, and wrap the wire around 3 or 4 times to anchor the fuse.

3. Add an 8/0 seed bead, 6 11/0 seed beads, and 2 more 8/0 seed beads.  Repeat from step 2 until near the end of the wire, leaving about 4 to 5 inches after wrapping the last fuse.

4. Repeat from the center outward using the other wire.  Create several more strands.  I made 4 in total, 2 with larger fuses and 2 with smaller fuses.  Twist the strands together.

5. Using 1 of the wires, wrap the ends together on one side.  Slide size 8/0 seed beads over all the rest of the wires.

6. Make a loop, wrapping the loose wires to anchor.

7. Cut 2 pieces of beading wire.  Use a crimp to make a small seed bead loop through one of the loops you created in step 6.  String on beads to finish the strand, crimping it to one half of the clasp.  Repeat on the other side of the necklace.

8. The finished necklace.    

This post contains affiliate links: Beadaholique

Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Yay for Lori!

Lori was the winner of the first pendant giveaway this holiday season, and I've heard back from her, so I'll be sending out the blue donut to her first thing tomorrow morning!!  Congratulations, Lori!

Don't miss the current giveaway, this time for the red rectangle. 

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Gift Guide for Handmade Jewelry Lovers

All year long, Beading Arts brings you the best, most innovative, creative, and NICEST bead and jewelry makers for you to drool over! I put out a call to those who have shared their passion and creativity with you in the past, and here are the results: special offers and unique gifts for all!

Oh, and there will be more throughout the entire next month :-)

Beading Patterns Are you looking to make some gifts this year? I have several quick to make patterns that only take a few hours to make a beautiful piece of jewelry.

Calico Juno Designs For all Beading Arts readers, 20% off all orders, just use code "beads", good through December 31st.

Burnt Offerings offers unique jewelry, art, books, and even that perfect "cool tool" for all of your holiday gift-giving!

Blue Ridge Diva Artisan Jewelry & Accessories is offering free shipping on all purchases through New Year's Day!

Solstice Designs presents the Inner Strength, a sterling silver necklace that celebrates women; a portion of the proceeds benefits the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in the "Gifts that Give" section.

Stratus Silver Jewelry Co. Use coupon code AJ6WE333L17C at check out through Dec. 31 and receive 20% off your entire order of sterling silver nature jewelry from Stratus Silver Jewelry Co.

Bellissima Jewelry Design Beautiful selection of one of a kind and limited edition jewelry that make thoughtful and unique gifts!

Avril Scott Happy to make custom 99.9% pure silver Christmas jewellery. Please contact me with ideas or for further details.

FOXY shares some love this holiday season! Use the >>>foxylove<<< coupon code through December 18th at for 25% off!

WorldWise Jewelry Beautiful selection of handmade jewelry using reclaimed precious metals, fair trade beads and other recycled materials. Join our mailing list and receive a 20% discount code instantly.

LA Jewelry Designs Artisan Glass Lampwork beads will be 20% off during Black Friday/Cyber Monday (11/26-11/29)

Images: Stock.xchng

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Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

 

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Happy Thanksgiving! Celebrate the holiday with a special Thursday Giveaway sponsored by Auntie's Beads!

About.com Jewelry Making
Find out the latest news, including a tight deadline, for an awesome jewelry making challenge sponsored by Rio Grande and Lark Books.  

Art Bead Scene
Get your jewelry shop ready for the holiday shopping season with help from Art Bead Scene!  

Beads & Books
Michelle searches the toy store to get ideas for earring displays for her upcoming craft show.  

Carmi's Art/Life World
In a two part story Carmi glams up a name tage with jewelery components. 


Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Watching your pennies while trying to make fabulous jewelry for gifts this holiday season? Cindy can help you, read on!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A thrift store find inspires Melanie to make some fun dinosaur tear pendants.



Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
The latest news from Artbeads : voting and a new sweepstakes!

 



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Another Murano glass pendant giveaway!

 

Thanks to Auntie's Beads, the next glass pendant giveaway starts today, just as the old contest ends! 

***FREE STUFF ALERT!!!***

The next pendant on the block is the red rectangle in the top left corner (Murano Style Glass Rectangle Pendant, Red, 24x50mm).  All you need to do for a chance to win it is to leave me a comment telling me what you plan to use it for and you'll automatically be entered.  If you tweet or post on Facebook or other social spots about the contest, you can leave a second comment and be entered twice!  Please please please make sure that your link will lead me to an email address, or else I won't be able to contact you.  No contact, no win, and I simply have to go on to the next person.  Deadline: December 2, 2010.  Check back each week for new chances to win!    


Here are all the beads shown in the picture above:
Murano Style Glass Donut Pendant, Blue, 34mm
Murano Style Oval Pendant, Black/Red/Silver Foil Swirl, 34x60mm
Murano Style Glass Pendant, Round With Orange Flower, 30mm.

Murano Style Glass Heart Pendant, Brown With Silver Foil, 38mm.
Murano Style Fancy Cross Pendant, Black With Silver/Gold Foil
Murano Style Foil Butterfly Pendant, Blue Stripe, 40x60mm
Murano Style 50mm Disc Pendant, Black/Silver Foil
Murano Style Glass Rectangle Pendant, Red, 24x50mm

As regards FTC disclosure guidelines: I have received these glass pendants free of charge from Auntie's Beads in order to create some projects free of charge for you and to give away the rest.  I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Visit Real Food Fast today to see all sorts of recipes to help you use up your leftover turkey!

Do You Tweet Your Jewelry?

If you've got your own jewelry or beading business, you've probably felt the pressure to get in on some of the social media networks. We know that sites like Twitter and Facebook can be used to promote your work and can help you with increased sales and recognition.

They can also be an enormous time suck.

To make sure that your tweeting time is productive, Donna Scott on OnlineCollege has written an article called 100 Twitter Tips and Tools to Stay on Top of Your Field.

Nicolette Tallmadge has a audio program on BlogTalkRadio that covers Social Networking Tips for Artists too.

And Natasha Wescoat wrote Tweetable Art: 10 Twitter Tips for Artists for Mashable.  



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Recent publications: November 2010

 

Creating Glamorous Jewelry with Swarovski Elements by Jean Campbell

Beadweaving with Cabochons: 37 Stunning Jewelry Designs by Marie Geraud

The Jewelry Architect: Techniques and Projects for Mixed-Media Jewelry by Kate McKinnon

Chain and Bead Jewelry Geometric Connections by Scott David Plumlee

How to Do Bead Work by Mary White

Making Elegant Jewelry for Special Occasions by Editors of BeadStyle magazine

Making Simple Felted Jewelry by Marsha Fletcher


Anodized!: Brilliant Colors & Bold Designs for Aluminum Jewelry by Clare Stiles



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Bead Journal Project: bracelet for November

Only one more to go!  And I'm really looking forward to finishing off the Bead Journal Project with a bang this year.  But for right now...November.  Harvest colors and an earthy Guatemalan background material.  I'm satisfied, and it goes with a lot of my fall/winter clothing ;-)

My son and his family live in Guatemala, where they help to run an orphanage.  The last time we went down to visit them, I bought some fabrics, which I have slowly been using in projects ever since.

Previous pieces:

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November


Here are the instructions for how I am making these bracelets.




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Fun in the Sun necklace

Fun in the Sun for sale at this link

Fun in the Sun was created in a way very similar to Sunlit Seas that I showed you last week.  Basically you will use the same instructions, but you'll notice that the clasp area is different.  Here's how I finished the necklace off.

1. Take two pieces of 20 gauge wire, each 4 inches long, and turn a simple loop on one end of each with round nose pliers.

2. Gather up all the strands of C-Lon fiber and tie them through the wire loop.  Glue the knot and clip the ends when dry.

3. Insert the wire ends through metal cones.  Slip a bead or two over the wire ends and create a wrapped loop around a hook-style clasp and loop.  

[editor's note: There is a more complete tutorial in an earlier post that I had forgotten I wrote!]

This post contains affiliate links: Beadaholique

Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

 
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean has an amazing, don't miss, book giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog and you might becme the winner of Lark's completely stunning 500 Plastics Jewelry Designs--what a marvel of a book! 

A Bead A Day
In celebration of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, Lisa is collecting stories and photos of the gifts of jewelry we make and give to show our thanks to others.  

Art Bead Scene
Take a Trip into the Woods via ABS's Friday Picks!  

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi has a cute little felt ring project to share this week.  

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
This week, Cindy's mad for "snow globe-ish" jewelry!  



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Special sale at Artbeads

Artbeads is having a Sneak Peek ‘After Thanksgiving Day Sale’ coupon you can use right now and will save you 20% off orders $60 or more. This is your chance to get a jump start on great savings before your favorite items sell out. The coupon expires on Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 11:59pm PT.

Use Coupon Code: ZZ-THANKSGIVING-SALE at checkout.




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Beautiful Murano glass pendants to give away!

 

Look at these amazing Murano style glass pendants that I received from Auntie's Beads recently!  That's a six-inch ruler next to them so that you can get some idea as to size...these are not teeny tiny disappointing pendants.  No, they are big honking, colorful, in your face, gorgeous pendants!  They were sent to me to show you, to create some projects, and to give away!!

***FREE STUFF ALERT!!!***

Over the next several weeks, I will be giving some of these pendants away, starting with that pretty blue glass donut in the lower left corner (Murano Style Glass Donut Pendant, Blue, 34mm).  All you need to do for a chance to win it is to leave me a comment telling me what you plan to use it for and you'll automatically be entered.  Easy, huh?  If you tweet or post on Facebook or other social spots about the contest, you can leave a second comment and be entered twice!  Please please please make sure that your link will lead me to an email address, or else I won't be able to contact you.  No contact, no win, and I simply have to go on to the next person.  Deadline: November 25, 2010.  Check back each week for new chances to win!    


Here are all the beads shown in the picture above:
Murano Style Glass Donut Pendant, Blue, 34mm
Murano Style Oval Pendant, Black/Red/Silver Foil Swirl, 34x60mm
Murano Style Glass Pendant, Round With Orange Flower, 30mm.

Murano Style Glass Heart Pendant, Brown With Silver Foil, 38mm.
Murano Style Fancy Cross Pendant, Black With Silver/Gold Foil
Murano Style Foil Butterfly Pendant, Blue Stripe, 40x60mm
Murano Style 50mm Disc Pendant, Black/Silver Foil
Murano Style Glass Rectangle Pendant, Red, 24x50mm

As regards FTC disclosure guidelines: I have received these glass pendants free of charge from Auntie's Beads in order to create some projects free of charge for you and to give away the rest.  I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received.

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Giveaway: Acculon 21 and 49 strand beading wire!

Long known as an inexpensive beading wire easily available almost everywhere beading supplies are sold, Acculon by Cable Strand has now gotten into the quality beading wire game.  I've had a chance to test it out for myself: I received spools of nylon coated Acculon in the medium diameter wire (0.018 inch) in both 21 strand and 49 strand.  I thought it compared very favorably to other premium beading wires, and I used it in one of my recent projects that I shared with you (Bali Hai necklace).

***Free Stuff Alert!!!***

Would you like to try this wire out for yourself?  I've got one 30 foot spool of 21 strand and one of 49 strand to give away.  There will be two winners, each receiving one spool of wire (random assignment who gets which).  Just leave me a comment below and you'll automatically be entered.  If you tweet or post on Facebook or other social spots about the contest, you can leave a second comment and be entered twice!  Please please please make sure that your link will lead me to an email address, or else I won't be able to contact you.  No contact, no win, and I simply have to go on to the next person.  Deadline: November 24, 2010. 


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How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.

Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to blogs?  I'll bet you do, and I'll double-dog-bet that some of the things you hate are the same as the things I hate!  How about keyword stuffing?  That's when the content is basically written in order to include as many keywords as possible so that the blog will score well with google's search engine.  It's an unfortunate by-product of bloggers learning about search engine optimization.  It makes the text pretty much unreadable, but hey!  it scores well.  Maybe.

I also hate difficult colors, music, flashing things, and pop-up ads.  How about you?  What do you hate?

Susan Gunelius, of BloggingPro has a great post on the things that she hates.  Check it out!  Check out the rest of the blog too...it's full of good advice.


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Do you love a geek?

Or maybe you are a geek!  I'm in love with one, and sometimes I think I am one.  Here are some fabulous geek jewelry finds that might interest you:

    Geek necklace

  Head earrings

 Chocolate earrings (theobromine)

Atmosphere necklace

  Vinyl record cuffs

  Ouija pendant

Pi Necklace

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Sunlit Seas necklace

I love a mixture of stone beads!  When you string a handful of different types together you can put together a wonderful mixture of colors, and you can also mix a small number of more expensive stones in with less expensive ones to help keep your costs down.  I really love turquoise, and mixing it with serpentine, chalk turquoise, and amazonite really enhanced the rich green blue of my stones.


I decided to string them on C-Lon cord so that it would be a lighter weight necklace where each stone could be admired individually.

Materials and Tools

3 pieces of green C-Lon cord, 80” each
Antiqued copper 3-holed end bar and clasp with chain
Fray check
GS Hypo-tube cement
12-16 each of 5 different types of stone beads.  I used the following:
14 serpentine rectangles, 14x10mm
14 chalk turquoise cubes, 8mm
13 amazonite rondelles, 8x5mm
16 amazonite rounds, 4mm
13 turquoise ovals, 12x9mm
14 open hex copper beads, 8x3mm
17 8/0 bronze seed beads
Tools:
Scissors
Tweezers
Measuring tape

1. Fold each of the long stands of C-Lon in half and string each through a loop on one half of the clasp assembly.  Knot each doubled strand and slide the knot up tight against the loop with your tweezers.

2. Add the beads randomly to each strand, aiming for a pleasing mix of colors and sizes.  Stagger the placement, and leave about an inch or so between each bead, knotting before and after each to hold them in place.  Double the knots if needed to keep larger holed beads from slipping.  Spread the copper and bronze beads throughout the piece as accents. 

3. At the end, thread the cords by pairs through the loops on the other half of the clasp assembly.  Tie a knot around the necklace strands and pull snugly.  Glue your knots with the cement, and trim them when the cement has thoroughly dried.     


This post contains affiliate links: Beadaholique

Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Bead & jewelry blogging round-up!

 
Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
ArtBeads.com and Pantone inspire Melanie to work with some new fall colors to create an asymmetrical autumn cluster necklace

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Artbeads inspires Jean to write about their Fall Inspiration Contest (you can win!), and also their FaceBook site!  
 
The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Kathy Van Kleeck helps Andrew out with his medical bills by placing a magical, fairytale style fine silver and beach glass box up for auction. Check it out!

A Bead A Day
Do you enjoy making more than one piece of jewelry in the same design? Lisa is exploring this topic over at A Bead A Day.  

About.com Jewelry Making
Thanksgiving is not just about the turkey. It's a perfect time to make some fun themed jewelry as well.  

Art Bead Scene
November is here and so is the monthly challenge. This month it's Klimt's Tree of Life.  

Beading Arts
Registration has just opened for next year's Bead Journal Project! Don't get left behind!  

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi crafts a little joy brooch.  

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Cindy shares a handmade necklace that has special meaning for her.  


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Tagua beads from EcuadorianHands

Tagua (aka exotic ivory) only exists in Ecuador, so I'm told. As a renewable resource, using carved tagua nuts helps to protect the rain forest. And now there is a site that not only sells the beads, but also provides instructional videos on projects to use them in: EcuadorianHands. I thought this would be a good site to share with you during "Stringing Month" here on Beading Arts...a new material to make your designs sing!

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Yay for Marlene!

 

Marlene Brady, of It's All About Creating, is the winner of Marthe Le Van's wonderful new book, 30-Minute Necklaces.  Congratulations, Marlene!


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