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Showing posts from June, 2017

heART beats from other blogs!

Chain maille bracelet tutorial Metal ear cuff with a dangle tutorial Vintage shell jewelry inspirations Gorgeous wire earrings tutorial Who is your target customer - part two 4th of July dessert recipes

Pink yarrow, Flame, and Greenery pendant - part one

I'm really in love with the Pantone color palette for this Spring and Summer season.  Nice clear, bright colors, some of which remind me of what we sometimes call "sherbet pastels."  The pink and the orange are especially harmonious, as long as you like it bright.  Throw in a bit of the green, and you've got a bit of eye-popping complementary color to complete the tropical look! (Pantone colors: Pink yarrow, Greenery, Flame) This necklace also takes advantage of the popularity of this season's long statement pendants.  The project is easy to do, but it will use a lot of your jewelry-making skills.  Part one is today, and next week will be part two. Materials + Tools Bright pink agate focal 14mm crystal ultra green rivolis, 2 14mm antique brass plate links, 2 6mm wood rounds - pink 8mm wood rounds - pink 8mm wood rounds - orange 8mm wood rounds - lime green 3mm antique brass plate rounds 7 1/2" floral chain, 1 Antiqued bail, 1 Antiqued

heART beats from other blogs!

How to take a (summer?) break from your blog Is your jewelry business ready to hire help? How long did it take you to make that...? Who is your target customer? Destashing unwanted components The first 6 income streams for bloggers

BeadDreams winners!

There are stunning entries in all the categories for BeadDreams 2017 , but I have to agree with the People's Choice winner... Draco Volanti Daryl Adams, 2017 Daryl's piece also won first place in the metalwork category!  See all the winners at the link above.

Orinoco Flow - a bead embroidery necklace

Orinoco Flow was featured in Sandra Salamony's publication 1000 Jewelry Inspirations , but somehow, I never ended up doing a tutorial for it.  I only have a few step-out photos, but even though it looks complicated, it isn't really that hard if you've got some basic bead embroidery skills already. The center piece of turquoise was wrapped with wire as shown, and then was stitched to the foundation fabric (ultra-suede) around each wire.  I cut out the portion of fabric that showed through the center of the donut, and later also cut through the backing fabric in the same spot. After I stitched down all the cabochons, I surrounded them with various numbers of rows of back stitch.  Then I began to fill in all the gaps with short stack stitches.  Besides seed beads (sizes 8/0, 11/0 and 15/0), I also used turquoise, amazonite, and pearls.  I used bright gold size 15/0 seed beads as stoppers on the top of each stack stitch so that there would be unity in the piece.

heART beats from other blogs!

Rediscovering "lost knowledge" Profiting from jewelry that's time consuming to make Teaching and learning An adorable coat for a special child Stone-setting tips for metal clay Working productively at home 12 Cherry recipes

Night Sky - a beadweaving and wire necklace tutorial

Mixing lampwork glass beads with seed beads results in a piece with a lot of great texture and variation.  I started by making some matched pairs of beads in shades of blue, mostly cobalt, which featured dichroic glass, enamels, and foil.  I also made one larger tabular piece to use as a focal bead.  My final choice for this necklace included the focal bead, 5 matched pairs to surround it, and 1 extra bead for the end of the chain.  When choosing the beads you wish to use, whether you make your own beads or buy them, pick enough to equal about 5 to 6 inches when strung on wire.     Materials Lampwork glass beads with 3/32 inch holes (one focal bead plus matched spacers and one extra) 18 gauge sterling silver wire Black Nymo O 5 grams of blue/purple 8/0 seed beads 2 – ½ inch pieces of silver French wire 2 – 2 ½ inch pieces of 20 gauge sterling silver wire 2 – 7mm bead caps 2 sterling silver cones 2 – 4mm cobalt glass rounds 4 – 3mm sterling silver rounds 2 sterling si

heART beats from other blogs!

How to raise your jewelry prices A basic cookie dough for every mix-in What you need to know about pliers A great big stitching challenge you could join Creative metal stamping: mandalas

Peace on Earth - a beading tutorial

Based upon my experiments with the paint strips over the last two weeks, I’ve decided to use an analogous color scheme, running from deep blues through yellowish greens. First I like to set out all the different beads that I might use, realizing that not all of them will make the final cut. I’ve decided to use gold-toned metal, and therefore have added a few beads in orange-gold hues. Using some of these beads will add the complement of blue to the mix, and will help the colors to pop out more.  So I guess really I'm working with an analogous-complementary scheme! Materials V Pendant (made by Jeanne Kent ) 74 small glass beads, approximately 4mm, in 6-7 colors 22 larger glass beads, from 8-12mm, in matching colors Size 8/0 gold-lined seed beads 3 gold beads, 6-8mm Soldered gold loop 2 pieces of .015 inch beading wire, each 24 inches long 2 gold crimps Hook, or 2 1/2 inches of 18 gauge gold wire 2 inches of gold chain 3 headpins Tools Wire cu

heART beats from other blogs!

Etching metal for jewelry Beautiful free vintage image of a bee on a rose 7 Tips to keep your jewelry customers coming back Up your creativity by joining a project! How to move on when people are mean or rude How will digital art survive? 16 Kebabs for your cookouts this summer