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Friday, January 31, 2014

Sale this week - 25% off pearls!

On Sale
this
Week
25% off!
s33779 Freshwater Pearls - 7 mm Top Drill Bullet Pearl - Gold (strand)
Sale starts on Wed Midnight.
and ends on Wed midnight.
Items held in shopping cart
will change price automatically at
midnight.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Checkmate! Czech, mate!

s38099 Glass - 6 mm Czechmates Tile Beads - Opaque Light Beige Picasso (50)
Check and mate, and it's your move! Czechmates! These are two-hole flat tile beads, inspired, I suspect, s38100 Glass - 6 mm Czechmates Tile Beads - Metallic Silver (50)by the two hole Miyuki TILA beads, but a bit more substantial. These are 6 mm square and are part of the Czechmates two-hole bead line up that includes other shapes as well as the squares, which we will be bringing you as fast as we can process them. For now, we have a small selection of them and you can start thinking of ways to use them! For instance - with the twins and super duos?


It's a Long Drop from thereldp-462 Miyuki - 3 x 5.5 mm Long Drop Bead - Metallic Gold Iris (10 grams) to our next new bead - in fact - our next new ldp-250 Miyuki - 3 x 5.5 mm Long Drop Bead - Crystal AB (10 grams)bead is the Miyuki Long Drop! Longer than the Miyuki Fringe Drops, and less round, but shorter than the Long Magatamas, and without the sliced carrot shape. We have a nice selection (37 colours!) of these new Miyuki Long Drops and can hardly wait to start playing with them!



s38662 Flat Cut Tablet - 15 mm Heart - Ruby Red (10)Oh, and we have a lovely new heart bead ... because it's coming up on Valentines, and you never know, someone might want a red heart bead for that. ;-)

As always - you can click on a link or image above, or get started with the new items here. Happy Hunting! Remember to stay warm! Shop online!



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

One day left to score 25% off Czech Seeds!

On SALE this WEEK

25% off

Czech Seedbeads!

cfxpersian ColourFX - 11/0 Czech Seedbeads - Persia Carpet

That covers a lot
of
territory!

s35234 Czech Seedbeads -  Rizos - Peridot Capri Gold (10 grams)

All our Sales start on Wed Midnight.
and run to the following Wed midnight. 

 

 

 

 

February Classes - Lots to Love!

February is the Month of Love - and you just have to love the classes that are happening at BeadFX during February!

There are several new projects being introduced by our instructors and a new mixed media class. Of course, there are also some class repeats for those of us who were not able to take the class the first time around!


Here is what is scheduled February 1 - 15:

Saturday, February 1
NEW Kumihimo: 16 Strand Hearts and Flowers

Instructor: Angela Peace
9:30am - 12:30pm

NEW Copper Knit and Foldformed Necklace
Instructor: Cindy Goldrick
10:00am - 5:00pm


Introductory Weekend to Lampworking
Instructor: Amy Waldman-Smith
10:00am - 2:30pm
(continues Sunday, February 2; 11:30am - 4:00pm)

Bead Stringing 101
Instructor: Nadine Foskin
1:30 - 3:30pm






Sunday, February 2
NEW Ducette Square Braid Bracelet
Instructor: Roxann Blazetich-Ozols
11:00am - 1:00pm

NEW Exploring the World of Altered Dominoes
 Instructor: Anne Marie Desaulniers
12:00 - 3:00pm
 
NEW Ducette Flat Braid Bracelet
Instructor: Roxann Blazetich-Ozols
2:00 - 4:00pm





Thursday, February 6
Spiral It Up Bracelet
Instructor: Pamela Kearns
6:00 - 9:00pm




Friday, February 7
NEW French Knitting Necklace or Bracelet
Instructor: Malliga Nathan
6:00 - 9:00pm

Saturday, February 8
Hot Connections: Connecting Components
Instructor: Iris Rogers Melamed
10:00am - 5:00pm


Polymer Clay Pendants
Instructor: Barbara Colautti
10:30am - 3:30pm



Sunday, February 9
NEW Infinity Bracelet
Instructor: Cindy Goldrick
11:30am - 2:30pm


Getting Started with Hadar's Clay
Instructor: Liz Reynolds
12:00 - 4:00pm



Tuesday, February 11
Etching on Copper
Instructor: Rosemary Beasley
12:30 - 3:30pm




Thursday, February 13
Wire Wrap Bracelet
Instructor: Bonni Poch
6:00 - 9:00pm

Friday, February 14
NEW Wire Bead Bracelet
Instructor: Gio Paz
6:00 -9:00pm

For complete information about these classes, including descriptions, class and kit fees, please refer to our website. Click on 'classes' and follow the link to the February class page.

Bring a project and join us for our FREE open beading sessions:

Open Bead Night
Wednesday, February 5
6:00 - 8:00pm

Afternoon Bead Tea
Thursday, February 6
Thursday, February 13
1:00 - 3:00pm


Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Business Chat - What are you selling?

image courtesy of katwise.com
“but no one will buy my bracelet for $300 at a craft show!”
“no one will buy a necklace for $250 online!”
“everyone keeps trying to bargain me down.”
“everyone is just looking for a deal, they don’t care about it being handmade.”
“there’s too much jewelry/sweaters/candles (insert item here) already! I can’t make any money.”

Today I am going to tell you a story, a true story. This story is for all those who’ve made the comments above. It’s for everyone who thinks they can’t sell handmade work at a good price. 

Recently I was introduced to the work of Katwise. Kat makes spectacularly awesome one of a kind upcycled sweater coats and armwarmers. She sells on Etsy, the handmade online marketplace that currently hosts just over 900,000 sellers. That’s a lot of competition. 

Her last batch of 50 armwarmers ($28 each) sold out in just under 9 minutes. The last 3 batches did the same. Don’t even think about getting a coat, which cost in the many 100’s of $, they don’t even last that long. 

Is she the only one selling armwarmers? Heck no, I searched armwarmers on the site and came up with 4,000 hits. Oh, and did I mention that she also sells tutorials on how to make her armwarmers and coats, and yet they still sell out in 9 minutes?

I pulled a couple of quotes from her Facebook page - where she has over 114,000 likes. 
"It has taken me years of trying to get mine, but it is all worth it when you are FINALLY the lucky recipient! Got mine today. Keep trying folks. "
I think it is so great that Kat offers patterns for her products and is still sold out immediately after posting. Sometimes the good guy does come out on top."
"It is like hitting the lottery ... I got a pair last time and now everyone around me wants a pair."
How is this possible? The coats are really incredible but the armwarmers while cute really aren’t that unique. The competition is fierce. How can she sell so much? 

Here’s a clue in another fan quote.
"When I buy something of Kat's, I like knowing that not only am I getting something funky, fun and creative... but the person behind the item is also funky, fun and creative. "
"I love her zeal for life, I love what she contributes to it... and every time I wear something of hers, I feel that energy. So if I buy her stuff, and I keep her doing what she loves doing and does so well... "
Ah.... 

People are buying more than armwarmers. People are buying Kat. 

From her Facebook page, her blog, and her website people are connecting with the person behind the work. They read about her making it, she posts pictures of her house and studio. She tells stories about what she did on the weekend, her house renovations, whatever she is up to. She also makes it very clear that she makes every single item and that is why there isn’t enough to go around. 

Kat is the product as much as her coats are. 

People choose to wait around for years trying to buy one of her pieces rather than running to the closest shopping mall because they want to support a person. 

We as makers are just as much our product as our work is. People buy handmade because they want to know about the hands that made the work. It’s not enough to make great work, take a photo and post it online. Your work needs a story and a voice. You are the story. How you tell it is your voice. You, your inspiration, your process, it’s all part of the package. 

More than ever it is vital to your success to share your story. Customers want to know that there is a person behind the work. They want to feel like they know you and can trust you. 

We face a tremendous amount of competition when we try to sell. We are competing with dirt cheap imported products and with handmade competition from around the globe when selling online. Yet each of us has something that is truly unique, ourselves.  This is your secret weapon for your success. You need to communicate your story to your customers. Telling your customers what you do is called marketing. 

Marketing our work online these days is so easy there is no excuse for not doing it. Social media is not just for sharing photos of cats, it’s for sharing photos of us at work or at play. Whatever you choose to share is up to you, just get out there and shout out your story.

Who knows, maybe your next collection will sell out in 9 minutes. Wouldn’t that be nice? 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

New at BeadFX: Stone Cold Killer Designs

s38329 Stone Beads - 8 x 12 mm Skull - Pyrite (1)
Cold enough for you? While some of you may be languishing in warmer climes, here, it is about -300. Again. You know, once it gets into negative double digits, we really no longer care if it is courtesy of Mr. Celsius or Mr. Fahrenheit - it's just b----- cold.

So, icky weather means a fine day to stay inside and make some jewelry. You can use your head to get a head, bone up on your techniques, or engage in some skull-duggery. These pyrite skulls, or, if you prefer, Matte Onyx skulls, can get you thinking of Mexican Folk Art and from there - it's sun, fiestas and margaritas all the way.


If you are thinking about stone beads and maybe something like a bracelet s38326 Stone Beads - 8 mm Round (2 mm Hole) - Dog Tooth Amethyst (1)with stone beads and leather cord - we just got a selection of stone beads with 2 mm holes. While this is not a big enough hole for putting on one of those Euro-style charm bracelets - it is big enough for a 2 s38340 Stone Beads - 10 x 14 mm Barrel Tube (2 mm Hole) - Lapis Lazuli (1)mm leather cord. The holes are actually about 2.3 mm - but that just looks odd in the description - so suffice it to say - they do go onto 2 mm leather!






s38357 Stone Beads - 13 x 18 mm Oval - New Burma Jade (strand)We also got a nice selection of New Jade from Burma. New Jade is the trade name for Serpentine - a translucent stone that is still tough and durable like Jade. This is a translucent pale green with the smaller beads being so pale as to be almost white. The bigger shapes show nice colour, however. I personally prefer more intensity of colour - but I freely admit that not everyone shares my tastes, and a good thing too, as we'd all be competing for the same stuff!



s38348 Stone Beads - 6 mm Rondelle - Rose Quartz (strand)s38349 Stone Beads - 15 mm Puff Coin - Rutilated Quartz (1)Other new items in the stone bead department too - such as Rose Quartz Rondelles, and Rutilated Quartz. You know, I can't think of "Rutilated Quartz" without thinking of Warren Zevon's Werewolves of London. "Little old lady got rutilated late last night, Werewolves of London again" ... and that's your earworm for the day. You're welcome.


Oh, and in the theme of a translucent stone with inclusions, like the rutilated quartz, s38345 Stone Beads - 8 x 10 mm Tumbled Nugget - Prehnite (strand)but with a bit more of a colour hit than the Burma New Jade, we have some Prehnite - which is a more yellowy-green but still has the graphic black inclusions.


s38528 Design Tools - 6 x 11 inches Bead on it Board - Synthetic Velvet (1)
As I predicted - the Bead-on-it boards have been flying out the door. We did get in new small ones with the synthetic velvet surface, (we didn't get those in the last shipment) - so if that will work for you - you have that option now. I have to say - they really are a lovely surface to work on. Sorry - no colour selection - you get what you get - much like when they come to us.


As always - you can click on a link or image above, or get started with the new items here. Happy Hunting! Remember to stay warm! Shop online!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Just one day left!

Ends tomorrow at midnight - 20% off
27758601600650 Swarovski Elements Pearl - 16 mm Coin Pearl (5860) - White Pearl (5)
including
s33108 Swarovski Neon Pearl - 4 mm Round Pearl (5810) - Neon Pink Pearl (strand 25)

All our Sales start on Wed Midnight.
and run to the following Wed midnight.

There is still time to take January classes!

Those of you who were able to attend Meet the Teachers on Saturday, January 11 had the treat of seeing many of the upcoming class projects "up close and personal" as well as meet many of the instructors who are teaching them.

We previously showcased the later-January classes, but with all the earlier Holiday Happenings, here is a reminder about the great January classes coming up:

Thursday, January 23
NEW African Helix Bracelet
Instructor: Pamela Kearns
6:00 - 9:00pm

Metalsmithing Basics: Intro to Sawing & Piercing 
Instructor: Iris Rogers Melamed
6:00 - 9:00pm 

Friday, January 24
Soutache #1: The Basic Module
Instructor: Angela Peace
12:30 - 3:30pm
 
Awana Loomed Necklace or Bracelet
Instructor: Gio Paz
4:30 - 8:00pm 

Saturday, January 25
Hot Connections: Spinner Ring
Instructor: Iris Rogers Melamed
10:00am - 4:00pm
 
NEW Create a Felted Cuff Bracelet
Instructor: Dawn Liu-Smyth
10:30am - 2:30pm


Sunday, January 26
NEW Double Connection Cord with Ball Fasteners
Instructor: Angela Peace
11:30am - 2:30pm 
 
NEW Making Paper Beads
Instructor: Anne Marie Desaulniers
12:00 - 3:00pm

Tuesday, January 28
NEW Ndbele Motifs
Instructor: Maria Rypan
1:30 - 4:30pm 



 
Thursday, January 30
Open Metal Studio: Soldering
Facilitator: Iris Rogers Melamed
6:00 - 9:00pm 


 

Friday, January 31
Sparkle Like a Diamond Bracelet
Instructor: Sureka Sriharan
1:00 - 4:00pm

Open Beading Sessions - Bring your projects and come on out and enjoy time beading with others! 
Wednesday, January 22 and Wednesday, January 29
Open Beading Night
Facilitator: Stephanie Dixon
6:00 - 9:00pm
 
Thursday, January 23 and Thursday, January 30
Afternoon Bead Tea
Facilitator: Pamela Kearns
1:00 - 3:00pm 
Complete information about all classes and open studios is available on our website in the January class calendar.