Copper Bling

I've got another "inspiration" post for you today. My inspiration to make anything has been sorely lacking as of late. I've just been so busy over the last few months, that It's been quite difficult to get in any time to make anything. Yesterday's simple little necklace encouraged me to do something slightly more elaborate...but still simple, and it'll take less than an hour to whip up.

It's a copper theme of course! The pics aren't fabulous, as I took them with cell phone :-)




Here's what I used:

20mm Crystal Copper Ring @12.50
22 gauge natural copper wire (artistic wire) @ 4.40 for a spool - I used a little over a foot
12mm flat round copper chain (a little over a foot) @ $5.55 per foot
Hammer Teardrop Clasp @ 3.25 each
Long lancet leaf @ 0.89
Violet Leaf Charm @ $1.20
Grape Leaf Charm @ 0.60
3 - Crystal Copper 14mm twist beads @ 2.30 each
5 - 6mm Crystal Copper rounds @ 0.65 each

Less is more - sometimes ;-)

A single bead, a simple bail, and a chain. Sounds kinda boring right? Not if that bead is a 28mm Swarovski Twist bead. We've had these for a while, but sometimes you need to see something in a new light to appreciate it's beauty.

I was restocking the Swarovski wall this morning, and the light must have hit these just the right way. I now have a new necklace, that I whipped up in a about as long as it took me to remove the items from the packages.

You'll need one 28mm Crystal Moonlight Twist @ 7.95
One 12mm Vein Leaf pinch bail @ 2.25
And one 16 or 18" box chain @ 8.15 (for the 18") - I'm wearing the 18" - If you're thinner, this would like nice higher on the neck. In that case, choose the 16" version.

That's it! You now have a new necklace...Or give one to your mom for Valentines day....wait, I guess I don't have a new necklace anymore - Thanks Mom!

February is looking hot!!

February is looking hot--not just because Valentine's Day is coming or because the temperature outside has risen, but because of the super hot classes we have coming up this month!!

A lot of our February classes are full or just about full. But, do not despair, because there is still room in some of the really interesting classes.

This Saturday we have An Introduction to Chinese Knotting with Angela Peace. We only offer this class about once a year. There are only 3 spaces available so I would book now if you are interested.



February 21st and and 22nd we have the Intensive Metal Clay weekend with Jennifer and Heather. This is an intermediate level class so you must have taken and introductory class like Charmed I'm Sure. This is going to be an awesome class!



Looking for a quick introduction to glass bead making, Amy Waldman-Smith is offering a one day, 5 hour introduction class on the 22nd of February.



There is one space remaining in Nadine Foskin's Basic Bead Stringing on February 26th.



And don't forget about Nadine's Dancing Dahlia's Brooch on Saturday February 28th. If you are looking for a springy activity or want to put yourself in the spring kinda mood this is the class for you!



I am hoping later this week to blog a bit about my trip to the Dominican Republic, but if not blog you next week!

Happy Beading

Celebrity Guest Inspirations

Ha - we have two!!! Two!! inspirations coming up on Wed - because we have TWO!!! Celebrity Guest Inspiration Designers! Dueling Inspirations, if you will.

If you want to be a celebrity guest inspiration designer - please send your wheedling emails and bribes to me!

You'll just have to wait till Wednesday to see what they are.

Tuesday....

Who ever said Tuesday was supposed to be crazy busy. I feel like it should be Friday...I wish it was Friday :-)

Marg our buyer has been in Tucson for the last week. While she was gone, I took over the inventory (along with lots of help!), and restocking. Or at least attempted to without making too much of a mess of things. Marg is highly efficient at what she does. She seems to know the wholesale price of almost every sku we carry off the top of her head. She can keep our weekly shopping within budget effortlessly.
Let's just say, I do not have that ability ;-)

Marg, welcome back, and thank you!

In other news, a reminder that we're hosting our special Valentines Day open beading session this Saturday, February 14th. Join us from noon to 3pm, with a project to work on...and cupcakes to share!

Using Perforated or Screen Findings - Part 3 - Finishing Off

By now, your buggy bouquet should be looking nice and full and flourishing.

The back should look like a dog's breakfast. Worry not!















Twist all the loose wires together on the back.


Trim them - not too short. You need for the tension to stay on the wire, but short enough to give you room to add the back plate.





Fit the back into position. Make sure it is oriented so that the pin back is the right way up, - doesn't sit upside down when you wear it - and that the prongs can all fold down without hanging up on a leaf. You may need to jiggle it around a bit, turn it a smidge, to accomplish this.














Fold down the prongs with a thin nosed pair of pliers. et Voila! Wear and enjoy!

And - if you like making these, but have run out of coats to put them on - try getting a plain back (not a pin back) and glue a sturdy magnet on the back, and dress up your fridge!

Using Perforated or Screen Findings - Part 2 - Adding Depth

Next, we'll add the focal flowers.

Because these are flattish with a central hole - the are tough to wire on directly.

Poke the wire up through the screen, and through the flower bead, and then through a smaller bead (in this case, an aqua bicone) and back through the centre of the flower. You can go through the same hole or a different one in the screen. At this point - it is getting busy back there - so you may have to go for whatever hole you can get it through.






For the next two flowers - I wanted more depth, more dimensionality.

So I took one of the glass, flat flower beads, and put it underneath the focal flower assembly - threading on a "lifter" flower, then the focal flower, then the stopper, and back down through the two flower beads and into the screen. This bead is almost invisible, except from the side, and serves only to lift the focal flower up and make the whole thing more dimensional. It would have been nice if it had added to the design, but it worked fine the way it was.




Next, we are going to make a spray of leaves with a lady bug on them. This will be added to the brooch as a single, dimensional element.

Start with the lady bug and a fresh piece of wire, about 6 inches. Thread Ms. Ladybug onto the wire, move her to the centre and fold the wire in half.









Hold the wire in your right hand, and grasp the ladybug firmly in your left forefinger and thumb and twist 2-3 times.

The wire will twist at the ladybug bead.






Separate the ends of the wire and add a leaf on one wire, leaving a half inch of wire from the ladybug.












Grasp the leave in your left hand and twist.

The wire will twist up to the lady bug.








Bend the wire so that the leaf is next to the lady bug, and take another end of the wire, add a leaf, and twist to secure in place.










You can add a flower bead, more leaves, etc. Don't go crazy twisting the wire, just a few twists, as the wire will fatigue and break if you over-do it.














When you have 4-5 beads on your "floral spray" - twist the two wires together for a stem. (Actually - don't twist them together for as far as this picture - it makes the stem kinda long for the brooch.)


Poke the spray of leaves in amongst the other leaves, and poke the two ends of the wire in through separate holes, and twist on the other side.











Make another "spray" or two, and add where the "bouquet looks less full.










Next - Part 3 - finishing off.

Using Perforated / Screen Findings - Part 1 - getting started

This is an oldie, but a goodie. I made this a while back, but if you'd like more detail about making brooches using the peforated or screen findings - this has detailed pictures and more in-depth instructions.

I'm going to add these as a series of posts, as I'm having trouble with blogger losing text - It may be having a bad day - or just not like a really long post.

The idea was to make a happy, spring themed pin or brooch. A nice, bright, happy brooch is a good antidote to our relentless and never-ending winters.

Remember - you can click on any of these photos to see a larger version to see the details more clearly.





I started with a domed, round, perforated or screen finding, and a handful of beads in the aqua flower and green leaf theme, and a spool of 28 gauge (light) wire.

(Last shipment we got of these labeled them "shower parts.")

I did a little initial arranging - to find a design that was pleasing. I settled on 3 flowers, balanced by 3 large leaves, and would use the other items to fill in between.











Separate the front of the screen from the back if they are not already separate. Just lift them apart - sometimes they get a little stuck, but they should come apart easily.

Start with about about 12 inches of wire. More than this and you will get all tangled up.

In a nutshell, we will be stitching the leaves on with wire and pretty much making it up as we go along, wiring beads in where they fit, filling holes as they appear.





Start with your 12 inch piece of wire. Poke the wire through a hole, from the back, and out the front. Leave a 3 inch tail. Choose a hole that is most near where you want the bead on the front to be, so this would be any outer hole. Thread the wire through the bead, and back through the next hole. Twist the wire back with the tail. Your first bead is now secured.






Move to the next hole, and repeat. Tuck the long end of the wire through a hole, thread through a bead, back through the next hole. Twist your wire back onto the tail to keep it all under tension.









See, here the wires are twisted together to hold each successive leaf.

Simply stitching the beads on will result in the wire being too loose. You need to put tension on it.













Here's the progress so far. Next post - adding the focal flowers.

Tucson: Coming home

It's the last day in Tucson for me and just as well - it's turned cold and rainy here. I feel really sorry for the people who are showing in tents or outdoors.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm about beaded out.

I feel like if I see one more dyed-howlite-masquerading-as-genoooine-Sleeping-Beauty-Turquoise, I'm gonna barf. You'd think that these vendors know what it is they are selling, but all too often, they don't. So Buyer Beware applies in spades at these shows. Turquoise-dyed howlite has a legitimate place in beading, but I'm darned if I'm going to pay for this stuff as though it was the real thing.

However, I've found some very cool stuff. There's be lots more pearls on the BeadFX walls in a few weeks, as well as nice stones. I found some really nice cabs for a reasonable price. Your favourite sterling clasps will be back in stock and I've ordered more interesting items in non-tarnish brass, copper and bronze that will be arriving from the manufacturer in about 5-6 weeks.

It'll be good to get home and cuddle my kitties again. After a long buying trip like this, I suffer from Companion Animal Deprivation big-time.

Useful Resource: OneAcross

Last week, I gave you a crossword puzzling game - where you needed to figure out the words without the clues. Of course, if you had a good dictionary, that you could ask "what's a 4 letter word that starts with z and ends with c" - that would have been useful, eh?

So try out OneAcross - help for crossword puzzlers, anagramers and word puzzles in general. Use a "?" as a marker for the letters you don't know, so our example above is "z??c" - which gives us "zinc." Or had you thought of that? How about "zoic?" That's pretty obscure - but the harder the puzzle - the more obscure the words.

Unless you do Cryptic Crosswords - where the words are easy - and the clues are hard!!!!!

Sneak Peek at Next Week

Coming at ya - some not-quite-old-enough-to-be-vintage seedbeads - like these faceted 6/0s. There's something you don't see every day!

CreativeFX Yearly Voting Now Open!

CreativeFX Colour Challenge - People's Choice Voting

The People's Choice voting for the 2008 entries to the CreativeFX Colour Challenge is now underway. Vote for your favourite! Voting closes Midnight, March 7, 2009. The lucky winner gets a $100 beadFX shopping spree.

If you are not familiar with our CreativeFX Colour Challenges, have a look here. Every 45 days or so, we choose a couple new colour coordinated kits. Make something fabulous, and send us the pics. With each selection, we draw a random winner for a $25.00 gift certificate. At the end of the year, we host the peoples choice award!

Canadian Premiere - Handmade Nation!

I just saw this link on Toronto Craft Alert. Handmade Nation - A documentary about indie craft by Faythe Levine, will be premiering in Toronto on February 26th.

Thursday February 26, 2009
Film – 7pm
Discusssion – 8.30pm-10pm
Lennox Contemporary Gallery
12 Ossington Ave. (near Queen)
$8 @ the door

Comment here if you are planning on attending! I'm looking forward to it.




Image Courtesy Sublime Stitching / Faythe Levine

In patnership with the Onatrio Crafts Council and Toronto Craft Alert, City of Craft is proud to present the Canadian Premier of Handmade Nation, the new documentary about indie craft by Faythe Levine.

Thursday February 26, 2009
Film – 7pm
Discusssion – 8.30pm-10pm
Lennox Contemporary Gallery
12 Ossington Ave. (near Queen)
$8 @ the door

Co-presented by: Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto Craft Alert & City of Craft
as part of DIwhy?, an exhibition of do-it-yourself art & craft
running Jan. 20- Mar. 1 at the OCC Gallery.

Tucson: If It's Wednesday, It Must Be The Best Bead Show

Hard to believe I've been here for five days already, going from one bead show to another every day. Today I covered the Tucson Best Bead Show, the best (IMHO) of the retail bead shows. This is a lampworked bead bonanza, second only to an ISGB conference.

Most of the "big names" in the lampworking world are here: Milon Townsend, Leah Fairbanks, Sharon Peters, Akihiro Okhama to name the first few that pop into my head. Check out Beau Tsai's gallery if you want to see some exquisite seascapes. www.beautsai.com The foreign gallery owners were packing his booth and almost fighting over his works. I'll bet his booth will be empty before the show ends.

There was lots going on at the other booths of the TBBS as well. With throngs of happy customers in all the aisles, you'd never know there's supposed to be a recession going on.

Also, good news for those of you who have been patiently waiting for it. Softflex has finally resumed manufacturing their Extreme 24K gold Softflex. They've also made improvements to the line to make it more abrasion-resistant and also "greener" to manufacture. In addition, they've introduced a whole bunch of new colours. I understand the shipment has arrived in Canada, so I'll be picking up the new gold next week, when I'm back in Toronto.

Coming Up Next Week

As I am away in the sunny Dominican Republic right now I going to make this short and sweet! We have a few classes next weekend:

Wire Bead Crochet Basics with Stephanie Dixon on Saturday February 14th,this class is almost full so I would book now!



Introduction to Chinese Knotting with Angela Peace



This coming weekend, February 7th, is Heather Bell-Denison's
Charmed I'm Sure



And we have a Lampworking Weekend with Amy Waldman-Smith on February 7th and 8th.


Hope that everyone has a great week. Blog you next week.

Happy Beading

Valentines Day Open Beading

It's a cupcake party! Join us on February 14th, from noon to 3pm for a special open beading session (bead n' bitch) in the studio.

Bring in a beading project, and a batch of your favourite cupcakes for a taste test. We'll take pics, and post your creations up on the blog. I'll whip up a batch of red velvet cupcakes to share.

I hope you can join us! There is a class going on that day, so we have to spread out around the store....beads and cupcakes...what could possibly be better? :-)

The Mad Strangler Rides Again, or How to attach a chain end to a rhinestone chain

Occasionally - we get asked - just what do you do with rhinestone chain - so that you can actually USE it! I mean - it's sparkly and all - but how do you attach it so something? After all - the bling don't mean a thing if it ain't got a ring - to hing it from. ;-) That's what these little doo-hickeys are for - rhinestone chain ends.

Alrighty - you say - but how do you attach them!


Picture the chain end with the loop as the mad strangler. He sneaks up behind the innocent and unsuspecting rhinestone chain - and grabs him with his short, stubby, metal arms.

In order to actually strangle the defenseless rhinestone chain, you have to help the mad strangler by taking a set of pliers with narrow tips and squeeeeezing those stubby arms shut around the rhinestone chain's neck. Sorry - that part I don't have a picture of. It's just too gruesome. And I don't have any more chain or ends here to re-enact the crime.

Now the two are forever locked together.



(This last photo is colour-enhanced for teaching purposes.)

The mad strangler - magenta with his efforts, lies wheezing, hanging onto the poor rhinestone chain by the neck. The rhinestone chain, now blue with hypoxia (lack of oxygen) dangles defenselessly from his clutches. They are forever locked together.

It is hard to see from this angle for the forensic jewelry scientist, but the cross-shaped arms of the chain end are now folded toward the centre of the first metal shank of the chain, over the metal bar - holding them together in a death grip. (At red arrows.)

The problem in doing this, of course, is that the rhinestones links do move about - so sneaking up on the chain can be tricky.

If all else fails and you are out of rhinestone chain ends, you could always do a wrapped loop and then twist the wire around the chain - in the same place that you attach the chain end, and attach a loop that way.

Another Time Sponge: Crossword for the Clueless

Actually - it's a clueless crossword - they give you the letters, you figure out where they go. The better you get, the harder the puzzles! See if this doesn't eat up your morning!