Tory and Kristal came back from the annual Gem, Mineral, Jewelry, Bead and Fossil Show in Tuscon, Arizona. The weather was hot but the shows were hotter! Vendors come from around the world to showcase their new products, while buyers from all over the globe comes to see them. Here’s a few snapshots of Tory and Kristal’s bead adventure!
There were many buildings like the Holidome that stretched as long as a football field. But no football, what?!
Tory and Kristal in Tuscon. It’s a beautiful day!
Having a rockin’ time, literally. Rocks and gems everywhere!
Getting the inside scoop from some of our many friendly vendors!
Leather and ribbon GALORE!
Charms from Nunn Design and beads from Jesse James.
More Beads Beads Beads!
Taking a break to take a picture of these oranges. And kiss a cactus?
Back to work. Guess it’s not work if you love looking at rocks and beads all day.
Love these honeycomb jewelry.
Leather inspiration.
Found lots of gems and jewels, beads and charms, bling and sparkle. Met lots of people and learned new tricks, tips and techniques. It was fun. We’ll see you next year Tuscon!
How to Use Your Leftover Beads
It is official! Spring is just around the corner for 2016! Soon the snow will be melting and spring will be knocking at our doors. It’s the perfect time to rummage through your beads and do some spring cleaning: to make way for MORE beads, of course. Here are three different ways to use your leftover beads, findings and chains.
As a beader, you know that you always have extra beads from previous projects lying around. We, at GoodyBeads, are guilty about that! There is a whole shelf dedicated to leftover items of miscellaneous beads, findings, chains, cords, tools, crystals and the list goes on and on. It was hard to not open a fresh pack of new beads or a full length of cut chain or a string of gemstones. But with our wall of STUFF, there were enough items for this spring cleaning project!
An Array of Colorful Beads for a Wrap Bracelet
A perfect way to use your extra beads is to make a quick and easy wrap bracelet. Check out our previous blog, How to Make Wrap Bracelets, for a tutorial.
Designed by So Vang
For this particular bracelet, we gathered similar round 8mm of gemstones and Czech glass beads. Using our used roll of Waxed Cotton Cord and Superlon Brown Thread, we made a wrap bracelet that wraps 4 times. Even check out our button piece. Instead of grabbing a new button, we used a Bali spacer (A021466) and made knots to act as a button piece. Love this idea! What a way to think outside of the box, eh?
If you need supplies, head over to our Gemstone and Czech section. If you are looking for a particular size or shape, we have that option on the left hand navigation under “Size Range” or “Shape.” Or you can even check our selection of Bead Set and Mixes for a quick mix.
Chain Chain Chain
Do you have various length of chain bunched together waiting to be used for bracelet extenders pieces or necklace additions? Make CHAIN the main piece of your jewelry!
Designed by So Vang
What we made here is a multi-chain bracelet. Randomly select a few chain pieces, then measure each chain to your bracelet length. Using a 7mm jump ring to combine each piece of chain end. Do the same to the other end. Use another 7mm jump ring and attach to each end with a magnetic clasp. We have to be honest here and say that we cheated. We did have to get a magnetic clasp from GoodyBeads inventory. You can go ahead and cheat too. We won’t tell if you don’t either!
Another idea is to make a statement necklace with miscellaneous chain braided together. What’d you think?
Linking Bead Dangles
We love our selection of glass beads. The vibrant colors and designs are BEA-U-TIFUL! One way to weed through your stash of beads is to find a HERO bead and play off on the colors and shapes. Grab some eyepins and start making simple loop dangles of the beads you’ve chose. By linking them, you can make a bunch of different jewelry pieces.
Our hero bead was this blue and amber glass bead (A013249). We pulled beads with hues of blue, light blue, and amber as well as some bronze Czech fire polish beads. Using gold eyepins, make a simple loop with the glass and Czech beads. We made enough eyepin dangles until we ran out of the bronze Czech fire polish beads. Plus, we made a handful of Black Diamond Chinese crystal dangles.
Start linking them up to make a necklace, bracelet or earrings. Play with the sequence of the beaded dangles and add chain and different findings. Using up every last beaded dangle and with the help of gold plated findings and chain, we made two necklaces, earrings and a bracelet.
Designed by So Vang
Designed by So Vang
LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea because it gives you the chance to use up beads that you can’t find anymore. Even some of these beads we used are styles that we no longer have. It makes it more unique don’t you think?
Now that you’ve used your beads up, there’s room to buy more!
Using Swarovski® Flat Back Crystals
We just got some NEW Swarovski® flat backs crystals to play with. We love the subtle sparkle they brings to trending minimalist jewelry. Here are a few projects that use flat back crystals.
To get started, we recommend these tools to help you start BLINGING your jewelry with Swarovski flat back crystals:
Adhesive: Check our Adhesive page for options. Fast-drying glue are ideal for quick placements of flat backs. When you are covering a larger area, we recommend using E-6000 as you still have time to adjust the flat backs when it has been placed. Please keep in mind when using adhesives, to make sure you are in a well-ventilated area.
Pick Tools/Tweezers: Because Swarovski crystals are small, pick tools will help to accurately place your flat backs. We recommended handling them by using a BeadSmith® Magic Pick or a Crystal Kanata. Tweezers will also help with adjusting your crystals once they have been placed.
Emerald Bangle and Earring Studs
For this simple bangle, it consists of flat memory wire with Round Silver Flat Memory Wire Finding (A021628) with 7mm flat back crystal studs. First, cut one round of the flat memory wire with a memory wire cutter. Slide on the flat findings and hold it in place while you add your adhesive and flat back crystals. When you have finished gluing all your flat back crystals and it has dried, glue on a Flat Memory Wire End Cap to both ends of the memory wire.
For these stud earrings, we also used 7mm Swarovski crystals. Glue crystals onto Flat Post Earrings and you have simple, crystal studs to glam up your ears!
Tierra Cast® Bezel Earrings
TierraCast® has bezel charms that accommodate the 7mm Swarovski flat back crystals. These bezel charms are available in a selection of finishes and are perfect for showcasing the color of crystals you want to use. We used the bright rhodium bezel with a vibrant Capri Blue crystal in this pair of earrings.
Gold and Red Earrings
Flat backs are a versatile jewelry embellishment because you can adhere them to charms and even jewelry findings. For these earrings, we used 3mm flat back crystals to embellish the top two rows of these Chandelier Earrings. Adding an inch of gold chain to the bottom rows with a jump ring and you have yourself a boho-style earring.
There are endless possibilities for flat backs. Flat back are easy to use as an embellishment to charms, jewelry, and even everyday items around the house, such as your tape dispenser or thumbtacks. Add Swarovski flat back crystals to your phone case, wallet, or couture clothing! Even nail artists, uses flat backs for a 3D design. How will you use it?
Rose Quartz and Serenity are Pantone’s color of the year winners. And for the first time they debuted a duo-color that blurs the line of femininity and masculinity.
We will show how we used these colors to inspire our Color of the Year Jewelry.
Link Earrings
Designed by So Vang
Made with blue foil tint beads and a hint of pink, these earrings pairs the two colors harmoniously.
Necklace
Pink Quartz Necklace Designed by Heidi Urlaub. Blue Serenity Neckalce Designed by Tory Vezina.
Rose Quartz Draped with a shiny tassel and beaded chain, this Rose Quartz necklace is the perfect statement piece to wear this spring. Can you imagine wearing it with your sweet summer dress and suede floppy hat?
Serenity This dream catcher necklace has the right Serenity hues for 2016. Made with handmade silk ribbon, Czech glass chip beads and feather charms, you can pair this with your trending flannel outfit and skinny jeans.
Bracelets
Designed by So Vang
Wire Wrap This wire wrap bracelet combines a darker shade of Serenity and square pink crystals. Accented with silver bali beads, string these colors onto memory wire for a three-loop bracelet with a simple loop on each end. This fun and easy Color of the Year-inspired memory wire bracelet is ready to flaunt.
Leather cord When it comes to transcending gender barriers, leather is best to use to create an accessory that both men and women can casually wear. Using the same darker Serenity color as in the bracelet above, we used red aventurine beads on 1mm leather cords. We cut the 1mm cords into three equal strands. Taking the three strands, crimp one end with a revolving crimp tubes. Insert a bead on your top two strands and then the next bead will be on your bottom two strands. Repeat until desired length. Cut the three strand ends straight and crimp them with another revolving crimp tube. Add your choice of clasp and it is ready to wear.
How will you wear this year’s colors of the year?
Link Earrings
(2) Z007149 – 30mm Antique Silver Hammered Round Pewter Link
(1) A008998 – Silver Base Metal French Wire Earrings
