15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 7

It's Day 7 of my 15 Days of Content... I've officially been doing this for a week! 

For those just tuning in, this is just my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years. And you know who else is celebrating their 15th Anniversary this month? Bead Box Bargains!

Bead Box Bargains is, hands down, one of my favorite online bead resources. Their selection may vary (they are a closeout store, after all), but their prices and customer service are bar none. I've been ordering them since the beginning of my jewelry making career, and I keep going back.

Their celebration this month included releasing some limited-edition, limited-run bundles. I managed to grab a few... and I thought for today's entry, I would make something with one of them!

Here's the bundle I chose for today. It's called Golden Midnight.

Not my photo!
This is the product photo from Bead Box Bargains.

I really love the combination of deep dark blue and gold. It reminds me of ancient cultures like Mesopotamia and Egypt, where they often made jewelry using gold and lapis lazuli.

So, what better way to use this bundle than to focus on the lapis lazuli pendant and 4mm rounds? With some of the Czech glass thrown in, of course.

Overall, here is what I made--using only beads from that bundle!

Yep! I made an entire set: a necklace, some earrings, a bracelet, and a hairstick.

For fun, here are some glamour shots...

First, of the necklace:

...and now the bracelet:

...and the earrings:

...and, last but not least, the hairstick:

This bundle was a lot of fun to play with, and I'm glad that I got a chance to do so. Happy 15th Anniversary to Bead Box Bargains... thanks for being part of my jewelry-making journey!

And thank you, my wonderful readers, for stopping by today! There's more content to come... I hope you come back tomorrow for more.

Until then... have a wonderful day, everyone!

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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 6

We've made it to Day 6 of my 15 Days of Content... yay!

For those just tuning in, this is just my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years.

For today's entry, I have a little show and tell for you.

I'm not sure if this was the same everywhere, but a few months ago, jellyfish jewelry seemed to be rather prevalent/trendy. I kept seeing it every time I went on to social media. I admit that I really liked the concept, but I wanted to do something different. After all, I was seeing jellyfish earrings popping up all over the place.

So… instead of making earrings, I made a hairstick!

Taking pictures of this thing was actually pretty difficult. So I took a lot of them... Hopefully they capture just how pretty and dangly it is. And very lightweight, too!

I'm really happy with how this hairstick turned out. Maybe I'll even wear it the next time I go to the aquarium. The jellyfish exhibit is one of my favorite parts, after all.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm hard at work getting the jewelry for Day 7's entry ready... be sure to check it out tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 5

Ta-da! We've made it to Day 5 of my 15 Days of Content! 

For those just tuning in, this is just my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years.

Today, I have another challenge reveal for you. More specifically, I thought it would be fun to tackle creating with a type of bead that I just… don’t like. (Well, didn’t like. Past tense. After this challenge, I definitely have warmed up to them!)

And what type of bead is that?

Polymer clay heishe beads.

Why didn’t I like them? 

I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. I do know that one reason is that I’ve only seen one type of use for them, and that particular use does not excite me. In a word: bracelets. Please don’t get me wrong—I have seen people make really pretty bracelets with them. I just don’t wear bracelets (I don’t like things on my wrists)... and since there are so many other designers making bracelets with them, I felt no desire to do so.

However, I had some of these beads. I received them in a few of the monthly subscription boxes I get. So, what to do with them? Specifically, what to do with them that I would actually wear?

And that's what lead to this challenge. 

I had a few different colors/sizes of beads, and overall made three different sets... all of which I'm pretty happy with.

So, without further ado… here are some other ways to use polymer clay heishe beads!

Those were the first beads I tackled. Overall, I made four pairs of earrings and two necklaces, all using the heishe beads and a mix and match of some coordinating beads.

First up: the earrings.

Here they are, all together:

And now, the necklaces! It was pretty fun trying to figure out how to adapt the heishe beads into my more wire-wrapped-rosary-chain style.

Oh, and I made them different lengths, so that they could be worn together and layered if desired. 

As I said, all told this particular collection has six pieces. Not bad, for starting off the challenge not knowing what to do!

But I didn't stop there!

I had more beads, and wanted to try something else.

So, it occurred to me that these beads are essentially like the closed ring jump rings used in chainmaille. 

Because of that, I decided to go to my tried and true shaggy loop chainmaille pattern to come up with this fun necklace:

As you might have noticed, I decided to make the color pattern completely random.

Which leads me to the last set... because I wondered what it would look like if I did an ombre look instead.

And this is the result!

...And you'll notice that I even made some matching earrings.

As you might have guessed, I really had fun with this challenge. I went from not liking these beads at all, to wanting to buy more. If I hadn't pushed myself to do this challenge, I wouldn't have thought outside the box and adapted these beads to my style. These sorts of results always make me happy... it's fun to grow as a designer! 

So, there you go. That was Day 5 of my celebration. Thanks so much for stopping by today to see what I've been up to... Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 6!

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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 4

It's Day 4 of my 15 Days of Content! 

For those just tuning in, this is my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years.

Yesterday, I talked about making asymmetrical earrings from a bead mix that I have lying around my craft room. Well, I hinted that there was one more thing I made with that mix. 

...Which just so happens to be subject of this entry.

The bead mix in question.

And what is that, you might ask?

House Jewelry!

In other words: ways to use beads and jewelry around the house to add beauty and whimsy, and make my living space feel uniquely mine.

And so, from that bead mix, I made this: a curtain tie.

I recently bought a new curtain for the kitchen door's window, and it desperately needed a curtain tie. Instead of buying one, I wanted to make one... and I think this one turned out just perfect!

Here it is in action:

...And remember that I said that making things could add whimsy, too? 

Well, I have a bonus piece of house jewelry to share. My house is on the older side, built in 1929, and it is filled with a plethora of ceiling fans. All of these fans have fan pulls. Most of them are pretty old—probably not as old as the house, but just barely.

So, inspired by my success with my curtain tie, I decided to replace them. Most of them have been replaced with purchased fan pulls—lovely faceted glass that catches the light—but I wanted to make something fun for the computer room.

My husband and I play a lot of games—video games and tabletop roleplaying games, specifically. So I thought it would be fun to have our fan pulls reflect that.

So, I present:

Fan pulls made with 20-sided dice!

Again, here they are in action:

Just something happy and whimsical and geeky, to make our computer room feel distinctly like ours!

Thanks so much for stopping by today... I enjoyed working on today's entry, because it was something slightly out of the norm. Feel free to stop by tomorrow for Day 5!

Until then, have a great day everyone!

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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 3

It's Day 3 of my 15 Days of Content! Going strong!

For those just tuning in, this is just my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years. Starting on July 20, I'm posting something here once a day for 15 days.

For today's entry, I wanted to do something that has become a bit of a staple on this blog. I'm sure it will be no surprise, then, when I say that today’s entry is... a challenge reveal!

Some background: even though I haven’t been documenting them on social media, I have been continuing to do challenges for myself. I love pushing myself as a jewelry making, and tackling things that require a bit more deliberate designing.

The challenge?

I have several boxes full of bead mixes. Some of these mixes have a theme, some of them are simply one or two leftover beads from projects. The particular mix that I tackled for this challenge is all beautiful, colorful glass.

Specifically, I wanted to see how many asymmetrical pairs of earrings I could make from this mix in an afternoon. After all, asymmetry is not my strong point—and there are too few bead twins in this box to really make matching pairs.

So, I blocked off some time, sat down at my bead table... And here’s what I came up with!

All told, I was able to make 8 pairs. Not bad for someone who doesn't usually do asymmetry!

Here they are together:

Thanks so much for stopping by today for Day 3 of my celebration! 

Oh, and here's a little teaser: I also made something else with this particular bead mix. Come back tomorrow on Day 4 to see what it is!


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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.