Don't underestimate the color GOLD!

Gold. Bronze. Copper.

These are all beautiful colors and they are probably my favorite metals to use when making an interesting project.

Gold may symbolize power, strength, wealth, warmth, happiness, love, hope, optimism, intelligence, justice, balance, perfection, summer, harvest and the sun*. And that is just one of the metals! 

So you can see why I chose this for the setting of my next few projects. For my bracelet, I wanted to step out of the norm for me and explore different shapes.  

I took some chain from my handy dandy Blue Moon bead collection and some small pearls from Blue Moon Bead basics set. Those, along with some 26 gauge gold wire, I looped and pulled.

Add toggle clasps and you're set. This piece reminds me of a Victorian Romance. Sigh!

I rather like how it came out.

For my second project, I chose to make a bookmark. I've seen bookmarks made from chain before, and have loved them. Often wondering why I don't just make one.

I chose a horse shoe, first of all, it was just too cute to pass up and secondly, who doesn't like a little luck?

This is so simple to make. Take chain, a pendant, eye pins and beads. I used the lovely beads from Blue Moon Bead basics.

All you really have to do is measure a book of your choosing with the chain, add pendant and beads and Viola, a one of a kind bookmark! (I knew you had it in you) 

Imagine the possibilities! I also think they would make wonderful gifts.

I have a zillion more projects in these metals; however, that is for another time. :)

*Information found on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Symbolism

Metal Mania!

 Finally, with the Christmas rush over, I got to sit down and unleash my creative ideas for all the awesome beads that Blue Moon Beads sent me. I was astonished that they sent me even more than the first package!

Honestly, it was hard to decide on just one necklace to turn in this month, I had so many cool ideas.

So, I finally decided on straight metal. There isn't a classier look than silver and gunmetal silver shining around your chest.

This necklace is made from some of the awesome packets I got called Urban Warrior. They are the most amazing beads and I wanted to use more, but I thought it might be over kill.

The basic strategy of this necklace is to add random lengths of chain and beads of all sizes. There are a few pendants and charms. I also added a feather pendant for some unique balance.

The chains grab each other in a tangled look and I so love it! I even made simple earrings to go with it, but forgot to photograph them. Oh well.

My second Metal Mania project will be earrings. These are made from the Urban Warrior line by Blue Moon Beads as well.

I took a hammered ring that I already had and drapped chains of various lengths and beads from it.

I definately feel like an Urban Warrior wearing these!

I think both of these pieces makes a statement that you are bold in your fashion. Even if you just wore the earrings, they would make an outfit shine.

I'm so excited to test run both of these pieces!

Well there are a few ideas for you. Let your creative minds shine!

Christmas Craziness!

This Christmas I have gotten so many orders, I almost don't know where to start. But by a stroke of luck and determination, I have finished! And truth be told, I rather enjoyed stretching my creative mind and making custom items.

The thing I like about custom items, is it forces me to get out of my comfort zone and use colors I normally wouldn't have chosen.

It never ceases to amaze me when someone asks for "something pink" and I come up with a beautiful piece (not to toot my own horn hehe)

Personally, I would love to get a custom gift. What's better than having something made JUST FOR ME!

Anyway, if you haven't noticed yet, I've been showing off a few of the items I made in this insanely busy few weeks.

I would love to hear any comments about them. Also, a few of them are for sale on my Etsy!

If you haven't tried your hand at jewelry, I would encourage you to try to make your own.

No one know's your tastes better than you! That's how I got started.

Well, I hope that all of you have an amazing Christmas! I know I'm going to enjoy relaxing for a while and spending some time with family and friends. Everyone be safe for the holidays!

I need more time!

Ever feel like there isn't enough time in a day? I do all the time. I wish I had more hours to do what I enjoy to do. But with the Holidays already here, that is just a distant fantasy!

It's non-stop cooking, cleaning, shopping, more cooking, family time and parties.

I'm not complaining, I love having orders and people enjoying my work, but I would LOVE to have a moment to go into my creative mind and make something off the wall.

Sigh.

Seems it will have to wait until 2013.

For now, I will enjoy my family and the Holiday spirit. 

Happy Holidays! 

Safety Pin Watch Tutorial!

Alright guys, this is my first shot at a tutorial. I absolutely love to make these and they are relatively simple. So strap in and let's go!

Look at how beautiful and unique! Mind you, they can be done in whatever color your creative little heart deems fit.

For this tutorial, I'll be using Black and White. 

Ok, so stuff you'll need:

Beads- (of course) I use the larger seed beads. 

Safety pins- about an inch in size and a lot of them

Crimp beads- 4 total

Clippers of some sort

Stretch cord - .8 mm is a good thickness

Watch face- make sure it has two holes on each side. (The photo below will explain)

Jewelry pliers

A clamp to hold the cord- optional.

See how the watch has two holes on one side? This is the kind you want to use.

Step one- place beads on safety pin

Step Two- Pinch the opening closed so the pin wont come apart and STAB YOU!

Step Three- Make a bunch of them. I use about 53 for a 7 inch wrist band.

Step Four- Prepare the watch! Take your stretchy cord and cut two strips the size of your wrist (give yourself some slack to work with)

Step Five- Slide one of those strips into the first hole like the photo above

Step Six- Take a crimp bead and put it on the end of the string. 

FLATTEN IT NICE AND TIGHT

Like so. 

Now when you pull it through, the string wont come out. Amazing, isn't it?

Repeat on other side. (Be sure to only crimp one side of the watch)

Step Seven- Thread the cord through a hole in the safety pin.

Step Eight- Thread it through the other hole and pull the safety pin snug against the watch face.

Do that over and over and over. Notice in the photo above that the ends which are being threaded through are changing. You want to make it this way so that it will lay flat and not have a funky curve to it.

Step Nine- Continue to thread until they are all on your band

Almost there!

Step Ten- When you have them all threaded up, clamp off one of the threads and grab the other. Pull that one through the hole on the other side of the watch.

Step Eleven- Put a crimp bead on. This step will be much like the first, except you want the crimp to be as close to the watch face as possible.

Step Twelve- Pull stretch cord firmly and flatten the crimp tube, making the band tight. 

Step Thirteen- Repeat with the other stretch thread.

Step Fourteen- Clip excess stretch cord and Ta Da! You have a fabulous stretchy safety pin watch. I guarantee, that once you get a knack for this watch, you wont want to stop making them!

Well, I hope I didn't blab your ear off and that this tutorial helped those who wanted to make this. 

Please, tell me your thoughts.

More Tutorials to come ;)

Pinned

So this is a first for me and I think it went rather well. I haven't ever tried my hand at making a brooch. Now this one is very colorful, but unique.

It reminds me of a star burst effect. I used some of my fabulous Blue Moon Beads and twine, along with a bit of 26 gauge wire to keep it all together. 

At first, I couldn't get the beads to stay together for the life of me, then I realized I just needed to tighten everything up, and Viola!

It could easily be made in different colors. 

Of course it had to have some purple in it. That's only my favorite color! So, the adventure of the brooch is complete.

Green with Envy!

Finally finished a few more projects. I'm going to show two (bracelet and earrings) in one post, though they weren't exactly made to go together.
Can I just say, I'm having a blast making Blue Moon Bead projects. In fact, I feel inspired to make a few more. ;)

First comes the earrings. Made with Melon Ball tin mix from Blue Moon Beads and a bit of chain. When I tried them on, they hang very comfortably and are incredibly light.

 My personal favorite is the green bead in the center. It's held in place by an eyepin, which made the chain easy to hang. It's got loads of dimension.

Second comes the bracelet. This one was a little more complex to make because every bead is on its own eyepin, but the effect is completely unique. This was also made with Melon Ball mix and a few copper eyepins.

I added just a few hanging beads to make it more like a charm bracelet, but not so many charms that it would distract or get in the way.

Finish it up with a toggle clasp and you've got yourself a bracelet that any girl could envy. :)

(Project 2&3)

Golden Feathers (Project 1)

After much debating and rearranging and even more debating, I've finally decided to settle on a necklace as my first project for my blog. I personally love necklaces; they have the power to turn a normal outfit from blah to unique!
Anyway, using my awesome Blue Moon Beads, I had so many choices with the cute tin bead mixes!  So, I decided to make use of beads from a few, such as Rum Raisin, Orange Fizz and Toffee Crunch (aren't those names fun!).

Honestly, I don't often use these colors (other than gold), but since I had the product at my fingertips, I decided to stretch those creative muscles of mine and go for it!

Made with a feather metal connector, this necklace hangs very nicely. And true to my nature, I just had to do the double layers!
The colors remind me of fall, which is perfect because it just snowed this week!
Very simple to make. I made the chain out of a bunch of jump rings that were different sizes and shapes to come up with a unique chain, or I guess normal chain works too, but what fun is that?

I would imagine this necklace would look great in all sorts of different colors and lengths and maybe even a third layer! The possibilities are endless!

It has arrived!

I finally got my package! There's so much in it that I didn't expect, and it's pretty overwhelming, but I can't stop smiling. I finally got travel sized tools! (Those are something I always wanted but could never justify buying). If this is what I have to look forward to every month, I'm going to be in HEAVEN! Already started creating, standby for project posts! YAY!

What to do? What to do?

Anticipation is killing me! I recently got accepted onto the design team at Blue Moon Beads(http://bluemoonbeadsdcwv.blogspot.com/), and am so excited to receive my first package of beads! Truth be told, I've never been on a design team before and don't know quite what to expect, so, excitement and anxiety are running rampade through my mind. Will I be able to even use what they send me is the biggest question. I'm sure they know what they're doing.

Big Things!

Never thought I'd be the type to blog. Since I'll be starting my newest adventure on a design team with Blue Moon Beads, I've decided it's time to stop fighting the inevitable and blog like there's no tomorrow!
I want to create a place where my imagination can roam unbound. 
Well, that about sums it up for now...You should tag along because who knows where this can go! 
First post down!