Yellow and Pink Flower Beads

Originally uploaded by Rebecca Geoffrey

For a bit of Wednesday inspiration, check out Rebecca Geoffrey’s work on both Flickr and Etsy.

She recently uploaded pictures of her fun work to the CraftGossip Flickr pool. Her polymer pendants in two-tone are clean lined and modern in a funky way. These flower beads are totally different vibrant and bright. Keep up the good work Rebecca!

So I was excited to see these hollow glass beads at Fire Mountain Gems. Hand blown and light, these should ease the weight around your neck. If you are like me, frugal and in need of a big selection of beads, Fire Mountain is a good place to start shopping.  Just remember you still want to pay careful attention to your stringing supplies too as you probably don’t want them loose sliding around on beading line.  So get a tight string, or think about knotted ribbons or something else light and airy.

Here are a few of the hollow glass beads that I found fun.

Have a great weekend!

This bead and washer bracelet was submitted to our CraftGossip  flickr pool by Additionsstyle

You can check out more of her wearable hardware designs in her etsy store “AdditionsStyle

 Art Jewelers Susan Lenart Kazmer and her business partner Linda Larsen ; owners of Objects and Elements webstore,  have been busy the last few months.  They’ve been updating the store with all kinds of unique goodies you won’t find anywhere else  like Ancient Roman Glass beads,  antique African   Dougan, unique bezel settings and cast bronze Ammonites . 

I’m a big fan of ICE resin  and it’s what I use in my jewelry work.  You can buy that online at the Objects & Elements store  .  There is also lots of unique  bezels,  fibers,  resin molds and tools for your art jewelry making needs.

In addition to searching out great jewelrymaking supplies, they have just revealed a new blog and a new Objects and Elements Design Team. 

The Objects and Elements blog has just gone live and will soon have lots of content such as  jewelry by Susan Lenart Kazmer and Linda Larsen, design team jewelry inspirations, updates on new store items,  guest artist features, reader challenges and more. You don’t want to miss out on any of the fun, so be sure to add the RSS feed to your blog links or add to bloglines or Google Reader

I am extremely happy to announce that I am on the Objects and Elements Design team. The other Design Team members are:  Jen Cushman, Deryn Mentock, Kristen Robinson, and Jane Salley .  In the coming weeks, you’ll be able to see the design teams creations on the new Objects and Elements Blog.  The team wil be creating some lovely projects using the amazing supplies from the Objects & Elements store, along with various found objects, beads, wire, etc… to inspire you to create your own unique jewelry.

If you are unfamiliar with Susan and her work, please check out her amazing  jewelry work, check out her blog , get her book “Making Connection” or  look at her workshop schedule  to take a class with her.

        I got this lovely ring as a “party favor” from Miss Chili at Pico & Salsa.  They sell alot of beaded jewelry pieces at affordable prices.  I’m in love with the coral necklaces they have. I’m going to make it look  even more amazing with a huge pendant attached!

 There were so many wonderful artisan beadmakers there as well including Grace Lampwork Beads, Jileys,  Wild Woods Art Glass, Gail Splavera and many others.    The show is one day only, but sign up for the Bead Society newsletter so you don’t miss out next year!

101 More Great Jewelry Selling Techniques book is a “best of” collection of tips from Dr. Weiman’s popular Jewelry Selling Insights newsletter. If are selling jewelry as a business and you haven’t signed up for this newsletter yet-do it now. I mean right now, go ahead-I’ll wait right here.

I love the Jewelry Selling Insites newsletter, so wasn’t suprised to find a wealth of quick and easy tips in this eBook to implement into my own jewelry business. Most of the tips don’t take a lot of time, so you really have no excuse to go give them a try. The tips are categorized into sections such as “Selling face to face”, “Selling on the web”,”Advertising & Promotion” and “Customer Service”.  You can hone in on a specific area you may be having problems with, or just open it up at random and try a tip on that page.

Some of the ones I like best are: How to create and use referral cards -
An excellent way to get your current jewelry customers to gladly help you build your client base. This is BRILLIANT and I am going to work on it this week myself!  Another one is: Bring a show calender to shows and events. Another way to keep you in the customer’s mind. And one that really spoke to me: Visit the shops that show/sell your work. Not everyone cares about your jewelry display as much as you do!

If you are looking for more ways to increase your business in today’s tough economy you should look into investing in this ebook of selling tips. Also be sure to sign up for his newsletters and check out his blog too. Dr. Weiman is a font of jewelry marketing knowledge.

Also, any customer wanting to recycle remnant pieces of Soft Flex Wire and/or spools can mail them to Soft Flex Company P.O. Box 80 Sonoma, California 95476.  I love a company that cares about our enviroment!!!!

 I recently got a “Trios” pak of “Extreme” wire in 24kt gold, 92.5 Sterling and Champagne colors. I love all the “Trios” color sets, they are all so pretty.  Each color set is comprised of three ten foot spools of .019 diameter Soft Flex® Wire. The wire spools were created using the classic colors of gemstones and take their name from the stone they represent. “Extreme” has extra abrasion resistance, so those sharp edges on crystal beads or large beads won’t cut through it.

Check out all the “Trios” color sets and the free projects that use them like this gorgeous MYSTICAL necklace and earrings set on the Soft Flex website.

First I cut out a couple of the pre printed Friendze papers. They are really nice quality, heavy printed paper with great designs. The kit gives you 4 different designs, perfectly sized for the pendant settings. You can use them as is and make a great pendant or embellish them to your hearts desire.  Since I always feel the need to “gild the lily” I got out some of my own collage paper and started playing around. I finally decided to do one in a french theme and the other as old Hollywood glamour. I used the zebra print “Wild” Friendze paper as a background and a black and white photo of Marilyn Monroe. I love the way she looks a bit wild in the photo.

I used the included rhinestone trim on the Marilyn one, and my own paint, ephemera and glitter on the French Themed one. Here are the finished pendants, I think they look pretty good!

I love to work with resin and do ALOT in my own work. Speaking from experience I can confidently say-IF you are interested in working with resin but don’t know how to start, get this kit. You get everything you need to get you started and enough supplies to make a good number of pendants. If you like to work with resin occasionally-get this kit! The little bottles of resin are PERFECT for the person who doesn’t do alot of resin work. Who ever thought up this kit idea is a true genius!

HHH Enterprises has so many wonderful jewelrymaking items that you won’t find anywhere else. They also sell belt buckle blanks you can fill with resin, lots of interesting beads, leather cord, pendant settings, papers and so much more!!! If you haven’t visited the website, do right now. There is also a 25% off Holiday sale AND free shipping!!

I was excited to see the kit in person, because I think it will be a real hit with jewelrymakers.  The kit contains enough materials to make two complete finished pendants. You will have extra glue, resin and paper to create additional pendants too. You will need to get more settings but that isn’t a problem because HHH offers alot of wonderful blank pendants to keep you crafting the night away. Just remember to buy them WHEN you order the kit, so you don’t have to wait to continue your crafting fun.

This is what the kit looks like. Everything is contained in a small plastic box and it came with a brochure of additional pendant settings and lots of design ideas.

And this is what is inside the container-a small tube of E6000, Small bottle of resin, preprinted Friendze Designer paper, swarovski crystals, rhinestone chain, instructions and 2 really nice bezel pendants.

I combined some of their elements and some of my own. Check out tomorrow’s post to see what I did with it!

If you are looking for some great gifts for your jewelrymaking friends, or making up a list of things YOU want this may be on the list.

PMC123 Squeeze is a brand new tool that helps you ’squeeze with ease’.  It looks like a small caulking gun, much easier than a clay extruder or syringe.

The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry by Jennifer Perkins

I will preface this by being completely honest -  its real hard to be unbiased when reviewing a book when A: the author is a friend and B: you have a love for the subject matter that rivals the people on InFANity. So I’ll “keep it real” like as I always do.  I have one word for this SQUEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Jennifer is also Craft Gossip’s Craft Artist Life  editor. You should visit her section & read all the cool interviews she has up over there.

I got the package as I was going out the door with my dog. I quickly ripped it open as I was walking and it was love at first sight. How can you NOT love it?? The colors, the laughing mannequin with perfect red cat eye glasses-SQUEE!!!! But hang on,  there is more to love, trust me. This first glance is just the tip of the color saturated iceburg that awaits you inside its glossy covers-so much so, my dog and I made an emergency pitstop at Starbucks so I could sit and go thru this book right there and then.

Open it up and be prepared for a full blown blast of colors, kitsch and cleverness.  This is not a book for the shy or conservative jewelry maker. Jennifer wears her heart on her sleeve, a watch on her head and pencils in her ears-and she’ll make you want too as well!

Packed with ideas, tips and tricks on how to turn vintage junque into wearable art I really feel this book will appeal to just about everyone.  Even if you can’t imagine wearing little plastic deer in your ear (hey, I’m a poet and didn’t know it!), you will get a ton of inspiration and tricks in the book that you can use with whatever your style is. 

The book begins an introduction, supplies, tools and the definition of the skill levels of the projects. Remember because this is all about using found objects you are not limited by what you have or don’t have at home.  This book is ALL about being creative and having fun. The projects are broken up into 3 sections: A case of the Mondays, Hump Day and TGIF with 30 projects total and unlimited ways to expand upon them. While its hard to nail it down to just a FEW, I’ll pick three of the top ones that I love especially:  Thank you for Calling bangle (I love those purses too!), Tied Down Brooch and the Specs Appeal Necklace (super clever). Sprinkled through out are little “take a memo”  sidebars with fun info, trivia and tips.

Its a great book for beginners as well the experienced jewelrymaker who wants to expand their boundaries and push outside their boxes. Its a delight to look at and read.

Before now, beading tool holders were often black plastic that either zipped or snapped shut. They serve their purpose, but they aren’t very pretty.  If you go to a beading class, chances are almost everyone else has a black box too, so you had to be careful to make sure you picked up the right one at the end of the day.

Thanks to the Urban Beader, your tools don’t have to travel in basic black anymore.  There are currently  7 different styles of fashionable totes on their website.  All totes are 100% hand dyed silk, crafted by artisians.  They retail for $29.99 for the tote, which is a great price for a handmade bag. They also sell them with tools and supplies for $105. I think this would be a great gift for a crafter.

About.com Jewelry Making:. Learn to wire wrap your beads and add an extra little something to your jewelry designs.

Art Bead Scene
Wondering what’s “in?” Trek on over to ABS to check out the trends!

BeadStyle Magazine
What did Cathy see and do at the Bead&Button show? Read about it and let us know what you bought there.

Jennifer Jangles Blog
Things are growing around here…

Katie’s Beading Blog
Take a peek inside Katie’s shopping bag!

Naughty Secretary Club
Brand new website, but no sales? Jen helps out a friend by bestowing a bit of the knowledge she has picked up from running her jewelry website Naughty Secretary Club as her full time job for over 5 years.

Savvy Crafter
You’ve made all that fabulous jewelry, now where to put it?!?! Candie shows a tree-mendous solution!

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beadng to be done!
Jean saw a dragonfly striking a pose and made a necklace in its honor!

Strands of Beads
Melissa visits the New York branch of Japanese bead store Toho Shoji