Blog for Beaders

Replicating the light-catching icicles outside your window, this incredible display of Swarovski crystals is sure to make your Christmas sparkle! This Prismatic Christmas ornament is simple yet beautiful. Hang it on the tree or all year round as beautiful home décor. Learn how to make a Christmas ornament sure to light up your holiday, and find more fun Christmas craft ideas by stopping by the Learning Center!

-Marissa

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Jean Yates is one of our amazing design partners, and always delivers us incredible pieces. Her charisma and upbeat personality flow through into her designs, bringing to life rich color combinations and twists on classic beauty. This is not a customer success story. It’s a Design Partner story. It’s an explanation into why we work with some of the most talented designers out there. In an interview she did with me, Jean explained where her inspiration comes from, how she became interested in designing and the various routes in which she expresses her creativity. Even in writing it is easy to spot her charismatic spirit between every keyboard stroke and blinking cursor.

So what first got you interested in jewelry making?

I have five sons. Three with my husband Jim! My two eldest boys are grown and have families of their own. My family with Jim consists of our twenty year old and our two youngest boys, who have severe autism and epilepsy. I have been occupied raising my children and participating in the Special Education arena of our school district for years. As a side interest, when the kids were young, I began watching the jewelry home shopping shows on cable TV. I am nothing if not a classy dame! I actually learned a LOT from the cable shows, specifically about types of gems, exotic gemstones, and what they measured on the Mohs scale of hardness. It was a good education on design, color and placement, while I stayed at home and cared for my children. Then I joined the Yahoo group run by fantastic teacher Tammy Powley online. I was fascinated by the diverse methods of jewelry making she was teaching, and also interested in the group’s forum conversations. I began participating online and at the same time learning how to make chain maille. When I learned how to wire wrap I was off to the races!

What happened the first time you tried to make something?

When I first tried to make something I would occasionally misstep. In chain maille, you really want it to be perfect. You don’t really have a choice. It is just a pile of bent-up jump rings if you don’t. Therefore, while learning the basics of that particular jewelry art, I would have to repeat my steps over and over until I got something right. We are talking things that other people learn in a flash! On the other hand, I had a good eye for color and a great desire to make my pieces unique, so I would persevere and get that base bracelet or necklace right, and then add absolutely knockout focals and dangling charms and all sorts of fanciful things to my creations. That was my reward for all the hard work I had put in to begin with!

I found this to be great fun as I stayed at home, looking for beautiful beads and components (at places like Artbeads!), and taking care of our kids. I started submitting to countless beading magazines. I even ended up writing my own jewelry design book, Links, by Jean Yates. There are so many beads from your store in my book, and for good reason. You offer some of the most unique and lovely beads I have ever seen.

Is there anything in particular that inspires your creations?

Music always inspires me! I love classic rock and roll and R&B. I also love my son’s band, The Ruse. It’s right up there with my favorites. My next submission to a magazine (Jan. 2012) is inspired by music.

Additionally, really beautiful focal beads inspire me…it is as if, at times, I can get inside the bead’s artist and see his or her intentions when the bead was created. I have been told by a few bead artists that I made the designer piece they have always hoped would be made with their beads. This makes me so proud I can hardly express it!

Other inspirations are words (really long weird words–don’t ask why), colors (I love to dive into color, especially its subtle tonal permutations), crystals, and pearls! I just go my own way when I make jewelry. I am incredibly curious and love to research any and everything. I am, to be honest, a complete nerd.

Photo by Rose Mottl

I love your Blythe doll fashion. When did you first start incorporating them into your designs and why?

Thank you so much for liking my Blythes! I write a regular column, “Our Beading World,” for a super glossy beading magazine located in Australia. It is Australia’s number one favorite jewelry design magazine. It’s called, not surprisingly, Australian Beading magazine. My editor and I have grown to be dear friends. We exchange photos as well as chatty emails. Of course I have sent her photos of my Blythes. It was her idea to use them in my column, wearing jewelry. I LOVE doing this, and it gives me one other way to display my dolls, practice my photography, and design fun jewelry! The pieces I made with your components will be showcased in the December issue (That is Australian Beading‘s biggest issue of the year) on a different Blythe of mine, in a special story about friendship. My editor said when she read the story it made her cry. I dedicated it to her.

I wish to add that I have made lots of earrings for Blythes which ended up being worn by people–they often convert easily to the same size which people like wearing. Also, I have made period jewelry for my dolls. Once I made a whole Egyptian set which came out really well. Another Blythe lover made the costume for my doll, [then] I took the photos, and presto: we had “Nefertiti”!

Jean, along with all of our design partners, has that special eye for style and sparks inspiration in all of us to explore new routes in jewelry making. Every idea she comes up with is a true reflection of her, in one way or another. We’re happy to support Jean in her creations, and glad to have her on the Artbeads team. You can check out her blog to view more cool looks and fun stories at Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done!

All photos were courtesy of Jean Yates.

-Marissa

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This Contest is now closed. Thank you all for participating, and congratulations to our winner, Sandy!

Santa is in need of an extra shine to help guide his sleigh, so we gave him a collection of sparkling Swarovski crystals to illuminate his ride. Santa left his most responsible reindeer, Rudolph, in charge of making sure each reindeer was given a sprinkling of Swarovski to help them glitter in the night. As they prepare to make the trip from rooftop to rooftop this Christmas Eve, one sneaky reindeer hid the crystals somewhere in Santa’s workshop and Rudolph’s not sure which one did it. Who do you think hid the Swarovski? Leave a comment below with the name of the reindeer you think is playing games for a chance to win a goody bag with your choice of $100 worth of Swarovski crystals AND a $100 Artbeads.com gift card. Hurry, Rudolph needs to find the culprit before Christmas Eve and save Santa’s ride!

No purchase necessary, must be 18 or older to enter. Please one comment per person. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. Prize valued at $200, void where prohibited by law. Contest valid in the US and Canada only excluding Quebec. This contest runs from tonight, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 and ends Saturday, December 24, 2011 at 11:59PM PT. Winner will be announced Sunday, December 25, 2011.

-Marissa

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This fun Mommy and Me idea is great for celebrating the “go-green” spirit as well as the holiday spirit! You and your kid can help design the pieces together picking your favorite DeCoRé clay colors, pewter Christmas charms and Swarovski flatbacks to use inside each bottle cap. Here are some quick steps to making this wreath, but just remember to purchase your own wooden wreath frame and find some old bottle caps to work with. Depending on the size of your wreath, you may need more or less bottle caps. We used 16 bottle caps for our project, which was just enough to space evenly and cover the circumference of ours.

Step One

Cover the front half of the wreath frame with Gilders Paste. We used the German Silver color because it was a festive yet neutral color that complemented our color scheme. You can read our Handy Tip on how to use Gilders Paste in the Learning Center if you need help. Allow your Gilders Paste to dry completely before you finish your design.

Step Two

Choose two or more DeCoRé colors to work with, and prepare one at a time. We used White and Erinite colors to follow a Christmas theme. Fill approximately half of your bottle caps with the one color and decorate with various charms, flatbacks or transfer sheet images. Prepare the other color, fill in the rest of the bottle caps and decorate as before. Allow all of the bottle caps to cure completely for 24 hours. Read our Handy Tip in the Learning Center if you need help using DeCoRé clay.

If you do choose to work with transfer sheets, be sure to finish the images with sealant to protect them.

Step Three

Arrange your bottle caps onto the wood wreath as desired, then glue each bottle cap and allow your piece to dry. You’re now ready to adorn your piece with fir tree branches and hang it for all to see!

-Marissa

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Congratulations to Debbi D. for winning our Nunn Design Imagination Giveaway! She will receive an awesome prize package that includes a cool collection of some of our newest pieces from Nunn Design exclusively from Becky Nunn. We hope she has fun with her prize and finds the right inspiration for her next project. You can read her comment below. Thank you all for participating in our giveaway! It was great to read all of the new and amazing ideas you all came up with. Stay tuned when we reveal our new contest soon!

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Bring some color to your winter wardrobe and make these cool Fuchsia Wave earrings! Hot pink tones matched with cool silver components create the perfect seasonal style. Geometry never looked as beautiful as it does in these alluring earrings. A combination of circles, bicones and saucers add texture as well as elegance to these treasures. You can learn how to make fast winter earrings that will bring elegance and fun to any look by stopping by the Learning Center, where you can get easy step-by-step instructions along with more free inspiration ideas so you can design all winter long.

-Marissa

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A lot of people donate their time and money to help those less fortunate during the holidays, and it’s always a nice reminder of the holiday spirit. The YWCA in Tacoma, Washington, helps provide shelter and basic necessities to women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. Artbeads.com President and Co-Owner Cynthia Kimura has been involved with the YWCA, and I wanted to share her story with you today. In her own words, here is Cynthia’s story about getting involved:

I have been involved with the YWCA women’s shelter in Tacoma, Washington, for almost four years. During one of my visits, I saw some jewelry made by Miriam, the director, for their lunch auction that is held every April. This gave me the idea to make and donate some jewelry for the shelter to sell. Really excited by this, Miriam thought about creating a special jewelry auction event. As for me, I asked some of our Artbeads employees and friends to help, and they all happily volunteered their time and creativity.

Fund-raising at this event was also made possible thanks to jewelry donated by The Bead Factory in Tacoma, five artists that were making unique jewelry on the spot that was later auctioned off, decorative boxes made by YWCA employees, contributions made by various local businesses, numerous other participants that worked the auction, and of course the generous contributions of those attending “Jewelers for Joy.”

All of the efforts paid off—the YWCA raised more than $28,000 at their 2011 auction! This was an amazing feat and will be extremely beneficial to the program. The YWCA recently lost a large amount of its federal funding, so the money raised will certainly be helpful. Cynthia closed with:

I have to say that it is always a joy to help these women that are facing unimaginable circumstances, and hope that these kinds of events will inspire others to increase their support for those in need.

Below are a few pictures from the November auction that Cynthia was kind enough to share with me.

If you would like to learn more about the YWCA and becoming involved, visit their website at http://www.ywca.org/.

-Marissa

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We love these new Lillypilly copper sheets decorated with a lovely patina finish, and we know you will, too! You may be wondering what patina means, so we’re here to explain it!

The patination process for both copper and bronze is a natural progression over time. As copper ages it grows a colored layer to protect it from corrosion called patina. This layer is caused from oxidization and is often blue or green naturally, known as acquired patina. With the help of science, however, manufacturers looking to replicate the process for aesthetic reasons use chemicals to manipulate the colors and produce everything from red to black. This is called applied patina or distressing.

You can discover new dimensions in style with these Lillypilly patina copper sheets. One side shines with its warm copper color, while the other side is exposed to a special patina color pattern. From dark spots to cool blue coloring, browse different colors and patterns for just the right one. Each sheet is coated with a protective wax, and should be coated with another layer of paste wax (like car wax or floor wax) to maintain the colorful appearance. Due to this process, each copper sheet will display its own pattern of coloring, too, so your piece is sure to be one of a kind.

Our designers got to play with some of these new sheets and made a cool pair of earrings, and we want to share their idea with you! To make the earrings, you will need a pair of metal shears, a hole punch, round paper punch, metal files and your choice of copper sheet. Look for some of these components under our jewelry making tools and supplies section. Remember to wax your copper piece before working with it to maintain its color.

Trace your design on the copper sheet and cut it out using the shears.

Use the file to smooth out the sharp edges.

The paper punch helped create the circular pieces. Please note that you should not use a paper punch to cut paper once it has been used to cut metal, and should only be used with the 36 gauge sheets.

The smaller holes at the top were made with a hole punch, and then the earring finding was thread through this small hole.

Check out our collection of patina copper sheets from Lillypilly and find your favorite design to get inspired!

-Marissa

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We’re back with more gemstone legends for you to enjoy! There’s a reason gemstones are still around and continue to be a symbol of beauty. Most ancient cultures have given gemstones special meaning, special power, that carry over to today’s beliefs. In celebration of the month of December, we’ll begin with its traditional birthstone.

Turquoise

December’s birthstone is one of the oldest and most treasured gemstones, and is still a popular stone today. For thousands of years it was considered a holy stone. From 3000 BC in Egypt to the Persian Kingdom, these blue-green stones were placed in burial sites and jewelry for protection. Turquoise is a copper aluminum phosphate, meaning it is found in places with a high concentration of copper in the soil. Its blue characteristics come from the copper and the green tones are from bivalent iron and chrome. Still believed to protect its wearer from negative energy, turquoise has grown in popularity among fashion designers both as a jewelry component and a color.

Jasper

Although jasper can be found in various colors, it typically displays a brick red to brownish red tone. Jasper means brings joy into life and is said to fulfill one’s needs. This gemstone is commonly used in an artform called Commesso, a technique of fashioning pictures with thin, cut-to-shape pieces of semiprecious stones developed in Florence, Italy in the late 16th century. These pictures are mostly used for tabletops and small wall panels. The different varieties of jasper are said to each hold their own special power, though they all result in bringing joy. Jasper is also thought to drive away evil spirits and protect against snake and spider bites.

Tourmaline

This colorful rainbow of the gemstones is a natural treat for anyone to have! Tourmaline comes from the Sinhalese word turmali meaning “mixed.” Living up to its name, this gemstone occurs in more colors and combinations than any other gemstone variety. One unusual characteristic of tourmaline is that it can be electrically charged by rapidly heating and cooling the stone. It can also be charged by applying pressure, such as rubbing the stone. To help ail physical symptoms of arthritis and asthma, one should wear tourmaline. Thought to be a spine blocker, tourmaline is also good for lower back pain. This stone is also believed to neutralize fears and resentment.

Labradorite

Labradorite is a member of the feldspar family. It was first discovered by geologists in the 1770s on the Labrador Peninsula in Canada, giving it its name. This stone has a very special spectrum of color, changing from a grayish dark green to blue, gold and green when it catches the light just right. This attributes to it also being called Spectrolite and Rainbow Moonstone. Labradorite is thought to be a power stone, allowing you to see through illusions and determine the actual form of your dreams and goals. It’s believed to be excellent for strengthening intuitions, so wear this stone to stimulate imagination and help develop new ideas.

Find your favorite gemstone to start bringing good thoughts and good fortunes your way! Check back soon when we reveal more gemstone legends.

-Marissa

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This simple sheet of felt may not seem like an important tool to have, but it really does help when you’re thinking of new jewelry ideas. Bead mats keep your beads from rolling onto the floor, which is especially important when working with small beads like seed beads. Another great advantage to bead mats is that they make picking up beads simpler than working on a tabletop surface. Bead mats are also great for protecting delicate pieces like fancy Swarovski crystals to prevent scratching. Take your ideas from your mind to reality by laying them out on a bead mat before you start stringing. This is a key element for creating designer jewelry! These lightweight and machine-washable components make great stocking stuffers for the holidays and are a must-have for every designer. From budding beginners for avid experts, every jewelry maker will tell you that bead mats always come in handy. Stock up on bead mats to allow for multiple projects at once and feel like a pro!

-Marissa

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