National Craft (and Bead) Month

To celebrate National Craft Month the folks over at Fusion Beads are hosting a 30 Day Bead Challenge, and to get things started the first challenge is to make a pair of earrings. 

I was feeling a bit ambitious so I made two pairs using my new favorite Swarovski crystal color, Astral Pink.  Sorry the photos don't do this rich, exotic color the justice is deserves.  Trust me;  these earrings are amazing.

This pair is based on Fusion Beads "Maple Sugar Earrings:"

And this second pair is accented with Fuchsia crystals:

Tomorrow's challenge is to string up something simple, and for that I made a bracelet to match, as well as a quick and easy necklace to complete the set:

It's going to be an exciting month!

30 Day Bead Challenge

To kick off National Craft Month in their own way Fusion Beads decided to have a 30 Day Bead Challenge and I decided to take part in it.  I'm right in the middle of 3 different projects for publication so my participation will be limited, but here's what I've done so far.

Day 1.  Make earrings.  And I did...two quick and easy pairs.  The triangle tops are made with Miyuki Delica blend #986, which is one of my all time favorites because it's made of varying shades of purples, greens, and golds.  I see a matching bracelet and necklace in the kind of near future for these.  I made my version of Fusion Beads "Poseidon" earrings, which calls for 8 mm Swarovski crystal bicones, in fuchsia and gold because that's pretty much all I had on hand at the time. 

Day 2.  Use Up Some Bead Leftovers:  This was a toughie.  I don't actually have bead leftovers.  Now, don't hate me because I'm organized, but I do really and truly but everything away after I'm finished with a project.  No leftover bead soup for me.  So I cheated and dived into my drawer of cane class beads and made myself this lovely bracelet.  

 

Day 3.  Learn a New Beading Technique:  Like I said, I do have some due dates to consider so this is going to have to wait until next month when I have more time.  I'd love to play with that new crystal clay I've been hearing so much about.

Day 4.  Organize Your Bead Area:  So I did.  And here are the before and after pictures to prove it.  Of course there's no guarantee that it will stay cleaned up for more than a day or two.

Day 5.  Incorporate Chain Into a Jewelry Design:  Maybe next month.  

Crystal AB Teaser

Here's a picture of one of the bracelets that I'll be wearing in Mujeres Tres, an annual belly dance/flamenco show, on Saturday, April 9th.


This bracelet was given to me by my 93 year old Grandma.  Her memory is a bit spotty, but she thinks she bought it somewhere back in the 1950's.  Unfortunately there are no hallmarks on the clasp so I have no idea of who made it, but the lack of a hallmark also makes me feel safe in restringing it.  It's lasted this long, but I'd really rather not take a chance on it suddenly breaking, especially on a dance stage.  

I originally wanted to make a 3-strand necklace to accompany this, but I just don't have enough of all of those yummy vintage Swarovski crystal AB beads.  So much for Plan A.  Plan B had me taking a shopping trip through my bead stash where I found this! 

It's actually a chandelier earring finding.  Yikes!!!  At roughly 1 1/4" long & wide, it's much too large for me to even want to wear it as an earring, but it does make a great pendant.  I do have some of the beads that are in the bracelet in my stash so I'll be able to whip up a little something in no time.