Jewelry Archives - Page 8 of 17

Bead Fest Classes

August 11, 2014 By candiecooper 2 Comments

I am in high gear getting ready to teach a ton of classes at Bead Fest next weekend with Jesse James Beads and Beadalon. So much to pack, organize and prepare for. My head spins! Thank God for chocolate.One of the classes I’m most excited about is the Boho Beader! Each student will get a goodie bag like this in your fave color (YES, you get to pick what colors you want to work with!) and then we will set to designing a unique statement piece of jewelry like this:OR THIS:The ribbon was the inspiration for this design mixed in with Jesse James Beads Elite Strands and Chain Reaction. Remember that Calgon commercial? “Calgon, take me away!” That’s what happens to me when I design with ribbon and trim from India and beautiful beads like these. I magically teleport myself to another place, thinking about all the sights, sounds and energy (and no dishes to do or laundry to fold).

For more pictures and versions, check out the class link page and look for BOHO BEADER!

Bead Fest is August 22-24th!

I hope I get to meet you in person at Bead Fest, but if you can’t make it, you can at least find these Elite JJB beads at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts stores.

Filed Under: Classes, Jewelry, Uncategorized

How to Make a Button Bracelet

July 26, 2014 By candiecooper 2 Comments

Yesterday around 3pm when I should’ve been writing this post, I decided to skip town and go to a quilt show (and spend all my yard sale money). Fat quarters are the devil. They’re so perfectly sized and for someone who loves scrappy quilts, they’re a problem. I had the best time looking at the quilts and pretty fabrics, leaving mega inspired ready to sew everything. Never mind, penniless too!Earlier in the day, I snuck outside to take pictures for this button bracelet tutorial. It was so pretty and not humid so I had to soak some of that up. Had to. No choice. This is always my audience when making tutorials. Meet Rocker and Bebe.Materials for this little button bracelet are from Dress It Up Buttons (found in all the craft stores and lots of independent quilt shops as I learned yesterday), Beacon Adhesives Dazzle Tack, and the bracelet with glue pads from Rings and Things. The reason I really love this bracelet finding is because you can remove links and make it smaller.

*A word about gluing: Even though this project looks kid friendly, this adhesive is for grown ups and should be used in a well vented area. If you want to make it with smaller hands, I suggest a game of “jewelry designer and jewelry manufacturer.” In other words, grown ups do the gluing wherever the designer tells them to. 😉Lay out the pieces along the bracelet. There are two choices for gluing buttons with shanks: cut the shank off with heavy wire cutters and glue on the silver disc/glue pad OR don’t cut the shank and glue it so the button uses two silver discs.This glue comes out fast! Less is more too! My philosophy is, you can aways add more glue, but dang it’s hard to get off when you have it oozing from every angle, on your fingers, etc…etc… You know what I’m talkin’ about! So go easy.Once you’re finished gluing, double check no buttons have slid out of place and set this little cutie aside to dry!

Now, I gotta get back to petting my fat quarters (that doesn’t sound right, but you know what I mean).

Have a great day!

<3 Candie

Filed Under: Jewelry, Kids Arts and Crafts

Earring Making Tutorial

July 17, 2014 By candiecooper 1 Comment

I’m so proud to say that Earringology is officially available! To celebrate, I’ve got a quick earring tutorial for you today!My Aunt Jane has been talking about picking berries. I want some. Right now. I can eat them like popcorn annnnd I usually pay for it later, but they’re so worth it! Do you have any favorite berry recipes?

Oh Summer, please stick around for as long as you can.

These beads make me think of berries. That’s why all the berry talk. Sorry.

The berry beads and chain are from JesseJamesBeads.com and the remaining findings are from Beadalon. The thing I love about this design is that they are light and dangly with just the right amount of sparkle.

Ok, enough rambling…let’s do this!I use Beadalon Ergo pliers. Have for years! I’m a loyal dog. You can find a set of pliers that feel comfy to you.String the bead onto the decorative head pin wire and finish with a wrapped loop following the pictures.Make a 90 degree bend at the end of the wire. Grasp the wire with the round nose pliers next to the bead. Ding! Move to the next picture.Remember those tapes and story books? Or were they film strips? Maybe both. Anyway! Wrap the wire up and over the top of the round nose pliers. This will form the loop nicely.Now, wrap the extra wire around the base of the loop as many times as you can or like.Does it look kind of like this? Good deal!Trim the excess wire (even though the picture before said that already). Did I mention you need to trim that wire?Open a jump ring with chain nose pliers and connect the chain to the ring and then…. (ding)the berry dangle.Close the ring. At this point, you can decide how long you want the chain section and trim it to that length. I left mine about 1.5″ long because this pair of earrings is ready to party!Open another jump ring and connect to the opposite end of the chain.Then attach the ear wire to the jump ring.And close the ring! Easy peasy!On that note, I’ve gotta run. My to-do list is calling my name. Back to school craft projects are at the top of the list. Already?? I know.

Have a great day! And let me know if you decide to take a peek at Earringology. I care what you think of it! <3

Filed Under: Books, Jewelry, Tutorials

Lockets and More In My Etsy Shop

May 22, 2014 By candiecooper Leave a Comment

A few new treats and treasures are in my Etsy Shop! I love nostalgic jewelry so these vintage lockets are right up my alley! I also did a project using the silver bezel frame on the lovely Graphics Fairy blog. It’s a mermaid necklace painted metal tutorial. I think you’ll like it!

Have a great day!

Candie

Filed Under: Jewelry

How to Make a Boho Bead and Chain Necklace

May 19, 2014 By candiecooper 6 Comments

Hola beautiful people! How have you been? I’m doing better now that my blog is working again (thanks for asking). Sheesh. I went to upload pictures to this post and got errors. Then I updated to the new WordPress followed by a couple plugins only to find those actions were actually dominos of destruction that would lead to broken links, not being able to login etc…. I stayed up working late on Friday night in an attempt to fix it. At midnight, I surrendered and admitted to myself that I was in over my head. I thought, “why am I fighting this? Go to bed, Candice.” That brings us to this morning when I found even more quarks that happened and so I called my hosts hotline number. Thirty seconds later it was fixed. Dear Betsy! And praise the Lord! I just had to get that out. Thanks for listening. Moving on.

Now, I’ve got Romancing the Stone on and I’m ready to write. Just like Joan Wilder. My friend mentioned it the other day and that got the itch to watch it started. I watch it purely for the beginning of the movie. I love the scenery, I love watching her finish her book in tears, I love when she has notes all over to buy tissue, but she’s still out of tissue. Makes me feel completely normal.

This boho bead and chain necklace tutorial started when Beadalon asked for pieces for their “Tropical” trend board on Pinterest. I got the wood beads on clearance somewhere…a really really long time ago. Bead hoarders unite! I blended them in with tropical color czech glass beads. I like the contrast of the metal, glass and wood surfaces together.First, string your beads onto beading wire. I’m using Beadalon’s satin gold (19 strand, .024″) so it blends with the color of the chain. String a #2 crimp bead followed by the ends of the chain. For this necklace, I doubled over a piece of chain to make it thicker.String the tail of wire through the crimp and slide the crimp bead up next to the chain. Now, put the crimp bead into the “U” shaped notch of your crimping pliers and clinch down.See the “U” shaped crimp bead?Now turn the “U” ninety degrees so it looks like a “C” and put it in the eye shaped slot of the crimp pliers and clinch down to fold the crimp bead over.

P.S. those are my husband’s hands. He walked by and saw me fumbling with my camera while trying to crimp and said, “I’ll be in the picture. I want to be in the picture.” If you know Aaron, this is completely normal. I love him.Now, slide the beads down to the finished end and repeat for the other side. Except do you see what I did? One side is not like the other one! Ai yi yi. I clearly got distracted by the cute man-hands crimping and forgot to add that one last tiny brass bead next to the crimp. I also didn’t realize this until I finished the entire necklace. I love it when that happens.Let’s take a break so Bebe can say “hi.” She’s been coming over off and on through this process and resting her head on my knee, my shoulder, the white board, begging to be petted. She’s our big girl that showed up one day, skin and bones and scared to death. Aaron worked with her to earn her trust and the rest is history. She doesn’t know a stranger. Have I told you how much I love that man?
Let’s make a wrapped bead link. I’m using 18g Artistic Wire in gunmetal bronze so it matches the chain. String your beeads onto the wire.Grab your round nose pliers and make a ninety degree bend in the wire.Bring the tail of the wire up and over the top of the pliers so it crosses in front of the other wire.Start wrapping the tail of wire around the long wire–as many times as you like.Sometimes it helps to hold the loop with chain nose pliers so it stays flat/in shape while wrapping. Trim the tiny, pokey/stabby part with wire cutters. Or tighten it inward with the chain nose pliers.Slide the bead against the finished wrapped loop and make another ninety degree bend in the opposite side of the wire.Trim the wire from the spool and start again with the wrapped loop technique.Split open the chain with two flat nose pliers. Open the link side to side on each piece of chain. Remove the sections so they are equal to the length of the beaded link.You can save those chain sections for a pair of earrings perhaps. I only did one beaded link as sort of a random surprise element to the necklace. Annnnnd possibly because I only had one bead left. Figured, I might as well use it!(insert big dramatic bead finale with tears and no tissue) I’m off to talk to my dogs and ask them if they want to celebrate.

Note: If you’ve not seen Romancing the Stone, that last bit will not make a lick of sense.Love,

Candie

(your hopeless romantic bead and craft blogger)

Filed Under: Beads, Jewelry, Tutorials

Mother’s Day Birthstone Necklace Idea

May 14, 2014 By candiecooper 1 Comment

This idea came about when someone asked me if I could make their mom a necklace for Mother’s Day. I thought about it for awhile and my feeling about custom jewelry is, if you’re going to have something custom made, it should be yours. Plus, I love telling a story through my jewelry!

Families are gardens that grow each year. The tassel has each of her grandkids birthstones dangling at the end. I love the rainbow effect. At the top, you’ll see a small pink crystal–that is her husband’s birthstone color.

You could also include her children within the tassel as well. If I were going to do that, I might make those a different shape or size of crystal. Oh the symbolism of it all. Makes my heart flutter!

I hope this sparks some ideas for you. Make one for your friend, your mom, for you…

Lots of Love,

Candie

P.S. If you’re new to jewelry making, you can see how to make these tassels in my craftsy class: Beading with Wire Chain and Leather. Also, the big pretty brass flower bead cap is from Ornamentea.com.

Filed Under: Jewelry

$100 Jesse James Bead Stash Giveaway!

April 30, 2014 By candiecooper 10 Comments

This post brought to you by Jesse James Beads–purveyors of the most unique beads ever!

Yesterday, I guest posted on the Jesse James Beads blog with this bungee cord necklace tutorial. Check out the full tutorial here. My challenge was to make a piece using bungee cord and their fun beads. This was my design solution. I wanted to make something that teens and adults would have fun making. What do you think? If you make it, know that the cord and beads come in a million colors. The hardest part is choosing a combo. Isn’t life tough?

Jesse James Beads is celebrating the launch of their Elite Collection at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts stores! The Elite Collection has beads that are uniquely designed for maximum design beauty. Each strand is different, full of luxurious texture and sparkle!

I absolutely adore the seed bead net over the big bead on the second strand. You know…in case you were wondering! JJB bead strands are like Yankee Candles kind of. Women absolutely cannot help but pick each one up, talk about them, smell them (ok they don’t smell the beads, but you know what I mean), and admire how each one is different and special. I work at the trade shows with JJB where there are hundreds and hundreds of strands and that’s what we do. We connect through the love of the beads.

Now because I love you and to celebrate the release of the Elite Collection bead strands at JoAnn Fabrics, Jesse James Beads gave me 20 strands of fabulous beads to giveaway! The above strands can be yours. All yours! You can make 20 bungee cord necklaces! Or just sit them on your table and smile because they are yours. All yours!