The Great Bead Extravaganza is the world's most exciting virtual bead show. You can visit this massive celebration of beading and jewelry making from the comfort of your couch. If you have never visited a trade show like this in person, this is the closest you can get to the energy and sales of an actual event. Fall Fest 2022 was a rousing success. The presenters gathered for preview night in their Halloween costumes and gave us a look at the shows they planned. Throughout the weekend, we saw thirteen fantastic jewelry demonstrations and saved a lot of money on beading supplies. If you missed the fun, make sure you visit the group or Facebook page. Today, we wanted to share some of the jewelry demonstrations that used Soft Flex products.
We have five videos for you. Check out these jewelry tutorials and grab some Soft Flex items if you need to restock your tool kit. Soft Flex Company designers, Sara and Kristen, used some of our latest goodies. Kristen made a pair of stunning earrings with goodies from a kit we created for the show - the 2022 Fall/Winter Pantone Design Kit for TGBE Fall Fest (Sold Out). Sara used Bamboo beads, simple cut Czech Glass, a ceramic donut, and findings from TierraCast. Nealay Patel, of SilverSilk & More, made ancient Egyptian inspired jewelry using Soft Flex Craft Wire. Abbi and Alex, at The Bead Place, showed us how to make a necklace using Soft Flex Beading Wire and Bead Stoppers. Kay Goss, of Star's Beads and Beadorea, showed us decorative ways to wire wrap. Cynthia and Azalea, at Green Girl Studios, used Craft Wire and Colourful Soul Ultimate Paints that you can find on their site or ours.
We love to create a kit for our beading events. Our themed design kits make it easy to make jewelry. If you have a couple of tools on hand, you can follow along and make the jewelry we make. You can also make your own signature jewelry pieces with a colorway you love. For TGBE, we presented a Pantone color kit. Unfortunately, this kit sold out. But we are always adding exciting new themes.
Hurry! Our kits are limited in quantity and usually sell out before the end of the month. At the end of each month, we reveal our recent kit on the Soft Flex Facebook page and YouTube Page. Open your kit when you get it or wait for Sara to reveal the contents and open yours along with us live!
If you'd like to join us in the design challenge next month, buy a kit and challenge yourself to try something new and unexpected. If you are new to beading, this kit comes with findings, beads, wire, and surprises.
Our kits are great for skill building. We want our kits to feel challenging. We want them to be accessible for beginners and advanced designers alike, but we love to throw in elements that may seem difficult to test our beaders skills and make them think out of the box. We think jewelry is great when it is easy. But when you really have to engage your mind and process your materials and tools, we think that your jewelry has the potential to be life changing.
Our kits may be inspired by a colorway or theme, but they are meant to be creative interpretations. Imagination and innovation do not follow the rules. Expect the unexpected.
5 Great Bead Extravaganza Videos Featuring Soft Flex Products - Fall Fest 2022
Soft Flex Company: Bead Weave Earrings Using A Soft Flex Design Kit
We have been loving our recent exploration of bead weaving. It is a craft that we did not think was really possible with our beading wire until our friend Danielle Wickes showed us how to create a herringbone stitch with our wire. Just note, if you want to try this technique, our wire works great with bigger beads, but you are not going to get the desired result if you try to bead weave with smaller beads, using our wire.
For events like TGBE, we love to have a kit at the ready. A kit is everything a beader needs to make jewelry. As long as they have crimping pliers and cutters. This makes it easy to make along with us. But we did not want to exclude anybody. Sara filmed a video tutorial using beads and findings from our site. You can make a similar design using supplies you have at home or you can get the materials she used from our site.
The kit we created for this event has sold out. But if you like the earrings Kristen made or want to make the necklace Sara strung, all of the supplies can be found on our site!
Design Kit
Soft Touch Very Fine Beading Wire - White
Soft Flex Medium Beading Wire - Imperial Topaz
Rola Seed Beads
Ceramic Donuts
Czech Glass Simple Cut Style Beads
TierraCast Findings
Soft Flex Craft Wire - 22ga Copper
2x2mm Soft Flex Crimp Tubes
Ear Wires
Crimping Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Chain Nose Pliers
Cutters
SilverSilk & More: Soft Flex Craft Wire And SilverSilk Chain Mesh Necklace
Nealay had a fun and instructional presentation. If you would like to learn how to use Soft Flex Craft Wire to add structure and volume to a design, he showed how to use our wire in tandem with his SilverSilk to create a gorgeous Egypt inspired design. He showed us how to coil the wire and finish the design. If you are making jewelry with SilverSilk chain mesh, our wire products work really well with his product line. You can wire wrap SilverSilk or string our beading wire through it. Get creative!
The Bead Place: Java Glass Necklace Strung With Soft Flex Beading Wire
Abbi and Alex are always a fun time. They film their videos inside their brick and mortar bead store. If you are in the St. Louis area or just passing through, drop on by and say howdy! If that is not possible, you can always shop their site for great deals and playful beads. They showed us how to string a necklace using Soft Flex Beading Wire and Bead Stoppers to prevent the beads from slipping off of the design.
Soft Flex Beading Wire
Magical Crimping Pliers
Bead Stoppers
Stars Beads / Beadorea: Wire Wrapped Beads And Decorative Pendants With Craft Wire
Kay Goss has been making jewelry since she was a child. She traveled the world, with her mother, collecting beads and handcrafted jewelry for their business. Kay gave a great presentation. If you would like to learn how to wire wrap beads and use Craft Wire to create accents and add visual elements to a design, check her tutorial out. You will learn how to wire wrap a bead with a decorative flair. You will learn how to create earrings or pendants with wire. Make every jewelry design you create a one-of-a-kind piece with these artistic styles.
Green Girl Studios: Colourful Soul Ultimate Paints And Craft Wire
This family run business has creativity and imagination coursing through their systems. Every presentation is a mix of beading media and always eye opening. You cannot help but get inspired by their ideas. For TGBE, Cynthia and Azalea showed us how to paint metal charms and pendants. They also gave us a course in how to wire wrap a jewelry making element. In this case, Cynthia wrapped a small glass jar that can be used as a pendant or focal.
Soft Flex Craft Wire
Rainbow Colourful Soul Ultimate Paints
Join our Facebook group – VIB. Stay in the know. Stay up to date. From our bead shows to our video shows and sales, you can stay in touch with us. The community is full of artistic and helpful beaders and crafty people. Inspire and be inspired. Share your pictures and get the beading bug from others!
Visit the Soft Flex Company YouTube Channel!
Blog contributor Thomas Soles loves Jazz Age writers and crunchy french fries. His favorite gemstones are Lapis and Pietersite. His favorite hobby is day dreaming. And his favorite mustache is Freddie Mercury's. As you can see, he has a healthy (or possibly unhealthy) sense of humor. You can write to him at Thomas@SoftFlexCompany.com