Stay joyful and blissfully bead along with us! We are living in very unusual times. Shelter-in-place and isolation rules means that many of us are facing the coronavirus alone and without our peers to talk to and keep our minds at work. Quarantine does not have to be boring! This is a great time to beautify your world and light your passion to create. We are posting daily 'Joyful Beading' challenges on our  Facebook group. Take part in a communal jewelry making event every day this month. Each day, participants have a chance to win a $10 credit towards a purchase on our website. Let's bead together!

Joyful Beading Challenges For Coronavirus Quarantine

Download the Full Calendar for September - Click HERE.

Follow along on our Joyful Beading road map. Each day, we begin a new jewelry project. For instance, September 23rd is 'Make Halloween Jewelry'. On that day, every project that is Halloween holiday themed, will be entered to win a $10 credit. Projects must be posted before midnight PST, on that date. If you post a kit project on a different date and it is not applicable to that date's project, you will not be entered to win. Make sure every project you post has this hashtag - #joyfulbeading. If you do not include the hashtag, we may overlook your entry.

Beginner Jewelry Making Tools 

Need to start to a beading toolkit? Crimping pliers and cutters are must haves. If you do not own any other tools for beading, make sure you have these on hand. A pair of crimping pliers will ensure that your finished designs are secure and aesthetically pleasing. Cutters will allow you to get a nice cut. Don't settle for scissors or regular pliers to smash your crimps.

Already have crimping pliers and cutters? Buy them for a loved one. Your children and grandchildren need tools to excel at making jewelry. Give them as a gift. Maybe, even give them a kit. Inspire your family to create and make handcrafted art!

Kids Beading Activity Kit

A beading activity kit is a great way to share your passion and keep little ones busy during this time of social distancing and isolation. Children crave fun and educational opportunities to grow and blossom. Use our  Kids Beading Activity Kit to show your youngest how to recognize colors and preschoolers how to count using beads. Show your grade school aged kids how to create and form beautiful patterns and your teens how to explore asymmetry and out of the box thinking.

Or, just keep a kit for yourself. We won't tell!

This jewelry making kit is a STEAM learning activity (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math). Beading teaches kids both engineering and art in one fun project. Math, too - if you are teaching your kiddos how to count! If your child is a Girl Scout, this kit is a great way to work on a  Jeweler Badge. Skill Building Badges can be done at home and are great ways to keep occupied during quarantine.

Note: This kit contains  Stretch Magic. There are directions for using this product on the back of the package. We also have video tutorials on our channel on YouTube. Stretch Magic is easy to use for kids and beginners to complete a piece of jewelry. For added security, we recommend adding glue to your stretch cord knot. Special T Glue is excellent for use with Stretch Magic. This kit will require adult supervision and assistance for most children under the age of 12.

Soft Flex Bead Stringing Starter Kit

A perfect kit for anyone to get started in beading and jewelry-making. This kit is exactly what you need to make your own DIY necklaces and bracelets.

This Bead Stringing Starter Kit includes a Bead Mat, 2 red tip Bead Stoppers, Regular Crimping Pliers, Bead Nippers, 20 count package of 2x2mm Crimp Tubes, Ear Wires, Lobster Clasps, a 10ft spool of Soft Flex .019 Medium Beading Wire in your choice of color and a FREE package of Beads. (Bead colors vary and will be based on your wire color choice).

A starter kit is the perfect way to get all of the tools and wire you need in a single package. If you are just looking for the fundamentals of bead stringing, you will need to make sure you have a pair of  regular crimping pliers and a pair of bead nippers. Those two tools are going to tackle a wide variety of jewelry making projects and if you cannot afford to get anything else - those are the must haves. 

Regular Crimping Pliers

Crimping pliers are a must if you want to finish your jewelry like a professional. Once you master your crimping pliers, every crimp is uniform and secure. Trying to smash your crimps with a pair of regular pair of pliers means your crimps will be irregular and prone to slipping. Crimping pliers allow for your design to be secure with a crimp bead that looks and feels smooth.

Cutters

These bead nippers are wonderful for a beginner. These are cost effective for someone who does not do a lot of cutting. They are not intended to be used for anything but cord and soft wire. Once you start designing more jewelry and cutting more wire, you will find that you may need to replace your nippers as the blades dull over time.

Daily "Joyful Beading" Challenges

The lovely community of beaders and artists that are part of our VIB Facebook group made some incredible jewelry. Every day, we got to see some exciting new jewelry creations. For those that participated, they also got to bask in the warm glow of happy comments. Joyful beading is infectious. It was not hard to get inspired by the stunning necklaces and earrings. So many interesting and fun techniques were posted. We cannot wait to see what the month of April holds in store.

We take all of the names of the eligible participants each day and load them into a spreadsheet. Each day we use a random number generator to find our winner. If your name is on the 51st line of our sheet and the number generator selects that number, you win! There is no skill involved. All entrants are on equal footing. This is a great time to show off your jewelry designs, even if you are not an experienced jewelry maker. You will find so many wonderful people and helpful tips on our VIB group. Join us and let us see your handcrafted jewelry!

Do you want to play along? Each day, feel free to create as many jewelry pieces as you like. If they are part of the daily challenge, each piece of jewelry will be counted as an entry. You can post all of your jewelry, to be entered, in a single photo. Or you can post multiple photos of your work. You can post as many times as you like. Every piece of jewelry applicable to the daily challenge will be noted as an entry on our daily spreadsheet.

Spark Joy Through Creativity With Our Daily “Joyful Beading” Challenges

Sara filmed a quick jewelry demonstration and announced our Joyful Beading Challenge projects. This is a great video to watch if you want some ideas for our first challenge - and if you want some beading tips. We cannot wait to see what you make for your first participation.

Don't be afraid to work ahead. We do not want you to post that early, but feel free to get your project started. You do not have to wait until the last minute to complete it. Please do not post anything out of date. If you hashtag - #joyfulbeading - and it is not part of that day's challenges, we will not be able to include that entry into the challenge. Also, it is fine to post an older design, but we would love it if you made jewelry that is fresh and created along with us. The spirit of the challenge is to create with a circle of friends. Winning a $10 credit is nice. But we want you to make something new with us and share it so we can all see how talented you are and we can all be part of a shared community in this lonely time.

Do you want to play along? Each day, feel free to create as many jewelry pieces as you like. If they are part of the daily challenge, each piece of jewelry will be counted as an entry. You can post all of your jewelry, to be entered, in a single photo. Or you can post multiple photos of your work. You can post as many times as you like. Every piece of jewelry applicable to the daily challenge will be noted as an entry on our daily spreadsheet.

If you win a daily challenge, make sure you spend your credits by the expiration date or they will be forfeited. Winners are announced each day. So, the winner of the first challenge has until midnight on that date to submit their jewelry. The next morning, we note the entrants and randomly choose the winner. At noon each day, we post the winner. If you win, make sure you respond to the winning announcement. After you acknowledge the win, your credit will be applied and you can use it immediately. Credits will automatically reduce the cost of your cart when you go to check out - it is that simple.

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