Welcome to Kit Day! We hope you are enjoying Customer Appreciation Week. Are you ready for more fun? Queen bees, Sara and Kristen, are going to give us a show. Today, they are opening our latest kit, the Summer Rain Design Kit, and giving us a jewelry demonstration. A beading party and kit reveal all-in-one! Kit Day is a Soft Flex Company holiday. It is the day we reveal our newest mystery themed kit (Purple Petals Design Kit). We unbox our latest kit and show you the contents. And we take a look at the finished designs our community made with our last kit (Bee Kind Design Kit (Sold Out). Gather the hive and join us for a jewelry making jamboree!
Visit us live on Facebook, today. We are going to open our Summer Rain Design Kit. Dark clouds, heavy with rain, release a long needed shower. The earth turns damp and wet. Plant oil is diffused into the air, it mingles with ozone and the odor of petrichor intoxicates us. Drops tap our shoulders and mat our hair. The water tickles our skin and invigorates our senses. Summer Rain has arrived and world is vital and whole. Sara and Kirsten are having a beading party. They will show you how much fun our beading kits are and you will learn how to make some artistic jewelry. Our Facebook videos are almost like a free jewelry making class online. Get a crash course on how to design and finish your favorite new necklace.
We are buzzing with excitement on this Kit Day. We have so many fun designs from our Bee Kind Design Kit (Sold Out). Let's celebrate our favorite little creature - the bee! This tireless worker deserves our praise and protection. Soft Flex jewelry designers Sara Oehler and Kristen Fagan shared some honeyed jewelry ideas. We have a beautiful gallery of talented makers from our VIB community. We also have some videos from some exciting YouTube jewelry designers - Kim Weatherholt, Deb Houck, and Marcie Hall. The real fun of our design kits is that each kit has the same supplies. This blog will show you how unique each creator is, since everybody has the same palette to work with. It is a fun journey seeing how one person can express themselves so differently than others with the same beading supplies. Joyous creativity and inspiration abounds on Kit Day! Thank you for joining us!
A cool summer breeze tickles the stems and ruffles the petals. The field of lavender begins a swaying waltz with the gentle wind. The dance begins slow and orchestrated. Each blossom moving to an unheard symphony of nature. The meadow shimmers with the enthusiastic hustle of the purple perennials. The exuberant swing ends as the breeze quiets. The field of flowers waits silent and still for the next lively shuffle.
Sara will be doing a live broadcast on the Soft Flex Facebook page and YouTube Page, with the Purple Petals Design Kit, on Wednesday, August 25th at 3pm (PT).
If you'd like to join us in the design challenge next month, buy this 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.
Supplies are very limited. Don’t miss out!
Finished Jewelry Designs From Our Bee Kind Design Kit
Sara Oehler Designs
If you are a bee lover. You are going to love Sara's bee necklace. This kit made it easy to sing songs of praise to the bumblebees. This kit was gooey rich with honey colors and honeycombs. A daring mix of earthy greens and vibrant yellows. The bee charms really pulled the kit together. If you are concerned about bee welfare or just want to show your bee pride, this kit was the perfect tool for making bee crafts. Bees are critical cross-pollinators and we owe a good chunk of our food supply to their busy days and buzzing flights. Bee Kind!
Kristen Fagan Designs
Kristen showed us how to make a bracelet that you are going to love! Her episode of Free Spirit Beading taught us how to make a finger ringer bracelet. This exotic design links a bracelet to ring using a Temple Link Connector. This was the first time Kristen had tackled this unique piece of jewelry. She did it with a live audience watching - talk about grace under pressure! This bracelet turned out amazing!
VIB Group Member Videos
We are seeing more and more jewelry making videos from our community. We love it. If you are a creator that works in front of a camera, let us know what you are filming. If you are working with Soft Flex Beading Wire or products, we would love to share the spotlight and put you on centerstage for a bit. Check out some of the fun jewelry design videos our community has created with the Bee Kind Design Kit (Sold Out).
Marcie Creates Shows Us Her Finished Jewelry From The Bee Kind Design Kit
From Marcie Creates:
My name is Marcie Hall and I live in North Texas. I am a mixed media artist, jewelry maker, recipe creator and an avid Dachshund Lover (I have two rescues- Ginger and Cha Cha). I have been an artist my whole life. In my early art days, I would create prints, sculpture, ink drawings and oil paintings. About 25 years ago, I started making jewelry after a friend invited me to take an intro class at my local bead shop - I was hooked! I loved everything about jewelry making- the colors, textures and shapes really spoke to me. Soon I was making jewelry for family and friends and then everyone said, “you should sell your jewelry” and Marcie Hall Designs was born.
I recently started a YouTube channel called Marcie Creates to share my passion for beads, jewelry making, mixed media art and cooking. YouTube is a new venture - I am really enjoying it and would love for you to join me!
Visit Marcie's links:
Marcie Creates YouTube Channel
Dahlia Designs (Deb Houck) Unboxes The Bee Kind Design Kit
Deb Houck always has fun design ideas and her videos are great soul food. If you enjoy unboxing videos as much as we do, check out her video library on YouTube. She has hauls and unboxing videos that you will really enjoy - especially if you like the companies she features. Unboxing videos are a great way to do your due diligence before you purchase. Don't take a company's words as truth, listen to what a customer has to say when they unwrap their goodies and put the products to the test! You can also catch the crafty side of Deb on her second YouTube channel. Check her videos out, we promise you will learn something new and have fun doing it!
If you enjoy Deb's presentation, you can learn more about her here:
Spotlight On Our VIB Jewelry Making Community: Designer Deb Houck
Find Deb at these links:
YouTube channel: Dahlia Designs - Jewelry and More
YouTube channel: Deb Houck's Crafty Cottage
Etsy shop: Dahlia Jewelry Designs
MetalScrappinChick Shows Her Finished Bee Kind Jewelry Designs
From Kim:
Hello! I am Kim Weatherholt from the bluegrass state of Kentucky - born and raised here. I have always been a very crafty person ever since I was a little girl, but I really got into making jewelry in teenage years. I enjoy making lots of different styles of jewelry but my favorite things to make are definitely girly and chic. I love using flower beads and anything sparkly. I love creating pieces that I would wear myself, but also pieces that would be suitable for all ages and styles. I consider myself a very versatile yet simple beaded and enjoy making beautiful jewelry!
Visit Kim's YouTube channel:
VIB Group Member Designs
We gathered a small assortment of fun designs from our VIB Facebook group. There were so many wonderful ideas and jewelry pieces. You really need to join our group to see them all. A lot of our members also have stores online. If you see a design you love, make sure you let the designer know. They may sell you that design or at least let you know how they made it. We would love to see your work too, join us today!
VIB is a great place to visit. It is an online bead gathering. It is a place to chat and meet new friends. It is a great way to be social if you are distancing. Stay healthy and stay at home. You can learn a new tip or technique daily. You can get inspired by the gorgeous jewelry designs other people in the community post. You can also get your own jewelry gently critiqued if you want pointers on how to make your designs really stand out. We love wallflowers and chatty designers alike. Lurk or showcase your talent. You are going to love our fun club.
If you would like to see more bee jewelry design ideas, go to our VIB group. In the 'Search this group' field (or magnifying glass icon on the upper right), type or paste this: #bee. This will search the inspired designs we hash tagged.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Caryl A. Williams
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Colleen Marie Sinkewicz
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Deborah Perez
See more of her designs on her Facebook page and on her Instagram page.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Kim Vagnone
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Maryann Rosie
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Pamij Jones
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Patty Ann Torbert Castleberry
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Robin Wilke
See more of her designs on her Ebay page.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Robyn Lazara
See more of her designs on her Instagram page.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Sherry Rockel Beltram
See more of her designs on her Etsy page.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Stacy Leigh Meissner
See more of her designs in her Etsy Shop.
Designed by Soft Flex VIB Studio Member: Terry Murphy Matuszyk
See more of her designs on her Facebook Page and Etsy Page.
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