Let's learn how to create elegant and easy Swarovski Crystal jewelry. Kristen Fagan hosts an easy to follow jewelry making demonstration where she creates a simple pair of Swarovski earrings. Her Swarovski jewelry is incredibly easy to design and you will not need a big box of tools to complete them.
Kristen is hosting her series on beaded jewelry making on YouTube. Free Spirit Beading airs every Monday at 11:00am PST. If you catch her live, you can ask her about any jewelry or art related questions you have. If you miss her live shows, the episodes are available on Soft Flex Company's YouTube page.
Kristen is a free-spirited jewelry designer; she does not over analyze her work and finds that sometimes, a little 'mistake' here or there can actually result in a better end product with more character. She believes it is better to go with the flow and not fight against the current.
This episode is her third in the series. In her first episode, she discussed how to wire wrap cones with Craft Wire. Her second, she demonstrated how to create wonderful bracelets using a knitting spool. This time, she decided to create some lovely eye-catching earrings using Swarovski Crystals.
Kristen starts off the episode showing off a pair of earrings she is wearing. She says they are done with Soft Flex beading wire and large gold Swarovski Crystal beads. She says the earrings are a perfect project for beginner beaders. She says that Soft Flex recently created Bead Stringing Starter Kits. Beginners can use the wire and tools in that kit to design these earrings. There are beads in the kit, but they are not the Swarovski Crystal beads that Kristen is using in this video. If you would like those beads, she suggests that you go to a local beads store or online store. You can always substitute your favorite beads and colors for the earrings she is showing.
Kristen flips the camera so we can see her workspace. On her bead mat, she has some lovely 18mm Golden Shadow Swarovski Crystal Emerald Cut Beads. We had these lovely crystals in our Mermaid's Lagoon Kit recently. Make sure you take advantage of our kit sales for unique beads. Soft Flex does not sell these, but Fusion Beads does carry them. Fusion also carries Soft Flex wire. Kristen shows the beading wire she is going to work with; she is using medium wire (.019) in Dark Blue Lapis, Copper, Red Coral, and Bone colors.
Kristen shows her Soft Flex crimp tubes. 2x2mm in Gold filled and Sterling Silver and 3x3mm in Sterling and Copper. She shows her tools. Magical Crimping Pliers are fantastic for turning a crimp tube into a rounded bead. Unlike regular crimping pliers, Magical Crimping Pliers have a single crimping hole. The hole pillows and then rounds a crimp tube. Having a single hole makes the process easy and the finish is fantastic – simply place the bead in the hole, crimp down, turn the bead, crimp, turn and crimp. The process is repeated four or five times until the bead is rounded and beautiful.
She then shows her regular crimping pliers. These pliers will always be a great addition to your toolbox. They have two holes, a crimping hole and a rounding hole. The crimping hole puts a divot in the crimp tube and the rounding hole finishes the crimp; easy to learn. Crimp once with the crimping hole, then move the crimp to the rounding hole. Turn the crimp, round it, turn it, round it – repeat four or five times and you are finished.
She shows her Mighty Crimper. Mighty Crimpers function the exact same way as regular crimping pliers. The only difference is that Mighty Crimpers are used to finish 3x3mm crimps. Larger crimps are useful when working with a multi-stranded design. If you have three or more wires on a necklace, a 2x2mm crimp will likely be too small. A 3x3mm crimp will accommodate the wires and crimp securely. You will only need these crimpers if you are working on more elaborate jewelry. They are not a necessity for a beginner beader.
She also has a Soft Flex Professional Flush Cutter. Our cutters are top of the line. The metal is much harder than a regular pair of economy cutters. You will get around a half a million cuts with this tool before the blade starts to dull. When the blade needs to be resharpened, you can take it to a knife sharpener and have them fix it up. The blades will be like new and the bolt on the cutter is there so the blades can be adjusted and meet again. Economy cutters will dull with use. They are inexpensive, but in the long run, you will be spending money to replace them often. They typically cannot be sharpened and the metal is much softer. Soft Flex Professional Flush Cutters are designed to get into small spaces and leave a clean cut. Economy cutters are good, but they will not be the best for flush cuts.
Kristen cuts an eight inch length of Bone color Soft Flex Beading Wire; enough to have a little room to play with and flexibility. Cutting a little shorter is fine, but she suggests only doing that if you are comfortable with the process of stringing beads and finished the design. She makes a loop and places the wire in a crimp tube. She adjusts the loop and uses a tape measure to fine tune it. She takes the longer strand and goes back through the crimp tube; this creates a small loop at the top and the larger loop with the crystal. She adjusts the sizes of the loops until she is happy with the look. Before crimping, she makes sure the design is similar to the other pair in the set of earrings. Once she is happy with the size, she uses her Magical Crimping Pliers and finishes the crimp. She then trims the excess wire with the Soft Flex Professional Flush Cutter. To finish the earring, she places the ear wire on the design.
Easy as pie. A lovely set of earrings and very little skill or effort is required.
These earrings are great for a beginner beader. Only a small set of tools are needed and the ability to crimp and cut. If you have any questions about crimping, we have tips and tricks on our site and videos on YouTube detailing the way we like to crimp. You can always email us if you have questions, we love to help out! Enjoy the rest of the video. Kristen makes similar earrings with different color beads and wire. You will definitely master these earrings after watching the video and making your own – regardless of your skill level as a beader.
If you happen to make a set of these earrings and want to show them off, please join our VIB Facebook group and post them. VIB is a great group for sharing ideas and getting inspired! VIB members are helpful and always looking to share advice. You do not have to be an active member, you can join and just enjoy the group, but we would love to hear from you.
Make sure to catch Kristen’s show Free Spirit Beading every Monday at 11:00am PST.
Watch Sara work with Swarovski Crystal during a live Facebook show:
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