January is nearly over. We celebrated the end of the month the best way we know how - Kit Day! This Kit Day was a shower of sparkles and the thunderclap of fireworks. We unboxed our Lunar New Year Design Kit and had fun with the jubilant colors of the Chinese New Year. If the theatrical colors of the big festival are not for you, we have other lovely jewelry projects that you need to check out! Don't miss our warm Galentine's Day gift ideas. There is a little something for everybody in today's video recap!
We have a big recap full of fantastic jewelry projects. Last week, we threw a Galentine's Day party and made jewelry with our friends at Jesse James Beads. Did you join us? We even had an after party filled with fun conversation and good vibes. Check out the videos featuring Wendy Whitman and Brittany Chavers. This week we celebrated Kit Day! Sara unboxed our Lunar New Year Design Kit and made a jewelry set. We also checked out Rosanna Brafford and got her thoughts on our latest jewelry kit. Sam Siegel made a gorgeous Valentine's necklace. If you want to learn how to wire work a heart pendant for your loved one, this is a beading class you need to sit in on. Do you love Memory Wire? Nealay Patel, from SilverSilk, has a lovely bracelet that is easy to make and looks stunning. Give the gift of jewelry to your besties and loved ones this February!
Lunar New Year is a bead mix that was included in our Lunar New Year Design Kit. If you loved this kit, you are going to adore this mix of assorted beads. If you own the kit, this mix is a great way to expand your collection. If you did not purchase the kit, but love the colorway, this is a great way to grab some beads without buying the full kit.
Start the year off with a bang! The Lunar New Year celebrates the beginning of the new year on the lunar calendar. It is an important holiday in China that is steeped in tradition. It is said, once upon a time, there was a terrible beast named Nian. Nian tormented villagers and destroyed their towns. They repelled the demon with a shower of fireworks and spectacle. Nian shrank away as the villagers donned deep red garments and made a clamorous noise. Rather than live in fear, the villagers celebrated the event. Vibrant color and festive fireworks ensured that Nian would never return and joyous life abounded. Celebrate with style!
This year, the Lunar New Year begins on February 1st. The animal sign for this year is the Tiger. Tigers are known for their strength and bravery. They are also symbols of good luck. Go into the new year with the confidence of the great Tiger!
You can find this bead mix on our website, exclusively.
Jewelry Making Videos
Follow Us On TikTok And Instagram - Learn How To Craft and Make Jewelry In Just Minutes
Follow us on the web! Our social media sites are loaded with instructional jewelry making videos YouTube and Facebook have a ton of long form videos that will teach you how to make jewelry. You will find in depth discussions on how to use your tools and finish your jewelry on those channels. Our Instagram page and SoftFlexWire@TikTok will teach you how to make jewelry in under a minute. Smash that learning curve and learn a new technique at lightning speed. Instagram Reels and TikTok are great tools for learning something new or finding quick inspiration. If your creativity needs a quick cup of coffee, make sure you visit us for a much needed jolt of crafting caffeine!
Check out our 30 second jewelry tutorials on Soft Flex Company's Instagram Reels! Master a new technique in minutes. These videos move quick but are easy to follow. You will get a sense of how to use your tools and finish your crimps securely. If you need more assistance, make sure you check out our YouTube catalog for deeper dives into jewelry making education. Stand on the shoulders of giants and enhance your jewelry making knowledge in a flash!
Got a minute? Follow us on the Soft Flex TikTok Page! Learn how to make jewelry with a fun soundtrack. Sara is here to show you how to make something amazing in just a minute. This is a great quickie if you need the basics. You can always follow up with more in depth videos on our YouTube channel if you need extra help. Sara has ideas for bead stringing, wire wrapping, and so much more. Learn from a jewelry designer pro at the pace you choose!
Galentine’s Jewelry Making Party! Jesse James Beads and Soft Flex Company - Night One!
We love a fun beading party! It has been more than a couple of months since we joined forces with Jesse James Beads and threw a shindig. Our last jewelry making jamboree was a Halloween themed fiesta called the Trick Or Treat Jewelry Making Party. JJB and Soft Flex collaborated and offered two kits. Jesse James Beads featured a kit that was full of beads and sparkly things. Soft Flex Company created a kit full of beading wire and beading components. String the beads and finish with our findings! It was a brilliant event full of creative energy.
We are back with a Galentine's Day party full of gift giving and gab! If you grabbed a kit from each company, you could make the jewelry we made. The video classes were free to watch and participate in. If you owned the kits, you could also join the afterparty. We had so much fun!
What is Galentine's Day - you ask? February 13th is Galentine's Day. A day for ladies to celebrate ladies. Leave the boys at home! Gather your girlfriends and celebrate the joys of sisterhood. If you feel left out on Valentine's Day, celebrate a day that is about being a friend and bonding with people that share your likes. Galentine's is a day to be yourself and live without the judgement of others.
If you love to celebrate the joys of a creative holiday, add February 13th to your calendar. You create the rules. Shower your best girlfriends with homemade gifts and loving odes. You do not need to spend money. Write your bestie a poem that lets them know much they mean to you.
It is always fun to watch Sara make jewelry. She is our unboxing guru and master maker. She rarely plots out her jewelry before a video begins. She prefers to open a kit with fresh eyes and explore the possibilities in her head before she strings her jewelry. This might seem like a ton of pressure - a live audience, a kit full of unseen items, and a blank canvas in front of her (figuratively). But Sara thrives under pressure. She seems to be at her best when she is forced to create something magical in moments. If you enjoy her designs, make sure you check out her site and follow Soft Flex social media. Sara averages a video or two each week. If you are connected with our social sites, you will never miss a show!
We have featured Wendy Whitman's kit unboxings and jewelry making projects many times in our blog. Her YouTube channel exploded from a small collection of hundreds of subscribers to a big channel with thousands of her craft/ hobby and jewelry fans. You are sure to pick up a new technique or find an idea that inspires you. Make sure you visit her links and see what she is up to!
If you enjoyed Wendy's Galentine's jewelry, make sure you join her Facebook group, ABeadOnAWire Sales, it is a buying and selling group for handmade jewelry items and jewelry making supplies.
Visit Wendy's links:
YouTube
Website
Facebook Group
Instagram
Galentine’s Jewelry Making Party! Jesse James Beads and Soft Flex Company - Night Two!
Galentine's twice - oh so nice! We stayed up late the second night for more jewelry adventures. After this class we held an afterparty on Zoom. Sarah James organized a wine tasting with selections from Scout & Cellar. The wine was obviously optional. The high spirits and fun conversation was provided to all. It was truly a night for making new friends and learning new ways to create jewelry.
We really enjoyed the party. One of the high points of this gathering was a chance to get paired with a Galentine buddy. Your Galentine's Valentine would swap their handcrafted friendship bracelet with you. With so many of us staying in doors away from contacts and friends, this was a great chance to get paired with a virtual buddy with shared interests. We hope we were able to kickstart some new friendships with this amazing exchange.
Make sure you stayed connected. Join our Facebook community, our VIB group, and never miss out on a beading party or jewelry celebration!
Brittany Chavers is a kindred spirit if you enjoy a mix of jewelry styles. She joined us for the Trick Or Treat Jewelry Making Party with JJB and we were hooked on her jewelry! She mixed a little Halloween haunts with her Christmas jewelry and made some designs that made our hearts happy in December. We love her videos featuring Sam’s Bead Box. We cannot get enough of this up and coming YouTube designer. Follow along for a spirited journey!
Brittany's links:
Facebook Bead Group
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
Turquoise.Street Instagram
Etsy
DashingDeStash Etsy
Twitter
Kristen is our favorite Free Spirited designer. Every Monday, Kristen films a new episode of her series. She shows us how to enjoy the process of making art and jewelry without letting perfectionism get in the way. Learn how to make mistakes and keep stringing. Don't let a flaw get you down. Turn your errors into elements. Kristen is a thoughtful teacher that shows you how to be happy with the organic results of your homemade jewelry. Nobody is expecting your designs to be perfect. Finish a frustrating design with a smile by learning how to accept the flaws you make and have the confidence to secure your work with a smile!
DIY Earrings With A Simple Bead Around Technique Using Beading Wire
Add a stunning beaded flourish to your next set of earrings! This week, Kristen showed us how to frame an earring in an elegant halo of beads. This simple technique is so easy to do and it gives a simple bead a lot of extra character! This design is also great for a pendant. Add one of these lovely designs to your next jewelry piece! The way the wire sits on these finished earrings almost looks like a heart. What a great gift for your girl friends!
Soft Flex Beading Wire .019 Diameter
Beads
Charms
Ear Wires
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Crimping Pliers
Cutters
Lunar New Year Jewelry Making Kit Reveal And Beading Tutorial
Sara unboxed our Lunar New Year Design Kit this week. This kit was an explosive mix of radiant colors. The Lunar New Year celebrations commence on February first this year. This lovely holiday is full of food, family and, exciting traditions. The holiday is among the most important celebrated in China. You do not have to be immersed in the culture to enjoy the fun. Let's celebrate a year of good fortune. Let's look forward to a bright feast of wonderful days. This year is the year of the Water Tiger. Let the strength and courage of the mighty beast instill you with confidence.
Lunar New Year Design Kit
Soft Flex Beading Wire, .019 Diameter in White Quartz
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Magical Crimping Pliers
Cutters
Rosanna Brafford Unboxes Our Lunar New Year Design Kit
What kind of magic do we sprinkle in our themed mystery jewelry kits? Let's look at what Rosanna Brafford thought about the contents of our Lunar New Year Design Kit. Rosanna goes through the kit and describes the goodies inside. If you are not keen on buying a little mystery, you can get an idea about the theme of this kit. Is it for you? We really love the deep reds and dark black colors and how they contrast with the elegance of the white quartz color beading wire. Light your lanterns and celebrate the Chinese New Year!
Rosanna Brafford is a talented designer and exciting artist. She has been a part of the Soft Flex Facebook group – VIB for years. We have watched her create a staggering number of new and beautiful jewelry designs over the years. She is always innovating and always trying something unique. We were excited to hear that she is a new Jesse James Beads Design Ambassador and that she is making videos on YouTube. If you are not familiar with her work, you owe it to yourself to subscribe to her channel and follow along on our community. She is sure to inspire you to try a new technique or two!
Check out Rosanna's Links:
Sam's Bead Shop: Learn How To Make A Valentine's Heart Necklace With Craft Wire And Beading Wire
Sam Siegel has a lovely heart design for Valentine's Day. If you have never thought about trying a wire work beading project, maybe give this one a chance. Craft Wire is such a flexible and interesting jewelry medium. You can sculpt designs with the wire. You can make wire wrapped shapes. You can cage beads and wrap stones to make them even more striking. The wire is forgiving if you work slowly and thoughtfully. Once your shapes are set, you can strike the wire to work harden it and make it retain the shape. Master something new today!
From Sam:
For this project you will need 18 and 24 gauge wire, tiny beads such as seed beads, stringing wire and crimps (I am using Soft Flex in Bone color, medium), and beads of your choice! I am using heart beads we just got in at Sam's Bead Shop.
If you have never visited Sam's Bead Shop, make sure you check it out! He has a gorgeous collection of beads. You will find a striking collection of gemstones and a delicious mix of Czech Glass. If you need to restock your beading supplies, you can do that too! It is a fun little one stop shop. If you would like to subscribe to his Monthly Bead Box, that is an easy way to save money on a bundle of beads and goodies.
Learn a more about this young business owner from our first beading party with him. We think he is going to be a creative force in this industry for decades to come! Catch this rising star early.
Sam's links:
Website
Bead Box
Join our text list for LIVE alerts!
Gem Chat
VIP group
YouTube
Turquoise.Street (Brittany Chavers): Sam’s Bead Box Unboxing And Necklace Tutorial!
Brittany Chavers unboxed one of Sam’s Bead Boxes. These boxes are a subscription based service. Each month a box arrives, full of beautiful beads from Sam's Bead Shop. Brittany's box was called Winter Morning. Inside the box was a theme full of icy and cool colors. Sam and his sister Rachel wanted to evoke the feelings of waking on a cozy winter morning, putting a kettle on the stove, and reading a good book. The stunning collection of winter colors is sure to make you remember a warm morning when you were a child, face pressed against a cold window pane and staring out into a white canvas of snow.
Brittany's links:
Facebook Bead Group
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
Turquoise.Street Instagram
Etsy
DashingDeStash Etsy
Twitter
Wendy Whitman: Make A Floating Bead Necklace Using Soft Flex Wire & Bargain Bead Box Items
Wendy Whitman took a step away from her comfort zone. She calls this one of her 'sometimes you win, sometimes you learn' videos. This was her first experience making a floating bead necklace. This jewelry design is also known as illusion jewelry. Illusion jewelry is when you take a small bead or beads and crimp them in place on a very neutral wire. From a distance, the wire is not visible and the bead appears to float on the neck or wrist if done for a bracelet. Since Soft Flex comes in a colorful rainbow of options, you can also create this type of jewelry with a color that complements the beads. If you have never made one of these fabulous jewelry designs, this is a great video to watch so you can get started with a new favorite necklace!
To subscribe to Bargain Bead Box, click here: Bargain Bead Box. Coupon Code Wendy2 will get you $2 off your first box or $2 off your order in their sister store Beadboxbargains.com
Visit Wendy's links:
YouTube
Website
Facebook Group
Instagram
Easy Memory Wire Bracelet With SilverSilk Hollow Mesh
Nealay Patel is the owner of SilverSilk & More. SilverSilk is a knitted wire jewelry chain. But, it is like no other jewelry chain out in the craft market. SilverSilk is made by many tiny latch-hook needles that spin around with wire, intricately machine-stitching the wire into an elegant yet strong and supple knitted wire chain. This knitted wire stitchwork offers the crafter new and unusual ways to use it. You can string large-hole beads on it, sew through it, wire-wrap it, glue it, put it in resin or just leave it as a draped jewelry chain. We love SilverSilk chain, it is the perfect complement to Soft Flex Craft Wire or beading wire. These beading elements can be interwoven and wire wrapped into exciting new jewelry. Design something elegant and rich today with these two stringing options. Your finished jewelry will look like you bought it from a high end gallery!
From Nealay:
Grab your best seed beads and some SilverSilk hollow mesh and let learn how to put a new twist on a classic design, the Memory Wire wrap bracelet.
Materials List:
6in • SilverSilk Hollow Mesh from
SilverSilk & More
2 •.Tierra Cast Cord Ends from
SilverSilk & More
25-30 • 3mm Decorative Glass Beads from
Sam's Bead Shop
25-30 • 5mm Decorative Glass Beads from
Sam's Bead Shop
50-60 • Size 8 Seed Beads Decorative Beads from
Danielle Wickes
4 Coils • Bracelet Size Memory Wire from
Soft Flex Company
2 • Jump Rings from
SilverSilk & More
2 • Tierra Cast Crystal Charms from
BeadShop.com
Be sure to mark your calendars for every Tuesday, 5:30pm CST and hop over to facebook.com/groups/silversilk to watch Nealay's videos live and ask questions.
Nealay's channel is dedicated to learning how to make high quality jewelry with SilverSilk with an emphasis on design. You can follow his journey here:
www.instagram.com/silversilkandmore
www.facebook.com/silversilkandmore
Or join his Silkies group and be a part of the conversation
www.facebook.com/groups/silversilk
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