Want to learn how to make amazing earrings on any budget? We love earrings, they can often be made with remnant wire and leftover beads from other projects. They don't require many tools. And you can make gorgeous designs without spending a fortune. Today, we are looking at ways to make gallery quality earrings at home. Master some easy techniques and you can have earrings for any occasion. They are great gifts and you can make an accent piece for every outfit.
Earrings! Earrings! Earrings!
This week we watched some wonderful earring making demonstrations. Kristen showed us how to use head pins and Czech glass beads to make dangles. She added these dangles to a connector for a lovely pair of earrings. Cassandra Spicer, from Beads to Live By, joined Sara for a beading party. She showed us how to make earrings with Soft Flex Beading Wire. You are going to adore these enchanting earrings! TierraCast's jewelry designer, Tracy Proctor, showed us how to make beaded fringe earrings. This stunning pair has a ton of Tucson flavor. Beaded fringe is in fashion, if you would like to learn how to make seed bead lace jewelry, like Tracy's demo, make sure you also check out our feature with Robin Wilke.
And more!
We checked out Kellie Sutton from Kellie’s Bead Boutique, she has a great video about her top ten favorite beading supplies. Take some notes and up your craft game! Sam Siegel from Sam's Bead Shop held a beading class with Rachel Mallis. Learn how to make a necklace with chunky gemstones. Finally, Space Pickle Designs showed us how to make jewelry with Sam’s Bead Box from February 2022. What a wonderful week of jewelry making!
You are going to fall in love with our Lapis!
This delectable stone is too delicious to pass up! Take a look at our luscious new Lapis short strands.
Lapis Lazuli is an intense blue stone, peppered with flecks of golden pyrite. It has been treasured throughout history and has been unearthed in ancient Egyptian tombs. Decorate your next design with the prize of poets and kings.
Mohs' Hardness Scale: 5-5.5
Lapis Lazuli (blue) represents the throat chakra, which is positioned at the base of the throat. It controls the throat, neck, arms and hands. Lapis helps promote understanding and intuition while strengthening wisdom, and inspiration. Lapis resonates with the astrological sign Sagittarius.
Joyful Beading Challenge Calendar
Download the Full Calendar for March - Click HERE.
Need some inspiration? We brought back Joyful Beading. We wanted to give you a roadmap. Create what our community creates. Post your jewelry on our VIB Facebook Group and you will have a chance to win a ten dollar credit. Read more about Joyful Beading and download the calendar.
Follow along on our Joyful Beading road map. Each day, we begin a new jewelry project. For instance, March 29th is 'Make a Knotted Design'. On that day, every project that is a knotted design (macrame or a pearl necklace might be fun), 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.
Read more about Joyful Beading here!
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!
How To Make Earrings: Czech Glass Dangles
Kristen filmed an earring episode of Free Spirit Beading. In this video, she showed us how to make dangles with head pins and use a connector to tie everything together. If you are a beginner, head pins might be an overlooked part of your supplies. This video will show you how you can use a head pin to direct the way a bead rests and use it to connect your beads to a design. If you are a basic bead stringer, this will show you how you can add flair with head pins. Get schooled in how to use this component with this easy to follow video. Your skills will blast off!
We saw some great head pin presentations during the Great Bead Extravaganza. Candie Cooper and Kay Goss both made designs using head pins. For an especially in depth look at this finding, make sure you check out Kay's video - she takes the headache out of head pins.
After watching Kristen's video, give this technique a shot. Once you master the basics, you can start adding coils and decorative loops to your head pins. Your handmade jewelry will look amazing!
Head Pins
Jump Rings
TierraCast Charms and Components
Beads
Ear Wires
Round Nose Pliers
Chain Nose Pliers
Cutters
Live Beading Party With Cassandra Spicer Of Beads To Live By
We love throwing a beading party! Conference software, like Zoom, has made it possible to visit friends and have fun during the pandemic. Even if you just live miles away from your besties, software can get you close and allow you to share some fun. If you are a social butterfly, don't let anything clip your wings - join your friends on meet ups and make jewelry!
This was our second jamboree with Cassandra Spicer. Cassandra owns a brick and mortar store bead store in Jackson, Michigan called Beads to Live By. Too far to drive? Well lucky for all of us, Cassandra also sells her inventory online! Check out her site. You can find classes, products, patterns and jewelry making videos. Lots of great stuff in person or the virtual world!
For this party, Cassandra created a gorgeous pair of earrings. She used our Heavy .024 diameter and large crimp beads. She gave the design a highlight with a tulip dangle. You can find those dangles on her Etsy store. Check out her video and give her links some love! Cassandra is a talented designer!
From Cassandra:
Hi! I'm Cassandra Spicer and I have been working with beads professionally for almost 20 years now. It started as a very part-time job in college, and grew into a full-time career, with my husband and I opening our own store about 8 and 1/2 years ago. We live in a rather small community in Southern Michigan, but are generously supported by so many local beaders, as well as a growing online community. The Soft Flex products are a newer addition to our shop, and while we have really been enjoying working with all of them, the most recently inspiring things include the Craft Wire, colorful options of beading wire, and Magical Crimper / crimp beads.
Cassandra's Links:
Facebook
Instagram
BeadTtoLiveBy.com
Etsy
TierraCast: Western Waterfall Earrings Jewelry Making Demo
Tracy Proctor, the product educator and jewelry designer at TierraCast, showed us how to make earrings with a seed bead fringe. These earrings are stunning. If you love southwestern style jewelry, you are going to want to make a pair of your own. She used one of our favorite desert themed connectors from TierraCast to create a lovely complement to the beaded fringe. If you love the theme, check out our TierraCast collection and make your own Tucson inspired jewelry. Make sure you visit TierraCast on their Facebook page and website.
Find directions on how to make these earrings here.
Shop our TierraCast collection!
Do you love the iconic imagery of the American Southwest? This stunning desert connector link could be a keepsake for your next intention jewelry design. This teardrop scene evokes thoughts of the sun rising above the Superstition Mountains. The open bottom is perfect for seed bead tassels, wire wrapping or for use as a connector.
Since 1978, TierraCast has been making high-quality, lead-free cast beads, findings and components in Santa Rosa, California, USA.
Note: Not for children under the age of 12.
Soft Flex Company Note:
Check out our Soft Touch premium beading wire. Our Very Fine .010 diameter can be a great thread or FireLine replacement in some cases. It is constructed of marine quality stainless steel wire. This diameter can be knotted and is incredibly flexible and soft. Soft Touch Wire is strong as steel and soft as silk. Very Fine is Ideal for embellishing, weaving, crocheting and stringing very small beads. We suggest finishing with 1x1mm crimps.
Soft Touch Wire is a lead-free beading wire for designers that want a premium product for their designs. Soft Touch Wire has the softest drape on the market, your pieces will lay like they were strung on thread. Soft Touch Wire is constructed of either 7, 21 or 49 micro woven stainless steel wires. It is supple enough that it can be knotted and comes black and white (.010) and Premium Satin Silver. It is available in 4 diameters: .010, .014, .019, and .024. We recommend Soft Touch Wire for designers that want their pieces to last and eliminate the frustration of restringing.
Kellie's Bead Boutique: My 10 Top Favorite Jewelry Making Materials!
We love Kellie Sutton. She joined us for Customer Appreciation Week. She has been an outstanding member of the Great Bead Extravaganza collective. She is all around amazing. If you want to learn from a great teacher, you need to follow her on YouTube and her social media links.
Check out one of her recent videos where she shows off her ten favorite beading supplies. She discusses why each of these products is in her tool kit. We loved hearing that Soft Flex is her favorite beading wire.
From Kellie:
You can't beat Soft Flex. It is bendable and flexible and you can actually even tie it into a knot!
Kellie's Links:
Kellie's Bead Boutique
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Subscribe to Kellie's emails
Sam's Bead Shop: How To Make A Necklace With Chunky Gemstones
We watched a fun free beading class with Sam Siegel. He joined his friend Rachel Mallis and they gave a jewelry demonstration. Sam wanted to see if Rachel could create a unique design with larger gemstones. We love videos like this. Soft Flex Company founder Mike Sherman adores big and chunky stones. He invented Soft Flex Beading Wire because he found the market lacked a wire that could handle the abuse of larger stones. Soft Flex wire is perfect for abrasive and rough channels and it is soft enough to provide a drape that looks like thread. If you are a big bead lover, check this video out for some inspiration!
From Rachel Mallis:
This week Sam and his sister Rachel S. challenged me to come up with a fun project for some of the gorgeous larger beads that have arrived in the shop recently. I wanted to come up with a new and inventive way to show how to play with the big beads. This project, we’ll be using stringing techniques and wire.
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
Rachel's links:
Space Pickle Designs: Making Jewelry With Sam’s Bead Box February 2022
How can you not be intrigued by a designer that uses the handle Space Pickle Designs? So fun! Turns out, her wonderful jewelry is as colorful as her name. Also, Space Pickle Designs is on active military duty (something this veteran really admires). Making jewelry is a great way to keep your mind off the stress of a deployment.
In this video, we get to see what Space Pickle Designs made with Sam’s Bead Box from February 2022 (Dawn & Dusk). She made a gorgeous charm bracelet with the contents that is full of handmade jump rings and head pin dangles. She also gives a jewelry demonstration with other beads from the mystery box.
We also get to hear about her life and the rough spell she went through recently. She had managed to dodge the coronavirus for the last two years. Even through a pregnancy. Unfortunately, a day care situation brought the virus into her home. She and her family had to weather the virus in Alaska, without water, at one point. Everybody is fine now. If you like this fun designer, make sure you support her by checking out her sites and subscribing to her YouTube channel!
From Space Pickle Designs:
I began beading a few years ago as a way to relax during downtime on deployments (I’m active duty military). I could pack a whole ton of beads in a small bag, so it was perfect. As my hobby grew, I began trying to find community through local bead shops and often found myself intimidated or not taken seriously, especially at the beginning. I had to rely primarily on books to teach me different techniques. Because of this, I started my YouTube channel with a whimsical name to encourage anyone and everyone to start beading without intimidation or judgement.
Happy beading, Earthlings! Kirk
Space Pickle Design's links:
Space Pickle Designs YouTube Channel
Instagram
Facebook
Etsy
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