Live Design Challenge Replay With Jesse James Beads

Sara had a lot of fun opening a "Breakfast at Tiffany's"  Magical Mystery Box from Jesse James Beads. Jesse James has a wonderful selection of decadent  beads on their site. Sara knew that she would love whatever she found in the box. Sara does  unboxing shows on Facebook. She contacts a bead store and has them send a box of mystery items to her. The mystery items are hand selected by the bead store and are a great way to see what that company would like to showcase. Sara opens the box on camera and then has to design a piece of jewelry on the spur of the moment. It is no easy task to be creative in front of a live audience but she always makes a beautiful piece of jewelry with the items she unboxes.

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Our most recent Live Design Challenge on Facebook featured one of our favorite stores: Jesse James Beads. Jesse James Beads is a family owned business based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Their website features an eclectic mix of colorful beads. Rich tones and vibrant shapes are the specialty. They do not sell run of the mill goodies. Everything is infused with that special magic that comes from creative minds. They also carry a full selection of beading tools. They have a nice selection of books. They have a fantastic variety of colored beading wire. There are some great discounts in their Bulk & Clearance section. Jesse James also offers the thing we were interested in – Subscription Boxes. For a reasonable fee, you can sign up to receive a mystery box. They mystery boxes arrive monthly and are themed. They are absolutely loaded with goodies. You definitely get what you pay for. 

If you would like to subscribe and get a mystery box, follow these links:

Magical Mystery Bead Box - 3 Month Subscription.

Magical Mystery Bead Box - 6 Month Subscription.

Magical Mystery Bead Box - 12 Month Subscription.

The "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Magical Mystery Box featured in our video was themed after the iconic Audrey Hepburn movie. Jesse James Beads wanted to create a mystery box that represented the elegance, the glamour and the sparkle of the movie. The limited edition beads found in the box are not available on their website. If you want to subscribe, the 7th of each month is the cut off to receive that month’s box. All boxes ship on the 15th of each month. If you would like to cancel your subscription, you will need to go to your account page on the website and select unsubscribe.

Sara opened her box and was in love. The box came with an itemized list of the contents. The list was a beautiful card with Audrey Hepburn’s image on the front and the contents on the back. The goodies were hidden under a bed of pink packing grass. Sara pulled tray after tray out of the mystery box. So much good stuff! There was a findings kit with clasps. There was a coupon for 20% off of any purchase on Jesse James website. There was a beautiful 18 inch strand of chain. The box contained an elegant mix of crystal bead caps, tassels, mixed beads, connectors and much more. Sara could have spent an hour just appreciating all of the fantastic stuff in the mystery box.

The "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Magical Mystery Box has an elegant selection of colors. Bone colored tassels, blue colored tassels, a spectrum of white, blue, champagnes and silvers. Jesse James put some absolutely stunning caged crystal beads in the box. The caged crystals look otherworldly; they are a crystal set in wire cubes or flowers. They really draw the eyes to the bead.

Sara started out with a simple pair of earrings. She used medium Soft Flex White Quartz colored beading wire to string a simple strand of beads with a tassel at the base and a loop for ear wire at the top. The design was simple, yet stunning, and could have also been used as a pendant. Earrings are a wonderful way to design with limited quantities. Sara loves to use remnant wire that is not long enough for other projects for earrings. Earrings are fantastic when you have beads that just do not fit into any design or beads you really just want to show alone. We have lots of videos on how to design earrings with Soft Flex Wire and we will be adding lots of free beading project ideas showing earrings made from Soft Flex.

Sara then moved on to creating a necklace. She selected a large blue tassel and crimped that to a stunning silver caged crystal bead. The caged crystal bead is such an attention getter; she opted for a simple design around it. Using Extreme Flex Beading Wire in 925 Sterling Silver plate, she strung a simple necklace that showed the wire. She bookended the focal bead with some beautiful blue and silver beads.

If you enjoy this video, be sure to try and catch our live shows on  Facebook. Our live shows are varied and fun. We hold auctions for beads in our personal collection that never hit our site. We have shows where we unbox kits from bead stores around the world. We have shows where we demonstrate a skill or create jewelry. We broadcast from bead stores we visit and from trade shows across the country. Our live shows are a great way to keep informed about the goings on in the beading world. If you are as passionate as we are about beads, you will love our show. We have a lot of fun.

If you have not joined our Facebook group yet (Soft Flex Very Important Beading (VIB) Studio), let us know you want in. It is a private beading group. It is very active. Members post photos and discuss everything beady! You are not obligated to post photos and you can participate as much as you want. We do offer prizes to our group members that participate in our  kit projects draw. If you make something with one of our featured beading kits and post your creation in the time frame for that kit, you are eligible to get a free kit. We draw a name randomly, we love all of the submissions we get and it is too hard to choose a winner. We hope to see you there!  

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!

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Blog contributor Thomas Soles is the Trade Show Coordinator for Soft Flex Company. His favorite stones are Lapis and Pietersite. His favorite hobby is day dreaming. And his favorite mustache is Tom Selleck's. As you can see, he has a healthy (or possibly unhealthy) sense of humor. You can write to him at Thomas@SoftFlexCompany.com