Join our VIB jewelry making community! Our Facebook group is loaded with talented jewelry crafters and inspirational artists. You can find daily creative prompts and masterful jewelry designs. Today, we are putting the spotlight on one designer - Dana Javorsky. Dana joined our Facebook group in 2023. She has shared amazing designs with us since becoming a part of our community. In December, she participated in our Soft Flex Holiday Crafting Merry-Thon. From December 1st through the 25th, we posted seasonal jewelry making prompts. Dana had stunning entries throughout the month of fun. We were blown away by her creativity and masterful crafts. Today, we are sharing some of her designs with you! If you enjoy her work, make sure you visit her website. If you want to see more, join our group and cheer her on!
Have you joined our Facebook group yet? VIB (Very Important Beading Studio) is a group with thousands of jewelry designers and hobby/ craft creators. We have members that have been designing necklaces for decades. And we have members that have strung their first bracelet a day ago. We welcome all talents and styles and we foster an atmosphere of creative energy. We want to share the joy of creating and we want you to learn a new trick or three. Check out the group and get advice from a pro.
Spotlight On Jewelry Maker Dana Javorsky
Merry Beading On Soft Flex Company's VIB Facebook Group
Hi! I’m Dana. The Holiday season is probably my favorite time of the year to create and bead.
My favorite holiday jewelry to make are earrings because who doesn’t love a fun festive pair of holiday earrings!
While I love to make jewelry, I’m always looking for other things to make out of beads. Creating for the holidays is so much fun because there are so many things you can make using beads… especially ornaments!
I absolutely love to make ornaments. They can be stitched, made out of wire, or just put some pretty sparkly beads together as a dangle! So many possibilities!
The holidays also give me a chance to showcase some of the French Beaded Flowers I make. The Christmas trees I make are very popular with my customers as are my beaded poinsettias.
I’m really thankful for Soft Flex Company as they have given me so much inspiration over the years. I’ve actually been using Soft Flex Beading Wire since I started back in 2005 and can say I love it!
It’s only really been since the pandemic that I have become a regular Soft Flex YouTube watcher. I joined the VIB Facebook Group in 2023 and have to say it is a great community.
I love seeing what others have created and I also enjoy getting feedback from fellow beaders.
Even though I’ve been beading for some time, there are always new things to learn.
Thank you once again to Soft Flex for curating such wonderful design kits. Thanks also to the VIB community. Both continually inspire me by pushing me out of my comfort zone to try things I haven’t before. Happy beading!
Meet Dana Javorsky
I live in the San Francisco Bay area and have been crafting since I was a kid.
Back then it was needlework, crochet and sewing. I actually had a loom way back in the 1960’s/1970’s, so I guess I dipped my toe into beads as far back as that.
I’ve done stained glass and continued on with my needlework, mainly counted cross stitch, for many years.
In a prior life, I was a programmer/systems analyst. I left the corporate world when I had twins, deciding to stay home to take care of them. As many of my friends were starting families, I went back to crochet, making and gifting baby blankets.
One day in 2005, I decided to go to a bookstore to get a book on crochet. I never found that book but a Stringing magazine caught my eye. I didn’t purchase the magazine, but that night all I did was dream about beads! The next day I went back and purchased that magazine along with another basic bead stringing book. I was hooked from that day! I remember the clerk at the bookstore asking me if I was a stringer or weaver. I said that I didn’t know since I was just starting out. Well, I can tell you all now, I started as a weaver!
Back then there was no YouTube, or it was just starting out, so I started buying many books to learn as much as I could. I subscribed to all the beading magazines as well and read them cover to cover. As I was collecting all those books, the French Beaded Flower books started calling my name. I wanted to focus on my stitching and knew that the French Beaded Flowers would take me into a whole different direction. Well, I resisted those books for a year and have been making beaded flowers since then.
I fell into selling my items, as most of us do, because friends asked to purchase items I had made. I started my business Bead Visions in 2008 and started vending at craft fairs which I still do today. Even though they are a lot of work to set up and take down, I love seeing and talking with my customers. Over the years, many of my customers had asked if I had a website, so when Covid came along and everything shut down including the craft fairs, I decided it was time to set one up - www.beadvisions.com went live in 2021!
My bead journey is still evolving. I now am not doing as much stitching. Due to the time stitching takes, I prefer to make smaller stitched components to add to a design instead of creating an entire stitched piece. I also am working on expanding my wire skills. Even though French Beaded Flowers are all about wire and beads, it’s a bit different than the skills you would use for wire in jewelry making. I’m really enjoying making suncatchers these days as well. Having all these differing skills are great to have in my toolbox as they give me more options when making a project.
Visit Dana Javorsky's Site
Bead Visions by Dana (Facebook)
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