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, Beki Foster. Beki was raised by a creative mother. Her lullabies were the sounds of a sewing machine. Beki has explored many creative endeavors throughout her life. Jewelry making is one of her new favorites. When the pandemic arrived and forced us all to retreat to our homes for a while, Beki began exploring jewelry. When her aunt passed away and left Beki a wealth of beading supplies and unfinished projects, Beki decided to honor her aunt's memory by learning new techniques and finishing those projects. Learn more about Beki and her jewelry making journey in today's blog!

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 to learn a new trick or three. Check out the group and get advice from a pro.

Spotlight On Jewelry Maker Beki Foster

Meet Beki Foster

I'm Beki. I'm 45 years old, I have 2 mostly grown kids and I live in Austin, Texas. I grew up in Arizona, and have lived in Malaysia and the UK.

I was raised by a woman who was always busy making things. I fell asleep to the sounds of her sewing machine as a baby, and she passed on a love of making to me.

I sewed some of my own clothes in High School, took ceramics and photography classes, but I didn't get involved in jewelry making until very recently. Before I started jewelry making, my only bead purchases were for beads to add to the beaded lace shawls I have been knitting for the last 10-12 years.

During The Year We All Baked Bread (2020), I found myself with a lot more free time on my hands. I was no longer commuting to work, and I wasn't at the gym 4 nights a week to train for powerlifting competitions. I found myself needing to make things. 

I subscribed to a few monthly craft kits to try out new-to-me crafts, and liked the jewelry making ones so much that I kept doing them, even after I cancelled the other ones.

I started with basic project kits, which was a great way to learn how to make things. I then bought several earring kits off of amazon. I spent a year only making earrings, by doing one pair every morning with my coffee before work.

I was ok with not really expanding my skills beyond stringing and using head pins and eye pins for jewelry making. I felt like wire working and bead weaving would be rabbit holes that would take too much of my attention.

 And then my aunt passed away at the end of 2021. She was an artist, and my 2nd mom. The mediums she worked in were varied, from painting to beading and jewelry, to poetry. 

My mom and I spent a couple of weeks helping my cousin go through her things, and while he wanted to keep the finished jewelry she had made for his daughter, he asked if I'd like her jewelry making things.

I didn't take the metalsmithing tools, but I did take her button collection, all of her seed beads, and a lot of the craft wire she had kept and had plans for. She drew out some of her jewelry plans and kept those with the gemstones she was going to use for them. I'm still trying to get my skill level up enough to finish her design ideas. Maybe not with smithing, but definitely with wire wrapping.

There were a lot of jewelry making skills that I still didn't know at that point, and I decided to change that. I started with bead weaving. I wish I'd been able to learn it from my aunt, but instead I learned through kits, and YouTube. After I felt like I had gotten the hang of that, I started wanting to expand my beading creativity.

Up to that point, I'd been just following directions that came with a kit to make a specific thing. I'd seen tutorials and unboxings featuring Soft Flex design kits, and so last year I jumped into the deep end with both feet and bought the JJB Pool Party kit and the Love is Love kit. I learned so much during that event, and with that kit. I think I have participated in every kit since that one. Even design kits that were outside of my color comfort zone have been enjoyable to work with. 

The beaded peace sign I made with the Peace and Love kit was very much outside my comfort zone, and I made with while recovering from Covid, but it remains one my proudest creations.

Beki Foster On The Soft Flex Community

I love the community that Soft Flex has nurtured in  Facebook groups and the BeadTube community. It is, without hyperbole, one of the kindest, most positive corners of the internet I've found.

The tutorials that have been shared have helped me grow as a maker and sparked so much of my creativity. It's one of the reasons I started filming tutorials. I have learned so much, that I want to share things that I've figured out how to do on my own. Also, my brother walked in on me talking to myself while I was making jewelry so often that he said "you should film this, because it's a lot less weird to talk to yourself if you do it in front of a camera." I feel like I'm still starting out with my beading journey, but I'm having so much fun along the way, and Soft Flex is a very big part of that.

Beki Foster On Soft Flex Beading Wire

I use  Soft Flex Beading Wire for most of my stringing projects. The colored medium wire gives me so much flexibility in designing, and can be used in a ridiculous amount of ways.

I also like using the  Extreme Flex Fine Beading Wire from Soft Flex for some bead weaving projects. It is so much stronger than thread and I usually don't have to go back to reinforce my work.

Beki Foster's Tip For New Beaders

Take your time with new techniques, and give yourself grace. It's ok if it's not perfect, and you can always start over if you want. I was brand new not that long ago, and even the scariest new techniques are a lot less scary once you've done them once.

Beki Foster On Her YouTube Channel

I just want to share what I'm working on and things that I've learned, and it's a lot less weird to talk to yourself if you do it in front of a camera.

Visit Beki Foster's YouTube Channel

Beki is just getting started at YouTube and she is already making amazing designs and fun videos. If you enjoy her work, make sure you subscribe and support her channel!

You can find her channel here -  Beki Foster

Look at some of these fun videos, featuring  Soft Flex Craft Wire and beading wire.

Twisted Craft Wire Hoop Earrings

How to Make a DIY Toggle with Craft Wire and Beads

How to Make Earrings with the Chocolate Kiss Design Kit

Pink Hearts Bracelet Using the Chocolate Kiss Design Kit

Earrings and Pendant Using the Wonderland Design Kit and SilverSilk Pipe Chain

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