We had a fabulous and colorful week. How about you? Spring cleaning chores are fun when you are making jewelry and playing with beading supplies. This week, we moved our Chrysoprase color beading wire into our Closeout section and we added a bunch of Outlet items to our store. What does that mean for you? You get to save a bunch of money on a luscious beading wire color and grab some 'as-is' Outlet items that are very slightly flawed, they are just as good as the products that pass inspection and sit on our shelves. Join us for some free project ideas, fun jewelry making videos, and some exciting sales!
Kristen has a fun beaded suncatcher project for you. DIY suncatchers are a great way to illuminate a mood and add some fun décor to a room or patio. Sara discussed our Closeout and Outlet sections. She discussed our spring cleaning plans. She also showed us how to make some lovely earrings with Czech Glass beads. Make sure you check out our Instagram Reels to see the necklace Sara made to complement her earrings. We checked in with creative YouTube artist and jewelry designer Monica, from Sparkle by Monica. She showed off jewelry she had made for a bead soup swap challenge. She paired some lovely beads with colorful Soft Flex Beading Wire. Finally, Nealay showed us how to make a seed bead pendant for SilverSilk leather cord. Let's learn how to make jewelry!
Shop our store Outlet! Outlet items are perfectly usable items that did not make the cut into our everyday inventory. Outlet items are reduced in price due to tiny flaws in color, length, size, diameter, etc. All Outlet items are sold ‘as-is’. There is a limited quantity of Outlet inventory. When this special sale item is gone, it is gone for good. We do not accept returns on Outlet items.
Jewelry Making Videos
Learn How To Make Jewelry In 30 Seconds
Check out this 30 second jewelry tutorial on Soft Flex Company's Instagram Reels! Sara shows you how to make a necklace in just a couple moments. This necklace is the perfect complement to the earrings she made with Czech Glass beads this week. This is a great video if you want some inspiration. It is also a fun way to show a beginner how easy it is to design and finish jewelry. Follow our Reels to see all of our fun designs!
DIY Beaded Suncatcher Mobile to Brighten Your Year in Illuminating Yellow
This week on Free Spirit Beading, we learned how to make a handmade beaded suncatcher. Kristen was inspired to make this because of a happy accident. Kristen is a free spirit beader. She likes to enjoy the process of making art and jewelry. She doesn't overthink what she is making, rather, she enjoys the journey - even if it is not always smooth. If you are a perfectionist and get frustrated when a design does not go the way you anticipate, you should make her videos required viewing. Kristen shows you how to embrace the flaws. Sometimes she even turns an error into a focal part of the jewelry. Her inspiration for this suncatcher was a flawed bracelet. She made a wire wrapped bangle bracelet that was absolutely gorgeous. The problem? It was too big for her wrist. She had a choice: break it down and remake it or repurpose it and turn it into something unique. Kristen turned her mistake into something amazing.
If you would like to see her original bracelet design, click here: Wire Wrapped Bangle
From Kristen:
Let's get crafty! Learn to make a beaded suncatcher mobile to brighten your year with Pantone's Colors of 2021: Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray! Place a mobile in your yard or in your house! They are a playful and pretty addition to your home or patio décor.
2021 Pantone Color of the Year Duo of Beading Wire
2021 Pantone Color of the Year Czech Glass Bead Mix
2021 Pantone Illuminating Yellow Bead Strand
2021 Pantone Color of the Year Illuminating Yellow Bead Mix
2021 Pantone Color of the Year Ultimate Gray Bead Mix
Soft Flex Craft Wire - 18 Gauge and 22 Gauge
Crimp Tubes - 2x2mm and 3x3mm
Crimping Pliers
Cutters
Bead Stopper
Let's Learn How To Make Earrings With Soft Flex Wire
Sara is back from vacation. She spent her off time doing everything but beading. Just like other jobs, we also like to take a break from work for vacation. Even though we are in this industry because we are passionate about crafts and jewelry, it is certainly nice to take some time away from our careers and enjoy other pursuits.
Now that she is back at her desk, Sara wanted to show off our latest sale and all of the new products on our shelves. We added a bunch of new Outlet items and moved some of our older products to Closeout. Kristen hand selected a bunch of beads for our Curated Color - Chrysoprase. So many fun beading supplies at discount prices! Sara also made her first pair of earrings since coming back to work. You can also catch the necklace she made to complement this gleeful pair of spring earrings, check out our Instagram Reels.
Our Outlet products as sold as-is and we do not accept returns on them. There is a limited supply on this inventory as it is comprised of products that did not pass our stringent inspections. Everything in our Outlet section is perfectly usable and high quality. But we felt there was a flaw that warranted us pulling it from our regular inventory. We have wire on our Outlet that looks almost exactly like our regular store of wire - but we saw a flaw, like a freckle or two or the color was not as bright. Outlet items are a fantastic way to save money on high end inventory that is ever so slightly faulty.
Check out our Outlet and Closeout sections for fantastic bargains!
Pro Econoflex Hobby Beading Wire Medium, .019in in Gold Color
Czech Glass Beads
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Magical Crimping Pliers
Ear Wires
Cutters
Bead Soup Swap And Challenge Featuring Soft Flex Beading Wire
From Monica:
I entered a bead soup swap challenge with Lori McDaniel Anderson's Bead Soup Cafe Facebook group. I've exchanged beads with my partner, Inge von Roos. Watch my 3-part series & discover my sparkly jewelry designs project share reveal on April 10th!
Bead Soup Projects Book
Bead Soup Mix
Soft Flex Egg Hunt Trios Beading Wire Pack (Chrysoprase, Purple, Turquoise)
Soft Flex Pink Rhodochrosite Beading Wire
Floral Lampwork Glass Beads
Glass Bicone Mix
The History of Beads Concise Edition
At no cost to you...As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the other links mentioned are also my affiliate links, which I may earn a small commission if clicked or purchased. These referral fees help to support my channel, content creation, website fees, etc. Your support is greatly appreciated, but never expected. Thank you!
Lori McDaniel Anderson's Blog Post about the Swap
Bead Soup Cafe Facebook Group
Inge von Roos Instagram
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How to Make a Seed Bead Pendant for SilverSilk Leather Cord
From Nealay:
We all have it…. A large bag of remnant beads that are incredibly pretty to look at yet stressful to manage because they are all disorganized and thrown into a bag. But this clutter can also inspire great colorways because you start to see pairs of colors and textures that wouldn’t be possible if they were actually organized. I revisited a familiar wire wrapping technique and made a stellar pendant with seed beads and paired it with coordinating leather cord and Hollow Mesh. I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process in constructing this pendant and give you a new tip for using Hollow mesh that you may not know. So, mark your calendar and set a reminder for our Tuesday tut!
SilverSilk Hollow Mesh
3mm Round Leather Cord
Soft Flex Craft Wire - 26 Gauge
Soft Flex Craft Wire Silver Plated - 26 Gauge
Soft Flex Craft Wire - 20 Gauge
Soft Flex Craft Wire Silver Plated - 20 Gauge
Beads
SilverSilk End Caps
Clasp
Cutters
Round Nose Pliers
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