We had a fantastic week. We went to The Whole Bead Show in Oakland, California. We created some lovely double hoop earrings with Soft Flex Beading Wire. We filmed a Live Beading Show on Facebook with a Saki Silver Inspiration Kit. We made a bunch of fun jewelry and we met so many friends at the bead show.
If you missed the videos this week, all of the links and recaps are in this blog. We kicked off the week with another episode of Free Spirit Beading with Kristen Fagan. Kristen made some lovely earrings with beading wire. We then filmed a Live Beading Show with our latest Inspiration Kit that has components and beads from Saki Silver. Finally, Sara filmed some of the demonstrations she was doing at the Whole Bead Show. So much fun!
Free Spirit Beading with Kristen Fagan
We kicked off the week with a new episode of Free Spirit Beading with Kristen Fagan. Free Spirit Beading airs on Mondays at 11:00am PST. Free Spirit Beading is a beaded jewelry making series on YouTube. Kristen loves answering questions and helping fellow jewelry designers, if you catch her live, you can ask any questions about jewelry or art and she will give you some helpful tips.
Kristen made some double hoop earrings this week. She wanted some earrings to accompany the half-knot spiral macrame bracelets she made last week.
The tools Kristen used for this video are: Magical Crimping Pliers, a Soft Flex Professional Flush Cutter, Chain Nose Pliers, Bead Stoppers, and a bead mat.
Kristen used Soft Flex Beading Wire in .019 medium diameter in Purple Amethyst, Red Jasper, and Green Turquoise. She used 2x2mm crimp tubes. Simple ear wires in a gold color. She used Tierracast deco cubes to match the beads on her bracelets.
Kristen finished her crimps with Magical Crimping Pliers. If you have never used these crimping pliers, they are wonderful and you need to get some! They turn a crimp tube into a rounded bead. The finished crimp does not need a cover. It is a beautiful finish that is meant to be exposed and be part of a jewelry design, rather than concealed and hidden away like a normal folded crimp tube.
Check out our Magical Crimping instructions if you want to master this tool.
Kristen's earrings are lovely and so easy to make. If you are comfortable crimping, you can easily make these earrings. What a great gift idea, too. The supplies used are so cost effective; you can make a bunch of these earrings with a spool of Soft Flex and a couple strands of beads.
It is amazing how many different designs you can string with Soft Flex Wire. It goes beyond beading. You can macrame, knit and braid with it. The colors of wire we carry are great for exposing the wire. You can show off your wire for illusion necklaces, macrame designs, earrings - you can also used color wire if your beads are translucent and you want the wire to glow underneath the beads you are stringing.
Don't miss Kristen's Free Spirit Beading series. Each new episode airs on Mondays at 11:00am PST. She would love to have you participate and ask her questions. If you create any of her designs, feel free to post your pictures on our Facebook group - VIB. Kristen would be flattered!
Soft Flex Live Beading Show: Saki Silver Inspiration Beading Kit
We announced our latest Inspiration Kit this week. Our Saki Silver Inspiration Kit is a mystery kit full of goodies from one of our favorite metalworking studios - Sake Silver. These kits are designed to inspire our fans to create something with tools and supplies that they might not have come across by themselves. Some of our kits are mixed collections of goodies from vendors from all over the world. Other kits we carry are themed. Our themed kits are great fun. They sell out quick and we get to see how everybody designs jewelry with their kits on our Facebook group - VIB.
Every kit we carry has an eclectic mix of products and supplies. Each kit comes with wire and components enough to make a design or ten with the contents. As long as you have the tools (crimping pliers and cutters), you have everything you need to design something very special.
We love Magical Crimping Pliers. The finish is so beautiful.
Saki Silver is a fantastic company. Their metalwork is absolutely top notch. Every toggle and pendant they make is a piece of art. Everything is well made and demands to be part of a great design. Saki Silver components are strong enough that you can almost design jewelry based on their clasps. Sara likes Sake Silver clasps so much, she likes to place the clasps in the front of her necklaces.
Saki Silver is a great company to support. They are a family owned business. They are based in Bangkok, Thailand. They are busy creating masterfully crafted metals at home and you can catch them at bead shows. They love silver and it shows in their designs. Make sure you visit their website.
Sara designed some earrings to go with her lovely new Saki Silver necklace.
If you love this jewelry, visit our kit page and buy a Saki Silver Inspiration Kit while we still have them on our shelves. Our kits are limited offers. We only design so many and when they sell out, they are gone for good!
Every kit purchase is a great chance to win an upcoming kit. If you buy a kit and then post photos of your designs on our Facebook group, you are automatically entered into a giveaway for the next kit. Every design you create and post with the kit on our group is an entry. If you make ten designs with elements from your kit and post ten photos - you will have ten entries into our giveaway. If you win the giveaway, we will ship you our next kit for free. Only designs using kit components are considered entries.
What a fantastic set of earrings and necklace. We would love to see what you can do with this kit. You can recreate Sara's lovely design or do something wildly different. The choice is yours.
Live Demonstration with Sara Oehler: Whole Bead Show in Oakland, CA
Sara wrapped up the week with a video filmed during the Whole Bead Show in Oakland, California. She wanted to show some of the jewelry demonstrations she does during a bead show.
The Whole Bead Show was hosted by Ava Motherwell at the Oakland Marriott City Center. The phone and wireless connectivity was not the best at the show. This is a fun video to watch if you want to get a sense of the activity at a bead show, but we have videos with much better clarity on our YouTube library if you would like to learn the techniques that Sara is demonstrating.
We got a surprise cameo from Andrew Thornton from Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Andrew has been doing bead shows as long as we have. Andrew is a creative spirit, artist, and writer and it is always fun to see him at a show. Andrew was filming a live video for his Facebook page.
Sara demonstrated how to make ear wire with Craft Wire and LoopRite Looping Pliers. This is a great option if you are not finding the shape of ear wires that you like or just want to design your jewelry from the top down. She showed how to finish the ear wire with a burr cup so the wire is smooth and does not irritate the skin. Once she finished the ear wire, she struck the wire with a Wire Whacker to work harden the wire so it would retain its shape. She then strung a TierraCast elephant bead as focal for her earring.
Sara demonstrated how to use a 3-pin knitting spool. Knitting spools are fun to use and easy to master. You can use Soft Flex Beading Wire or Craft Wire on the knitting spool. You can also add beads to your designs.
Soft Flex designs on the knitting spool are springy and flexible. Perfect for a bracelet. You do not even need a clasp to finish as the design can stretch over the wrist.
We had a lot of great moments this week. Hope you enjoyed the journey. Make sure to catch us during a live show if you have questions about beading or just want to connect with us.
Join our Facebook group – VIB. Stay in the know. VIB is a great hub of creative people that love to show off their beaded creations and discuss all things beading. It is a great place to find a muse or get answers about techniques that are giving you problems.
Visit the Soft Flex Company YouTube Channel!
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