Do you like working with a theme when you make jewelry? It is fun to pick and choose your favorite beads from a stash for a project. But, we think having a theme of colors to work with is amazing. This week we explored themed jewelry making. We released our latest quad collection of beading wire and a mix of beads that celebrates Pantone's Color of the Year. We designed beaded earrings using our Amazon Princess Bead Mix and Trios. And we took a look at the neon colors of Tokyo Nights. If you like working with a theme, you are going to love the videos we made this week. Check out this blog if you want to learn some new techniques and have some fun!
We love Pantone. They are the authority on color. We color matched our latest quad collection of beading wire and bead mix to match their Color of the Year - Classic Blue. This timeless color is tranquil and serene. We could all use a little of that at a this time! Sara showed us how she uses Classic Blue colors to make a necklace. She will also be premiering a video on Saturday showing earrings she designed to complement her necklace. Kristen made some lovely beaded earrings with our Amazon Princess Trios and Bead Mix. You will love this theme if you love Wonder Woman. It is our nod to a powerful icon of feminine strength and grace. Finally, we look at Nealay's latest video. He showed us how to make a bail using beads from his Tokyo Nights collection. If you have ever wanted to master bail making, this video is a fabulous, free, online course. You will learn how to wire wrap a bail for a pendant. Let's watch some exciting videos!
Pantone Classic Blue Earrings, premiering on YouTube on Saturday, June 13th.
If you loved Sara's video showing how she makes a Classic Blue necklace, you are going to want to check out the earrings she paired with it. Her earring video will premiere tomorrow on YouTube. If you have never made earrings with Soft Flex Beading Wire before, you will see how easy it is to make a set of classy earrings you can wear with every outfit and occasion. The small amount of wire and materials means that you can re-purpose old wire remnants you cut from old projects. Add a color variant - beads and wire - and you can make earrings that fit your style!
2020 Pantone Classic Blue Quad of Beading Wire
Explore the 2020 Pantone Color of the Year, Classic Blue. The 2020 Pantone Classic Blue Quad of Beading Wire is our color matching collection of beading wire. This Quad selection of colors was built to complement the tranquil serenity of Classic Blue. We color matched with these wires: Tanzanite color Soft Flex Beading Wire .019 (Medium), Dark Blue Lapis color Soft Flex Beading Wire .019 (Medium), Blue Topaz color Soft Flex Beading Wire .019 (Medium), and White Quartz color Soft Flex Beading Wire .019 (Medium). We think you will love this color collection as much as we do.
3 DIY Beaded Earrings Made with the Amazon Princess Mix and Trios
Free Spirit Beading was an insightful look at beaded earrings this week. Kristen showed us how she uses Soft Flex Beading Wire to create eye catching earrings. Using beading wire to make earrings is quick and easy. You can make a new set in minutes. Change up your colors and beads and you have an unlimited set of options. You can make a new pair of earrings for every outfit and holiday. The supplies needed are tiny. You can make so many new earrings with just a small amount of wire and beads.
From Kristen:
Supplies:
Soft Flex Amazon Princess Trios
Amazon Princess Bead Mix
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Earring Findings
Chain Nose Pliers
Crimping Pliers
Cutters
Earrings are so easy with Soft Flex flexible beading wire. If you save your remnant wire from projects - tiny lengths of wire that you did not need, but needed to cut, you have the perfect wire for earrings. You can also find ten foot spools and Trios on our website if you want to stock up on color, but don't want to buy a 30 foot spool of beading wire. Make some new earrings today.
Amazon Princess is such a fun theme. Whether you love Lynda Carter or Gal Godot or just the comics, you will adore the colors and joyous spirit of this collection. Make your own Lasso of Truth or beaded bracelets. You will feel as powerful and as beautiful as Wonder Woman herself.
If you enjoy working with a theme, make sure you follow us on Facebook and check out our website. Each month we collaborate with Jesse James Beads to provide us with Soft Flex exclusive bead strands and mixes. These are limited quantity beads that can only be found at SoftFlexCompany.com. We always have fun themes that are guaranteed to fire up your creativity!
Learn How to Make Simple Earrings!
Earrings are a great complement for any necklace. Sara showed us how to make earrings using Soft Flex wire and Magical Crimping Pliers. She used our Amazon Princess Bead Mix and Amazon Princess Trios to make her jewelry. If you need some pointers on how to use Magical Crimping Pliers, you will definitely want to check out this instructive video. Sara is fantastic at showing how to close a crimp securely and beautifully.
From Sara:
The finished design turned out modern and gorgeous. You could pair it with blue and white for a patriotic holiday like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Veteran's Day or President's Day. You could pair it with evergreen for Christmas or hot pink for Valentine's Day. Red is so versatile and always makes a statement.
Supplies:
Soft Flex Amazon Princess Trios
Amazon Princess Bead Mix
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Ear Wire
Magical Crimping Pliers
Cutters
If you have watched both of our earring video this week, you should be well on your way to mastering the techniques used to make a bunch of wonderful earrings. Share your designs with us on our VIB Facebook group. We would love to see what you do with beading wire and ear wire.
Making Jewelry with the 2020 Pantone Classic Blue Bead Mix
Sara wanted to share our newest bead mix. We have a huge collection of Czech glass beads that are a stunning color echo of Pantone's Color of the Year - Classic Blue. We think this mix really captures the spirit of that color. This bead mix is perfect for designers that love to string with a bead soup. You may not find a matching bead in the set, but it is amazing for asymmetrical and free spirited jewelry designs.
Sara also shows off a bracelet she was making on Zoom. She used a Mini Macrame Board to organize her beading wire while she worked on the bracelet. If you want to know how to finish a design that is a little more complicated than a single strand piece of jewelry, this is a good video to watch for learning a new technique. Make sure you check out our macrame boards. They are great for holding your wire in place while you string. They are made of a 'self-healing' material that closes up if you use a large wire that opens the gaps larger than intended.
The 2020 Pantone Color of the Year is Classic Blue. This Classic Blue Bead Mix is the perfect complement to our 2020 Pantone Classic Blue Quad of Beading Wire.
This is the one of the biggest bead mixes we have ever offered! We have retained the same low price as our other mixes, but filled this selection with an overflowing abundance of high quality beads from the Czech Republic. This gorgeous mix is stuffed with beads to match our 2020 Pantone Classic Blue Quad of Beading Wire. This mix is a custom assortment of unique bead shapes and sizes in our Pantone Classic Blue color way. Due to the random selection, there may or may not be exact matches of bead shapes and colors, perfect for "bead soup" and multi strand mixed bead designs!
Supplies:
2020 Pantone Classic Blue Quad of Beading Wire
2020 Pantone Classic Blue Bead Mix
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Clasp
Magical Crimping Pliers
Cutters
Sara unboxes our 2020 Pantone Classic Blue Bead Mix. She organizes her beads into easy to reference clusters. Watching her organize and plan is a good way to get your own plan together, before you string your beads. This collection is huge. One of the largest we have ever offered. We decided to keep the price at the same low cost as the rest of our mixes, despite the larger number of beads inside. You are going to love this mix, especially if your favorite color is blue. Classic Blue is timeless, your beaded jewelry is never going to go out of style.
Learn How to Make a Bail
Nealay showed us how to make a bail this week. If you need some pointers on how to wire wrap your own bail, this is a fun video to check out. He used a pendant from his stunning Tokyo Nights Cherry Blossom Kit. He was not happy with how plain his bail looked on his last video, so he wanted to spice it up with an artistic flair. He used a 16 gauge craft wire, which we, unfortunately, do not carry. But we do have the 24 gauge Craft Wire he uses to wrap around the 16 gauge. If you want craft wire pointers, this is a good video to watch and pick up some tips.
From Nealay:
I’m not great at wire-wrapping, and maybe you are having trouble too. I’ve purchased plenty of large pendants and wanted more than just a jump ring to hang it from. With this tutorial, you’ll be able to make a custom wire bail in less than five minutes using 16-gauge wire, 24-gauge wire and some seed beads. Questions? You’re more than welcome to send me an email at orders@silversilkonline.com.
Post a photo of your design by June 29th to the Facebook Silkies group to enter into a giveaway held on Tuesday, June 30th during our tutorial video. www.facebook.com/groups/silversilk
Supplies:
Tokyo Nights Cherry Blossom Kit
SilverSilk Hollow Mesh
16 Gauge Craft Wire
24ga Soft Flex Craft Wire
24ga Soft Flex Craft Wire in Non-Tarnish Silver
Magical Crimping Pliers
2x2mm Crimp Tubes
Nylon Jaw Pliers
Cutters
Chain Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Flat Nose Pliers
Tokyo Nights is an absolutely gorgeous kit. If you like the aesthetic of a rainy night in the city, you will fall in love with the decadent colors in this kit. It is infused with wet slicked neon and shimmer. Make your next design perfect for a walk in the city.
From Nealay:
My channel is dedicated to learning how to make high quality jewelry with SilverSilk with an emphasis on design. You can follow my journey here: www.instagram.com/silversilkandmore, www.facebook.com/silversilkandmore Or join our Silkies group and be a part of the conversation www.instagram.com/silversilkandmore
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