Thursday, October 27, 2011

Festive Holiday Jewelry - Swarovski Drop Earrings



The holiday season is approaching which means it is time to add some sparkle to your jewelry. These super easy to make earrings will add just the right amount of shine to any outfit and are also the perfect gift for any special ladies in your life.

Material:

2 ball headpins
2 10mm Swarovski crystals in jet black
2 sterling silver french ear wires
2 4mm sterling silver round beads

Tools:

Chain nose pliers
Round nose pliers
Side cutter pliers

Take one of your headpins and thread on one of the 10mm jet black crystals and then one of the 4mm sterling silver round beads. Then, using your round nose pliers make a simple loop. Completely close the loop. Then take one of your sterling silver french ear wires, open up the loop at the bottom of the ear wire, take the pin with the beads on it that you just created and place on the opened loop at the bottom of the ear wire and close.

TIP: If you love jewellery, you can use this technique to make hundreds of different earrings, just use a different size and shape of bead each time.



Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Children's Hairclips and Accessories by Baby Wisp


My daughter recently had the honor of being a model for Baby Wisp and
as a proud mommy I just had to share about this amazing company and
their gorgeous products.

Baby Wisp is a Canadian company dedicated to bringing you quality and
stylish accessories for your little princess. Started by a fellow mama
who saw the need for unique hair products, Baby Wisp
(www.babywisp.com) carries tons of products, from clips to hats to headbands, to tutus, but my personal favorite product that they carry is their latch clip. This amazing clip will stay in baldie babies hair, it will actually hold in just a wisp of hair.

Baby Wisp ensures that the glue in their clips is are non toxic (& use
sewing wherever possible to reduce use of chemicals) and source many
of their hair clips from dealers with conformity certificates
(conforms to Children's Product Safety Commission rules for safety in
children's products) or get their own certificates from accredited labs. They are committed to lead-free products by periodically and random
sampling our clips for laboratory testing with CPSIA certified labs.
They can stand firmly behind the quality and content of their
products.

Above is a photo of my little girl wearing a tutu, headband and flower
all designed by Baby Wisp.



Friday, August 19, 2011

Memory wire bracelets a perfect after school project

A new school year is fast approaching and the Beading Buds are so excited about our brand new 8 week after school program that we will be running at several schools in Richmond Hill, Oakville and Mississauga and other parts of the Greater Toronto Area.

And to continue with the "back to school" theme, we are sharing this article about the developmental benefits of beading with children.

http://www.ourkids.net/blog/the-value-of-beading-for-children-12900/

One of the projects we will be teaching at the after school program is a memory wire bracelet which can also be worn as a necklace, below is a tutorial showing how to make this memory wire bracelet.



Materials:
Memory Wire
Beads

Tools:
Wire cutters
Needle nosed pliers

Take your memory wire and measure so that it loops around your wrist two times and then cut using your wire cutters. Taking your needle nosed pliers, make a loop at one end of the wire. Using your bead board, make your pattern, it is usually best to use 4 beads and keep repeating them, or just make it totally random. String your beads until you have about about 1/2 an inch of wire left and then make another loop using your needle nosed pliers.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and we look forward to bringing you lots of fun beading projects for the fall and winter season.


Monday, July 25, 2011

How to make a Bangle Bracelet



Materials:
20 gauge wire (appx 12 inches)
2 tube beads
1 focal beads
12-14 other beads depending on size of beads and width of your arm
1 clasp

Tools:
Round nosed pliers
Chain nosed pliers
Side cutters


With the weather so hot out, it's a great time to stay indoors and
make some beautiful jewellery to match all your summer dresses.

Lay out your design. Make a wire wrapped loop in your wire by making a
90 degree bend in your wire about 2 inches from one end of the wire,
then taking the 2 inch piece in your hand, wrap it around the base of
the bend to make a loop. Then using the chain nosed pliers wrap the
wire around several times (see video). Trip off the left over wire
using your side cutters. Now string your beads onto the wire
following the design that you laid out. Once you are finished
stringing the beads, make another 90 degree bend on the remaining end of the bracelet. Slip the clasp onto the wire and then wrap the wire around the base several times to make another loop.




Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Beaded Wire Looped Necklace



Materials:
24 gage wire
6 large beads
14 small beads
1 lobster clasp
1 jump ring
2 crimp beads

Tools:
Flat nosed pliers


Take one of your large beads and thread onto your wire, move bead
about 4 inches in from one end of the wire, that will be your starting
point. Take one end of your wire (the working wire) and pull back
through the bead (see video). Pull the wire tight to hold the bead in
place. Now thread one of the small beads, move it along the wire
until it is the desired distance from your large bead (approximately
one inch) and do what you did with the large bead, feed the working
wire back through and pull tight to hold the bead in place. Continue
doing this for the remainder of your necklace, spacing all the beads
about 1 inch apart, doing the pattern of two small beads, one large
bead, two small beads, etc. Attach the clasp to one end of the wire
using the crimp bead. Attach the jump ring to the other end of the
wire using the remaining crimp bead.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Make a Beaded Bookmark for Father's Day



This is a great beading project for Father's Day.

Tools:
Scissors

Materials:
1 foot of ribbon or leather cord
8 beads (3 small and 5 big)
Clear nail polish

Measure out 1 foot of ribbon or leather cord. If you are using ribbon, fold each end in half and using the scissors, cut off the end of the ribbon diagonally to form a "v" shape (see video). On one end make a knot about 3 inches from the end, string the three small beads, and make another knot. On the other end make a knot 4 inches from the end, string the 5 larger beads, and make a final knot. Dab a little bit of nail polish along the ends of the ribbon to keep the ribbon from fraying.

Happy Father's Day!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Mother's Day Crystal Bead Bracelet



I was asked to attend at a Mother's Day event this year to teach mothers and daughters to make bracelets. This is a simple yet beautiful bracelet that every mother and daughter would love to wear.

Tools:
Round nose pliers

Materials:
12 - 14 headpins
12 - 14 6 mm beads (I like something sparkly, like a 6mm crystal bead)
1 jump ring
1 lobster clasp

Open up the jump ring and attach to the clasp. Next, put a bead onto a headpin and then using the pliers make a loop on the other side of the pin. Continue doing this for all 14 pins and beads. Then, take one of the beaded headpins that you just created and link onto the jump ring that is connected to the clasp, close the jump ring. Then take another beaded headpin and hook it just before the bead in the previous pin (see video). Use pliers to close the loop of the pin that you have just added on. Repeat the last two steps using up all of your beaded headpins until the bracelet is long enough to fit around your entire wrist. To close the bracelet, just attach the lobster clasp to the loop that you made on the last beaded headpin on your bracelet (see video). If you want to make a necklace, do the exact same thing, just use 30 headpins and 30 beads.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Jewelry Trends and Colors for Spring 2011

With the arrival of Spring, I thought I would do a post about the top jewelry trends for spring.

The top trends are

* Chokers/Bib necklaces

Lots of sparkles, embellished, bright colorful stones. Lots of layered chains with pearls, stones, ribbons, beads and feathers

* Cuffs

Very bold and very embellished, featuring large stones and beads and perfect to wear with the choker and bib necklace. Made from resin, crystal and beads.

* Long Drop earrings

Earrings that touch your shoulders featuring chain, stones, beads and feathers. Chandelier earring with a Victorian inspired design. Also lots of hoop earrings with beading, or pave diamonds or colored stones.

* Rose gold

Perfect accent to spring's bright colors and looks beautiful with any skin tone.

* Big statement rings

Once again, very embellished, beaded and large!

The designers have selected the following colors for spring.

PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle
PANTONE 16-1349 Coral Rose
PANTONE 14-0941 Beeswax
PANTONE 18-4039 Regatta
PANTONE 15-3817 Lavender
PANTONE 15-4825 Blue Curacao
PANTONE 14-6324 Peapod
PANTONE 12-1206 Silver Peony
PANTONE 18-1235 Russet
PANTONE 15-4502 Silver Cloud

“The colors designers have chosen for the spring season present an interesting marriage of unexpected warm and cool tones,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “By cleverly combining complementary colors, those that are opposites on the color wheel, they have created a striking intensity in the palette. These unique color combinations make it possible for consumers to pair existing pieces in colors traditionally associated with fall, with new favorites to punch up springtime wardrobes.”

My personal favourite colour is Honeysuckle, and that is the "it" colour for weddings this year!



To see the colors visit the website at http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Fabulous Tutus by Olivia Rose Designs

A reader told me about Olivia Rose Designs, since I have two little
daughters and a love of all things princess and girly (main reason I
started Beading Buds!) she knew I would love them. And I did, just
looking through the photos and seeing all the beautiful creations was
pure eyecandy. I just had to share about this company , especially
because I think beading and tutus go hand in hand, because, really,
what little princess wouldn't want to match a tutu to a necklace that
she designed and created at a Beading Buds party?

Olivia Rose Designs, an upscale specialty boutique featuring haute
dress up couture, elegant pettiskirts, and an absolutely FABULOUS tutu
boutique was started up by Anna, a fellow local mompreuer 3 years ago.

Anna makes everything princess related for babies, little girls
and even adults. From her Tutu Boutique to her legwarmers and
bloomers, there is something for every little diva out there.
Perfect for spring photos, birthday parties, pageants, and more!
Check out http://oliviarosedesigns.com to see these beautiful designs
for yourself. They have tons of designs to choose from and custom
orders are their specialty. You can also visit Olivia Rose designs on

facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Olivia-Rose-Designs/164228116937108.

So that you can get an idea of the beautiful tutus, here is a photo of
the Lavendar Fields tutu. Vintage, Beautiful and whimsical, from The
Vintage Garden Collection this tutu is sure to turn heads! Made with a soft crochet top for delicate skin, gorgeous top of the line floral,
pearls, fabulous feathers, and top of the line silk and artificial
floral.



Sunday, February 6, 2011

Personalized Beading Buds Jewelry Party Invitations

We are thrilled to announce our brand new personalized invitations for
your Beading Buds jewelry making party. Click Here! to see a
sample and tell us what you think.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Ribbon Flower Pendent - Spring Fashions



With spring fashions arriving into stores and with spring hopefully around the corner, here is a fun DIY way to perk up your old fall jewelry.

Tools:

Sewing Needle
Hot glue gun

Materials:

Ribbon (the larger the flower, the thicker the ribbon should be)
Thread (same colour as ribbon)
Flower charm (optional)
Four lengths of chain, in varying lengths and thicknesses or a necklace that you already own

Thread the needle, starting at the bottom corner of one end of the ribbon, start sewing diagonally across the ribbon until you reach the top of the ribbon (see video). Once you have reached the top sew all along the top of the ribbon until you reach the other end. Then, pull the thread so that the ribbon bunches up and creates a flower. Next, sew it up at the back of the flower with 5 stitches and knot. Using the glue gun, glue the flower to one size of the necklace. If you would like to dress up the flower a bit, you can glue the charm in the middle of the flower.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

What's new with Beading Buds - Wedding Jewelry Party Services, Twitter and we're now on Facebook!

It's a new year and at Beading Buds we are so excited to announce all
the new things that are happening with us.

We are super excited about the launch of our brand new website. The new website includes information about our adult and corporate parties and we have a whole new section dedicated to weddings. We now offer several new wedding related services, we have a create your own bridal party jewellery party, the perfect attendant gift for your bridal party. We also offer jewelry making entertainment at bridal showers, bachlorette parties and kids jewelry making entertainment at bridal showers and wedding receptions.

We've also recently joined Facebook and Twitter. Please visit us on Facebook and "Like" us at www.facebook.com/beadingbuds for special offers and promotions exclusive to Facebook fans.

Also, please follow us at www.twitter.com/beadingbuds.

Happy New Year from all of us at Beading Buds!

Beading Buds on Facebook Beading Buds on Twitter