Make a Crystal and Chain Necklace

Materials Needed:
3 -12 inch pieces of sterling silver chain
17 headpins
68 4mm crystals
Toggle clasp

Tools:
Cutter pliers
Round nose pliers


The holidays are coming and it's time to bring out the sparkly jewelry.  This piece can be a bracelet or a choker, it depends on how long you make it.  For a fun twist, you can do a mix of pearls and crystals instead of just crystals.

Start about an inch into the chain.  Take your pin, put on a crystal, put a piece of chain on (about one inch into your chain), and then another crystal, then next piece of chain (about one inch in), then crystal, then last piece of chain (about one inch in) and then crystal.  Then using your round nose pliers you create a loop at the end.  (see video).  Then repeat this process about one inch down the chain.  You should be able to do this 17 times until you reach the desired length.  Then, using connectors, attach a piece of the toggle clasp to each side.

Beautiful Maruti Beads from India

Maruti Beads

Recently through the “beading grapevine” we heard about Maruti Beads, an online bead store owned by Maruti International (India) that sells high quality hand crafted Maruti, Kashmiri and Lac beads.

What are Maruti, Kashmiri and Lac beads?  We were wondering the same thing, all that we knew was that we had never seen anything like it, each bead that we saw was an exquisite piece of art decorated with embellishments such as mirror chips, seed beads, silver plating and rhinestone.

We asked Maruti Intl to provide us with some more information about these unique beads and they were kind enough to not only provide us with the info, they also sent us a few of their beautiful beads so we could see for ourselves what all the fuss was about.   They sent us samples of their Kasmiri beads, Maruti beads and Lac beads.

Maruti Intl told us that each individual bead is handmade on their premises in an artisan’s studio by a select team of master craftsmen, who learned the skill by generations before them.   When we asked them to tell us a bit more about each type of bead, this is what they told us.

Pandora style Kashmiri Beads

Kashmiri beads are made from a mix of marble powder and manufactured resin. Also known as “Bollywood” beads, Kashmiri beads are hand decorated and use a variety of materials for embellishment.  I almost want to say that these beads remind me of the Pandora style beads but the holes are smaller and they are much more detailed.

Maruti Beads artistically blends the beauty of Kashmiri beads with silver plated side caps to culminate in a one of a kind creation exclusive to Maruti International.  

Lac beads are a time-honored Indian bead, handmade in a traditional manner passed down through generations by expert artisans.  Lac is a substance secreted by a tiny insect called Kerria lacca.  Lac beads are made from a mixture of Lac and marble powder, ornamented with silver plating, seed beads and rhinestones: detailed with metal elements, mirror chips and various embellishments.

After spending a couple of days wondering what I should make with these beautiful beads, I decided to make a bracelet so I could highlight all of their detailing.

Our bracelet made using beads from Maruti International

Maruti Beads is giving away $60 of their Kashmiri, Maruti and Lac beads mix (www.marutibeads.com/bead-mixes/maruti-kashmiri-lac-bead-mixes) every month to a lucky winner of their social media share/follow contest (www.marutibeads.com/blog). 

I know I’m going to enter this month!

Make Party Planning Easier with Social Media

Thanks to social media, party planning has become much easier! From intimate, living room gatherings to large-scale celebrations, there's more available than Facebook events (although we still recommend them) to take your party planning online.

Twitter - Twitter's a great resource to find vendors such as venue, entertainment, catering, etc. Looking for something specific? Send out a tweet and there's sure to be someone in your network who can help you find it.  Need to know if the hotel you're booked at for your wedding offers free breakfast? Use Twitter to ask them directly. Twitter is also a great way to get news of your event out. Use it in conjunction with other social media channels to drum up pre-event excitement by using a specific hashtag such as #janstagette. Because anyone can see your posts, remember to use Twitter to chat about the event only and keep the specifics (like address) for the official invitation.

Google+ Events - Google + recently rolled out their Events in June 2012. Offering an attractive, easy-to-use interface, Google+ Events allows you to choose the look of the event, add any information (YouTube URL, ticket seller URL, etc.) and upload photos before, during and after. Once a guest accepts the invite, it goes directly into their Google calendar so it won't be missed!

Pinterest - This addictive online vision board network can be used for much more than sharing those must-have shoes. Use it to create a board of your daughter's "favourite" things and share it with guests who are looking for gift-giving ideas. Or create a board after the event to showcase the gifts you received from your wedding or beautiful decor.

Caroline Pigott is the owner of Flourish, a boutique marketing & social media firm dedicated to helping other women entrepreneurs flourish through such services as social media management, SEO web content, press release writing & distribution and consulting.

For more information, visit www.youwillflourish.com.

www.facebook.com/flourishmarketing
www.twitter.com/flourishtweets

Bridal Jewelry for your Wedding

Custom earrings made at a Bridal Beading Party 

We have been huge fans of Gown and Glory for a long time, a Canadian consignment boutique located in the Greater Toronto Area.  We love so many things about them!  We love that they offer fabulous designer gowns at a fraction of the cost, we love that they are helping to save the environment one dress at a time, and we love the amazing customer service every bride that walks into the boutique receives.   

Angela, from Gown and Glory, is sharing what to look for when choosing your bridal jewelry.

1)  Pick something that your are comfortable in.  If you are an earrings person, wear big sparkly chandelier earrings and a bracelet, if you like studs, wear subdued studs with a necklace.  If you like to make a statement, wear a big statement necklace.  It's all about your own style, and accessories are a way for you to make your gown look even more personalized.

2)  The shade of your dress is critical to the type of metal that should be in your wedding accessories.

If you are wearing a bright white gown (also known as diamond white), pearls, crystal and platinum will enhance the gowns shade.

If you are wearing a slightly off white gown you can wear gold, silver, and rose gold.  Rose gold is the new trendy "it" metal, and goes especially well with a colour scheme that has pink or black in it.  This shade also looks amazing with pearls, but be sure to maintain the off white colour in your pearl selection as well.

If you are wearing an ivory colour dress (a very light cream colour), wear gold, bronze or pewter jewelry and cream coloured pearls.

This is why many brides choose to have their jewelry custom made by a company such as Beading Buds, because then the necklace will be made in the colour metal and shade of pearls that best complement and enhance the detail of the dress.

Custom pearl and crystal bridal necklace

3)  Neckline of the dress. Pick jewelry that goes with the style and neckline of the dress. Make sure the necklace is the correct length to visually fill the space above the neckline.

If you are wearing a halter dress, wear a bracelet and earrings instead of a necklace perhaps, especially if there is a lot of beaded or embroidered detail already in the dress.  You can also wear a hairband, tiara or fascinator if you feel like you need to add more sparkle.

For a strapless dress you have a couple of options depending on the simplistic or extravagant look you're going for; you can wear a statement necklace with small earrings, or statement chandelier earrings and a bracelet, or a simple necklace, bracelet and earring set.  This can be as simple or extravagant as you choose, based on the style of your dress...and the vibrancy of your own personality.

If you are wearing a v-neck dress, wear a statement necklace with a large crystal or pearl pendant, to fill up the space and draw attention to the neckline. 

Custom necklace made at a Bridal Beading Party 

4)  Pick your dress first and then the jewelry.  It is much easier to match the jewelry to the dress, especially if you have it custom made.

5)  Make sure to consider all the specific details in the dress.  This can help set the tone and style of the jewelry.

For more information on Gown and Glory Consignment Boutique check out their website at www.gownandglory.ca

Kids Jewelry Making Workshops

          

With fall quickly approaching we have so many exciting things happening with Beading Buds.

We are now offering our birthday parties at several locations in the GTA, this is perfect for moms that would love to have a beading party but just don't have the space for it!

We have teamed up with The Busy Genie at their Oakville location and South Etobicoke location, TimBUKtu Indoor Playland in North Etobicoke, and Embella and Noodle Kaboodle Party Places in South Etobicoke. We will also be providing jewelry making classes and workshops at some of these locations.

Check out The Busy Genie (click here!) to see the themed workshops for tots taking place one Friday a month.  Check out Noodle Kaboodle (click here!) for more info on the Saturday morning beading workshops (for ages 7 and up!) taking place this fall.

Stay tuned or contact us for more info on classes being offered.

How To Make Your Own Paper Beads

Summer is here and I am sure all the parents out there are looking for ways to keep their kids busy (we sure are!) here is a fun and easy tutorial on how to make your own beads. You can then watch some of our other videos for ideas on what to do with the beads.

Material needed:

Old magazines
Ruler
Pencil
Glue
Modge podge (varnish)
Styrofoam
Toothpicks
Paint brush

Instructions:

First lay your paper flat. Measure 1 inch intervals on one side and draw lines 1 inch apart. Then angle your ruler and draw a line cutting each interval into half and turning each inch interval into two triangles.

You can experiment with different shapes of paper cutting; this will result in beads of different shapes.

Once you have a size of paper strip you like, use a small paintbrush and coat the top side with white glue. Starting with the widest end of the paper, roll it tightly around a toothpick.

Roll the last bit and press down on it for a few seconds to hold the bead in place.

Leave each bead on the toothpick and stick each toothpick into the piece of styrofoam.

Start varnishing. Use a brush and give them at least 2 coats of varnish. Leave to dry for 2-3 days.

Amber teething necklaces for babies

We at Beading Buds just love jewelry, and are always looking for the latest trends. Nancy Ripton, from www.justthefactsbaby.com, is sharing with us a trend she came across, amber teething necklaces.
Nancy says, we were recently at a mommy event and we saw a mom and her little baby wearing beautiful matching necklaces. We commented on them and were told that it was an amber teething necklace. We were instantly intrigued and decided to do some research. Amber, a fossilized sap from prehistoric trees that grew as far back as almost fifty million years ago. It is always warm to the touch and has been used for centuries for its healing properties. It produces negative ions, eases pain and activates the healing process. This mommy wearing the necklace was from Europe where babies have been wearing these necklaces for generations.
If you are as intrigued as we are and would like to see how to make one yourself, check out this link http://www.ehow.com/how_2099756_make-amber-teething-necklace.html
For more great baby facts, check out Nancy's blog at www.justthefactsbaby.com/blog/

Beading programs and the Canadian children's arts tax credit

We are all so excited about the new Children's Art Tax Credit that the government has recently unveiled. Since we teach lunchtime programs and afterschool programs at many schools in Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto and all over the Greater Toronto Area, we are so happy that the parents of our little beaders will now be able to claim a portion of what they pay for these programs when filing their taxes.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/txtps/2012/tt120326-eng.html

Beautiful Boho Hoop Earrings

While looking for fun projects to teach at my lunchtime school
program, I came across this super easy and fun video on how to make
beautiful hoop earrings using seed beads and glass beads.

Materials:

2 Earring wires
2 Jump rings
1 spool of bracelet sized memory wire
Size 11 seed beads
4 6 mm beads
2 8 mm beads

Tools:
Needle nosed pliers
Wire cutters

1) Cut the memory wire so that you have one hoop. Repeat so that you have two hoops in total. Using your needle nosed pliers make a loop at one end.
2) String on 48 seed beads. String on one 6 mm bead, a seed bead, a 8 mm bead, a seed bead and another 6 mm bead. Then string on another 48 seed beads.
3) Using your needle nosed pliers make a loop on the remaining end of the hoop.
4) Using your pliers open up the jump ring and put booth ends of the hoop through, as well as the bottom of the earring wire. Close the jump ring. Repeat with the second hoop so that you have two earrings.

This beautiful pair of earrings will be perfect for this spring's boho trend.

Flower Bib Necklace

Tools:

Glue gun
Jewelry glue
Chalk
Scissors

Materials:

11 black or/and gold fabric flowers
9 beads
1 sq foot black felt
2 feet black ribbon

Chase away the winter blues with this beautiful and fun necklace.
Arrange the flowers on the piece of felt the way that you would like
your necklace to look. Take the piece of chalk and trace around the
roses and then cut out cutting inside the chalk line. Remove the top
rose on each end of your arrangement. Cut the ribbon in half and glue
one end on each side. Then glue all of the flowers onto the piece of
felt, try not to make the design too uniform. Then using the jewelry
glue attach a bead to the middle of each flower.

If you would like to make your own flowers, check out our past post from January 2011.