For The Love of Beads BlogThe adventures of Suzanne, Nibbler, and friends in the world of beads and jewelry making crafts

I realized recently its been quite awhile since I posted anything I had made, not that I haven’t been crafting away; just seemingly endless camera problems which discouraged me from even trying. So, here we go! A rather graphic heavy look at what I have been up to lately:

First off, I had a bunch of pink and orange beads leftover from the necklace my grandmother commissioned for my cousin’s wedding (the first picture after the break- sorry about the smallness and graininess, its the only one I have unfortunately), so I made a bunch of jewelry. I am not a big fan of pink myself as I figure I will post these on etsy once I make myself a proper necklace display but I do like the way they came out – very girlie.

I decided to make some earthy pieces too and, after messing around for awhile, came up with the green quartz and leather one which I actually quite like, although it took a lot of leather to make it. And then I just got a bit silly and that’s where the frog prince necklace came from.  Also, I really wanted to use the some of the pink seeds beads with the laguna blue donuts as they looked just like cotton candy together and eventually came up with this anklet.. although now I think it makes more sense as a child’s necklace. What do you think?

Since the above close ups don’t really show off the whole piece very well, here are more pictures! (Can you tell I am happy to have a working camera again? lol) This first one is a very simple chain with a clasp at one end and a little star charm at the other, all of the rings are the same size so it’s pretty adjustable. I wear it as a choker with the charm off centre, clasped about 4 rings from the end so it dangles a bit.

Its interesting going back over everything I have made recently and discovering that, as much as I love chainmail, my tastes in crafting seem to be moving more towards natural materials and a softer look. I suppose its all that working with seed beads. That being said, I do love my chainmail! Of course this big chainmail heart is gonna be my last chainmail project for awhile as I broke my pliers while fighting with the huge, thick rings! At least I didn’t chip any of them too noticeably. It ended up rather too large and heavy for a necklace but I figure SOME people must still use paperweights, right?

This sucker really hurt my hands too, bending these giant rings is not easy and I actually had a pink, puffy patch on my left hand the day after!

Anyway, this is what I have been up to, what about you? Make anything really cool lately? I’d always love to see the cool things our customers come up with so feel free to share! Maybe you’ll even get featured in our Fantastic Finds column!

Happy Crafting!