winter Art Beads piece

For the winter Art Beads piece for the design partner program, we were allowed to choose any components that we wanted from the Art Beads site for a winter piece.  An idea came to mind for a winter piece about 24 hours after I got my e-mail.  I ordered my beads right away.  You can see the components that I used here.

As I mentioned in my post with the components, this piece is part of my new line.  I have to be honest: I am keeping this one.  But I am starting to list other pieces from the line in my shop.  I'll have a post about that and the pattern for the line later this week (or you can go to my shop now if you can't wait to see what's already available).  And as always, if anyone wants one with this particular color scheme, please let me know.  I'm always happy to do custom orders.

All of the beads that I selected for this piece are from the glass beads section of Art Beads.  I used Toho cube beads and Czech dagger beads.  The majority of the beads in the piece are from Art Beads with a few others from my personal collection thrown into the mix.  If you want to know any of the specific colors that I used, please let me know.  I'll be honest again: I DO order a lot of my Toho cubes from Art Beads.  I normally DON'T order my dagger beads from Art Beads.  I order them elsewhere in bulk.  But I watch for sales on Art Beads.  Throwing a few of their patterned daggers into a mix with solid color opaques and AB finishes can add a wonderful hint of detail.

I selected two "special" components for this piece.  Most of my dagger fringed bracelets won't have these, but I thought it would be a neat touch with this mix.  The first component is a button from their Swarovski collection.  As you know, I love all buttons.  The Swarovski buttons are pretty cool.  The second component is a sterling silver charm from their charm collection.  You can find that charm right here.  I normally order silver plated charms because they're considerably cheaper.  However, sometimes I like to splurge on some higher end pieces through the design program.  I'm a sucker for heart jewelry (such a cliche I know).  I don't go overboard with floral themes in my life because that would be pretty corny for obvious reasons, but I thought the rose here would be a subtle touch for this piece.

I love how the color theme came together for this piece.  I didn't make this at the same time as my winter leafy bracelet, but it has a very similar feel.  I still have a lot of the cubes left so I will most likely make something else with a similar color scheme at some point.

Here's a posed shot with the clasp showing so you can see how that comes together.

And here's a shot with it turned the way that you would normally wear it so you can see how the daggers will hang.

I am currently in the middle of writing the pattern for my dagger design with the cube base.  I'm hoping to release it around the same time that I start rolling out the new line on Etsy.

Disclosure - I received my ArtBead's products free of charge through their blogging program. I am honestly reviewing their products and have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products I received. 

random find

I was looking through a bunch of old supplies earlier this month (literally stuff that I used back in middle school).  The stash primarily consisted of plastic beads and random plastic and metal charms.  I found this lovely set of shank buttons in there.

So many possibilities!  I'm sure that there are a few other goodies like this in the stash, too.  I just need to keep hunting.

the treasury season continues with a Christmas/winter theme

cjgrand included my Beaded Bracelet - The Leafy Series - Dark Blue in her Have a Blue Christmas treasury.  I never would have thought to include this piece in a Christmas collection, but it works beautifully in this winter mix.

My fellow EBW member Sydney (sydneyalfano) included my Beaded Cuff Bracelet - Cookies 'n Cream in her EBW - Winter Whites treasury.  Thank you Sydney!

new listing, new web site

I listed a new button charm bracelet last night: Button Charm Bracelet - Maroon and White.

 I created this design in honor of my grandpa who has been a professor at Texas A&M for 25+ years.  The Texas A&M colors are maroon and white.  This listing already has 2 hearts!  I got both of them within half an hour of listing it.

I'm in the process of creating my own web site.  I bought a domain name through SoopSee (because it's about as cheap as anything else I've seen), and I'm waiting for them to activate it so I can use it with the site (it can take up to 72 hours).  Otherwise I have most of it set up.  I'll let you know how it all goes and if the site results in anything.  A lot of people seem to have success with having their own domain and a web site separate from Etsy.  I'm not crazy about SoopSee so far.  I know that it's still pretty new, and I'm willing to give it some time, mostly because I'm not sure where else to turn at this point.  I'm honestly not very impressed with most of the online options for web pages anymore.  There used to be a lot of free options that provided neat pages for those not interested in pursuing something professionally.  I created web sites through such sites 10 years ago that looked better than most of the free templates that I've seen recently.  Now everything costs a lot of money.  I'm just frustrated by the whole process.  It seems like it should be easier to do this than it is.

I've also thought about putting the domain name with this blog instead and customizing it with more tabs and whatnot so that I could provide more access to Etsy and my other web presence (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).  I don't love Blogger either, but at least it is free. Then I would just be paying to host my domain name and not also run a web site.

Any thoughts on this whole process would be appreciated!

October EBW Challenge, new listing, Etsy purchase

The October EBW Challenge Super Power Jewelry voting is up and running! You can vote on the EBW blog from today through October 15. http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ The entries are wonderful as always.

I listed another button embellished right angle bracelet tonight. I'd like to do a remake of my red and purple button embellished design next.

I got the first of several recent Etsy purchases in the mail today. It is this wonderful wristlet from Janine King Designs. I prefer to carry a small purse and was in need of a new one. I have had a hard time finding something small, but this one is perfect. Yes, I really will be able to fit everything that I need into this bag. It is VERY well constructed. The padding is amazing, and the zipper is very securely attached. I am confident that it will have a long life span.

I finished my bright red and orange leafy bracelet that I posted the sneak peak of earlier this week. Hopefully I will get some good lighting this weekend to take pictures of it.