Making beaded snowflakes is a fun project for anyone old enough to not put beads in their mouth!

Day 4 is an ultra-simple, instant gratification project: beaded snowflakes. Simply take a wire snowflake form and add beads. This is an ideal project for using up leftover beads, especially sparkly glass beads!

There are several options for keeping the beads in place:

1. Use crimp beads. (Use a crimp with loop at the top to make it easy to hang).
2. Glue the last bead in place.
3. Use round-nose pliers to loop the end of the wire.
4. Or – the easiest and best in my opinion – use a French wire keeper. French wire keepers are little rubber stoppers that keep earrings in place – or beads on snowflake forms. French wire keepers also make great pin backs, or clutches/nuts for post earrings. A very versatile little jewelry finding indeed!

Dress up the view with sparkly snowflakes!

Winter – and the cold & flu season – is upon us. I didn’t post day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas jewelry designs yesterday because I never made it out of bed. Silly head cold. So let that be a lesson to you all – it is never to early to start your holiday projects because you never know what interruptions you might face!

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The fashion world is always on fast forward.  While we are living in fall 2011 (at least last time I checked!), designers are already planning for fall 2012. Hence the debut of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS fall/winter 2012/13 crystal colors – *antique pink and denim blue – in fall 2011!

love, love, love

I am actually pretty fond of the 2011 fall Pantone color scheme and its nature-driven hues. “Designers take a painterly approach to fall 2011 by artfully combining bright colors with staple neutrals, reminiscent of how an artist would construct a stunning work of art,” states Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.

So, although *antique pink and denim blue were designed with next year’s trends in mind, I’m happy to see they coordinate beautifully with the current fashion color trends. Because, really, who can wait until next year to start making jewelry with pretty new crystal colors?

Both *antique pink (a clear crystal with colored coating) and denim blue have a pleasing depth and smokiness that allows them to either blend or pop with a huge variety of color palettes.  They also work with both warm and cool hues. And, both look amazing with Vintaj natural brass and antiqued brass plate filigrees!

Behold the rainbow:

*Antique pink with warm browns

Denim blue with more warm browns

Yummy warm browns  (Pantone calls them “Nougat” and “Coffee Liqeur”) are big this fall. Both of the above pictures include crystal/golden shadow, light colorado topaz, light topaz and sand opal. The denim blue crystal mix also has light smoked topaz, mocca and smokey quartz.

Red, red and denim blue

Berry-licious antique pink and with reds

Garnet and siam crystals are featured in both pictures. The denim mix also features dark red coral, light siam and padparadscha (aka Pantone’s “Honeysuckle”). The berry mix uses burgundy and ruby crystals with dusky *antique pink.

A spectrum of pinks and purples

I lined up the “tone on tone” color blend option from SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS to help show where *antique pink falls in their color palette. From left to right, we’ve got rose, light rose, vintage rose, *antique pink, cyclamen opal and light amethyst crystal beads. As you can see, *antique pink has a hint of purple and a smidge of grey to tone down its rosiness.

Denim blue with purple crystals

Denim blue looks great with purple crystals, such as violet, light violet, cyclamen opal, Provence lavender and tanzanite. It’s more vivid, but still pairs nicely with Pantone’s “Quarry” blue and purple-y gray “Orchid Hush.”

Pink pops next to denim blue crystals

Or, go for more contrast by pairing denim blue with light rose, rose, vintage rose, light amethyst, Indian pink and fuchsia.

Sunshine-y bright mix of crystals

Denim blue with jonquil, light topaz, lime and sunflower (or in Pantone terms, “Bamboo”) crystals  is like a burst of sunshine – especially in comparison with the dreary gray sky outside my window!

Cool grays with denim blue

Yet even gray looks less dreary with a shot of blue. Above is a neutral mix of *moonlight, *silver shade, light grey opal, greige and *satin beads.

Antique pink crystal heart with cool grays

Meanwhile, *antique pink with those same grays and pure jet black makes a decidedly romantic and elegant statement. When the greige crystal color debuted a few seasons ago, I honestly thought Swarovski  made up the word by combining “grey” and beige” (hey, they have a lot of power!).  I’ve since learned greige is an actual word that describes raw, undyed fabric.  I was perhaps a bit underwhelmed by greige (and sand opal and light grey opal, to be honest) when they were unveiled, but I’ve since come to appreciate how well they compliment other more vibrant colors.

Whether you are a slave to fashion or completely oblivious to its fickle ways, it is always nice to have more color options to choose from. These are just a few of the many, many color options using SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.  Hope you’ve enjoyed the crystal eye candy – next week I’ll share some color combos featuring the new petrol crystal pearls on our Facebook page! ~ Cindy

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"Spring" assortment of Hemptique cord with Maori-style fishhook pendant.

Hello, bloglandia! As promised, here are the instructions for finishing a multiple-strand piece of jewelry (like the braided hemp necklace I made with the Kumihimo disk) using glue-on bullet ends.

Bullet ends are much less bulky than knots on multistrand designs.

A bullet end is a jewelry finding that hides cord ends and makes a clean transition to a clasp. Bullet ends are also called end caps, barrel caps, and a variety of other creative names. Just make sure the caps you are using have loops on the ends and that they are wide enough to accommodate your cording. (I used these.)

1. Tie an overhand knot at the end of your piece.
2. Take a piece of thread and wrap it tightly around the end several times (this is also called “whipping”). Tie a double knot to secure and trim the thread ends.
3. Cut the braid between the thread and the knotted end.
4. Fill the bullet end about half way with glue and insert the cord. Make sure that it goes in as far as it can, and that the thread whipping is covered by the bullet end. Clean up any oozing glue immediately.
5. Use jump rings to attach a clasp.

Make sure to let the glue cure fully before wearing. (For E-6000, this means 24 hours. ) The glue will be dry long before then, but to be safe, let it cure all the way.

E-6000 is one of my favorite glues because it holds up nearly as well as a 2-part epoxy, but you don’t have to measure and mix. Whatever glue you use, just make sure that is is compatible with both metal and fibers. Although instant gratification is tempting, super glue (cyanoacrylate glue) is a bad choice for this project because it can’t fill the gaps between the cord and the metal very well.

That is all there is to it! This technique works equally well with leather, ribbon, rattail and other types of cord.  ~ Cindy

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Earrings made with silver filled head pins and ear wires.

If you use sterling silver in your jewelry, you have felt the pain of rising silver prices. Although the market always fluctuates up and down a tad unpredictably, it feels like it has only gone UP lately. Because it has!

Many jewelry designers have been forced to switch materials or to use less sterling silver in their designs to compensate for the increased costs. However, the quality and look of sterling are popular for good reason. Hence the rise of affordable new silver filled wire and jewelry components on the market!

Gold filled (GF) jewelry findings (also called “gold overlay”) have been popular for years. Gold filled is made by using heat and pressure to apply a layer of karat gold to a base of less costly metal (you can learn more about the process at Artisan Plating). This gold layer is many times thicker than a standard plating – anywhere from 50 to 100,000 times thicker. The law, gold filled items must be at least 1/20th gold by weight.

Silver filled beads are indistinguishable from sterling silver beads.

Silver filled jewelry findings are created the same way, but as of date, there are no industry standards for silver fill, which can make it hard to tell what you’re getting. The new line of silver filled items that Rings & Things carries contains 1/10th sterling silver by weight. As with gold fill, the sterling silver layer is hundreds of times thicker than a silver plating.

Silver filled wire can be manipulated just like sterling silver wire. The silver is bonded to the core metal and does not flake off the way a plating might.  We have not tried it yet, but we are told that it can be soldered too.  (We’ve also heard it is tricky to solder SF wire, so for now, we recommend sticking with sterling silver wire for soldering.)  Silver filled items look identical to sterling silver, and can be antiqued just like sterling silver.

Silver filled French hooks - if you look closely, you can see they are stamped ".925 SF".

We have a couple of employees who (almost freakishly!) take pride in their ability to “eat” the plating off costume jewelry (apparently their skin is especially acidic). Within just a few days, standard plated jewelry is destroyed on their bodies! In the interest of science, we asked them to test out silver filled ear wires and are very pleased to report that they had no issues. The silver filled earrings look and wear exactly the same as sterling silver earrings.

Silver filled components, sparkly glass and freshwater pearls make it refreshingly affordable to make these earrings!

It is up to each individual artist to decide what materials to use in his or her jewelry. Some people will always want pure sterling, no matter the cost.  Since silver filled jewelry findings cost 40-60% less than sterling silver findings, while offering the same look, we think it won’t be long until SF jewelry is a common designation.  ~ Cindy

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