A Little Package of Beadalon Goodness

A couple of days ago, I posted about a not-very-successful class effort I tried. Even though I didn't get the big chance I wanted to share some skills with some new folks, I still ended up with a cute little earring design.

I got the greatest compliment on that post...Margot Potter, the Impatient Crafter herself, saw my post and my reference to the book "Exposed" that features all sorts of Beadalon components. She actually commented on my blog! I was shocked and honored! But, even cooler, she saw my joking note about my lack of compensation for glowing reviews of the produts and had Beadalon send me some samples! I got a great little pack of treats!

I'm so excited to go make something new! My fave things from this little package of goodness:

- crimp covers - the little "open beads" that you can use to cover up a not-so-pretty crimp and make it look like a bead

- sterling silver crimp ends - I didn't even realize Beadalon components came in sterling silver!

I'm gonna go do some more browsing on the Beadalon website to see what other neat tidbits I may need in my workshop!

So, many thanks to Margot & Beadalon for the crafty love!!!

Ready, Set, Teach...

Or, in my case, ready, set...sit with one friend-turned-student and make earrings. Last night I had a class scheduled, with five folks signed up, and only one actually made it. We definitely had fun making earrings and gabbing, so it was worthwhile for that reason. And, some other buds showed up after a late night at class and an extra-long happy hour. Again, I love these girls, but how did this happen? haaaaaaaaaa

I guess I have to learn some lessons...even if I spend hours developing project ideas, preparing materials, and getting the house all cleaned up, it doesn't make a difference if I haven't marketed properly. :)

But, in the meantime, with that experience behind me...I want to share these cute little earrings:

I recently picked up "Bead & Wire Jewelry: Exposed" which is a design book featuring Beadalon & Swarovski products. I've never been a huge consumer of either, but I think Margot Potter is wonderful and she teamed up with Fernando DaSilva and Katie Hacker for this book. So, I figured there has to be something neat to learn. I was a bit surprised by all the exposed elements like crimps and wire, but then, uh, I read the title again....haaaaaaaaaa. Nice. Exposed.

One of the coolest little components I noticed while perusing these projects were the Beadalon crimp ends. I use big sterling silver crimp ends all the time to finish off leather, but they're usually expensive so I never would've thought about using them on plain old beading wire. These little non-sterling smaller (cheaper) options looked like a great idea! So, after a quick trip to Michael's (with a coupon, of course) I had two different sizes of these crimp-able ends in my hands. Since I was in prep mode for an earring class, that's what I went for...a little bit of shiny beading wire, some of my fave HMB Studios glass disks, a couple of little silver spacers all combined with the crimp end to make a sweet little earring. I can see endless possibilities with these considering all the fun colored and textured beading wire out there. Plus, just think of all those pretty beads that need to be showpieces all by themselves!! haaaaaaa

p.s. I'm not being paid to endorse any products. (Although I certainly wouldn't mind! haaaaaaaaa)