Before & After

I had my friend Michele send me this picture of a bracelet she saw and liked (above) and I thought I'd try to mimick it for her. I know I didnt have any gold chains, but I did have silver chains and some charms of starfish and shells already! I asked her the colors she liked and she told me blues and greens. I know it's not exactly the same, but I was trying to avoid having to go buy more supply! I think i did a pretty good job!

Bright Colors

I made this necklace with some beads and chain that my sister Angela found for me. She asked me to make it for her friend, and I really liked the way it turned out! I might be making another one! :)

I even make myself stuff .... sometimes!

So I made the top set for my fancy night at the Rio coming up. Figured it looks pretty with what I want to wear! :) I also made the green earrings just to mess around. Kendra might like them, but I know they are too big for most people's taste. I like em, i'll keep em! :)

Special Requests

Ok so I know my camera phone is just not cutting it, but at least you get the idea! These 2 earring/necklace sets were made for my mom with beads she picked out. I made my sister this charm style bracelet that she had mentioned she would like some pink beads. I think these all turned out great, just wish i had some more inspiration to make something even more creative, I feel like I sometimes make the same styles with different beads all the time. That's fun, too - but I would like to try new things also!

Earrings again!

I had my laptop break on me so I couldn't update my blog, or get online last week much. I had a lot of spare time so I made a lot of items! These earrings are all ones I made last week. Some are specific beads my mom wanted, some are just for fun, and some have already found their new home with friends and family! :)

My first beading class!

So, last month I was looking into a beading class. I thought, I'm self-taught, I should probably learn how to do this for real! ha. Well, I later get a groupon in my email for this new bead store by my house... the classes were like 30-40 bucks - way beyond my unemployed budget. But, for $10 - I got to go finally! The Colorado Bead Company is on Colfax near the Ogden. They have only been open for 6 weeks, and told me that with their Groupon special, they sold 700 classes! I was expecting to go in and have a HUGE crowd, but the room was one table with 6 chairs! So intimate! They are so full on most all of their classes and have added a class for almost every single night just to keep up! Wouldn't that be fun to open a business like that and just have it explode? The owner is my age, too - just seems amazing! And how fun to do your hobby all day!? I would love that! I kinda wish I had the money or the knowledge to be able to do something like that myself actually!


Anyway, I get there and there is the one "know it all" in the class who is way too advanced, the one person that has no visual coordination, the one REALLLLYYY Slow lady, the one girl that asks questions the WHOLE time, the old lady that has no idea what she's doing, and of course the one you get along with. Haha.. The one I got along with actually lives and runs 2 businesses right down the block from where my mom lives! What a small world!


Well, We just strung a simple necklace and made matching drop earrings, stuff I was thinking "oh i already know all this, maybe i shouldnt have taken this class" - but suprisingly, I learned a lot! Not that my old techniques weren't working, but the tools we used, the way she did the clasps, all so much more simple than all the stuff I was attempting to do on my own. And the earrings seemed like an even simpler task, and I totally learned new ways to do those too! Who thought that putting a bead on a pin and attaching it has so many variations in technique? haha.


Anyway, made a small beaded necklace with matching earrings with some beads I had bought and mixed in some other beads a friend gave me - I like the way it looks, but might offer it to my little sister. I know she would love the colors!
All in all, so glad I went, here is some pictures i took during and after. I need a bead board now!!

Seahorses 4-Eva!

I was in a hurry to make something for my little sister - I had got some blue and green beads I knew she'd love, and some seahorse charms. I threw them together pretty quick but thought they turned out cute! The picture is a lot blurrier than I thought. I need to invest in a new camera reallllll soon! :)

Triple Stretch Bracelets

Another thing I was just "trying out"... I had some beads I didnt know what else to do with, and was curious how the stretchy bracelet would work - seems simple, although tying the knot in the elastic string my first time was NOT. Easy, but cute!

Blue Stone Pendant

I had this blue stone pendant that looked plastic, but isn't. Anyway, didn't know what to do with it except make a necklace. I copied the style from a necklace I had in my own collection of purchased jewelry. I wasn't a fan of the pendant but after I made the necklace it looks good! I like it!

Triple Chain necklace

Just messing around (since I'm out of a lot of supply and waiting on it in the mail...) and made this triple chain necklace. Just used various purple beads and a few small silver accents... I kinda like it. Definitely a learning process though - some parts seem cluttered to me and i wish some beads were in different spots. The great part about it is that I can always change it!