Sue Beads

Today is the day of Erin Prais-Hintz ' Color Challenge Reveal! Erin, of Tesori Trovati, assigned each participant a color palette from Design Seeds and we were to make a piece of jewelry incorporating some or all of the colors. I received the color palette Zinnia Tones. I chose pink because I had this unfinished piece for my mom, and knew this would force me to finish it for her! It started with a gorgeous pink chain I custom ordered from Miss Fickle Media (Shannon does awesome work!) to match the heart pendant I made from washi paper and amazing glaze. My mom had requested a pink piece of jewelry. I had fun making all my bronze balled-end head-pins - I got to use my Lenk torch again, and tumbled them all shiny! I used my own lampwork beads in coordinating colors - the ones that look somewhat blue (at least on my monitor) are actually made from evil purple and are actually purple! I made the wraps somewhat informal on purpose, to kind of offset the formality of the whole neck...

Today's the day! I issued a challenge for blog readers to see what you would make with a pair of my glass headpins. 5 were chosen for the challenge and you can find their links below. Here is what I made from my pair! I used my snowflower headpins to make a cute wintry pair of earrings. The beads are my ice sparkle lampwork beads, set off by two filigree bead caps. I used opal blue swarovski crystals to complete the earring dangles, wrapped up the steel wire, and made sterling ear wires to finish them off! All in all, I really really like them! To see what everyone else made, follow their links below: Kay Thomerson Kristi Bowman Courtney Breul Kristi Jaro Joanne Tinley Thanks for playing, ladies! Remember to use the coupon code craftshow15 in my SueBeads etsy store for 15% off your order plus free ear wires with the purchase of earring pairs until the end of the Virtual Craft Show!

The Virtual Craft Show continues on Lori Anderson's blog ! Today you can see me and what I have contributed to the giveaway! 7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things. Can you believe it???? Visit Day Two by clicking here! Here's how you win: For each of the 7 days of the show, you get a point for each of the following (you don't have to do all four).... Commenting on her BLOG Facebooking the page Twittering the page Blogging the page ***** Please note, the way you win is by doing all of this on Lori's BLOG, not mine or the other artists. Lori is coordinating the giveaways and will give us the name of who won the prize we donated!****** During the craft show, starting tomorrow, you can use coupon code CRAFTSHOW15 in my etsy store to take 15% off your order, PLUS a free pair of copper or brass ear wires will be included with ALL earring pairs beads purchased!

Lori Anderson is at it again! She is hosting her first "Virtual Craft Show" on her blog! And I'm a part of it! 7 Days, 70 Artists, GIVING AWAY 70 things. Can you believe it???? Visit Day One by clicking here! Here's how you win: For each of the 7 days of the show, you get a point for each of the following (you don't have to do all four).... Commenting on her BLOG Facebooking the page Twittering the page Blogging the page ***** Please note, the way you win is by doing all of this on Lori's BLOG, not mine or the other artists. Lori is coordinating the giveaways and will give us the name of who won the prize we donated!****** See her blog for details starting tomorrow (November 26th). During the craft show, starting tomorrow, you can use coupon code CRAFTSHOW15 in my etsy store to take 15% off your order, PLUS a free pair of copper or brass ear wires will be included with ALL earring pairs beads purchased!

Some of you may have seen ornament hangers and said, I can do that! Some of you may have seen them and said, How do I do that? This tutorial is for you. This is for a simple ornament hanger you can make all by yourself with a few tools and wire! Tools: Ruler Wire Cutter Round Nose Pliers Wrap-N-Tap pliers (large) Supplies: 18 gauge silver-filled or silver-plated wire 1. Start by flush cutting a 3" piece of wire with your wire cutters. Notice I used the ever-popular dinosaur ruler we got in a shoe-store many moons ago! 2. Using the round nose pliers, place your wire 1/3 of the way down the plier and make a loop. If you are making lots of hangers, you may want to use a sharpie to mark the place where you want to wrap the wire if you want them all uniform in size. 3. Finish the loop all the way. 4. Place the loop in the Wrap-N-Tap plier on the first round. If you want larger loops for your hanger, you should cut a larger piece of wire. Make sure the loop is secure in the plie...

I have some new beads in my etsy store , and will have more listed later as well! I will also be directing you later to the really cool event Lori Anderson is holding on her blog over the weekend.

Just listed some coral type beads in my etsy store, made from coral glass and baking soda - they really look like coral! You can find them here!

I am listing some cool beads in my etsy store tonight! The pixies are made from pixie dust and are much prettier in person! The rocks are actually glass and dipped in baking soda for a cool effect! Hope you like them - you can find them here !

I made some new headpins the other day, I had a great time making them! You can find them in the SueBeads etsy store!

Dream Struck Designs Adlinah, from Singapore, had purchased some of my enameled leaves and made these pretty earrings from them! I am jealous of her because she can travel to Tokyo and buy amazing Japanese beads! When I was there, I didn't have time, nor did I know where to find them, to buy beads - now I'm kicking myself because I'll probably never get there again! That's a little lesson - live life to the fullest every day! Do what you want! Take detours! Have fun!

This is a very long overdue post to highlight some of my wonderful customers and the work they do with my beads! Click on their names and you can visit their stores on etsy! Kristin Turcone Kristin made these very cute earrings from my lampwork beads - she has a great store on etsy called SushiKo! Courtney Breul She made this beautiful bracelet using one of my enameled filigree pieces as the connector; very creative! Rosemarie Cowit Rosemarie made these cute earrings with my lampwork beads; they are listed in her new etsy store! Sally Russick Sally made these beautiful earrings with my lampwork beads. She's an amazing artist and a very sweet person - I have had the pleasure to meet her in person! Karon Dean Karon used my lampwork beads to make these great earrings. She has the most colorful shop on etsy!

I was feeling the love a couple weeks ago when I won not one, but two, giveaways! They both made my week because I have been having some not so great experiences lately and this reminded me you just have to wait, sometimes, for something better to happen! First, I won Cindi Lavin's ( Beading Arts ) giveaway of some beautiful vintage beads! There are pearls, crystals and lucite in there! Can't wait to use them soon! She is also having a giveaway going on right now, so you might just want to hop over there and sign up! Then, imagine my delight when I found out that I won one of Gaea's sets of beads! I love her sets, and I love the colors I received! I had to get myself over to her web site , as well, and order a few things while I was there! And I forgot to order some lantern beads of hers, so I will have to go back!!!!! Thank you so much, ladies, for picking me!

Do you like to wear holiday-themed items, but don't want to be waaaay obvious? I made these earrings and I think they fit the bill! I used two of my enameled filigrees in victorian red, and two of my ice sparkle mini beads. I made my own ear wires, too, and used two saucer beads on each one. I think they look pretty festive without being loud! If you happen to want a set of ice sparkle minis and red filigrees (4 beads total), let me know! I'll sell you a set for $10, and that includes shipping! What a deal!

Here's who was picked to be the glass headpin challenge participants! Send me your address via email so I can get them out to you! I have a show tomorrow so I should be able to mail them on Monday! Thanks to everyone who wanted a chance to play - I'll do another challenge soon!

Andrew Thornton has a monthly challenge where you purchase a kit, with some special ingredients, and then on the appointed day reveal what you made with your kit! Today is the day! I have to say I am very happy to even have these done, because my head has been trying to get a full-on migraine for days... This is a necklace I made with his special skull bead and some really cool ball chain he sent with the kit! I decided the ball chain and skull needed to be kept separate and together; it's a great necklace and my daughter will be receiving it! Then I made a bracelet with the three bigger beads he sent and the glass headpin that was in the kit! I used two types of chain and the gorgeous gorgeous little variety of seed beads he sent. I love them! I wish I could bead weave, they are such great little beads! Then I made this pair of earrings with the pretty luxury beads he sent, and my own ear wires! These pieces came together easily for me, and I'm glad I got the pieces don...

A few days ago I wasn't having what I would call a highly successful bead day. And I had all these shorts laying around on my bench cluttering things up. So I decided to use my special Graceful Customs tool and make spacers, using up all the shorts. I made quite a few - 132 to be exact. They will be available in the SueBeads etsy store today because, well, sometimes you need spacers! The great thing about these spacers is, they will be available 12 for $10! A little bit of a break for you!