Beady Pictures

Well, I decided if I was really gonna *join* y'all, I should put up some pics of beady stuff;o) Here's pics of all 18prs of earrings I made for the holiday boutique; the other album has a beaded bead I accidentally made;o) I could use some help figuring out how to finish it, though! Don't know how to tie it off....

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guess I'll have to be posting a lot of beady work, since I have alreadygot a strike against me.... (I don't like *anything*marshmallow...especially with waxy chocolate *eyes* LOL ;o)

Reply to
Kyla
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Kyla,

I think your work looks very nice! I especially like the bell flower earrings!

Reply to
Beadbimbo

Re your pic 6 comment (colour lined beads), have you checked out furnace glass? Can't think of a URL off the top of my head, but you should find pics on google.

For the beaded bead, tie a surgeon's knot (like a reef knot but the second half of the knot has two wraps instead of one) and weave the ends back through the beads. Some people like to dab a little clear nail polish on the knot.

Reply to
Helen Page

I really like the sodalite earrings, Kyla! Here's what struck me right away when I saw the page though: I feel those earring cards cheapen your work. If you took a nice, medium/heavy stock and printed up your own cards with your business name and logo or something, it would give your work the backdrop it deserves. It would give them more of an upscale look.

Nice work though!

Reply to
Tink

Really?! Here I thought they made them look more professional;o)

So, are you saying to poke the earrings through the cards? How heavy would the stock have to be? I was using posterboard here at home, just to keep them all untangled, but it was falling apart by the time I got all the earrings on it, so I assume it would have to be heavier than that. Can something heavier than that go through a home printer, or would I have to "get them done"? How would I display something like that? I do like the idea of having something large enough for the long danglys...

Thanks for the input!!:o)

Reply to
Kyla

Thanks, Jerri! Those are some of my favorites:o)

Reply to
Kyla

Thanks! I'm not sure what a surgeon's or a reef knot are. I've got crimp beads down, but couldn't knot to save my life;o) LOL I do have a library of books/magazines, though, so I'm sure I can find it somewhere:o)

I'll check out furnace glass, too...I know what it is, but can't recall seeing it in cube shapes. It does seem the type, though:o)

Reply to
Kyla

You can get tiny hole punches... 1/16"... that make nice clean holes. The card stock doesn't have to be all that heavy. I'll try to find pics of the ones I make.

Reply to
Tink

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Tink" :

]You can get tiny hole punches... 1/16"... that make nice clean holes.

i have one! i got it from Tandy leather, and it's wonderful!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

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's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Reply to
vj

I couldn't find a picture of the other side of the tags, which have my (circular) logo on them, but here is one of my early attempts at making my own tags. Not the greatest, but I think it lends a bit of an artsy feel to the earrings. Oh, and this was my second pair of earrings I ever made, too, so don't judge them too harshly. LOL!

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Reply to
Tink

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Tink" :

]

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LIKE it!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

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's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Reply to
vj

Wow, that does look great (so do the earrings!). How do you display them, then, at shows and such? I had a really hard time figuring out how to display mine this afternoon. It looks like your circular card is hanging on a cuphook-type thing? I can see a stand with tiny hooks all over it hanging earrings...but,t hat would probably be kinda expensive to make.

My main concern is $$, of course. I have not one single dollar to spend, since DH lost his job. I bought all of the components (incl. the cards) for all of those earrings with $10 I made making a banner and some buttons for a friend. I do have a show coming up, though (that I paid for weeks ago), and I'm fishing for cheap but not cheap-looking display ideas (I already found something I like for bracelets/necklaces) :o)

Reply to
Kyla

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 1:28:17 -0500, Kyla wrote (in message ):

Yep. I hear ya. What you've gotta do then is look for creative things that are made of objects you already have or can find for free. Can't afford hooks? Do you have any nails? How about bent nails on a recycled and artfully painted shutter? Those earring cards you already have can look pretty cool with stickers or dried flowers/leaves on them. You can display them on an old picture frame with wire or fishing line strung across it at card-spaced intervals.

One of my favorite bracelet displays is a big old glove, with cardboard for stiffening so it stands up, and stuffed. Put a couple of rhinestones where the "fingernails" would be. Even a foam core cutout of an extended arm could be very interesting with some beady embellishments and would display a boatload of bracelets.

Trash picking can yield awesome display items. Look next to the dumpster at your favorite local retail store. Oftentimes, old jewelry displays and such are left there as trash. (Don't do this at Wal-Mart, they have some sort of wierd attachment to their trash). If the thing is dirty, give it a good wash and a coat of spray paint, if you have it.

Remember that you are your own best display piece. Wear an armload of bracelets, a pin you've made, necklaces, whatever. If your jeans have belt loops, hook a few bracelets off those. Be prepared to sell jewlery off your body. Don't be afraid to look a little silly - you are a great display!

Copy shops are your friends. Go in at a slow time (not a Monday or Friday, and not at lunchtime) and talk to the people about their posterboard and foamcore scraps. Usually, they're delighted to give you their remnants and save themselves a bit on trash removal. I always ask for old copy paper boxes, too. They hold a decent amount, have covers, and are very sturdy. Print shops are often delighted to give you boatloads of paper samples, which make great earring cards, gift bags and teeny tags. The samples are usually made of cool and unusual materials and are fun to play with.

Put your logo on everything. If you don't have a rubber stamp or stickers, use a bit of sponge, craft foam or even a potato in a pinch. You can make it look good with markers, pens or whatever you have kicking around. I'm especially partial to a sprig of bayberry or some such, but if you don't have the appropriate shrubbery, improvise. If you can do calligraphy or have nice handwriting, so much the better.

How about making things that aren't earrings and are a bit unusual? I recently made some "funky guy" zipper pulls for the girls out of leftover seed beads and smiley face buttons I had kicking around. I didn't have the "right" hardware, so I used a safety pin to attach the things. I've had tons of requests for the dopey little things, which took almost no time, and virtually no money. I'm quite sure I could sell them for $5 apiece, which would be almost pure profit. (I don't sell things, but you get the idea)

I've taken my loomwork experiments and glued them to cheap frames from IKEA (something like a buck apiece), and people rave over them. Simple seed bead stars can be glued on a picture frame and will sell. Seed beaded rings are really popular among the teenaged set, can be made in less than five minutes and sell for a buck or two. Now a dollar isn't much, but if you made 12 per hour in front of the TV, $36 bucks for an evening's work isn't awful.

Fancy bobby pins for the winter season? Beaded barrettes? You can make gorgeous things for almost nothing, and with the right packaging, it will sell. I bought a whole slew of 3" diameter round mirrors at some craft clearance bin (four for $0.25), glued a circular peyote rosette to the back of each (I used some felt scraps to cushion the mirror) and gave them as purse mirrors. Another item that got raves from everyone.

For my daughter's teachers, I made peyote stitched pens attached to spiral neckchains (30" long). I'm currently beading around an interesting plastic container that once held iced tea mix (no kidding). It's going to be a gorgeous vase when it's finished. I've made cool little peyote baskets with toilet paper rolls as forms and use them to hold little knick knacks and my earplugs (Bob snores big time). All these things would go for well over the $15 mark, and are definitely not likely to be seen all over the place.

If you have the materials and the time, do put out some of your better/more expensive pieces. Why not show off your talent? Don't be afraid to put a high price on the good stuff - people definitely equate high price with quality, and will be suspect if they see what looks like quality stuff at fire sale prices. If your house is like mine, there's at least a little bead soup kicking around. Use it. Your time and imagination are your best friends, and you will make items that will sell and be treasured.

Good luck!

Kathy N-V

Reply to
Kathy N-V

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Kathy N-V :

]Your time and imagination are your best friends, and you ]will make items that will sell and be treasured.

what an incredible list of GREAT ideas, Kathy! thank you!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

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's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Reply to
vj

I.AM.STUNNED! Such great ideas! I'm gonna have to print this, and start digging through my drawers! LOL ;o)

Thanks so much:o)

Reply to
Kyla

Thought I would put my 2c in.......

You can use

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would suggest designing two cards into one business card layout and usinga good paper cutter (and the punch as mentioned). This would give you 500cards for their "free" 250. It is very easy to upload you own logo if you want. I did all my work on a photo editor, uploaded it as the background, and didn't add text over it.

Cheers,

Darin L. Ungerman

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Reply to
Raver Moksha

Here are a couple of pics of what I did:

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Reply to
Tink

Reply to
Carol in SLC

Thanks, Carol! I ended up getting several more, most of which came from the Dollar Store. Apparently a good place to find ornate, cheesy picture frames. LOL!

Reply to
Tink

Dollar Store. Apparently a good place to find ornate, cheesy picture frames.<

Ahhhhh - I'm gonna go check the one here!! What a super idea it was!

Carol in SLC My latest creation (11/12):

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Reply to
Carol in SLC

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