The jewellery making craze is spreading

August 30, 2009 at 11:11 am | jewellery making

The credit crunch has affected many people up and down the country and the doom and gloom doesn’t seem to have lifted. But in times of trial, it has been proved time and time again that people find new ways to adapt. This has certainly been the case with jewellery making.

As peoples’ spending budgets have been reduced, the number of people joining up with DIY classes and courses in the creative industries has increased substantially. Instead of going out and paying the top prices for jewellery items, many  people have chosen to have a go themselves.

Arts and craft shops are stocking up with beads and jewellery kit supplies and people are turning to jewellery making websites to get some inspiration and ideas on how to create on trend  designs. Many are even deciding to go into the jewellery business themselves and are opening up independent bead shops.

This is not surprising as many apprehensive  jewellery making beginners decide they enjoy making their jewellery so much that they want to do it full time and work for themselves. You can start by making jewellery for friends and family to gain some confidence. Who knows, before long you could end up finding a niche in the market and maybe specialise in jewellery using glass or Swarovski beads!

Venetian Glass Beads

August 27, 2009 at 8:55 am | Uncategorized

Handmade beads from Venice don’t come cheap but you do get what you pay for.  the Venetian bead makers pick the most vibrant glass and use real silver and gold foils to wrap the cores in. We are delighted to have our full range of Venetian glass beads back in stock even though it has taken a while for them to arrive, they are well worth the wait.

Most of the beads are made on Murano, the famous Island of glassmakers but some of ours are actually made in Venice itself in a tiny glass works by a quiet quayside. Their workshop is bursting with brightly coloured canes and shelves stuffed full of beads, moulds and tools.  The history of beadmaking in Venice dates from the time of Marco Polo when he returned from his journeys with  beads from Asia. Local artisians used their glass making skills to reproduce these precious stones for jewellery making and trade.
In Venice and Murano,  bead production has historically been  womens’ work.During the 1930s there were as many as 30 companies making the seed beads, employing hundreds of women.

Swarovski Crystal Pearls

August 25, 2009 at 1:56 pm | Swarovski Crystal Beads

We are now stocking a range of Swarovski’s gorgeous crystal pearls in 4 handy sizes and 6 colours.

Swarovski Crystal Pearls ~ Cream

Pictured left  are the cream ones, other colours available are creamrose, bronze, white & black.

We will be increasing the range over the next few weeks.

Swarovski Pearls are nice & heavy with a flawless warm sheeny finish.

Our Swarovski pearls can be threaded with silk or one of the flexible  threads that we sell.  You might like to  have a go at stringing them in the classic way by knotting them with a pearl knotting tool.

Getting started Making Jewellery

August 24, 2009 at 4:17 pm | Uncategorized

Lots of newbies to the bead jewellery making world ask us for jewellery making tips and techniques. There is a special section on the Bluestreak Beads website devoted to help and tuition. I have included sections on basic jewellery findings, how to make earrings, bracelets, necklaces and tons more including which jewellery tools to choose and a helpful tutorial on the basic techniques of jewellery making from turning a loop in a headpin to fitting clasps and the use of jumprings. It’s not difficult to get started creating your own beaded jewellery.

Learn to make jewellery

Swarovski 5328 XILLION replacing 5301 Bicone

August 22, 2009 at 9:58 am | Swarovski Crystal Beads

We are gradually changing over our stock of Swarovski crystal bicone beads to the NEW sparkly Swarovski xillion bead as the old 5301 bicone becomes unavailable.  Judging on current ordering availability  from Swarovski it looks as though about 75% of our stock will be in xillion beads by the end of September. The new bead is copyright protected and with so many counterfeits on the market you can see why Swarovski have launched the new shape with extra cuts for increased brilliance.

All sizes except the 2.5mm bicone bead will be switching to the xillion cut.

They work well together but if you need the old 5301 shape specifically, please get in touch. I’ll post a picture of the new xillion beads in a few days but for nostalgia’s sake here are the old favourites.

5301 Swarovski bicones

5301 Swarovski Bicones

New Styles of Jewellery making Chain

August 20, 2009 at 9:12 am | jewellery chains

While I’m on the vintage theme, we just took delivery of some amazing new cast chain for jewellery making.  I can’t wait to get designing with it, It is in antique gold, copper and silver embossed and engraved with rococco patterns and designs.  Use it for long charm necklaces and chunky bracelets. 

Make your own Vintage style jewellery

August 18, 2009 at 6:16 pm | Jewellery kits

The vintage steam punk look is all the rage for accesories this season, have a go at it yourself using odds and ends from your workbox.  Chop up your old well worn necklaces  & raid them for interestingly shaped beads, add them to some antique plated chain. We sell a great selection of colours but  antique gold looks the best for this styling.

Vintage style charm bracelet

You could try making a long charm necklace or a pair of dangly earrings, but if you want to get the Vintage style in a hurry try making this charm bracelet from an ecletic bunch of beads and charms.
Even as a beginner you can learn how to make jewellery easily starting with this  kit.
It comes complete with all the beads you need along with full and detailed photographic instructions.

Welcome to the bluestreak beads blog

August 16, 2009 at 2:21 pm | Uncategorized

This is where we will be sharing all our news with you, telling you about all of our lovely new beads & findings as they appear on the site,  & letting you know about jewellery making news & events, discounts and competitions.

Bluestreak Blog

August 5, 2009 at 4:51 pm | Uncategorized

This is the first blog post for Bluestreak Beads.