How small is that Bead – Size Matters

December 11, 2012 at 2:21 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads, General & Admin

Here at Bluestreak Beads we sell over 4000 different beads and findings to our lovely customers. Most of the people who buy our crystal sparkly things are experienced jewellery makers and know exactly what they are looking for.  But everyone has to start somewhere and understanding size is one of the areas with which aspiring beaders have the most problems. It is not unusual to have items returned to us because they are smaller than the purchaser realised.  Added to that many of our more senior “silver surfer”  buyers do not work in millimetres and are unable to imagine for example the size of a little bead described as “round sterling silver spacer bead 2mm“.

The problems for us are that we can’t list the imperial measurement for everything and most beads are shown larger than life size on a website, the medium through which we sell.  So for bead newbies we suggest that you get hold of a collection of odd beads, measure them and glue or wire them on to a piece of card with the sizes written underneath until you have grasped the subtle differences between the sizes. Or just draw some circles of different sizes on a piece of paper and keep it handy when popping new beads in your online shopping basket.

In the old days when we sold our beads through a catalogue they were always depicted life size, but that just doesn’t work on a computer screen, and so we created a new and common complaint “The beads I have bought are not the right size”.

Of course we will always take back any product that you bought from us and try to find  exactly the bead you need for the job in hand.

You can buy a bead gauge to help with measuring or simply use a ruler.

It is not too Early to start making Angel Jewellery!

November 2, 2012 at 4:20 pm | bluestreak beads, Charms, jewellery making

It’s the start of November and there is ages to go until Christmas but it really isn’t too early to get cracking with some Angel Wings beaded Jewellery. You can use these heavenly beady creatures as cracker fillers or tree decorations. All you need is a pair of jewellery pliers, a few silver plated findings, some glass bell-flower beads. a few fire polished glass beads for the heads and a diamante rondelle to top off the design as a halo!

The wings are the US made Tierra Cast metal castings finished in silver plate.You can make a more upmarket and slightly sparklier version using some Swarovski Crystal beads instead of the Czech Glass, but we like the look the cute little bell flower beads give the Angels in our photo!

They make great bead decorations for a miniature Christmas Tree or make your own wired napkin Rings especially for Christmas Day with a bead angel motif.

Angel Earring Kits

New Swarovski Findings and Charms

May 14, 2012 at 11:41 am | bluestreak beads, Swarovski Crystal Beads

Since our new website has been up and running we have a little more time to get all of our wonderful new jewellery making stock up for sale! This week we have some gorgeous new swarovski findings.

We also have lots of Swarovski  Charms coming into stock. Starting with these pretty heart pendants, This charm has a bail and is set with 12 Swarovski crystals, size pp24, it is also sterling silver plated. You could use it  on a charm bracelet or make a pair of them into earrings or hang one on a simple chain for  a delicate necklac

The headpins are set with a Swarovski crystal, size pp18 or approx 2.5mm across. They are sterling silver plated to  microns. They are really lovely used with an glass oblate or cushion bead to make a glam pair of earrings with added sparkle. Swarovski Crystal Headpins are 39mm or 1.5″ long.

Prices for these headpins start from 24p

New Website for Bluestreak Beads

April 22, 2012 at 8:40 am | bluestreak beads, General & Admin

Thanks to everyone who is trying out our shiny new website! It has a few new features for you, carries all of our 4,000 beady items and is just a week old. We haven’t launched it with a massive fanfare as glitches are inevitable and we want them ironed out before we shout about it too loudly. You can now create an account, this will enable you to look back at all your bead orders from now on.

In your account you can make a wishlist where you can save beads and findings that you might like to buy to in the future. Remember to subscribe to teh Newsletter to get all the news of fresh beads on the site, offers and competitions.

I will be adding lots of new beads over the next couple of weeks, there is a bit of a beady log jam as a result of the new site coming on stream.

October Beads! Try a change of Jewellery Making Style.

October 1, 2011 at 1:45 am | Beads, bluestreak beads

It’s a new month so how about trying out some new beads. It’s easy to get stuck in a groove with your jewellery making, as you reach for the same beads and spacers. So how about trying something new and bringing a bit of variety to your jewellery making. If you love to use a certain colour pallette, maybe brown glass beads  and cream pearls  go for a brighter bead collection. Try some of our vibrant acrylic beads maybe. If you design with small beads  try out one or two larger pendant bead pieces. Make a necklace long if you normally stick to chokers or how about a bunch of bright beady bracelets if you love to wield your pliers only for earrings! You don’t have to wear them yourself, give them as gifts or even sell them on your jewellery stall. Trying something new will improve your design skills and turn you into a more versatile jewellery maker. So go on have a bash, you can always cut it up and start again! Happy jewellery making beady friends.

Lots of New Beads

June 3, 2011 at 12:45 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads, glass beads

We are adding so many new beads at the moment it’s difficult to keep up!

Pretty Foiled Millifiore glass beads

There are new foiled beads, heart shaped and round beads, see the pretty ones on the left!

We will continue to add lots of beads over the next weeks so keep popping by for a look for all your jewellery making  inspiration.

Wholesale Bead Department

April 2, 2011 at 12:43 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads

Hi All

Bulk Buy beads are now available on the site! All sorts of great beads in larger  packs including mixed packs and assortments.

Prices are about half of retail and include VAT.

Foiled Glass Heart Beads Multi pack

Foiled glass Beads

Acrylic Beads

Millifiore Beads

Visit the wholesale beads page for full details.

Beads

February 28, 2011 at 10:48 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads, Jewellery kits, Ready to Wear Jewellery

We sell beads with which to make necklaces, earrings and other jewellery items, but sometimes you don’t want to have to make it yourself.  For that we have our new range of ready to wear bead necklaces.

Aqua shell and bead necklace

They are made of shell, glass beads & seed beads  in a riot of pretty colours.  Prices for these beady necklaces start from only £7.99.

Some pieces in this range are also available as bead kits.

Bird Cage Pendants ~ add beads

February 28, 2011 at 10:35 am | Beads, bluestreak beads, Charms Bracelets

With the birds singing their heads off most evenings we’ve added some charms with a birdy theme for early spring, use them with aother beads and charms for necklace and bracelet making.

Bird and cage antique style charm

The one illustrated here is a bird and cage set in Antique Gold Finish

The little cage has a loop on top, and the bird has one at the back. They  look really pretty with a few added beads on a suede thong or string of seed beads.

A bonus is the FREE chain they come with measuring 70cm.

We have key charms, hearts and others in the antique gold and silver fiinishes. From £2.50 per set.

There are filigree earrings too and lots more new beads to come.

New Pandora style beads on the site

October 15, 2010 at 7:21 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads, Charms Bracelets

We are stocking up on lots of lovely new beads for the new season.  Starting with these new glittering pandora style spacer rings.

Diamante spacer rondelles for Pandora!

These cute beads come in a pack of 10 different colours to sparkle up your bracelet.

Make great spacers for lots of other projects too.

We’ve got more of these beads in a wider style with two rings of diamante in multicolour.