Use All Your Odd Beads for a Charm Bracelet!

January 6, 2013 at 4:38 pm | Beads, Charms, Charms Bracelets

Time to have a new year tidy up of your bead boxes and use up all your odds and ends, stray beads and findings. One way to get rid of a big variety of beads in one hit is to make a  charm bracelet with a medley of different types of beads combined to make dangling charms. This works particularly well if you adopt a style such as vintage for which antique gold style findings work well combined with decorative beads such as cloissonne, dark coloured glass beads and millifiore pieces. Try blending all your  citrus colour beads no matter what shape they are to create a harmonious and bright piece, using a chunky shiny chain for a great statement piece.

Swarovski Charms and Settings with Crystal Stones

June 27, 2012 at 8:41 am | Charms, Charms Bracelets, Swarovski Crystal Beads

Every home jewellery maker loves a Swarovski Bead, a tiny one to use as a sparkly spacer bead, one of the designer shapes for a pendant or earring, maybe a traditional facetted round (Swarovski style number 5000) for a classic necklace design. But Swarovski do not only make beads for jewellery makers. They make stones and the settings to put them in and they make charms, plated in sterling silver with the stones already set into them, for those of us who want it already done for us. Who wouldn’t, sticking fiddly little stones into tiny little cup settings is a time consuming job.

Swarovski Charms

Little charms in the form of hearts, rings and simple flowers settings are available, there is a good colour choice of the stones. We like to use them for more delicate charm bracelets and simple earrings.

Check out the sizes of the charms before you order, things always look bigger on the screen!

The 10mm flower pendant has a solid back and is silver plated, the one in the photo is peridot (light green), we also stock fuchsia, aquamarine and crystal. Use them on a charm bracelet for a bit of extra sparkle.

They look really good mixed with an array of bright beads on a chunky chain as a charm bracelet. Swarovski use different sized stones in the multiple stone settings appropriate to their size. Plating is high quality as you would expect!

Find our range of  Swarovski Charms set with stones for jewellery making.  here and give them a go next time you want something a little different for your beady hobby!

Beads and Jewellery Making Kits for the Jubilee!

May 31, 2012 at 9:45 am | Charms Bracelets, Jewellery kits, jewellery making

Holiday weekend approaches, the flags are flying, and we have done our beady best to join in by designing some pretty jewellery making kits in red, white and blue for the royal occasion!  The leather wristband is available with either a red heart bead or a nice “royal”  blue pandora bead. It is so simple to make, only a small pair of flat or chain nose pliers is needed to close  the leather thong clamps. The whole thing can be finished in under 5 minutes. We’ve got some nifty bead bracelets too made on stretch magic elastic so no tools at all are required for these. We have used lovely cut glass sparkly beads for them mixed with a few feature beads, other beads used include, miyuki cubes, Foiled glass hearts and sparkling stardust beads.  The  necklace making  kits have options with a swinging tassel pendant or a regal crown charm, you can also make a patriotic stretch bracelet with three charms.  If you want a new hobby for the bank holiday weekend, you could give jewellery making a go with our pretty and patriotic kits.

Leather Wristband with Pandora style bead

Necklace Kit with Stretch charm bracelet kit

April 25, 2012 at 6:40 am | Beads, Charms Bracelets

Kashmiri beads are traditional, handmade Indian beads embellished with coloured glass chips, diamante, mirror chips, seed beads, spiral wire rings and gimp,  Each little bead is an individual work of art! The bead is made from a clay usually a mixture of marble powder and a resin. The decorative elements are added before the clay has hardened and dried. They have a large threading hole which is lined with a metal core. Designers can use them instead of rhinestone balls in shamballa style bracelets. A particularly glittery kashmiri bead makes a  neat pendant threaded on a fine chain.

Kashmiri Beads

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.

Sterling silver charm bracelet chains

September 17, 2010 at 7:09 pm | Charms Bracelets

We have got a fab new solid  silver bracelet chain in stock. It is finished with a beautiful “I love you” tag & a nice solid toggle clasp,  ready for you to add charms to.

Charm racelet with heart tag

Or wear it on its own, it is certainly pretty enough. I am going to make a few charms from venetian glass beads and silver findings to hang off it and  send it as a present to someone extra special.

New Triangular Pandora Style Bead

May 11, 2010 at 11:11 am | bluestreak beads, Charms Bracelets, Pandora Style Beads

More new beads for Pandora Style Bracelets today. These are  really lovely shiny chunky ones with pretty stones in several colourways.

Pandora style Triangular Beads with diamante

We sell them in a set of 7 or individually.

They start from only £1.45 each.  You don’t have to use them just on snake bracelets, try them on leather thong for a quickly made choker.

New Diamante Spacer Beads for Pandora Bracelets

May 9, 2010 at 6:44 pm | Beads, bluestreak beads, Charms Bracelets, Pandora Style Beads

I have just put this new range of Pandora style beads on the Bluestreak Beads website. They are fitted with an integral ring to hang charms from.

Pandora spacer bead with diamante and loop for charms

They come in a fab assortment of colours, each bead is set with 8 crystal stones. We have jet, aqaumarine, rose, amethyst, crystal, purple velvet and ruby versions.

Use them on snake chain pandora or troll style bracelets or in the centre of a necklace with a removable pendant.

More new beads coming very soon

Charms for Charm Bracelets

February 28, 2010 at 10:06 am | Charms Bracelets

We have added a new range of Charms in  enammel and diamante finishes with matching bracelets and necklets to hange them on.

Charm Bracelet with Cherries & Cupcakes

As well as the more traditional hearts & horseshoes charms there are cupcakes, cherries, high heels, little dogs & handbags. giving you tons of choice. Make your charm bracelet unique by adding one or two of your own design using  beads such as Swarovski crystal or cloissonne.