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

New Swarovski Crystal Disc beads

April 24, 2012 at 6:51 pm | Beads, Swarovski Crystal Beads

Lovely New Swarovski Crystal disc beads are now online at Bluestreak Beads in our vast Swarovski section. As official stockists of the famous Swarovski crystal beads we like to provide a good selection. Look out for new styles online on a regular basis.

These little discs make pretty earrings with the addition of just a headpin and ear wire! Choose from Amethyst, Aquamarine, Crystal and the new Swarovski colour, Silver night.

Swarovski Twist Disc Beads

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.

New Beads due in tomorrow!

October 31, 2011 at 4:01 pm | Beads, glass beads

We are getting excited here waiting for the delivery of our next shipment of lovely glass beads!

The beads are due in tomorrow, and we cannot wait to get the boxes off the pallet and have a good old rummage around  inside at all the new jewellery making goodies we ordered around 5 months ago! I ordered them but I cannot remember every design of  bead that  we went for. I know that there are a load of lovely lampwork beads with unusual designs and some cute little glass pip beads. We’ve got the traditional baroque type wedding cake beads too with their applied garland of golden glass strands and dots of colour. There should be some dichroic glass pendant beads in the delivery too.

Anyway some of the girls who work here are ready to pick out their favourites and take them home to their bead boards and craft studios. I’ll get them on the site as soon as I can. The great news is that they will be really good value!

Many of them should be available in wholesale beads packs in the next few weeks!

Happy Halloween fellow beaders!

New Beads on the site

October 28, 2011 at 4:40 pm | Beads, pearls

We have lots of lovely new beads for the weekend, including, some gorgeous printed shell discs, 24mm diameter.

Also new is a range of  mixed strand pearls. These are freshwater pearls in various sizes and shapes, including rice grains, baroque and potato pearls.  There are winter berry colour mixes, champagne pearl, aqua pearls and rose pink pearls available in our new strings. Prices from only £4.99 a strand.

New coin pearls in mixed colours, oval baroque pearls , and tiny potato pearls are added to our wholesale pearl collection.

Jewellery Making -Vintage Bracelets

October 22, 2011 at 12:11 pm | Beads, Swarovski Crystal Beads

I’m starting to think about Stocking fillers and tree presents. . . . . I know Christmas is still a couple of months away but I might as well use my jewellery making time to add to my stash of gifts. If I make jewellery that I like I can always keep it for myself

I’m starting with bracelets this year, mostly because I like making them but also they are really popular and they can use up lots of odd beads in different shapes, sizes and colours especially if you go for the vintage look which is so fashionable still.

For a pretty handmade vintage beaded bracelet you will need some jewellery making chain, black or copper plated works well and a handful of headpins and spacer-beads. Next you need to choose all your beads and pendants. I like a real good mix of colours and materials to include filligree beads, glass beads, stampings, pendants and pearls. You may prefer to stick to a colourway such as goden browns and autumnal shades in an assortment of bead types, include some swarovski for a bit of sparkle and maybe a special clasp to finish the piece in style.

Bracelets such as these also sell well at  fairs and markets. Make a nice collection of them,  pop them in  pretty boxes with a little “handmade by me” label and you should have a successful day at the craft fair.

Pearl Bead Jewellery making

October 20, 2011 at 1:43 pm | Beads, glass beads, pearls

Jewellery fashions  come and go with seasonal speed, but buying pricey ready-made jewellery from shops, stores and markets can cost you  a small fortune. By making your own jewellery you could save your cash, always be bang on trend and have plenty of bead presents for friends and family!

If you’re looking to cut down on costs even further make your own beaded jewellery which is guaranteed to remain fashionable forever or at least let’s say timeless, you just can’t go wrong with glass or freshwater pearl beaded jewellery.

Pearl beads are the epitome of classic style, and the surefire thing about creating jewellery using these beads is  that they look stunning with nearly  every outfit.

Cream, white and silver glass pearl beads come in a variety of sizes- so you could opt for small beads to make delicately pretty pieces, or larger beads to make a bolder style statement. Swarovski crystal pearls cost slightly more but the quality is faultless. We sell them in a large range of sizes and colours.

So stock up on a few pearls, either glass or freshwater, some beads to put with them, a few basic tools and stringing  materials, and you will be well on the way to conjuring up some stylish pieces of handmade jewellery . You will of course need some findings and clasps to finish your pieces with.

Using a Jig in your jewellery making

October 3, 2011 at 1:46 am | Beads

Little bits of curly coloured or silver wire make pretty connectors between beads in your jewellery designs.  You can make them using a thing-ma-jig! It’s a solid Aluminium Jig with  pegs which you position in the base and then use them to form shapes with the artistic wire!  You need to create a template to wrap wire around to make curvy link Our jigs come with sample  patterns, comprehensive instructions and a blank template.
Choose from our selection of Artistic Wires to use with the jig.

We sell a beginners jig kit and a deluxe version. Take your poick and enhance your beady designs.

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.

September 16, 2011 at 3:28 pm | Uncategorized

With Christmas approaching, I know that lots of our customers have seasonal sales of their bead creations to raise a bit of extra cash. I know that we  have plenty of customers who are real regulars at craft fairs, running jewellery parties or supplying shops and stores with the jewellery they make.  I often get phone calls asking for advice about starting to make and  sell  jewellery so I thought I’d write a few of the tips and hints down in thi sblog over the next week or so. As I used to make and design for independent and multiple retyailers I hope I will have a few bits of good advice for you. I am going to focus on more  local events rather than supplying chain stores in this series.

Know your Market

This really applies if you want to sell jewellery in a targeted sort of way. If you are simply taking  a few pairs of earrings or a couple of necklaces, that you have made, into the office just to see who likes them then you don’t need to  worry. BUT if you have booked a stall at a craft show or a table at a charity event it would be a good idea to find out what the paying punters for your handmade jewellery are going to be looking for. Consider the age range & the type of function, for example will they be  retired ladies or young Mums. Find out from the organiser who came last year and which jewellery stalls did well and are coming back this year.

Pricing

The same applies to pricing the jewellery you make. Don’t be too greedy but don’t make your beaded goodies so cheap that you are threading beads on to headpins for peanuts either.  Account for your time too. look around in stores to see the going rates for similar pierces. Many people are prepared to pay a little extra for bead jewellery with a personal touch. Maybe add some pretty packaging, or sterling earwires. Check out the competition from your fellow jewellery makers and see what they are charging. Your necklaces might be cheaper, make a feature out of their good value but NEVER run down the competition. If your handmade bead jewellery is a little more costly than others, explain why. Have you used better quality beads, maybe some Swarovski crystal beads or sterling silver. Explain all this to your customers and have some display cards to point out unique selling points!

Next time: Where to sell your jewellery and following bead trends to increase sales of your beaded jewellery. Happy selling beaders.