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

Polymer Clay Fruit and Flower Beads for Jewellery making

October 11, 2012 at 3:56 pm | Beads, Polymer clay beads

They are bright and cute, these little handmade flower beads which are used by jewellery makers to fashion brooches and bracelets, or colourful tiaras and decorations for wedding settings!

These examples are only about 10mm in diameter and are just perfect for incorporating into lots of craft projects. We supply these beads in a mixture of colours, some with leaves poking out from under the petals and some without. The hole in this bead runs through the base of the flower so they can be threaded onto a length of stretch magic elastic jewellery thread to make a quick stretchy bracelet. This could be a fun activity at a  girls’ birthday party.

Or take a piece of thin silver plated wire, use the 22 guage for its easy to twist qualities. Pop the wire through the flower bead until it sits halfway along then pull the wire’s ends together underneath and twist them tightly together to gve the flower a shiny twizzly stalk. Add a glass leaf halfway down the stalk if you fancy.

Polymer Flower Beads for Jewellery making

Bead & Jewellery Kits for the holidays & the olympics!

July 26, 2012 at 12:44 pm | Beads, Jewellery kits, jewellery making

The countdown is over, the Olympics are here!

Here at Bluestreak Beads, excitement is brewing as the summer has finally arrived, and just in time for the highly anticipated London 2012 Olympic games! Who will win big? Who will come out on top? Who will win gold? Best of luck to the many Olympic medal hopeful from all of us in the Bluestreak Beads office!

We haven’t got any gold medals here but we do have lots of lovely gold beads to use in your jewellery designing!

It’s time to don our patriotic colours to support our incredible athletes! Why not fashion a necklace or bracelet showcasing our vibrant blues/reds/whites? Check out these hassle-free Team GB jewellery making kits that we have created using a range of vibrant beads with the British patriotic colour scheme. You can make a fun and stylish piece in a matter of minutes. We hope that they inspire you to design something fabulous! Alternatively, you can easily fashion a pair of earrings and necklace with our Swarovski teardrops or their  crystal 10mm hearts,  Use a medley of sapphire, crystal, and light siam. If you are new to jewellery making, don’t worry, as there are beautiful projects for all skill levels. Please check out our instructions showcasing basic jewellery making techniques.

Just in time for the Olympics our long wait for the sun is finally over and it’s time to don our summer wardrobes and put away our brollies! Need some beady accessories for that new sun dress? Whether you’re after something bright & bold, or simple yet elegant, we have a jewelley making kits to suit all tastes, and they are simple to  to make at home. Why not give our bright beady illusion necklace a shot if you like light colourful jewellery made with pretty beads and wire.

Now that school is out for the summer break, are you finding that your kids have too much time on their hands and in need a creative outlet? We have a huge range of easy starter projects to match your child‘s creative flair. I think our watches or bag charms would be fun projects for those with an artistic and imaginative spirit.
Happy beading!

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

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.

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.

New Beads for early Autumn

September 9, 2011 at 9:18 am | Beads

It seems as though Autumn is on its way, so we are going to brighten up our days with some new pieces of jewellery made from our latest collection of  beads. We have been adding all sorts of beads to the store over the summer in time for all of you busy jewellery making fanatics to get new beads in your bead boxes and get busy with the pliers. Latest additions include some really lovely glass blown beads in new colourways and shapes, oval beads, heart beads and big fat round but lightweight glass beads.

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.