Commissioned work with new materials

I heart figuring out a new jewelry method by mistake or chance encounter. Actually, no - fewer things make me happier than when people ask me to make custom jewelry to celebrate a loved one. Wait - no, I am happiest when I have returning customers asking for more. Scratch that - I am happiest when a returning customer asks me to make jewelry for their loved one and I learn a new technique in the making!

Recently, my friend Nilsa's husband Sweets contacted me with a simple request: leather. Apparently this is the traditional third wedding anniversary gift and Sweets wanted to go traditional and romantic, yet stick within his wife's tastes and aesthetic, which he knew I knew. I was up-front with him: as a vegetarian, I will admit that I have never really worked with leather before. Oh, and did I mention that the necklace was needed in less than 4 days? :) He asked me to go for it and see what happens. 

After doing some "research" (i.e. browsing around the internet for inspiration) I had an idea of the type of necklace I wanted to do (i.e. no hammering or welding required - heck, I prefer to stay away from glue, too) though knew that leather string is thicker than your average beading wire and would thus require beads with very large holes. The only beads I had on hand with large-ish holes happened to be some beautiful gemstones and crystals I purchased from Arizona and LA. So, after some playing around, we had this:

The little white beads are especially cool... my mom purchased them for me from a Native American craft vendor in South Dakota. Apparently they are hand-cut glass beads that are over 100-years old. When she gave them to me, I thought to myself, "Where the heck am I going to use these?" It makes sense that I used them with leather! I also avoided having to use glue thanks to some gold crimp beads. 

But then came the real challenge - closure. How dost one secure leather strings with a clasp? After tying the strands in two large knots, I played with all kinds of methods of getting a clasp on there. I even gave in and used glue to make sure that the leather wasn't going anywhere. Then it dawned on me - duh - free-style wire. Thanks to that pesky glue, I know this closure is there to stay.

Nilsa was tickled when she received the necklace: "You are so sneaky! I cannot believe you worked with Sweets to make such a GORGEOUS necklace for me! I absolutely love it and hope that your first go with leather wasn't too painful. =) We went to a concert last night and I picked an outfit that ensured I could wear the necklace. LOVE IT!!! Thank you so much for turning it around so quickly!" See, this is why I love working with returning customers who want to make something for their loved one while I learn a new method in the process...! 

Meanwhile, I was sitting on another piece that was quite overdue. At one of my shows, a client noticed that I had a porcelain Chinese bracelet on display. She bought it, then handed it back to me: "I would like a necklace to match a pair of earrings that I own which feature the same beads." Her earrings seemed simple:

But then I realized - though I have wrapped beads before, I have not necessarily wrapped rounded beads, let alone such smooth and glossy beads! I sat down at my work table and just stared at my material: a bracelet that I made which I will have to cut apart, and some wire. I played and played with the beads and wire with no luck - that wire was movin' everywhere and would not stay in one place. Then I noticed a Sharpie marker nearby and LIGHTBULB! I first wrapped the wire about the Sharpie to create a coil, then popped the bead inside the coil to get it to stay in place - rather than trying to make the coil around the bead itself. After some working, I finally had this: 

Not quite what I had envisioned, but it worked and resembled the inspiration earrings. Now that I know how to work it, I think I will play with this method more often! 


What are some new materials that you have worked with and ended up loving?

Paint, Stamp, Cut, Glue, Wrap = DIY Fabric Beads! PART 1

I love beads. And I love fashion. Which means I love fabric. I also love painting. And I really love Mod Podge. I am not sure why it took me so long to put it all together. I present to you - FABRIC BEADS!

In attempt to make the most unique, and most Bead Up-worthy beads out there, I figured I would start with painting/stamping my own fabric. I started with very plain, white cotton fabric and used one of my scrapbook stamps with Chinese characters on it and stamped away (I was going for the newspaper print look):

Then I painted half of the white fabric with some very bright lime green fabric paint and stamped away there, too (and let me tell ya, that stamp with all it's individual grooves was a *&^%$ to clean!):

And while I had the fabric and all, I needed somewhere to glue it all on! Though I could technically wrap the fabric around a form (like a straw, for example) and glue the heck out of it,  I knew such a method wouldn't produce a big and bold look I was going for. After searching all around Michael's, I finally spotted some big ole' wooden round beads in the wooden doll section. I also found exactly what I hoped would exist but wasn't sure it did: Fabric Mod Podge!

Next, I cut the green fabric in small pieces and glued the back of each strip:

And slowly but surely I came up with this:

Since I only had 4 of the big wooden beads, I needed another form of sorts to wrap the bead around. Rather than running back to the store, I remembered this semi-ugly set of beads from a torn-up plastic necklace I bought at the Studio Sale at Warner Brothers last year (which I have used in a piece before):

And after wrapping and gluing the fabric around the plastic and the wooden beads, I had these:

Which lead to this:

Chinese fabric, Cinnabar, Coral, and Agate Necklace, $25

And this:

Chinese Fabric, Cinnabar, and Agate Necklace, $30

And this: 

Chinese Cinnabar and Fabric Hanzi Bracelet, $16

And I totally didn't stop there. In fact, I made all kind of additional fabric necklaces and beads... but you'll just have to wait until the next post to see 'em (or you can check out my Etsy shop and take a peek in the meantime)!

Jewelry Party - A Photo Journal Recap

Two weeks later I finally have a full collection of pictures from the jewelry party! Looking back on the pictures, it's clear that the party was more successful than I had thought during the event - as the smiles on everyone's faces prove it! Here's a photo-journal recap :) Marla, our hostess with the mostess, was prepped with her blender and ice cubes and ready to produce a party! Our featured drink was called "Skip and Go Naked," which is a mix of frozen pink lemonade, vodka, and beer. I KNOW - it sound gross. BUT I swear, the drink didn't even taste of alcohol and was fabulously fruity and fun! The hubs and I got there 3 hours early to make sure everything was in it's right place for the party. He was so helpful in unpacking each and every piece of jewelry (I had over 200), and then packing them back up again at the end of the night! As one person put it, he had the patience of Job! Marla's House was very Halloween-ed out - and we had lots of cupcakes to contend! We even had a whole table of door prizes for our guests, including some Benefit cosmetics and handbags! I love what has become of my packaging - I had 100 Chinese to-go boxes ready with a Bead Up sticker on the front next to lime curled ribbon. Inside guests found a Bead Up magnet next to a business card - word of mouth is the best! My Asian table was perhaps my favorite display of the whole day :) The Hubs and I made this weird white necklace/earring stand out of plate displays we bought at a closing Crate and Barrel for $1 each. We hoisted them up on 1" dowels and secured the dowels on a thick piece of plywood. Add some white paint and you have this (ghetto) display! I made these napkin rings out of bracelet wires... they were originally meant to be bracelets, but when they seemed too tight - I figured napkin rings were the next best step ;) Though I love the tree and all the other displays we made, I couldn't figure out a better way to post the prices on each item. I found these cute little green tags on Etsy, and managed to write both the materials and the price on each tag, though they were a bit of a pain to put on and take off. I am open to other ideas (though at this point I have 300 of these things left over!). I also asked a friend from church, Courtney, to be my photographer for the day. I love some of the shots she took! :) Thanks again for your help, Courtney! I bought this dress form at a local thrift shop for $10. The lady behind me in line was shocked that it was priced so low - she had just previously bought one for $100 on E-bay! I figured I would bring in the cocktail theme, too ;) My grandma (RIP) gave me these little plastic glasses in case I am ever on the road and in need of a drink! I bought this little necklace holder at a lot sale at my workplace for only $3! It still has a $29 tag on the bottom! Cheryl, my co-worker and creator of Cupcakinitup, came ready with over 100 mini-cupcakes to share. She also had several jumbo "couture" cupcakes she had made in a trial run yet didn't know what to do with. I convinced her to sell them, also as a trial ;) She wanted to price them at $.50 each - for a jumbo cupcake! I reminded her that this wasn't a bake sale and that she could do better - so she marked them at $1 and $2. And with the placement of the last few cupcakes, we were ready to party! People started showing up BEFORE 3:30! Thankfully I had a few seconds before to re-do my makeup, though was caught eating lunch in front of a few friends :) A few minutes into the party I got a surprise of my own - my bff from Berkeley had flown down just for the party as a surprise! OMG! Thanks so much for your support, Erin! You can tell by the perfectly colored cups that drinks were a-flowin! This is actually the tree jewelry holder I use for my own jewelry on my dresser. I splurged on it at Urban Outfitters after I got a job last year - a whole $28! Kari is one of my favorite co-workers AND clients. She kept saying, "Woman, you are killing me! I am going to go home broke!" Melissa was ready to spend some serious dough! Before we knew it, the cupcakes were out! AND - Cheryl sold all the jumbo and couture cupcakes she brought - which she originally didn't think would sell! YOU GO, GIRL! By the end of the day, we had at least 60 ladies (and one man!) walk through our doors... a good 40% of them strangers to me! While the Hubs and Cheryl packed our things up, I tallyed up my earnings. Since I was still in the red in terms of profit, I had set a goal for myself that would at least earn me my outstanding balance and maybe make a few pennies. I figured it was a bit of a lofty goal but worth striving for, at least. I literally gasped when I saw my final total - I had made 50% more than my original goal, leaving me with a good bit of a profit! Best of all - Bead Up is no longer in the red! Now I can finally justify that manicure I have been dying to get! Overall, the jewelry party was worth every ounce of effort and time we had put into it. Even Cheryl, who came in exhausted but left exhilirated, agreed. Unfortunately, by the end of the night my throat was on fire and I couldn't stop blowing my nose, and for the next week all the sleep I lost caught up with me with a killer cold! TOTALLY WORTH IT, though! Thanks again to all of you who wished me well and supported me before, during, and after the show :) A special thank you to my hubs (who never once complained - especially when he saw that we didn't lose money on the show!), to Marla, Cheryl, and Courtney for all their help (it WOULD NOT have been the same with out them!), and to my homegirl Erin (and Sonia!) for suprising me with their visit! So, who wants to host the next party? ;)