My Bead Soup is Here!

It is the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party and my third time participating. This time I've been paired with the lovely Deanna Cox from Collette Designs. For more about the Bead Soup Blog Party please visit Lori Anderson's blog. 

A few weeks ago we both received our bead soups but I've been super busy with moving houses to actually find the time to take pictures and blog. Now that it's March Break, I'm going to spend a lot of time with my soup and blog! But anyways, this is what I sent her. Notice the butterflies...hehehe... (I love butterflies!)

As for the ingredients I received? Well, here it is! This will be my first time working with vintage material but that's stepping outside my comfort zone. That's why I love participating in the BSBP. Meeting new people and being challenged.

OOAK handmade focal

Focal and special clasp

The rest of the soup ...

vintage swarovski necklace

The soup is brewing and the ingredients are cooking. Come back on March 30th to find out what I've made from this soup!

Bead Soup Sneak Peak

Bead Soup Blog Party is coming up and I've been paired up with the talented Deanna Cox!

This time around there are 500 participants spread out into three reveal dates: March 30, April 6 & April 13. For more info about the party visit www. beadsoupblogparty.com.

But here is a sneak peak of the soup I'm sending to Deanna. Watch out for the next post where I interview my BSBP partner.

Bead Soup Sign Ups!

Even though I've been so busy these past few months, I have to sign up for the Bead Soup Blog Party hosted by Lori Anderson. Lori hosts this awesome event every year where each participant is paired up and sends each other a "soup" of coordinating beads. When you receive your package of a focal, clasp, and other lovely matching goodies, it's as exciting as getting a Christmas package in the mail!

Here are some of my pieces from the 6th Bead Soup Blog Party. Or you can click the images on the side to see the blog post.

A New Year

***Turducken*** A New Year's Eve tradition. Chicken and
duck stuffed into a turkey, layered with strips of bacon......

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

The holiday is almost over with a few more days to go. After all the delicious food I've had this past week it's time to think about the future of my "hobby business".

I've come to realize a few things.
1.  I haven't created any new items for half a year. Part if the reason is my day job as a teacher. Teaching a new grade makes my life a bit busier than normal. I come home from work and all I want to do is rest and watch mindless t.v. and then do some more marking/planning till it's time to sleep. The other reason is that I really don't have the motivation the create anything. So I have decided to put my shop on hiatus for a bit. I won't be renewing anymore but I will still be taking custom orders. And maybe do some bead soup... :)

2. I've been to a few craft/handmade shows this year and I find that the people who go to these shows are young women with kids. I wanted to sell at a craft show one day but now I don't think that is where my target audience are. Most of my customers are people who purchase for weddings. They most likely will not go to a craft show looking for bridal jewellery. So.... I probably won't be entering into a show anytime soon. Unless I come up with a line of jewellery that is unique and serves the audience at craft shows.

3. Even if I had the motivation and the time to work on new pieces, I don't have a convenient area to work. Even though in a previous post,  I mentioned that I made room on my bedroom table, it is now taken over by school related material. The hubby and I are in the process of looking for a new place to live so hopefully I can find something soon and set up a real studio!

So, in conclusion, it's time to say goodbye (or see you soon) to my shop for the next little while and move into my new house (after I find one of course), then set up a studio work space for my beady stash.

HELLO 2013.....

***Update***

We've bought a new house!!! I'll be moving at the end of this month (April 2013) and have already picked out a room for a studio.  A real studio! With a desk, chair and hopefully some shelves! So that means I might be starting up my shop again by the summer! Yeah!!!! 

A Very Late Necklace

Normally after your wedding you would give a gift to the pastor that married you. So the hubby and I decided to do something special for our pastor. It would have been easier to just give him a monetary gift or a random gift card but we wanted to so something a little more special and meaningful. The hubby suggested that I make a necklace for the pastor's wife and then we would buy a gift card to a nice restaurant. Our gift to the pastor that married us: He would take his wife out on a date and give her a pearl necklace as a gift!

We've been married for a year and a bit now...... and we finally finished the gift. (it took us a while to think of something special)

Here's the necklace I made!

A review of Prima Bead's Jewellery Kit

About a month ago, Prima Bead contacted me to review one of their products. Prima Bead is a jewellery supply company that is just over a year old. Their sister company Cousin has been around for many many years. They sent me one of their kits that included all the required materials: a 3-in-1 tool, beading mat and full colour instructions. All I had to do was give them an honest review.

I don't usually use jewellery kits but this one is well worth the money.  It is one of several jewellery kits that Prima Bead sells. They also sent me a full colour catalogue of all their beading products and supplies.  Everything was easy to make when you follow the instructions. I had so much fun putting them together!

So let's get into the details!

3-in-1 Tool:

The first thing I went to look at was my new tool. I was so excited for a tool that has the three essential tools I normally use, all packed in one. When I opened it, I found black powder-dirt on the inside of the tool. It was  part of the metal so all I had to do was clean it up and it was good to go. So no big deal...

Instructions manual:

The instructions were easy to read and in full colour. It was also in three languages (English, French, Spanish) so you don't have to worry if your English isn't so good. The first page showed a legend of the different findings and beads. It also had a bead size chart that you could use to measure your beads if you weren't sure what size they were. At the back of the instructions there were tips on making jewellery. So if you were a beginner this manual had everything you needed to make the jewellery. 

Materials:

The materials were packaged very nicely and in separate compartments so you won't get them mixed up. Alot of kits I've seen have all the materials in one baggy so you would have to sort it all out before you could even start making anything.  They included extra material in case you make an oopsie. Which is nice cause even an experienced jewellery maker can screw up. They also included a beading mat, which was nice since I didn't have one.  :)

Overall, this was a great kit for both beginners and advanced beaders. Beginners have all the tools and instructions to help them with their new hobby and the difficulty level can still be challenging for an advanced beader. Everything you need is in the box!

You can buy the kit here:  http://www.primabead.com/Jewelry-Class-in-a-Box-Gold-Chain-Kit-P2902.aspx

Or visit their site for more kits and other beading supplies!  www.primabead.com

Here are the pieces that I made! Aren't they pretty! My sister already claimed the green/gold chain one.

App Review: Canada Post

* This app is for the Canadian Postal Service so it doesn't really apply to anyone international. Sorry.


Canada Post
www.canadapost.ca

AVAILABLE ON: Android, iPhone, Blackberry

Most of the functions don't apply to my business. The only functions I use are the package tracking, finding a location and price of a package.

When you track a package you type in the package id. It also gives you an option to type in the name of the package which is useful when you have multiple packages getting shipped. I usually write in who the package is being sent to or what it is for. This is the most useful function in this app.

Like I said earlier there is not much use for the app. Hopefully Canada Post can upgrade it to have more useable functions.

What do you think? Do you use Canada Post? Let me know in the comments below and/or click one of the reactions.