This is going to sound like an advertisement but, I am addicted to
ZnetShows "
wholesale beads". I really am. Not only am I a designer for them now, but I almost feel like part of the family! LOL...well, maybe cousins. Bill and his crew are so nice there and I love getting all of the great beads to work with from them. Last month, Bill proposed a new challenge, Diamonds in the Rough. We had a huge list to pick from and sent in our request for the beads we liked. I have to admit that I did not use all of the beads for this challenge, but what I did use, I had lots of fun playing. And what I didnt use is only because I ran out of time. I still have some beautiful beads to work with and I will over the summer put some awesome designs together. So, below is the long list of the designs I created. Each piece has a list of beads where you can find the beads to take a better look and perhaps if you like them enough, you may want to pick up a few.
Enjoy...and dont forget to share my blog with your friends :-)
First, you need to see the mix of beads I picked out. Arent they beautiful? There are so many different designs I can make with all of these. Time is something I just didnt have this time around but hey, its all good. Below are all the one's I did get to make. I hope you like what you see.
I honestly am not sure why I call these
“Banana Split”, but I feel like that is the right name for them. When I saw the beads on Bills website, I just
knew I had to have them. I don’t wear a
lot of yellow but I do love the color.
The shape also caught my attention. I
really do like oval beads, there is just something about them that are catchy
to the eye! These are wrapped with tiny #3 round beads with a mixture of white, yellows and a hint of brown. The ear wires are twisted and hammered which
I just love the texture.
•Copper
wire
•BDS384-08
- medium yellow jasper marquise spindle Beads faceted top side drilled 20x10mm
0
Orange Smoothie
OMGosh, if you have never held the Carnelian
gemstones in your hands, it’s a must!
They are sooo
smooth and … just smooooooth… I just love touching them, its so weird. I guess I am a very tactile person and these
beads are fun to put in your hands. I
decided to make these beauties dangle freely with lots of copper wire wrapped
around them. I really like to see a
mixture of shapes in jewelry, it adds so much more interest and a little
chaos. My kind of mix…
•BDS367-26
- silver leaf rondelle Beads faceted 8x5mm 0
•SCBDG142-22Cube
Beads ..Carnelian
Gemstone
Cube
•BDS1669-06
-
heat-treated carnelian tusk
Beads about
24x6-12x4mm 0
•BDS1845-09
aquamarine rondelle Beads about 7x5mm 0 multicolor more greenish
For some reason, I could not come up with a name for this pair. I dont always have names, but they tend to make the jewelry piece have a purpose. These are very pretty in person. The Aquamarine stone is actually a tad darker than
what you see here. They are a little
difficult to photograph being that they allow light to show through, you can
even see the wire through the beads. I
love this look. I love goldstone gems
too, they are so sparkly and add that
hint of elegance to the earring. Again,
these are really beautiful in person.
•BDS367-26
- silver leaf rondelle Beads faceted 8x5mm 0
•BDS367-08Faceted
Gemstone Rondelle Goldstone
•aquamarine oval puffed Beads about 18x13mm 0 BDS1705-205
•SCBDG142-24 - green aventurine cube Beads
4mm 0
My Diamonds
Diamonds in the Rough really fits this
pair of earrings well. The Aventurine stones are amazing don’t you
think? And to add some glam, I used
beautiful Asian crystal rondelle beads to add that sparkle. This pair really was fun to create. You will see that most of my designs are made
with copper. It is my favorite metal to
work with. Besides being inexpensive,
its very easy to find and buy. I don’t
have to order any of the wire. In fact, if
you go to a hardware store, you can get the wire in just about any size you
want, and its sooooo
pretty.
•BDS381-03Faceted
Diamond Shape Beads red aventurine
•BDS381-02
- green aventurine diamond Beads faceted diagonal drilled 10x10mm
Ok, I will admit, these are the best of
all! I absolutely love this pair of
earrings. I just love the shape of the Aventurine teardrop bead. Its faceted,
shiny, has lots of speckles in the bead itself and is just so pretty. I didn’t go with copper on this set. I think the silver is a perfect fit in this
case. Although I think I would like
to make a pair with copper to see how
different it will look. I really like
the cascading beads going from small beads to the larger ones. I can say the only downside, if there is one, is they are slightly heavy. I can wear them rather comfortably, but some of my customers have commented that they can not wear heavy earrings. So, just be aware that this pair could possibly be a little heavy.
•SCBDG142-22Cube
Beads .. Gemstone Cube Beads natural carnelian
•SCBDG142-24Cube
Beads .. Gemstone Cube Beads green aventurine
•BDG166-02
-
green aventurine fancy teardrop Beads faceted tip-drilled 25x15mm 0
Yup, these beads sparkle. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to
create with these. Then I suddenly realized I didn’t have any kind of hooped
earrings in the mix. I had some other
ideas but this one stuck in my head the most.
I know they would make a great bracelet if I just had a little more time
before this challenge was over I could have put something together. I still might try . I can see these beads with some beautiful
Asian crystals in between…hmmm
•BDS367-08Faceted
Gemstone Rondelle Goldstone
•BDS1757-05
- goldstone coin puffed Beads 14mm 0
Bits of Earth
See
those huge amazing beads? Brown, black,
white and clear. Oh me oh my, I just absolutely think they are amazing. I love rocks, stones, shells and all those
fun pieces that are made from our own Mother Earth. It just amazes me how she can create such
beautiful pieces which we recreate into something we can cherish for many
years. This necklace is quite long, but
is very lovely. I used black annealed
steal wire to put the pieces together.
Steel wire is a different look and feel than copper. It can be a little messy but looks so nice
once its all pieced together. There is a mix of chips, cubes, carnelian tusks ,
twisted onyx, and kyanite, it
doesn’t get better than that!
•S3-06Gemstone
Chips Group A multicolor rutilated
quartz
•BDS1787-01
- kyanite
rectangle Beads 16x12mm Grade A 0
•BDS1201-08
-
black onyx trapezoid Beads twisted 40x20mm
•BDS1669-06
- heat-treated carnelian tusk Beads about 24x6-12x4mm 0
•SCBDG142-24A
- green aventurine cube Beads 6mm 0
Crackled
Ok, silly name, but perfectly appropriate
for these fun fire agate beads don’t you think?
When I chose these beads, the definitely did NOT remind me of diamonds,
but in the rough..oh
yea! Agate is such an interesting gemstone. These are actually dyed to make
them look so cool. These beads have
large holes so I wanted to do some kind of macrame.
Then I found an interesting tutorial online, maybe even on Pinterest,
about these Shamballa
bracelets. Very simple to make. I think the next one I make will be with just
the smaller beads. I had lots of
compliments on the bracelet when I wore
it at a local event.
•BDS1593-09 - Fire agate rondelle
Beads about 17x12mm 0 -dyed yellow with green color
•BDS1593-10
Fire agate rondelle Beads about 10x8mm 0 -dyed yellow and green color
OH, and dont forget to check out all of the other Designers for the challenge, you will love every piece of jewelry Im sure! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY... For more pictures of these designs, please visit my FLICKR site
