First Beginner Project - complete!

Happy Friday to everyone!

I have finished my first bead project!

I hope you like them. I think they turned out nicely and cant wait to keep making more. However, so far, it's a Love/Hate relationship.

I love the finished product but the tediousness of it verifies my serious lack of dexterity. I've been assured that will go away with practice so I will keep practicing!

The bead guru taught me what the procedure was once I got it strung and needed to attach the earring loop. I went to WalMart and purchased a set of three tools for about $8 and then realized after dropping the round hoop (jump ring) a hundred times that I was using the wrong tool. Go figure.

I did realize that sharp scissors are a key to happiness in this project. Each one took about 20 minutes to complete due to beginners trial and error.

I strung them, used a crimp bead, looped a jump ring through the thread and attached the earring hook. Then I got really excited and forgot about how frustrating it was to get the crimp bead on and so forth. I did that five times. :-)

I hope you like them and I think I'm going to move on to a bracelet next.

This is great fun but I still say I dont need another hobby! :-)

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Necklace by Jennifer

I was privileged to be asked to make something with one of czechbeads.com's newest handmade beads.  Here is my creation.  Leave your comments I would love your opinions.

The focal bead is item number 554-4510-21107, it also comes in different colors.   For the bail I used a JBB Pewter bail in silver, item #J141-134-ASL

For the clasp I used another JBB Pewter finding. Item #J23-00-ASL.  Other items used are 6mm silver lined crystal fire polish, 4 mm opaque light blue fire polish, 4 mm jump rings, and 1.5 inch headpins. 

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Hello my name is.......

Jennifer. Here it is Friday and it is my day to blog.  I thought "hhmmm what should I blog about?"  I should introduce myself. 

My name is Jennifer Baker and I am the Operations Manager here at Starman, Inc.  I see all the orders that come in over the web site, make sure orders get shipped, and maintain the warehouse here.   I get to talk to people from all over the world via e-mail and on the phone. 

I am also an avid beader, and quilter.  I am learning to combine the two.  This year I challenged myself with participating in the 2010 Bead Journal Project. 

I also have my personal blog Jennifer's Journey where I try to record all my projects that I have completed.  Including this great bumble bee--

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Hello All !!! A bead newbie has come to the mix!!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Heather and I have been hired by Starman, Inc. as the Business Manager. I'm so excited to be here in this creative environment but I have ZERO bead experience. I have been an artist all of my life, thanks to my grandfather. My usual mediums are drawing, painting, refinishing furniture and home design. With that said, it is safe to assume that I know nothing about beads, the hardware needed or the proper terms. I will explain everything as I go just in case there are newbie's out there as well.

We have decided to revive the blog and have three different levels for everyone to watch - Beginner (me), Intermediate (Lisa) and Advanced (Jennifer)- it should be great fun!!

We will work on different projects and, occasionally, work with the same color pallette for seasonal projects. Another project will have all of us use the same materials and see what we come up with individually. Suggestions are always welcome.

My first bead purchase was a bag of assorted crystals and varying sizes of red firepolish beads. I plan on doing 3-4 in. strands to insert into the Christmas tree for sparkle. I am very traditional in my decoration of a Christmas tree. I always stay with deep reds, gold, some dark green and crystals for sparkle.

My first question to the 'bead guru' (Jennifer) was how to have the ends finished nicely. I thought a 'stopper' (headpin) would be a possibility but it would need to be longer than we carry. Her two ideas were to use a very small bead (seed bead) or string it and then loop it back through. I thought that would leave a string around the bottom so Im not so sure about that. I also contemplated earring tops. We shall see what works better.
I will be bringing in the beads tomorrow to start learning and sharing with all of you.

I hope you join us on our new adventures and enjoy our trip down the beadin' path!

Happy wishes to all of you!

Heather

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