Colorado Creative - success

Colorado Creative was yesterday! Colorado Creative Arts and Craft Fair is an arts and craft gathering that was Dec 9th, 2012 from 2-7pm at the Parkside Mansion.  And it was AWESOME!

There were so many incredible vendors.  So many (including us, obviously).  I didn't get a chance to walk around the whole fair though  :(  Out of our little area though there were some vendors that I particularly loved -

Bella Calla - I got two incredible air plants in vintage light bulbs, completely amazing

Bitter O'Clock - Kelli has been a friend for years and I was happy to share a craft fair with her and her crazy cute crocheted hats.

Pocket Full of Stones -  Jessica with Pocket Full of Stones has been a customer for a while, but I haven't really seen much of her finished work.  I was super impressed

Zshanna - what an artist and she does pet portraits!  I ordered portraits of our dogs for my husband for Christmas from her, I'm sure they're going to be amazing.

And of course, a huge thank you for all of their efforts to Becky with the Denver Craft Ninjas and Stephanie with Pandora.  :)  Those ladies are super incredible.  

wire loops - how to

Making loops is an important skill for any jewelry maker to master, especially if you want to make earrings.  We have jewelry making classes in our Denver bead store location, as well as at our bead store in Greeley, and we're more than happy to help you anytime!  

Head pins - are straight pins with a disc, ball or other fancy shape at one end.  You can use these to create dangles or as the last bead in a series. 

Eye pins - are straight pins with a loop at the end.  You can use eye pins when you're planning on connecting multiple pieces together. 

How to make a simple loop:

1. slide bead on pin
2. cut pin down so that the excess is 1/4" to 3/8"
3. use your fingers to bend the wire to a 90* angle
4. using your round nose pliers, grasp the end of the wire (where you cut), and roll your pliers towards the bend, creating your loop (make sure your loop is closed all the way so that your ear wire or other pieces don't slide out)
5. you can open and close these loops just like you would a jump ring (clockwise or counterclockwise)

How to make a wire wrapped loop:

1. slide bead on pin
2. use your chain nose pliers to create a 90* angle, 1/4" above the bead
3. use your round nose pliers to form a loop with the rest of the wire crossing over the bend
4. wrap the excess wire tightly around the 1/4" space you created
5. wrap all the way down to the bead and trim any extra wire 

 <3 anne.

Kody's custom wire wrapped piece

Kody has been doing some custom wire wraps lately and yesterday she brought in a steam punk inspired piece that is just fantastic.  It's sterling silver wire and copper wire around a beautiful Boulder Opal that she got here, that we got from the Tucson Gem show last year.  The chain is a gunmetal chain that we carry, it is nickel and lead free, so it's hypoallergenic, which is nice. 

I love when customers come in and bring the things they've made. It's so inspiring to see what they've done. Linda brought in three necklaces that she's made in the last few months.

She sure does love her agate beads! She got the beads on the right and left sides from us and the ones in the middle came from a Denver bead show last fall. Such lovely work!

Branching Out - wire wrapped tree

A new class! I love new jewelry making and wire wrapping classes! I love our old ones too, but this new one is so cute! The wire wrapped tree, or wire wrapped tree of life, it goes by a lot of different names, is fairly popular, and fun to learn.

Whoooo doesn't just love this little tree? You'll learn to work with square wire to create the frame for your tree pendant and we'll use thin round wire to create the tree from roots to branches. The leaves are made with bead chips and you can add a little owl or bird charm. Level: Beginner. Cost: $20 Saturday, June 16th

New chalkboard sign

I've talked about my dislike of the chalkboard sign before. So I found a solution, one of our super fun customers agreed to do the sign for me! And she did a fabulous job!

Look at how cute it is! I love the beads she did. Thanks Sarah!