Weekly wrap up - Sunday, June 2nd

I love reusing and repurposing stuff into new stuff.  Our Upcycled Flower Necklace class is a perfect solution for soda cans (or beer cans).  You can also make earrings with the same technique.  :)  Check out Chris' necklace from this weekend - you'll never look at cans the same again!  (Are you friends following us on Instagram?)  We teach this class frequently for Girl Scouts... it's a perfect way for them to get their jewelry badge. 

We also had our maiden voyage of the Minneapolis bracelet class.  I had no idea how much I would LOVE teaching this class and the pieces that come from it.  I started one in class and didn't finish it, so Sarah finished it for me yesterday.  She's awesome, and the bracelet looks good, but I don't think she got bit by the "seed bead" bug... 

On the bead store front, we're very sad to say that our friend Megan at the Peacock shop is in her last week with a brick and mortar store front.  Stop over and check out her goodies before she goes exclusively online, she's off of 8th and Santa Fe, across from Fabric Bliss.  Here's a link to her sassy Etsy page, if you're looking to shop online.  

We have some classes this week with space:

Macramazing!

We have an amazing update on a retro classic, creating crazy stylish bracelet, perfect for girls and guys. Learn how (or get a refresher) to work with satin cord to make these trendy bracelets that are great for layering and rich with texture. Experiment with different colors and findings to see what suits you best. Come macrame with us!  (We have some ABBA already loaded on the iPod!)  Level: Beginner. Mon, June 3rd at 6p

Foundations

Learn the essentials to get started making your own beautiful beaded creations. Our wonderful instructors will show you how to work with tools and use basic beading supplies. During class, you will finish a necklace and a pair of earrings, and you'll gain the confidence to become a jewelry artist! Not sure what kind of necklace you want?  Any of our team will be happy to help you pick something else out.  Level: Beginner.  Tuesday, June 4th at 6pm.

Earring Party

Join the party--whether you are a new beader or an experienced earring enthusiast, you will love the Earring Party for May and June. This party will make the three pairs of earrings pictured. Learn different techniques incorporating head pins, wire, briolettes, and more. With the new format of our earring class, every session will offer a fresh collection of earrings so you can stay in fashion as the seasons change. Don’t worry about shopping—we’ve already found all of the coolest parts for you!  Level: Beginner.  Thursday, June 6th at 6pm.

We've been hard at work on classes for July and August.  We have some great things to show for it too!  A lot of our classes are getting reboots, so they'll be similar... and yet different.  :)  Don't worry, they'll still be awesome.  We also have some new classes for you - Ice resin and a class on how to make your own findings?!  Sign us up!  

This little hot thing will be on the schedule too - Hey, hey Ombre!

 Have a great week this week friends, it's supposed to be gorgeous!

- anne.

Take one! The Minneapolis bracelet!

When we decide to offer a new class, we typically do it in a couple of ways - 1. it's something that has been suggested, lots of times by lots of people; creating projects that teach new skills, don't take for-ever and don't cost a ton of money in supplies can be harder than you think.  2.  it's something that is really awesome and we want to share. 

The Minneapolis bracelet came from a similar class that our friends at The Bead Monkey in Minneapolis offer.  :)  See the name connection there?  The bracelets that come from that class are always so pretty and I really liked the idea of a 'simple' bead weaving project.  Bead weaving is something that most people either like or they don't, seed beads are awfully tiny.  

I'm always a little nervous for a new class.  I know that I know how to do it, and I've taught it to at least one of my co-workers, and usually my mom (she's typically a really good person to test classes on, because she doesn't hesitate to not pay attention to directions or to ask lots of questions).  I never really know though how a group of people is going take to directions or if maybe my math somewhere was off or what is going to happen.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH!  Usually our maiden voyages of a class goes fairly well.  The Minneapolis bracelet class was no exception.  I was very lucky to have a great crew in class as well, that's always a huge help.  Jacki, Alex, and Chris did wonderfully!  Their bracelets turned out beautifully. 

{ squeal } I am so in love with these!  And this class!

Sending your husband to the bead store? Make a list! Weekly wrap up May 19th

Sending your husband to the bead store to get supplies? Make him a list! Chris just came in with this list that Sarah made. :)

Sarah has taken a few classes with us and makes the cutest jewelry for kids!  It's completely envious!  She's going to be at the Sweet William Market in Stapleton on Saturday, May 25th with a bunch of our other friends.  :)  Go say hey!  Check out their incredible goodies.  

We have a few classes this week that still have space!

Knotty Knots pearl knotting on Tuesday, May 21st
Pearl knotting is a great skill to have in your arsenal, and we'll will teach you everything you need to know to get started. Indulge in Swarovski pearls to make this modern update to a classic style. Learn the trick to knotting pearls using silk thread, creating a knot in between each bead. See how to finish your new bracelet using clamshells and a classy toggle clasp. Your bracelet will make the perfect addition to every outfit.  Register here.

Oh Deer! Bracelet on Thursday, May 23rd at 6pm (one space left)
Have you herd the news? People just FAWN all over this little bracelet!  It's so cute and so practical for practicing your jewelry making on!  This class is designed to cover so many different techniques for you. We'll cover beading wire, crimp beads and covers, attaching chain, connecting beads with eyepins, using headpins to make charms, and properly opening and closing jump-rings.  Register here.

There's also space in Saturday's Wire Wrapped Bracelet class and Tuesday, May 28th Caged Stone pendant class.

On Monday was the most amazing Macramazing class!  Have you seen the shamballa style bracelets pretty much everywhere the last few months?  Us too! 

You can see the full album from this class on our Facebook page.   

We've had a slew of the under 10 crowd this weekend.  I love these little necklaces that Scarlett and Stella made in the Foundations Intro to Beading class on Saturday. 

We had a few birthday parties this weekend too!  Birthdays and jewelry/beading party?  SO FUN!  Huge thanks to everyone who joined us this weekend!  

Have a great week friends... and remember... 

See you soon.  <3 anne.

 

weekly wrap up - Sunday, May 5th

Happy Cinco De Mayo!  Be safe, friends...

We were closed last Sunday, I went to my parents to celebrate my birthday.  Can you imagine that two years ago for my birthday, I was getting the keys to our store space on Colfax?  Me either.  

Classes this week:
Monday, May 6th at 6pm - Caged Stone pendants (this class is full, but we scheduled another one on Tuesday, May 28th at 6pm)
Thursday, May 9th at 6pm - Wire Wrapped bracelet (still a few open spaces in this class)
Saturday, May 11th at 1pm - Earring party (still a few open spaces in this class)

We had some fun parties this week!  Here's a picture from Maren's 15th birthday party, they made wire wrapped bracelets, they did a great job!

Oh hey, did you know that we're on instagram now?  You can stalk us if you want.  :)

Catherine's birthday party goodie bags

We have a lot of fun jewelry marking birthday parties coming up in the next few weeks for the younger set; kicking off with Catherine's birthday party this evening.  We love helping kids discover a love of making their own jewelry and they're so enthusiastic.  

Our jewelry making birthday parties for kids come with fun little goodie bags!  Each set of goodie bags is different, depending on the age of the group (primarily whether or not they have their ears pierced) and what the birthday girl's favorite color is.  A group of 11 year old girls is coming in this weekend and Catherine's favorite color is purple, so we put together some purple earring kits for them.

Supply list:

• Mixed beads (make sure they're in pairs)
• make sure that they match
• Ear wires, head pins, wire (we usually do the earring goodie bags with 2 sets of each)
• Organza bags (to put all of your things in)

We also tossed in some quick directions, just in case they forgot how to make earrings when they got home.  

Here are the beads from one of the bags:

They should be able to get a few pairs of cute earrings and have some left over for other projects!

Making paper lanterns...

I found this really great How To (on Pinterest) for these really CUTE paper lanterns.  I'm always looking for ways to decorate the store and thought these might be fun.  We're not just about making your own jewelry or being a super awesome Denver bead store, we're full on craft masters!  Craft.  Masters. 

We changed up the directions a little.  First, this project called for 8x8 paper, cut in half, so the lanterns would have been 4" high.  We wanted ours a little bigger, so we started with 12x12 paper, and didn't cut it in half.  

We did cut the "contrasting" strips from the original papers though.  So our final size ended up being 10x12.  We don't have a lot of scrapbook paper laying around, we should though, it's fun... and handy.

We drew a box an inch in from all sides.  Can I mention that we don't apparently have ANY rulers here.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!

"I'm having so much fun right now!  This is the best ever," a direct quote from Aimee.

We drew lines an inch apart and cut them into strips (don't cut all the way down, or else it doesn't work) We used baby razor knives.  Aimee did.  I'm not allowed to have sharp things...  :)

 

Glue the ends together and voila! 

Add the contrasting paper to each end and there you have it!  We did hole punch the ends to add ribbons so we could hang them.

I don't think they're as cute as they are in the tutorial.  Why does that always happen!  Maybe it's because they're bigger.  Or not attached to that really cute purse.  It could be that we changed the dimensions too.  So instead of being 10x12, they should have been 6x12?  Who knows.

Tips for surviving your first bead show

We're very lucky to have some wonderful bead and gems shows brought into our lovely Denver area.  Typically the "season" starts in March and ends in October or so.  We know that sometimes those shows, even the thought of them can be incredibly overwhelming, so we put together some thoughts on how to have the best experience possible.

Before the show

1. Do some homework.  Do you want to buy labradorite?  Know what a good strand costs on average, get online and do research about what "quality" labradorite is and if there's anything you should keep an eye out for.  It's always sad to us when someone brings in a strand of stones that they way over paid for.
2. Know what a good deal is on something.  Just because a vendor is going to give you a "better price" than what is on the tag, it still could be too much.  
3. If you can, register online and fill registration forms for the shows prior to arrival to save you some time.
4. Make a few copies of your resale license (tax ID) if you're buying wholesale.  Some vendors will need it.
5. Make a budget!  Plan to stick to it!  Take cash if you need, once you're out of cash, that's it.  Do not go to the ATM once you've spent it.
6. Plan a little extra "just in case" - you might see something you never planned on.  :)
7. Call your bank and let them know that you're going to a bead show, even if it's in town.  The vendors at the show are going to be from all over the world, their credit card machines will process your transaction from their business address; at the Tucson show my card got ran through Texas, California, and New York in an hour, my bank was very unhappy.  
8. Bring a notebook.  This is helpful to take notes as you make your way through the show.  I also keep notes of every purchase I make and tally it throughout the day. 
9. Bring a check book and cash.  Some vendors don't take credit cards (crazy, I know.)
10. Wear comfortable shoes and bring snacks. 
11. Bring hand sanitizer, sometimes beads are super dirty.  I also pack lotion.
12. Take a black sharpie marker. I take notes about my purchases right on the bag - what kind of stones they are, how much I paid, etc.

 At the Show:

1. Once you're in walk around the whole show before start buying. Check prices, make notes in your notebook, write down the booth number, and then go back and shop later. You will find that some vendors are selling similar merchandise – find the best quality merchandise for the best price you can afford. 
2. If you fall in LOVE with something, buy it.  You may never see it again.
3. Take a break.  Stop, have a seat, and a snack every few hours.
4. Keep the vendor's business cards with what you bought from them.  If you're not
   
   buying from them, but you like what they have and you want to purchase from them later, here's my trick - I put their business card on the beads I like and take a picture of it with my cell phone.  It helps jog my memory later. 
5. Make sure that what you paid for is in the bag, just in case.  Sometimes things get hectic, you want to make sure you have everything.
6. Before you leave the booth, make notes on the bag.  How much did you pay for each strand?  What type of stones are they?  Where were they mined?  Anything else you think you might need to know for later.

After the Show:

1. put all of your cards and notes in a place where you'll remember where they are so you can reference them later if you need.

Here are some more great tips from our Facebook friends:

Kody suggests - Bring a sidekick!

Deanna says -  Walk the floor before buying - otherwise your budget (and you must make a shopping plan) will go bust before you are down the first aisle.

Mary recommends - Just like gambling, bring just the amount of cash you are allowing yourself to spend. Do not bring a credit card. If there is something more you need, make arrangement with the seller to get it later by mail. Or - leave your card with someone else, or in a place that you have to work to get to, like locked in a friend's car or room. It's very easy to break the bank on all those wonderful things.

Sahari talks about budgeting too - I would have to set a spending limit and then take only that amount with me. And peruse the whole place first if you can and then make your selections.

Kate says -  Wear sensible shoes and don't buy anything until you've done the grand tour. I also have a budget and stick to it!

Karen knows her stuff - Check out all the booths before you buy. But there's one exception. If you see something that is the most amazing, one of a kind thing ever, buy it immediately, or the next person will.

Carleen agrees with everyone and adds -  The only thing I would add (and always forget) is to bring pics of projects you have in the works that are "missing that last piece" or bring mini baggies with sample beads from a project to match new finds too

JonAnn has an organization tip too -  Take a notepad and ziplock bags. As you buy put the purchase and the vendor card in the bag with the receipt. 

Lori says -  Bring smaller bills, vendors appreciate getting near exact change.

Gayley wraps it up with this helpful tip - bring a xanax!