My blog has moved

Dear readers, thank you for your interest. I have moved my blog to Beadmixer.co.uk

Regards,
Elaine Zant

Ibiza Autumn

It is usually around August that I receive enquiries about the latest trends in autumn colours. Usually people expect the colours to be shades of brown, grey, ochre and dark purple. In this article I would like to present another idea: The "Ibiza Autumn" collection.

Tutorial: Statement Necklace from earring findings

This beautiful statment necklace was made by Aki. You can find a detailed tutorial on her blog Minted Strawberry. I like her choice using bronze and pink colours, they really work well together.

Making filigree jewellery

During the last week of October The Beadmixer offers a special Filigree sale!
In this article you'll find a collection of earrings and necklaces in which filigree elements were used.

DIY making snakeskin bracelets

This tutorial will demonstrate a simple technique that you can use to make bracelets with imitation snakeskin and a slider bead.

Tutorial exchange - Blukatkraft - DIY Earrings Jewelry Tutorial for Beginners

Recently we had the opportunity to work together with Heather O'Cain. She writes a lovely blog called BluKatCraft with all kinds of jewelry making tutorials.

DIY bracelets with elephants

This DIY tutorial shows you how to design a nice elephant charm bracelet with stitched imitation leather.

Art Deco glass earrings DIY

In January I wrote a DIY article in which I used these cone beads together with bead caps: Art Nouveau cone earrings
Thanks to these clips it is much easier to use the drop beads. The result; chic earrings!

DIY mosaic necklace pendant

Pastel filigree earrings

I designed this sweet pair of earrings using pastel tones and our new Art Nouveau style pendants.

Cameo statement earrings

The moment I saw these resin pendants I knew what I wanted to make with them.

DIY cabochons vintage birds

These colourful earrings were made using transparent glas cabochons and a vintage bird collage sheet.

Rose earrings with rhinestone fringe

These rose earrings ​​with rhinestone fringe were made inspired by the Autumn 2014 palette of pink and green autumn hues, The glass cabochons with vintage rose pictures have soft colours, making them very suitable for this season's jewellery. This tutorial shows you how you can make them yourself.

Autumn 2014 - Pink

For fall 2014 I chose a palette of pink elements, accented with green. Here a selection of soft pink shades like baby pink, coral, salmon and pearl. Sweet pink creates an autumn feeling when combined with emerald and pastel green shades. For the finish I use rose gold material.

DIY cabochon necklaces with flowers

I'm very fond of this collection cabochons. I made them myself, and so can you! I used some Mod Podge glue, 40x30 mm cabochons and a garden encyclopedia from the thrift store! The flower images gave me a lot of inspiration, which resulted in series of necklaces.

For details on how to use Mod Podge and glass cabochons have a look at my earlier tutorial on making glass cabochons for more tips.

Let's first have a look at the cabs themselves in close up :)

Galactic earrings

Space: stars, planets, moons and comets. People have always looked at the sky and wondered about all that beauty. This collection of Galactic earrings were inspired by the grand cosmic mystery.

Meditteranean earrings

It appears to be a particularly hot summer this year! As we have not planned any exotic vacations this year, I decided to create a Mediterranean ambience here with these earrings.

Tutorial - Statement rose earrings

Roses are my favourite flowers and it's been a real pleasure to make this collection of Statement Rose earrings.

Cloisonne drop earrings

Sometimes it can be so easy to make a pretty piece of jewelry .. I'm ever so content with these new cloisonne drop pendants!

Tutorial - A rainbow of earrings

For me, jewelry design at its best is when I can duplicate it in different colours. Especially if you are selling your own handmade creations, you may recognise that the design process takes a lot of time and effort. It's nice to appeal to a wider range of customers, because you can offer a piece of jewelry in their personal favourite colour.

Tutorial - Make your own glass cabochons

This step by step tutorial will show you how to customize a glass cabochon with a printed illustration and Mod Podge.

Tutorial Faux malachite earrings

One of my personal top three gemstones (along with Lapis Lazuli and Turquoise) is definitely Malachite!

Guest blog - Turquoise necklace DIY

Veva from MyWhiteIdea designed a beautiful necklace with turquoise coloured spikes. You can make this necklace yourself by following her detailed how-to article.

Guest blog - Rhinestone statement necklace

Rebecca from MyGirlishWhims designed and created a sparkly rhinestone statement necklace. Her blog's tagline is Beading, crafting and general life as a Girl!, which,we think, is a lovely theme.
You can find out exactly how the necklace was made by reading her article. It provides a step by step tutorial

Gypsy earrings

Aren't these a colourful lot? I have made this collection of Gypsy boho earrings with lampwork beads from India. The lampwork beads are a personal favorite of mine due to their vibrant colours. The beads in the so-called 'Weddingcake' style are made by hand in India. Combine them with a beautiful maxi dress for a summery Gypsy boho look!

The perfect Little Black Dress necklace

It's the ultimate classic which every woman should have in her wardrobe; the Little Black Dress! It flatters in all the right places, is easy to accessorize, and it never goes out of fashion.
This tutorial will show you how to make the perfect necklace to go with your Little Black Dress.

Girly Pearly earrings

There's something about spring that attracts me to pastel colours, which is why I came up with these Girly Pearly earrings! These earrings are nice and long, approximately 8 cm, but surprisingly light-weight. I made 9 different colour combinations in total, but with 9 different droplets, 10 different bowties, and over 20 different shades of pearly cabochons to choose from, the possibilities are endless. You can also opt for bronze or golden details rather than silver.

What do you need for one pair of earrings?

• Acrylic dropbeads, 2 pieces
• Filigree beadcaps, 2 pieces
• Headpins 50 mm , 2 pieces
• Pearl cabochons , 2 pieces
• Lace edge settings, 2 pieces
• Bowtie connectors, 2 pieces
• Open rings size 4 mm, 2 pieces
• Earhooks, 2 pieces
• Glue to attach the cabochons

How do you proceed?
1. Start by making the colour combinations. As I mentioned previously, there are many different possibilities – you can make a different combination for every day of the year! You can either use contrasting or matching colours. This is a fun and important part of the designing process, so take your time to come up with combinations that you like.

2. Fold down two eyelets of the lace edge setting. The setting will be hanging horizontally. You can fold down the eyelets by using a pair of nose pliers.

3. Make the pearl droplet. Place the bead onto the headpin, slide the beadcap over the top and cut off the headpin to the desired length. Be careful when you slide the beadcap over the bead; you don't want to damage the coating. Start shaping the eyelet.

4. Attach the pearl droplet to the setting and close up the eyelet.

5. Use a 4 mm ring to attach the girly bowtie to the top of the setting.

6. Attach an earhook to the bowtie. I have chosen to use a simple model.

7. Now glue the cabochon into the setting. Two drops of glue is enough; you don't want glue to spill out from underneath the cabochon.
Your Girly Pearly earrings are finished!

Combinaties

Lace edge setting silver for cabochon 18x13 mm Z038

French earring hooks silver 20x19 mm OH028

Jump ring silver 4 mm OR-Z002

Cabochon pearly glass lavender blue 18x13 mm CABM096P

Headpin silver 50 mm NS-Z001

Bead cap Filligree silver 23x8,5 mm KK011B

Metallook drop bead warm gold 30x10 mm KSK-DR009

Acrylic drop bead metallic flamingo pink 30x10 mm KSK-DR006D

Bowtie metal pendant connector turquoise blue 12x8 mm MH-ST003G

Earrings Baby Blue and Baby Pink

The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and these pastel drop earrings have a lovely spring feeling!
The starting point of these earrings are these new ear pins; they have a glue pad with a small eyelet attached at the bottom. The drop beads in baby blue and baby pink are a nice variation to the long earrings that are very fashionable at the moment.
And the best part is that you can make them yourself in fifteen minutes!

What do you need for one pair of earrings?

• 1 pair of ear studs with an eyelet.
• 1 pair of caps for the ear pins (not in the picture).
• 1 pair of 10 mm rose cabochons.
• 1 pair of drop beads.
• Headpins with a size of at least 40 mm. I have used 50 mm pins in a silver colour.
• Jewellery glue.

How do you proceed?

Place one drop bead onto a head pin and cut off the head pin at the top to make it the right size. Begin to shape the eyelet by folding the head pin, but do not close up the eyelet yet.

Attach the drop pendant to the eyelet of the ear pin. Now you can close up the eyelet of the drop.

Add a bit of glue to both the ear pin and the back of the rose; this will make the two parts stick together better. Attach the rose to the ear pin. Allow the glue to dry for a couple of hours before wearing the earrings.

Combinaties

Headpin silver 50 mm NS-Z001

Cabochon resin rose soft pink 10 mm CABR045

Cabochon resin rose turquoise 10 mm CABR050

Faux turquoise drop bead resin 30x10 mm KSK-DR002A

Earnut for Earstud Silver 6x5 mm DOP003

Earstuds platinum silver with eyelet and glue pad of 8 mm OS016