I'm Free and Downloadable in PDF Format!

Okay, not me so much, but these tutorials!

These three have been free and on my blog for some time, but I know that for some it's kind of a pain to have to be connected to the internet at all times in order to view/work from the tutorial.

 

So, this weekend, I went through and created a PDF file from the blog entry for all three of these.

 

I've posted all of them in my Craftsy shop where you can download and save them directly to your desktop. These would be great to work on while traveling now that you can access the PDF. What also makes them great traveling projects is that they require so few materials (With the exception of the Woven and Wrapped Bracelet, I wouldn't want to mess with E6000 while on an airplane!). 

 

Here's a little snippet of info about each:

 

The first is my I'm Your Tiniest Fan Tutorial. These would make awesome earrings if you created a set, or use them as tiny little pendants. You could string together a bunch of them for a real showstopper of a necklace.

I would say that this one is probably for the experienced to advanced beader. It is helpful to have a real working knowledge of beadweaving terms and how to follow a complicated beadweaving pattern, along with some of the intuitiveness that comes with having worked with beads for a bit.

 

 

The second is my Looking Glass Pendant that I published a year ago. This one has been by far my most popular. (It has over 10,000 page hits on my blog!) I've gotten such wonderful compliments from fellow beaders who've followed the project and adapted it to create their own versions. It's super easy and I would say very useful even for the beginning beginner. 

 

This last tutorial is probably my personal favorite because it makes such good use of materials that I already have on hand. The only specialized material that you'll need is Color Infusions Memory Thread by DMC which is available in the cross stitch aisle of your local craft store. It also comes in about a dozen colors, so feel free to adapt it to your own style.

 

I do hope you'll check these out. They're available as instant downloads in my Craftsy shop. Also, if you do make something using one of these tutorials, I'd love to see it! Feel free to drop a picture in my inbox, or even post a pic to my La Bella Joya facebook page.

 

In other news, I am definitely still around.

I know I've been a bit absent lately, but I've been enjoying the holidays with my family, resting and relaxing and watching my baby belly grow daily.

 

I'm definitely full-on into maternity wear now, and actually, truly enjoying the stretchy pants!

 

I also set up the metalworking, ahem, "studio", in my garage and so I've been spending more time really working with metal and not so much with the beadies.

 

I've got a little collection of rings that I'll be finishing up and unveiling at the new year. They're solid sterling silver construction, with....well, I'll wait and let that be a surprise!

 

I hope you enjoy your weekend. Spend some time relaxing and doing something that you love.

Happy New Year!

 

 

BOGO - Why not?

I'm feeling very festive today.

 

The house is decorated.

 

 

I'm sitting next to a tupperware of gifted sweets.

 

I ate slow-cooker apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast.

 

It's wonderfully wintery outside.

 

And I'm sharing the all-around feeling of warmth by holding a BOGO sale on all my tutorials!

 

This means....

 

Buy any tutorial in my shop, bracelet, pendant, ring, beaded bead...

 

and get a second tutorial absolutely free.

 

The perfect gift for yourself or a beady friend to keep their fingers busy over the holiday season.

All tutorials can be found here.

 

Have a very, very Merry Christmas!

FREE Tutorial: I'm Your Tiniest Fan

 

These little tiny fans make perfect earrings, however, if you don't want earrings, feel free to turn them into tiny pendants or even decorations for wine glasses! (Wouldn't that be a great hostess gift?!) It only takes a handful of materials and if you don't have the copper links, try using any good stiff metal link that you have on hand.

Oh, and share this free tutorial far and wide it's my little Christmas gift to you!
 

Here's what you'll need to make your fan:

- One 15mm link from MissFickleMedia (2 for earrings)

- 4mm Faceted Czech Glass Rounds (A)

- Size 8 Seed Beads (B) (I used two different colors)

- Size 11 Seed Beads (C)

- Size 15 Seed Beads (D)

- 10mm Daggers (E)

- Wildfire or Fireline Beading Thread

- Beading Needle Size 10 or 12

 

*Note: I have not specified colors here. I chose a deep blue/purple combo, because it's one of my favorite. This tutorial leaves a lot of room for creativity, so feel free to make your fans in whatever color combo you like.

 

Here's a snapshot of my mix:
(I also don't tend to measure, I just pour out the beads and get started!)

 

 

 

1. Cut a piece of thread 3' in length, tie a double knot onto the link leaving a 4" tail.

 

 

 

2. String 1B, 1A, 1B. Loop your thread around the link and pass back through the 2nd B that you added. (Brick stitch)

 

 

 

3. String 1A, 1B, loop the thread around the link and pass back through the 1B that you just added. Do this two more times until you have four size 4mm rounds around your link, and you are exiting from the last 1B that you added.

 

 

 

4. String 1E and pass through the first A so that the dagger sits to the side.

 

 

 

5. String 2C and pass through the A. Do this twice more to add 2C between each A.

 

 

 

6. Pass down through the 1B that you added at the beginning of Step 2. Loop your thread around the link and pass back up through that same B.

 

 

 

7. String 1E and pass through the A.

 

 

 

8. String 1C, 1B, 1C and pass through the next A. Do this two more times and exit through the Dagger. *Note: You'll need to "push" these three beads behind the 2C that you placed there in Step 5. (See how they are sitting just under the 2C that you added in the previous round?)  

 

 

 

9. String 1D and pass back through the dagger.
*String 4D, pass over the A and through the C, do not pass through the B, skip over it and pass through the next C. (This will cause the B to pop out a bit)

Complete this step from the * until you pass through the other dagger.

 

String 1D, and pass back through the dagger and the 4D that you just added.

 

 

10. *String 1B (I've switched colors here) and pass through the next B. String 1B and pass through the 4D.
Complete this step from the * and pass through the dagger. 

 

Pass through the 1D and back through the dagger.

 

 

11. String 1D, 1A, and 1D and pass through the B. String 1D, 1 dagger, and 1D and pass through the next B.

 

 

 

String 1A and pass through the B. String 1D, 1 dagger, 1D and pass through the B.
Do this two more times you've added the third dagger . String 1D, 1A, 1D and pass through the end dagger.

(Do you see how the last 1D, 1A, and 1D that you just added is kind of sliding behind the 4D? This is not a problem, you'll need it later, so don't worry about it!)

 

 

 

 

12. Flip the piece over. String 2D and pass through the last D that you added in Step 11, the 1A and 1D.

 

 

Pass through the 1B. String 1C, 1D, 1C and pass through the next B, A, B. This will cause the dagger to pop forward a bit and give it a bit more structure and that 1C, 1D, 1C that you just added will sit on top of the dagger (or behind it if you're looking at the fan from the front.)

 

 

 

 

  Continue down the line of the fan adding the 1C,1D, 1C to finish the row. When you come to the end, pass through the 1D, 1A, 1D.

 

 

 

 

13. String 2D, loop your needle around and pass through the dagger just as you did to begin Step 12. Knot your working thread and tail thread into the beadwork, trim the ends and hang your earrings or pendant any way you see fit!  

I hope you enjoy creating your little fan and thanks for being a fan of La Bella Joya!

Also as a little gift, from now until the 15th, if you purchase any piece of jewelry from my shop, I'll upgrade your shipping for free! You'll get priority shipping on me to make sure that your gifts arrive in time for the holidays. Oh, and everything in my shop is ready to ship!
Here's the link to all the goodies.

Happy Holidays!  

 

From My Favorites

I spent a few minutes this morning cleaning out my Etsy favorites. It's really become a jumble of beads, cabs, bags and home decor (the things I buy often on Etsy), and I thought I'd share with you a couple of my favorites and the thought process that made my click that "add to my favorites" button.

 

 

This currently holds the front spot in my line-up.

Why?

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that I'm going to need a good diaper bag in the coming year and this one is one of the few that I've seen that isn't large enough to double as a suitcase carry-on, something that I'm pretty sure I don't want to lug around when carrying a baby also.

 

Why this?

Because, this is gorgeous, that's why.

I started buying handmade soap about six months ago, and I haven't looked back since. The only other person that I share the shower with doesn't like it, so I get the bar all to myself!

I've tried a few sellers, and my current favorite is this seller. Oh, and if you're giving gifts to currently pregnant mommies, I've been using this for a few weeks now, and LOVE it. 

 These are beautiful. Just beautiful.

These are one of those things that you put in your favorites and tuck away for a super special occasion. I can't think of anything more luxe than a pair of handmade slippers for your feet. Oh, and the shop isn't just all about feet, I'd definitely drop by if you're still hunting for presents. 

My mom wants to paint her bathroom dusty gray, think I can convince her to hang this print between the mirrors? 

 

Anytime I go into a home decor shop, I find myself gravitating toward the mugs. I don't know why really, but I have yet to find anything as tempting as the ergonomic and tribal designs of this designer.

 This I love not only because it's super-duper cute, but baby belly friendly to boot.

 

This next seller is near and dear to my heart. She made my wedding invites and I could not be more pleased with how they turned out. She worked with me through the whole process, customized all the colors, even the colors in the flowers, only printed and charged me for the exact number of invites that I needed and then created customized Thank You cards to go with the invites.

If you need invites or Christmas Cards, or even calendars, she has a great collection, and can even do Save the Dates and RSVP's.

If you know someone who is planning a wedding, I would highly, highly recommend these invites, they are simple and classic, and when I asked for the lighter kraft brown envelopes, she was happy to oblige. I got so many compliments on the simplicity and classiness of the invite and I know for a fact that I spent a lot less than I would have at a big box store because the minimum order was whatever I needed.

 

 

I'll try and hunt down my invites and take a photo so you can see exactly what she did for me.

 

Okay, I'm off to get some housework done. The jewelry sales have been creepingly slow the past month and it doesn't look like I'm going to be as busy holiday shipping as I thought.

 

It's probably a good thing, I've caught the dreaded head cold and really want to do nothing but sit around the house folding laundry and blowing my nose!

I hope you enjoy your weekend to the fullest!

UPDATE:
These were my wedding invites!
The color combination was fully customized as were the Thank You cards.

Where did I get the color combo?
From this dress, which consequently just happened to be the one that I wore on my wedding day.

photo by Timeless Fotographie