Recently, Artbeads.com asked their design partners to create a design incorporating an old/vintage item with new modern elements, hence "What's Old is New Again." So I put my thinking cap on, put in my order, and here's what I received.
What's with the 2 toggle clasps you ask? Well...I'll be creating 2 designs, and I'm very excited about it! The collection of colorful beads include two varieties of Czech Glass beads; Brown Silk flat barrels & Champagne roundel beads and there are some gorgeous Swarovski Crystals in stunning colors of Purple Velvet (to die for!), bright & vivid Capri Blue and sparkly Crystal Golden Shadow. Those shiny gold beads on the bottom left are 22K gold-plated pewter heishi spacers. They look like gold nuggets! The findings above the spacers are crimp ends and end cap rings. Perfect to use with satin ribbon, which is what I'll be using them for. This will be my first time creating with these, and I'm loving them already! They're very easy to work with, and they make a nice touch or finish to your jewelry piece. Visit Artbeads Jewelry Findings for a huge selection in an array of finishes.
Once I made the drafts for my designs, I knew I needed gold findings, and I had an idea of the shapes, materials, and brands I wanted. So with all of that in mind, I took advantage of the option to shop by material and the option of shopping the collections and brands feature. Let me tell you, both of these shopping options was a huge help in finding what I was looking for! I just love all the different ways you can shop on Artbeads! All of the gorgeous findings are pewter (100% lead free) and either gold-plated or antique gold-plated, with the exception of the gold-filled crimp tubes (top middle) and the brass bead frames (bottom left.) The charm above the set of bead frames is a lovely bell flower I found from the TierraCast Pewter brand that Artbeads features. The fancy link on the bottom right is a multi-strand endpiece. I knew I wanted an ornate link of some sort, but I wasn't sure if this one was going to work...but once I got it and laid it out with my design, it couldn't be a more perfect fit! I have to say I'm very impressed with the beautiful craftsmanship of every item, not to mention how much prettier each item is in person.
And finally (hopefully you're still with me :), I'll be using beautiful satin ribbon in each of my designs. The colors are light-blue and brown. They're both really soft and strong and can be found in Artbeads vast selection of Stringing Materials. I love their satin ribbon! In fact, I've already tried out a few different colors with some new designs listed in my shop, and I'll be adding more over the next few weeks.
I'm almost finished with my 1st design, and I can't wait to share it with you! I really hope you'll come back next week to see what I've created with Artbeads "What's Old is New Again" design challenge.
"Thanks so much for visiting my blog."
