Spotlight - the page where we showcase some of our ideas for using both new, and existing, products in the Spellbound range.

In June we concentrated on coming up with more ideas using semi precious beads - see the Projects page for some fantastic ideas on making a small selection of beads go a long way.  For July we have moved onto look at using crystals and pearls.  As we had just had a delivery of some fabulous new pearl colours and new colours and shapes in crystal beads it seemed like the obvious thing to do! For Spotlight we looked at quick and easy combinations - lots of stretch magic bracelets for quick and easy summer makes plus charms, earrings and a multi strand necklace.  Take a look at the Projects page for more ideas using crystals and pearls and also the gorgeous new copper findings.

One of the things we like to look at for this page is using colours, what we can put together and how things work.  For instance the bracelets above use pink with white for a really light look, made more formal by the inclusion of metallic silver crystal rondelles.  Next, pink crystals are teamed with latte pearls and gold diamante rondelles; and the third set uses the same gold diamante rondelles but with gold, white andf turquoise pearls.

The next three use stronger tones as their base colour, with pewter and lilac pearls and half silvered rondelles with a few purple seed beads; nest a simple repeat of eau de nil pearls and red crystal rounds; then the same eau de nil pearls mixed with larger pewter pearls and clear AB crystal rounds and half silvered crystal rondelles.

On this row the latte pearls, the same as those used in the first bracelet in this section, are teamed with bronze crystal rounds and gold metallic seed beads to bring out the more brown tones in the pearls instead of the pink used in the first bracelet which highlights the pink tones.  The charm bracelet, made by Florence, one of the fantastic work experience girls who have been to spend some time with us this summer, uses a whole range of pearl colours and lots and lots of charms for maximum impact.  The green bracelet, made by Millie, also here on work experience, teams the green pearls with dark teal cut crystal rounds.  Millie has threaded on the first six beads and made a double knot through the thread and then threaded the main strand of the bracelet so that the first six form a small drop.

The earrings are simply ivory pearls separated by a diamante and silver rondelle.  The necklace is three strands of different coloured rattail, with a few beads knotted, pendant style, along the length, and then pulled together in large box lace ends.  Then two strands of 0.315mm warm gold wire have been bound around the rattail, holding all three threads together at the side, and these two strands have been randomly threaded with more beads on twists and stamens and then finished off by binding the rattail strands together on the other side to match the first side.  Finally make a few headpin dangles using more beads and attach them to the necklace using jump rings to add a bit more movement.

This May our spotlight session, and our new Projects, were all focused on crystal and semi-precious. We had just taken delivery of some gorgeous new large crystal pieces, which so often end up being used just as window decorations – nothing wrong with that but we wanted to see how else we could use them as well, we hope you like our ideas!

Our other big May delivery was of course the semi precious – here are a few quick and easy ideas, see the Projects page for some more …

First we looked at some really simple necklace ideas – the crystals have so much impact that with just a little work you can have a beautiful necklace. Jodie suspended her donut crystal on a small sling of chain, brought together at the top with a 5mm jump ring and then attached to a neck chain. The heart crystal she has made a simple wrapped bail for (see the Wirework – wrapped loops and bails download on the Techniques page if you would like to learn how to make these), and suspended it on five different colours of synthetic knotting thread, simply finished with large box lace ends. Katie has combined her crystal donut with a chunky silver lined bead, knotted through and topped with a clear pony bead, all threaded onto 1mm cotton thong.

For the next two necklaces Lisa chose to team her crystals with more beads for a different look – still beautiful and light to go with a summer dress but with a bit more detail so they could dress up an evening outfit too. The first joins a small and large square crystal with a soft flex figure of eight strap, covered in size 8 seed beads and with a central cut glass rondelle. Then Lisa has made a U shaped bail with 0.8mm wire, joined at the top with an 8mm jump ring and threaded onto a red and a gold synthetic knotting thread strap, finished with small box lace ends and a lobster fastener. The second threads a snowflake pendant onto a wrapped bail which is then threaded onto two strands of cotton thong, one turquoise and one a soft pale green teamed with vibrant millefiore squares and frosted lime green rounds and taking one of the threads through the beads and one around, knotting them in between, to make a feature of the threads as well as the beads.

Next, we simply could not resist using some of the crystals for decoration! Katie (left) has made a wrapped bail for the top of the long crystal point, used a sling of 1mm purple cotton cord to attach this to the base of a crystal donut, through a clear pony bead in the centre of the donut, then wrapped the thread around the top of the donut and made a series of simple decorative knots along the length of the cord. Julie (right) has used a series of wrapped bails to make her drop. Starting with a bail to connect the drop crystal to the flower filigree, she has then made a wrapped bail to connect the bottom of the donut to the top of the flower filigree – attaching the bail to the filigree flower with two 6mm jump rings. Then she has made a free hand small curved hanger from 1.2mm wire and used two more 6mm jump rings to attach this to the top wrapped bail of the crystal donut. The whole is then suspended on monofilament.

And now for a little simple semi precious stringing. Louisa (near right) has made a simple U shaped bail at the top of her pendant piece and given it a ‘waist’ to pinch it in a bit at the top, then it is simply strung on soft flex with 4mm red glass beads accented with black bicones and larger red beads. Vicky (far right) has used a similar pendant, threaded straight onto the soft flex with navy goldstone 4mm rounds and a pretty feature toggle clasp placed to one side to be a feature of the front of the necklace rather than hidden at the back.

And finally – for a simple but effective pair of earrings Jodie chose two gorgeous semi precious stones, threaded onto a headpin with a toning faceted glass bead on one end and a metal bead on the other and add a simple curling twist of 0.8mm gold plated wire around the beads with a loop at one end to glue in a chaton.

In April we decided to spend our spotlight time looking at flowers and seeing what we could make in just fifteen minutes using flower beads as a theme … and for the projects page we were looking at flowers too – but creating flowers and flower inspired pieces using beads and wire.

First off was a string of luscious rainbow flower shaped beads simply threaded on medium soft flex and finished with a toggle fastener. Then, on soft flex again but with a lobster fastener, three accent beads – turquoise base with red, orange, yellow and white flower decoration – are complemented by a string of chakri beads that pick up the feature bead colours. The third string, on soft flex with a simple toggle fastener, is a summer flower bead string, with the flowers separated by short strings of size 11 SL AB rocailles and small crystal cubes.

The red set is made on tigertail and both necklace and bracelet finished with small lobster fasteners, and the flower beads are separated by chalk red size ten seed beads and black 6mm round beads. The lilac tulip beads are separated by 4mm emerald facets and threaded on stretch magic. The earrings simply two emerald facets and a tulip bead on a headpin attached to small earwires.

And finally – we really couldn’t get through a session without a tassel or two! The pink necklace is on 1mm cotton thong finished with small box lace ends and a torpedo fastener. The tassel has pink 4mm facets at the end and a mix of size 8 SL frost AB red rocailles and 8mm pink round beads, threaded onto headpins, attached to an eyepin that goes through the feature flower bead. This is then threaded onto a 6mm jump ring onto which the neck cord is tied and a further two 8mm pink beads and two 6mm purple AB facets are tied onto the cord about 2cm from the centre. The earrings are made by threading a selection of flower beads with size 10 clear lustre seed beads and size 8 frost green seed beads onto headpins at different lengths. Attach to a flower filigree and use two 5mm jump rings to attach the filigree to the earwire.

The necklace and bracelet set have been made by linking metal flowers and 6mm cut crystal peridot bicones and finishing them off with the lovely pewter vine hook and eye fasteners – and yes, I did say at the beginning that this was a fifteen minute make BUT Erika, who made it does a lot of wirework (she also teaches several classes that involve looping and linking) and is very fast and accurate - proof if it were needed that practice really does make perfect!

At the start of March we brought in a host of gorgeous chunky metal beads from India.  They look and feel fantastic with plenty of weight in them so that you know you are wearing a really lovely piece of jewellery.

First we have three bracelets by Emily, Nina and Katie.  The first two got a little carried away so only replicate them exactly if you like your bracelets almost nine inches long!  Emily has teamed her square metal beads with AB glass cubes to echo the shaping along the length and then finished with an S hook fastener that picks up the swirl decoration on the metal beads.  A simple combination that works really elegantly.  Nina has picked up the Indian influence of the beads by using a rich ruby red glass to complement the metal for a truly sumptuous look.  On the right Katie has gone for a summer feel by teaming her metal beads with fresh turquoise cotton thong to pick up the colour of the two chunky glass beads.  Simply finished with a sliding knot.

Julie has made a necklace with a completely random selection of purple toned beads to team with the metal beads, all simply threaded onto tigertail and finished with a toggle fastener.  This is a great way of using up those random selections of beads that we all have in our treasure boxes with the unifying theme of the metal beads and the colour to keep it all together.

Vicky and Erika have also both taken the necklace route.  Vicky has made a simple, but very chunky, daisy shape using large round metal beads teamed with a single silver lined purple bead, simply wired into shape with 0.4mm soft silver plated wire and threaded onto a grey and a black cotton thong for a summer look with an industrial feel to it!  Erika, like Nina, has gone for a rich, regal feel by teaming the metal with silver lined red glass.  Using two strands of 1mm black rattail, and one strand of black synthetic knotting cord, Erika has created a softly draping lariat that falls with a satisfying chunk of weight at the front.  The bead sequence that sits around the neck is all tied onto the knotting thread and the three cords are brought together in a simple overhand knot between each sequence.  Once all the cords have been brought together at centre front each individual cord is then decorated at different lengths to give texture to the design. 

At the beginning of February we launched some beautiful, colourful glass and ceramic beads and we have put a few ideas together just to show how we would use and wear them.

The first set, by Julie and Nina, uses GL2371 silver lined scarlet diamonds for a real splash of colour – there are also a cushion, lozenge and round bead in this colour and finish - they have teamed the diamonds with one of the new ceramic donuts, some matt black chakri beads and 1mm black cotton thong for a quick and easy make with two simple earring styles to go with it.

Continuing the bright and bold theme Julie has used the new matt finish beads (discs GL3250-3252, rectangles GL3255-3257) as the starting point for two striking summery necklaces.

On the right a single strand of lilac 1mm cotton thong goes through the central bead decoration, which is then knotted onto a double strand of orange to complete the neck cord and the copper findings work beautifully with the bright colours.

On the left a random pattern necklace teaming the new matt beads with beads from the Hockney range (GL2730-GL2739), cupcake discs, some metal and also beads from the new axle (GL3270-GL3273) and millefiore (GL2651-2654) ranges. All simply threaded on 0.019 soft flex and finished with an S hook fastener (MB157).

Keeping with the citrus bright theme Lisa has teamed the green millefiore squares with lime green discs (GL1471) and plated plastic washers and knotted with a vibrant yellow cotton thong the bracelet is completed with burnished gold findings.

The pink necklace on the right is simply knotted onto baby pink cotton thong and finished with small box lace ends. The pendant on the left has been created by simply threading the disc onto a headpin with a 3mm metal bead at each end and then slipped onto purple cotton thong fastened with a sliding knot. The blue necklace combines lustred blue tubes with black diamond AB fire polished rondelles (GL2711) on 0.019 soft flex and finished with a lobster fastener.

New links have also come in – not only gold versions of many of the links featured below, but also new flower and heart shapes. Here Vicky has used 6mm jump rings to join flower links (MB673) together to make a simple pendant, suspended on teal thong and completed with small box lace ends. The matching earrings use 8mm Capri blue facets on an eyepin link, attached by two 6mm jump rings to a flower link and finished on a stud fitting (FN003)

Nina and Louisa have chosen to take a more sophisticated approach with the new beads – the colours are still bold but the styling is much softer. This beautiful set from Louisa teams the new metallic swirled discs (GL3277 – GL3283) with silver plated plastic bicones and red 4mm facets. The earrings are completed with FN006 small fishhook earwires and the necklace with 0.019 soft flex. The dangles beneath the central bead of the necklace are part of the same soft flex that makes up the body of the necklace and the beads are held on, and spaced, using French crimps. Nina’s luscious bracelet teams matt striped rectangles (GL1756-GL1763) with cut glass ovals (GL3015) and 3mm metal rounds. Threaded on tigertail the bracelet is finished with oval jump rings and a small lobster fastener.

At the end of 2010 we took delivery of some fabulous solid metal links, filigrees and tube beads - a range that we increased in early 2011 and with more shapes and finishes to come.  When they first came in we challenged ourselves to see how we would use them, and the results are below.

The first few designs just concentrated on using the solid links.  The order codes for the links are MB668S, MB669S, MB670S and MB671S and they are from 8p to 12p each with discounts available for larger amounts.

For the first chain we used a selection of the new links and joined them together using three 5mm jumprings between each large link

For the second we used 5mm jumprings and FN131 trace chain between the links

For this one we combined the techniques for the first two chains to create a chunky textured necklace

For this necklace we used 5mm jumprings to suspend the small links inside the large and then used FN131 trace chain in differing lengths to create this simple yet effective necklace

And then we took the links into a Creating with Wire workshop.  In the last section of this three part workshop we look at making spiral wrapped beads and incorporating them into jewellery and the new links worked so well with the wrapped beads everyone got quite carried away.

Using 0.6mm half hard wire for tight spirals (in the pink necklace) and 0.8mm half hard wire for the more substantial spirals in the turquoise necklace, we have used a combination of headpins, 5mm jumprings, handmade spirals and links and FN132 curb chain to create these necklaces, with a selection of glass beads and 3mm silver metal beads.

And then there are the filigree links, new tubular beads and the bead cones that are too pretty to just be relegated to the ends of necklaces ...

In this design Bryony has used a complete variety of beads, three of the large filigree loop fittings (MB635S), joining her decorations onto it with oval jumprings (FN187S), silver trace chain (FN131), and some links that she made in 0.6mm half hard silver wire.

This design really couldn't be any easier - using tigertail to thread an assortment of toning blue faceted beads in different  sizes, spaced out with fine tube beads MB646S and MB647S

For this pink confection Pat has used one large filigree (MB635S) in the centre, with the smaller size (MB634S) to either side.  The decoration of 6mm facets and bicones and 2mm silver beads is attached with headpins and 5mm jumprings, and completed with FN131 silver trace chain.

Officially bead cones, these findings also work beautifully as flower trumpets.  The stamens pictured are headpins with seed beads, but flowing tassels of 15s or fine chain also work very well

..... and the diamante settings, luscious new cut glass beads and the curvy flowers

From this one box of 14 x 5g packs of silver lined Delica beads, plus fasteners and a few facets from her stash, Edna made an impressive 13 bracelets.  Some of the designs are from the pattern sheets that are included in the Palette boxes, the Jacquard (4th from right) is from a free download from our Projects page, some are Edna's own design and the multi pattern (4th from left) is from a very battered magazine that has been one of Edna's favourite patterns for many years.  We will try and get the magazine title and designer info for that one posted here as soon as we can.