autumn vines knitted bangle

 It's finished! This design has been in progress (mostly in my head) since June. A big thank you to my friends on the Creative Stash facebook page for helping me choose which art print to use as the centerpiece! "Autumn Leaves" was the clear winner and compliments the antique bezel by Kerri Fuhr beautifully. 

I really love the look of knitted jewelry, it has so much gorgeous texture! I still can't believe I made a piece of jewelry that looks this complicated. It's really not though. I am sharing how I created this knitted bangle in the April issue of Bead Trends! Take a peek and let me know what you think.

bead and button show treasures

After a couple weeks away visiting family and friends in New York, I'm back! I left in a frenzy wrapping up odds and ends and didn't have a chance to share my goodies from the Bead&Button show with you. I didn't have a whole lot of time to really look and shop at the show but, of course I managed to pick up a few treasures.

I have had some raw crystal ideas swimming in my head for awhile so, finding a strand to play with at the show made me really happy. I came home and designed these 4 necklaces and 3 earrings with these straight away! Above are the pieces I have left to work with when new inspiration strikes.

Soft Flex Company

Before heading to the show, I noted of my lack of black jewelry in my stash. I wear a good amount of black/grey clothing so, picking up some interesting black stones was high on my list. This beautiful strand of Tektite gemstone beads fit the bill. They are gorgeous! I picked these up from the Soft Flex Company booth and have to say it was really hard to resist all the pretty gemstone beads Soft Flex has in their booth while I worked all week!

Earthenwood Studio

I was gifted these beautifully crafted ceramic beads by Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studios. She is so very talented and sweet too! I am thinking that the rose connector or wing would go nicely with some Tektite gemstone beads.
  

Jennifer Wilson

My friend and co-worker Jenny Wilson gifted me her handmade and adorable lampwork bumpy beads and a recycled beer bottle glass ring component, sweet! I love the teal blue color of the bumpy beads and couldn't resist whipping up a pair of earrings with them as soon as I got home. So cute! I made the ear wires while demoing how to make ear wires in the Soft Flex show booth. The ear wires are made with 18 Gauge Soft Flex Craft Wire in Pewter. 

Soft Flex Company

Speaking of ear wires I picked up a spool of 18 Gauge Soft Flex Craft Wire in Smokey Quartz, a cup bur and a rubber block so I can make my own ear wires at home. I think I should have picked up 20 gauge wire too though as 18 gauge can be a little thick for some ears.

Envirotex

Cami of Envirotex Resin generously gifted me some jewelry resin (yay!). I can't wait to try it. I love working with resin to make art and personalized magnet sets and art jewelry.

Kerri Fuhr

Green Girl Studios

Above are a few bezels I brought home to play with the resin. I love how large and beautifully ornate the antique copper bezel from Kerri Fuhr is and in contrast I adore the simplicity and handcrafted quality of the pewter bezel and swirl charm from Green Girl Studios. 

Tresori Trovati Jewelry

Last and certainly not least is the inspiring "follow your bliss" Simple Truths pendant from Erin Prais-Hintz of Tresori Trovati Jewelry. To see the full necklace, see my post here.

Bead&Button is always a great show full of artful beads, tools, wire, education as well as a great place to connect with jewelry artisans, beaders and friends alike!

flex your creativity beading contest

Enter Soft Flex Company's steampunk design beading contest
using exposed Soft Flex Brand Beading Wire and win!

Prizes Include:
GRAND PRIZE: $500 Gift Certificate
Runner Up: $250 Gift Certificate
Honorable Mention: $100 Gift Certificate
TOP 10 WINNERS: Free 30ft spool of their choice

The top 10 winners also may be showcased in the following ways:
On our website
Print ads in top industry magazines
Direct mail pieces (fliers, postcards, sales sheets, etc)
Soft Flex Company Glass Art & Bead Festivals

Click for details!

gift wrapping

Here I used the Peace Joy Love wrapping paper & gift tag I designed to finish a friends gift. You can print the gift tags and wrapping paper at home. An inexpensive way to finish your holiday gifts in style! Free art downloads are available over at the Soft Flex Company website.

celebrating autumn

Fallen Leaves 2007
acrylic painting on wood

Autumn is my all time favorite season. Today, September 22nd marks the first day of Autumn. Living in the desert I get a wee bit sad that we miss out on the vibrant and mass amount of color changing going on in other parts of the country this time of year. We have the rich golds, reds and browns all year long but, they are more subtle. The massive amounts of foliage is hard to match up to. However, it is only a short drive away if we want to enjoy a fall day outing amidst the trees, so really we can have our cactus and changing leaves too...just have to go out and get it!

Autumn Song
Katherine Mansfield

Now's the time when children's noses
All become as red as roses
And the color of their faces
Makes me think of orchard places
Where the juicy apples grow,
And tomatoes in a row.

Come then, find your ball and racket,
Pop into your winter jacket,
With the lovely bear-skin lining.
While the sun is brightly shining,
Let us run and play together
And just love the autumn weather.

I sure do welcome the passing of our hot summer months and the cooler air can already be felt in the mornings. We desert dwellers are lucky to be able to enjoy nice weather for much of the year.


Today at Soft Flex Company we are celebrating the first day of Autumn with a ONE DAY SALE. If you are a jewelry designer, you may use coupon code AUTUMN at checkout and you will receive a 25% off discount on our single strands clasps. Make sure that you are signed up to receive our email newsletter for future sale coupons, project ideas and beading tips! You only have 24 hours to purchase, Tuesday 9/22.

This offer is not valid with any other discounts. If your purchase qualifies for two or more discounts, you will receive the best discount, but not a combination.

Fashion trends and project ideas

Fashion Trends

Are you a recessionista? No matter what your income, looking good doesn't have to weigh down your wallet. Recently, Jamie Hogsett and Sara Hardin of Soft Flex Company, went on the hunt at Kohl's and Target to see what sort of affordable fashion they could find. And of course, paired the latest fashion trends with some of Soft Flex's free jewelry projects ideas that match.

We hope to update this section a few times a year with current and affordable fashion options that pair with our current and affordable free project ideas for accessories to keep you looking hip. I created the graphics and layout for this new web feature and I hope you will take a look by clicking Fashion Trends!

beading contest deadline is approaching fast!

Time sure does fly when you are having fun. It seems like just yesterday that Sara and I were sitting at one of our coffee meetings dreaming up the idea for this beaded jewelry contest...and now, it is finally time to get your entries in. We can't wait to see what you dream up.

ONLY 21 DAYS LEFT TO ENTER!

See Contest Details

digital sketch: sun

Here is a sun graphic I drew today for an upcoming promotion at work. I'll post some free beading inspired wallpaper with this artwork once it's ready for your downloading pleasure.

earth day sale

Today at Soft Flex Company, we have a one day only sale to celebrate Earth Day. Enter coupon code EARTH until tonight at midnight PT to get 20% off our new Trios Extreme eco-friendly beading wire. Trios Extreme is a set of (3) 10ft spools of .019 diameter beading wire in the colors 24k gold, 925 sterling silver and champagne. The colors of this set are really beautiful and the wire is free of heavy metals, making Soft Flex Extreme wire the most eco-friendly choice in beading wire.

beading contest

Soft Flex® Company is looking for colorful designs that showcase your creativity. Design entries must include all three Soft Flex® Wire colors from one of our ten Trios. There is no limit to the number of designs that you may enter. We encourage you to feature beads and findings from your local bead shop. Find a bead store near you.

FIND OUT MORE HERE!

rosary beads

With the passing of Easter Sunday, I wanted to share with you the delicate glass and crystal Rosary I created for Bert when his grandmother passed away. May her soul rest in peace. Great care and kind thoughts were put into the making of his rosary beads.

Visit Soft Flex Company for a beautiful Pearl Rosary free project idea to create a Rosary for yourself or a loved one. You may also want to pickup the book, A String & A Prayer by Eleanor Wiley and Maggie Oman Shannon. This book recounts the history and symbolism of prayer beads, teaches basic techniques for stringing beads and found objects, offers prayers and rituals to use these sacred objects every day.

In the Roman Catholic faith, the Rosary is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and sacred prayers. The Rosary offers hope when life can be unbearable. How to Pray the Rosary.

eco-friendly beading wire

We at Soft Flex Company are thrilled to present the world's first eco-friendly beading wire! Go Green! Go Extreme! The new Soft Flex® Extreme™ Flex Wire is free of heavy metals and can be recycled. We love this planet and want to leave it a better place for our children and future generations of beaders. There has been a lot of buzz about our new wire lines and we are so very thankful for the support. Soft Flex® Company supports reducing, reusing and recycling. Learn more about Soft Flex Company's green practices. We are delighted to lead wire manufacturers to think and rethink how they can go "green" and are happy to be the leader in a cause that matters so much.

soft flex's secret is out!

I work for Soft Flex Company, a beading wire manufacturer and jewelry supply company. We have been hyping our new product launch for the past few weeks. We unveiled our new items at the CHA show in California last week and at the Best Bead Show in Arizona this week. Today, we let the secret out on our website and the items are finally online for purchase! With the new product launch I also re-designed our homepage as seen above.

We have introduced 9 new color wire sets called Soft Flex Wire Trios. Along with the color wire sets we introduced 10 new Soft Flex beading wire colors. You can now find the largest color assortment of beading wire with 34 color variations at Soft Flex company!

We have introduced the world's first "green", eco friendly beading wire, called Extreme Flex Wire available now in 24K gold. Sterling silver & champagne will be coming soon. This product is not a steel product. Heavy metals are not used in the process and therefore this product is far better on the environment in its manufacturing process.

We have also recently introduced our economy beading wire line for craft and hobbyists called Econoflex wire available in 8 color options.

We'll be launching tons of new free project ideas using the Trios, Extreme Flex and Econoflex wire in February. If you don't know how to use color, we'll show you!

See what my creative friends are busy doing this week:

Sara Hardin (AKA SoftFlexGirl) loves the new colors in Soft Flex Wire! The Trios are SO COOL!

Jamie Hogsett made new earrings!

i heart telecommuting

This week at work has been all about going green! Soft Flex Company has explored the green work environment for some time but, we have never formally expressed these practices to each other or to our customers. The New Year presented the perfect time to discuss what we do as a company and individuals to tread lightly on this wonderful planet. Check out Soft Flex Company's green practices.

Bert & I telecommute for Soft Flex Company, as do 1/3 of the Soft Flex staff. This means a strong reduction in vehicle emissions and fuel consumption as we are not adding to the congestion on the road. Our home-based office is very close to being paperless as the majority of our work is performed online. We, as home-based employees, also add to the conservation aspect by not packing lunches or eating out, waste incurred here includes: food containers, plastic baggies, cups, plastic eating utensils, and paper waste, such as napkins. It feels great working from home for many reasons and having the additional bonus of helping our environment makes it all the more merrier.

I hope telecommuting gains more momentum for companies in the future. Many people ask how do we get any work done, but really how can we not? Bert & I still have deadlines and goals to meet. I enjoy having the freedom to plan my day and the trust to be able to work unsupervised. The trust given to you to be able to work on your own accord is enough to motivate me. The discipline needed to work from home may seem like a lot but, ultimately you have things to get things done. If you do them, they aren't going away so; you might as well get to work! I honestly wouldn't want to jeopardize my position with the company by not completing the tasks asked of me. Why would I want to "slack off" and get laid off when working from home is a gift in and of itself that I don't want to take for granted.

Sure, there are some downsides - of course there is. I do not get out much (if at all some days). I rarely meet my co-workers face to face. I have to dedicate a portion of my home to "work" and essentially never leave work. And, I sometimes feel like my design skills get stale because I do not have any design colleagues sitting next to me to bounce ideas off of and learn from. However, all these things can be overcome.

• Instead of getting outdoor time to and from work, I need to take some time outside after work or open my windows!
  
• Instead of making friends to go out with from work, I have to get involved in social groups with people that have similar interests (which means my friendships may be longer lasting as they are people I have more in common with then just were we work).
• I have purchased an armoire that can be closed when the work day is done and I have to shut down my computer. This prevents me from feeling like I have to sit at my desk off hours.
  
• And, I have to frequent design sites and blogs to work on tutorials (my 2009 goal) to keep ideas fresh and my skills sharp!

I love working from home and I love that Soft Flex Company has been open to telecommuting for over 5 years. And, I really love that this arrangement also helps out our environment in big ways.

silver and gold

Make new friends,

but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.

A circle is round,
it has no end.
That's how long,
I will be your friend.

My good friend and long time co-worker with Soft Flex Company, Sara Hardin brought her boyfriend Josh, her dog Honey and another member of the Soft Flex team Jamie, to our house for a post holiday celebration. Although Jamie & I have been working together for over a year...and although I know Jamie well from our "internet friendship" of emails and online chats...we have not gotten to meet each other face to face. So, while Jamie was in Arizona visiting her family I'm so very happy she came to our home to share a nice afternoon with our family. It was wonderful to meet one another. Funny, how Jamie & I wore the same color shirt - that was not planned but, it was a pleasant surprise ;)


Truly my friends are the silver and gold in my life. I am blessed to work with wonderful people. I cherish the friendships I have with my co-workers. For me, having honest friendships with those I work with creates an environment I want to go to each and every day. Many of my past co-workers are still dear friends of mine today.

I seek out spiritual friendships, a relationship with common interests and that is the responsibility of both friends and both bring something to it. I enjoy engaging in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of ourselves. Sara and I have this kind of friendship and I am so grateful for it.

beading: moukaite set

This is a blast from the past! I created this design back in 2005, I think. Since it's been a busy week preparing for the holidays I don't have much new happening creatively so, i figured this was a good week to bust out an oldie but goodie design.

The focal bead for this necklace is a bold and beautiful moukaite slice gemstone bead. Moukaite comes from Australia and is part of the jasper family. It typically has bands of all sorts of colors from pinks to yellows to deep reds. This stone is unique and a lot of fun to design interesting jewelry. Jasper protects you against negativity and is also an excellent grounding stone spiritually and emotionally.

The remainder of the design is made up of amber and bone colored glass beads in various shapes and sizes and tiny reddish brown seed beads as spacers, all strung on Soft Flex .019 beading wire. I finished the design with a sterling silver wrapped hook and eye clasp.

I think I'll wear this piece in the upcoming days. With the holidays right around the corner who wouldn't need a little grounding spiritually and emotionally?!

beading: natural

This is one of my favorite "go to" jewelry sets. It is casual, chic, super light weight and can be worn with black and brown. I created it out of natural wooden beads in varying sizes, swarovski crystal rounds in light colorado topaz, black seed beads strung on .019 diameter soft flex beading wire in original steel tone and finished the design with a simple hook & eye clasp and ear wires.

beading: pendant gifts

This past weekend I met up with 3 of my favorite ladies: Erica, Laraine and Suzan. We are friends from high school who all turn 30 this year and decided to celebrate together in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is amazing that we have kept in touch all these years and even though we all live apart and don't talk to one another often enough it's like we haven't skipped a beat when we are together. I feel blessed to have them in my life. Erica was our hostess with the mostess and we had a fabulous weekend staying with her, Steve and of course Bella. I wanted to give these important women in my life a special gift. I picked out one of my original paintings turned resin pendant for each of them and then beaded a necklace to match the pendant design. Above is a photo of us on Saturday night all wearing our necklaces! (Laraine, Suzan, me and Erica) Check out each necklace below:

Erica's moon & stars necklace, as teenagers Erica was way into astrological designs so, choosing this pendant for her was a no-brainer.

Laraine's 3 daisies necklace, a long time ago I sent photos of my paintings to friends and family and Laraine commented on how much she liked this one so, I knew this pendant had to be hers.

Suzan's sunflower necklace, Suzan is a strong woman who is a lot of fun and this painting expresses that with its bold colors and sunflowers, which in and of themselves are cheerful so, this pedant was a natural choice for her.

Thanks for all the fun times in the past, present and future. I love you ladies!

beading: peach pearls

I purchased a beautiful strand of peach mother of pearl beads from Soft Flex Company's booth and the Glass Art & Bead Festival in Sonoma and lucky for you these can also be found online - 14mm peach mother of pearl rounds. Pearls are organic gemstones. They are formed when a foreign body becomes trapped inside of the shell of a mollusk. The pearl is a symbol of feminine wisdom, purity, and spiritual transformation.

I designed this bubbly necklace with 14mm pearls, small pearls as spacer beads, 3 swarovski cube beads in 2 sizes as the focal point, strung it on soft flex .019 beading wire wire and finished it off with a sterling silver 1 strand clasp.

beading: artistic stone

I based this beading creation off my good friend, Sara Hardin's free project idea featured on Soft Flex Company's web site. I made the design my own by choosing a different shape of artistic stone beads, using black accent beads instead of brown, and stringing with soft flex sterling silver extreme 925 flex .019 beading wire instead of soft flex beading wire in butterscotch and finish both the necklace & bracelet off with a sterling silver toggle clasp. This was one of my favorite designs to create and is so much fun to wear. Thanks for providing the inspiration, Sara!