... and the winners of the April Beading Challenge are:
Beginner's Category
Entry No. 3 - "Autumn Cascade" Bracelet by Sarah Aska - congratulations Sarah!
Open Category
Entry No. 7 - "Blaze of Beauty" Necklace by June Butt - congratulations June!
Both winners have been sent notification along with their prize, a $50 Beads Galore voucher each :-)
Thankyou so much to all who took part and those lovely people who voted!
Happy Beading,
Jo :-)
website
APRIL BEADING CHALLENGE ENTRIES ...
It is great to finally be able to get this newsletter out - 1 week late, due to server problems throughout the last week.
SO - voting has been extended for another week, ie until 5pm on Sunday 16th May.
Once you have chosen your favourite from each category, please email your 2 choices to us at
info@beadsgalore.co.nz , or post your votes on our blog. All votes must include your name and email address, plus a few words explaining your reason for each choice.
The entries with the most votes in each category by 5pm on May 16th will be the winners.
Please refer to the list of guidelines on our website if you require further information on voting, or any aspect of the challenge.
THE THEMES - "AUTUMN GLORY, WINTER WONDER" ... HERE ARE THE ENTRIES ...
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No. 1 "Autumn Breeze" Bracelet from Tania Hagen of Pelima Designs.
A bracelet that combines the timeless colours of autumn with crystals, pearls and pressed glass beads that highlight the theme of autumn. My inspiration for this bracelet was the colours of Grays Bush just out of Gisborne with the winery behind. Hence the grapes, you can't have autumn without a grape harvest. Set upon Antique Gold findings for the timeless look..
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No 2 "Softly Into Fall" from Jen Meiklejohn of Jenz Designs.
Jen has wrapped a hair comb with maroon coloured ribbon, made several autumn toned crochet leaves with various colours of artistic wire embellished with seed beads, and a 'straggly rose' also crocheted and embellished with more seed beads. The centre of the rose is a pink button.
"Along the river side I see the glorious colours of Autumn, and in my garden the old pink rambling rose thinning out now but still with a few fading straggly roses hanging onto life before she to sleeps for winter."
BEGINNERS CATEGORY: Entry No. 3 "Autumn cascade" bracelet from Sarah Aska.
A handmade three chain bracelet linked together with green czech beads to make a cuff. Attached to the ends are autumn coloured czech tassles..
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No 4 "Winter Wonder Necklace" from Chantel Kent of Southern Jewels.
This necklace is made from a mix of Glass, Glass Crystal, Acrylic and Tibetan Silver Beads. With the black representing the dark gloomy winter sky, the white opaque being the snow we're bound to get here in Southland and clear crystals as the icy dew on a winters morning.
When worn the offset focal bead draws attention to collarbone for a fresh new feminine look.
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No. 5 "Autumn Twist" bracelet from Melisa Walker.
Made entirely of Beads Galore beads and a play on peyote spiral with different sized beads. The colours of autumn range from rich reds to burnt orange to firey yellows. This is made from stretch nylon. It's very comfy to wear..
BEGINNERS CATEGORY: Entry No. 6 "Purple and silver chandelier earrings" from Katherine Wright.
Katherine has used purple beads and silver chain. Perfect for the winter wonder theme as purple is one of the colours that comes out when it starts getting colder and the elaborate design is great to wear out on those cold winter nights when you are snuggled up warm but still want to wear something pretty.
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No. 7 - "Blaze of Beauty" Necklace by June Butt.
June formed leaves in plain green polymer clay using leaves from her garden as templates, then hand-painted each one before lightly highlighting some areas with PearlEx. The 3mm and 4mm Swarovksi
bicones in shades ranging from Chrysolite through various others greens, yellows, oranges and reds to Garnet represent the transition from the greens of late summer to the vibrant colours of autumn. The
tendrils are threaded on copper wire, accents are Emerald and Garnet Swarovski Briolettes and the back closure is a copper leaf clasp.
BEGINNERS CATEGORY: Entry No. 8 - “Autumn Cascade” by Lisa Becroft of Jstask Designer Jewellery
Lisa has created a handcrafted dichoric glass leaf pendant as the feature piece and accompanied it with Tibetan silver leaves along with gold and silver foil beads on head or eye pins with copper, silver and gold bead caps and beads to accentuate the beads. These were attached to silver and antique gold chain. The different elements were chosen to represent the rich earthly tones of autumn and depict the leaves falling from the trees.
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No. 9 - "Autumn Garden" bracelet by Tania Hagen of Pelima Designs
Tania has used crystals and seed beads wrapped around a wire frame, reminiscent of a messy garden with the array of fallen leaves.
OPEN CATEGORY: Entry No. 10 - "Autumn" necklace by Melisa Walker.
Reflecting autumn, the time of the year where the rich green slowly fades to a rusty brown and then to oranges.
The ceramic pendants and Ceramic beads are handmade by Melisa. Something so simple and very light to wear.
So, have fun deciding and please support these clever designers by voting.
In the meantime, 2 new ring shank designs have just been unpacked and will be uploaded to the website tomorrow, so please check in after that for a look see!
Happy Beading and Voting!!!
Jo
website
Follow our blog for the latest news and to register entries, votes or check the results of our Beading Challenges
14 April 2011
Hi All,
Just a very quick update as I know quite a few people have been waiting on these ...
NEW RING SHANKS ...
These are now available in antique bronze and silver finish. Both are adjustable.
Antique Bronze $1.10 Silver Plated $1.40
Just click on the picture link for full details. You can also find them on our store page under New Products.
That's all for now. Remember the April Beading Challenge - you still have just over 2 weeks to send in your entry/entries!
Happy Beading!
Jo
February - March 2011
Greetings,
First and foremost I want to send my heartfelt wishes and healing thoughts to those of you affected by Tuesday's horrific earthquake in Christchurch. We are fortunate to have heard from most of our loved ones down there that they are safe, although I am sure that there are many who are not so fortunate. Kia Kaha, the nation is behind you and so many of us want to do anything at all we can to help out.
We are donating 20% of all sale proceeds from now until the end of March to the Red Cross appeal. Also, if anyone needs a break in the Rodney District, please get in touch with me as there are a few options I know of in our area. We have a sleepout/studio here which sleeps up to 4 that I would be happy to make available and I have heard of at least 2 friends in the Warkworth area who have rooms available in their homes.
You may be wondering what happened to our February newsletter - well, there wasn't one. Our family had a long and late holiday which was lovely but it has meant that it has taken until now to get organised!
Here is the latest from Beads Galore ...
April Beading Challenge - "Autumn Glory" and "Winter Wonder"
A heads up regarding the upcoming Beading Challenge ... I've decided to continue with a seasonal theme this time, so hope that either of the above themes will inspire you to create an entry or two!
Up to date guidelines are available to view here .
We have also created a page with all the entries from the previous two challenges, which I thought would be helpful for first time entrants to take a look at. You can view that page here .
So, you have just over a month to have a think and start your projects - entries will be accepted from 1st to 30th April, with voting taking place from 1st to 8th May.
Please refer to the guidelines as per the link above for full details.
March Promotion - Win Your Order for Free!
Sweet and simple - all orders placed from now until the end of March will go into the draw to win your order for free!
No limits - orders from $10 to any value will qualify (please note that the order value does not include postage/freight).
The prize may be redeemed as vouchers or cash (by bank deposit into your nominated account).
A great time to start sorting out your bead cart!
Featured Products ...
The spotlight this month is on a few lovely beads that we've seen used in simple but stunning ways recently.
Firstly, Porcelain Flower Beads . These are actually made from lucite, otherwise known as polymer clay. Here is a pretty necklace made using them, incorporating silver spacers and white 6/0 seed beads ...
These are simply threaded onto a double strand of tigertail wire, with the flower beads threaded onto one strand as you go to keep them sitting nicely.
Secondly, Lampwork 10mm Flowers, Foil Glass Squares, Glass Cubes and Glass Crystal Beads, along with silver plated findings have been used to make these necklaces ...
These are made using the "daisy chain" technique - instructions can be found on our Projects Page under "Glass Bead and Wire Necklace". This illustrates that there are numerous variations using this technique, only limited by your imagination (and the length of your eyepins!)
So get those creative juices flowing and we'll be in touch again early April to launch the Beading Challenge :-D
Happy Beading!
Jo :)
website
January 2011
Happy New Year Everyone!
I do hope 2011 has started on a good note for you.
Here are details of our first GREAT sale of 2011, plus info on some changes to despatch dates later this month ...
2011 New Year Sale - 20% off Everything for 11 Days !!!
It's the 2011 Sale - 20% off everything for 11 days!
Save 20% on all stock items, starting (officially) on 20th January and going through until midnight on 31st January !
Pssst - as a subscriber you have first dibs from RIGHT NOW, as the specials are already loaded ...
Select from a fantastic range of beads and supplies - lampwork glass, pendants, cabochons, settings, seeds, bugles, Tibetan silver, Sterling silver, charms, Swarovski, stunning handpainted wooden beads, our ever popular beading and jewellery packs, Jo's gorgeous vintage pendants, plus supplies, cord, wire and chain - over 400 specials!
PLEASE NOTE: Some stock quantities are very limited - popular items typically sell out more quickly than we can update stock quantities on the website, so please BE QUICK! (In the case of prepaid items not being available, a credit, replacement or refund can happily be arranged).
Holiday Despatch Date Changes
Beads Galore will be "un-womanned" from Monday 24th January until Tuesday 1st February. Website orders are still welcome during this time, although please note that orders placed after Thursday 20th January will not be despatched until Tuesday 1st February.
That's all for now. Enjoy your summer and we'll be in touch again early next month with details of exciting new lines and beady happenings for 2011.
Happy Beading!
Jo :)
website
December 2010
Festive Greetings!
In this issue ...
- Fun Promotion for December
- New lines on the way ...
- Great Christmas Gift Ideas
REVIEW OUR PRODUCTS FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN IN DECEMBER !! ...
We've all had a busy year ... I know myself that when someone asks me to complete an online survey or review I think twice about it if time is short, unless there's some sort of reward !
We currently have 44 product reviews on our website, which are particularly valuable for other customers. What we would like you to do is choose a product you have used and write a short review about it, which should take you a couple of minutes. You can review up to five items - ones without a review already would be the most helpful :)
So, what's in it for you? You could win yourself a divine collection of Swarovski pearls and crystals, plus a useful assortment of findings, to use in your Christmas creations - valued at over $50! Each review you post will give you one entry in a draw, with the winner being announced on 16th December.
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All you need to do is:
- Post your review(s) on our website
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Email your name and email address to info@beadsgalore.co.nz OR post them on our blog , including the number of reviews you have posted.
We will draw the winner on Thursday 16th December to allow enough time for the prize to reach the winner before Christmas :)
NEW PRODUCTS ON THE WAY ...
We are sourcing some exciting new lines for 2011! On the way right now though are a few new lines, including some long awaited antique bronze 2mm ballbead chain - there has been such a demand for this! More size and colour options will be added soon. We are also expecting some gorgeous porcelain rose beads in the next few days ...
Ballbead Chain $3.80 / metre 10mm Porcelain flower beads 35c ea
CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS!
With just a few weeks until Christmas, handmade is not always an option for every gift. We have a good range of really good quality sterling silver bracelet charms that are compatible with Pandora, Chamilia, Evolve and TWH bracelets. They are also a lot more affordable, starting at $18.50 each.
You can view them all here
WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS! EARN YOURSELF LOYALTY REWARD VOUCHERS...
I would like to welcome our new subscribers! By becoming a subscriber, you will receive our e-newsletter each month and qualify for our loyalty rewards programme, which is a good one! For every $50 you spend with Beads Galore within a given month, you will receive a $10 gift voucher. What this effectively means is a 20% discount if you're ordering regularly :)
You can still participate in our December promotion too - just place an order and send your feedback by way of your review(s) before 16th December!
Last but not least - my heartfelt thanks to each of you for your support this year! Without you we would not be here .gif)
I do hope you can make time for your creative pursuits in the whirlwind that is December.
Wishing you a fantastic Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year !!!
Jo :)
website
Congratulations to the winners of the October Beading Challenge!!! ...
Open Category:
1st - Entry No. 7, Spring Escape by Claudine Maulgue
2nd - Entry No. 13, Parterre de Fleurs by Jen Meiklejohn of Jenz Designs
3rd - Entry No. 4, Love Bird by Amanda Dick of Pallina Designs
Beginners Category:
1st - Entry No. 5B, Colours of Spring Bracelet by Kelly Mustoe of Iron Butterfly Jewellery
2nd - Entry No. 3B, Spring Bloom by Chantel Kent of Southern Jewels
3rd Equal - Entry No. 8B, Manuka Flower Bracelet by Sarah Aska and Entry No. 11B, Swarovski Birds by Hayley Sharp
See our November newsletter below for all the amazing entries ...
November 2010
Hi All !
In this issue ...
- October Beading Challenge - Time to Vote !
- New Products
OCTOBER BEADING CHALLENGE ENTRIES ...
I am quite overwhelmed with gratitude to all our talented entrants for participating ...making this the biggest challenge yet! We have a total of 24 entries from NZ, Australia, Asia and the United States.
Below you will find a diverse selection of beautiful work (listed in no particular order). I'm VERY pleased we have 2 categories this time, although deciding is still going to be tough!
Once you have chosen your favourite from each category, please email your 2 choices to us at info@beadsgalore.co.nz , or post your votes on our blog. All votes must include your name and email address, plus a few words explaining your reason for each choice.
The entries with the most votes in each category by 5pm on November 8th will be the winners.
Please note - we are NOT accepting votes on our Facebook page this time - it was just too time consuming collating, counting and keeping track of them all without worrying about missing any or doubling up.
Please refer to the list of guidelines on our website if you require further information on any aspect of the challenge.
" OPEN" CATEGORY...
Entry No. 1 - Druzy Stone and Wirework Brooch by Hesthi Nugroho of Jewelholic Asia
Hesthi has used Indonesian natural dyed stones (a.k.a druzy) wrapped in silver platted artistic wire 20gauge and 28 gauge. The technique around the stone is a woven technique and the wire is sprinkled with 4mm multicolour swarovski crystal beads.
Entry No. 2 - Brooch, Ring and Earring Set by Hesthi Nugroho of Jewelholic Asia
This beautiful set has been crafted from artistic silver plated wire 20ga and 28ga, Indonesian druzy and swarovski beads.
Entry No. 3 - " Rose Garden" Necklace by Tania Hagen of Pelima Designs
Tania has created this beautiful necklace using the Dutch Spiral technique, with a lamp work centrepiece and tassled leaves and roses.
Entry No. 4 - "Love Bird" Pendant by Amanda Dick of Pallina Designs
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Amanda has used a handmade clay Peruzi cab, surrounded peyote-stitched Delica seed beads and Swarovski crystals and pearls. The bail is Tibetan silver and the ribbon helps draw attention to the pendant. The pendant is backed in felt and the edges finished off with more seed beads.
Entry No.5 - "Spring Princess" Tiara by Paula Weir of Sieraden Designs
A perfect piece for a Spring Bride. Each piece (16 in all) has been hand shaped using 16ga non-tarnish wire and then handwired together using very thin (26ga) non tarnish wire and embellished with Swarovski Crystals of light pink and clear and encrusted with freshwater pearls.
Entry No. 6 - "Mandala in Bloom" Bracelet by Paula Weir of Sieraden Designs
This gorgeous mandala (meaning circle) bracelet has been handwoven together using a rainbow of Czech Faceted Crystals, Czech Seed Beads and Swarovski Crystal Bicones. The five mandala components were woven seperately and then woven together with more Czech Crystals, Seed Beads and Swarovski Bicones. An absolutely stunning piece to adorn any arm!
Entry No. 7 - "Spring Escape" Necklace by Claudine Maulgue
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A description of an enchanting piece, seen by her Mum on her recent spring escape to Greece and Turkey, inspired Claudine to create this lovely necklace. It incorporates dyed silk ribbon and wirewrapping of a beaded detail over a shell/stone (procured in Canada by Claudine's husband). This is Claudine's first attempt at wire wrapping - the result is this exotic necklace which portrays not only a hint of Spring, but the temptation of summer!
Entry No. 8 - "Heart of Spring" Necklace by Melisa Walker
The ceramic beads are Melisa's own creations, made and glazed while looking into a garden of purple iris bobbing in the breeze,orange blossoms falling to the ground and freesias almost finished These colours have been captured and given a new spring burst with swartz crystals and gorgeous artistic wire work. It is finished with earthy silk organza ribbon, so soft on the neck.
Entry No. 9 - Crystal Flowers Bracelet by Vicki Di Cristo of Vicki Marie's Jewellery
This bracelet is made with 2 loops of gold memory wire, crystal flower sliders and dorado and padparadscha Swarovski crystals, gold round, daisy and tube spacers and finished with memory wire end caps.
Entry No. 10 - Czech Leaf Ribbon Necklace by Vicki Di Cristo of Vicki Marie's Jewellery
This necklace features a gorgeous Czech glass twist leaf, and dangling from it there is deep red, green and aqua crystals along with a aqua twist foil bead and finished off with an aqua ribbon necklace.
Entry No. 11 - "The Lost Garden" Bracelet by Pamela Elsley of Pamela's Handmade Custom Jewellery
Pamela has made this pretty bracelet using lucite flowers with glass and swarski bicone crystal beads as the centres.
Entry No. 12 - "Butterfly Garden" Necklace by Pamela Elsley of Pamela's Handmade Custom Jewellery
This necklace is made from glass seed beads. The pendant has a single rose in it with red glass beads around it and a butterfly charm, plus 4 different coloured swarski bicones which are green (for grass), Blue (for the sky), Yellow (for the sun) and black (for those awesome Aussie spring storms)
Entry No. 13 - "Parterre de Fleurs" Bracelet by Jen Mieklejohn of Jenz Designs
A spring time flower bed all fresh with new life. The base of this bracelet is in spiral weave stitch and onto this Jen has added a mix of seed beads, charms, Czech baby bell flower beads and crystals, pearls, Amethyst chips, Jade chips, Lucite flower beads and a pearly button clasp.
" BEGINNERS" CATEGORY...
Entry No. 1B - "Blue Ocean Paradise" Necklace by Monica Fort of Twice the Luster Jewellery
This piece is composed of Large Blue Mother of Pearl Teardrops and matching glass beads. Monica hails from the small town of Fate in Texas, USA.
Entry No. 2B - Orange & Mandarin Necklace by Chantel Kent of Southern Jewels
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This piece is made using a mix of glass, acrylic, and gold foil beads in gorgeous oranges, gold and clear tones with a large mandarin coloured gold foil bead. Fastened with a gold plated Heart toggle clasp.
Entry No. 3B - "Spring Bloom" by Chantel Kent of Southern Jewels
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Photo 1 shows what the spring bloom looks like before it "flowers" with photo 2 showing the piece in "full bloom"
Each stem of this floral arrangement is wrapped in 20ga anti-tarnish wire, with the "flowers" being a mix of glass and acrylic Briolettes, petals and a cloisonné butterfly floating past. Chantel then wrapped all the stems together and the shaped them to where she wanted them placed.
Entry No. 4B - Spring Blossom Anklet by Kelly Mustoe of Iron Butterfly Jewellery
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Kelly has created this anklet with spring blossom colours in mind, featuring a silver plated link chain, pink shell disks, white mother of pearl hoops and gorgeous glass peals in a white and a light pink. Spring is also when the weather starts to warm so it is a fantastic time to start wearing anklets again!!
Entry No. 5B - " Colours of Spring" Bracelet by Kelly Mustoe of Iron Butterfly Jewellery
This " Colours of Spring" bracelet features 80 glass pearls individually attached to a silver plated chain, and 4 beautiful butterflies. Each pearl is threaded onto its own headpin, some with a bead cap, with the top of every headpin looped to attach the pearls. This bracelet took approximately 4-5 hours to complete and feels absolutely gorgeous on. The fancy clasp fits well with a floral feeling to it also. Kelly has selected pearl colours to represent all the new growth that occurs in spring.
Entry No. 6B - "Spring Colour" Bracelet by Katherine Wright
Spring is synonymous with colour. Katherine has used mainly pearl beads which have been wire wrapped and interspaced between some larger beads with bead caps, finished off with a silver toggle and t bar set.
Entry No. 7B - "Spring Flowers" Necklace by Katherine Wright
A bright and colourful necklace with lots of little flower beads, prefect for wearing in Springtime. It is made with all the blue beads Katherine had lying around of all sorts, which were strung randomly between groups of seed beads. The 6 strands all connected at the top of the necklace with a ladder stitch of 6 bugle beads and a pyramid of brick stitch above that to create the clasp.
Entry No. 8B - "Manuka Flower" Bracelet by Sarah Aska
This is a 5 strand bracelet inspired by the NZ Pink (Red tea tree) Manuka Flower. The pattern imitates that of the Manuka flower, incorporating dark garnet Czech faceted (6mm) beads for the flower centre then working outwards with garnet, fuschiaAB and rosaline 6mm Swarovski bicones. Finished off with a variety of Czech faceted greens for the foliage. 4mm Czech opal white beads as fillers. Photo of Manuka flower by Rob Suisted.
Entry No. 9B - Spring Flower Pendant Necklace by Jean Robertson
Having found this pretty pendant Jean thought a similar length of chain festooned with spring flowers was an appropriate accompaniment. Simple but pretty.
Jean has used copper chain and homemade copper jump-rings. The clasp also has a flower motif.
Entry No. 10B - Dragonfly Necklace by Jean Robertson
Dragonflies, butterflies and pretty spring daisies ............
Again using copper chain, double chain in front and then going to a single chain that catches at the back of the neck.The necklace has an antique look and also looks nice and fresh and light with the Lucite flowers and the very pretty dragonfly.
Entry No. 11B - "Swarovski Birds" by Hayley Sharp
Hand-woven baby Swarovski crystal birds with Swarovski pearl eyes and Czech seed bead feet, suspended 3 at a time from a delicate hand-crafted Sterling silver necklace with a 5cm extender chain.
Each little bird has a small lobster clasp on its back, and birds can be attached to any of the necklace dangles to complement any 3 colours you are wearing.
Colours are Crystal AB, Olivine, Citrine, Tanzanite, Blue Zircon, Indian Pink, Siam, Alexandrite, Cantaloupe, Cobalt, Rosaline, and Emerald. Each has a clear Crystal tummy.
NEW PRODUCTS ...
Apart from some furious restocking in anticipation of the Christmas shopping season, a few new goodies have arrived too. We have sourced some really good quality 30mm cab settings with nicely finished bails in antique silver and bronze, some slightly heavier and fabulous quality antique bronze chain and a few matching findings.
There is also a new " Vintage Pendant Kit" available (pictured below with an example of a mounted image) which would make a delightful gift, either as a project or made up. Just add a favourite design or image to make it your own. Great buying at just $7.50 too.
... all under New Products.
So once again a huge thankyou to all our challenge participants for making this the biggest one yet!
Time to choose your favourite and get those votes in!
Happy Beading and Voting!!!
Jo
website
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