Bead on a Wire Blog

I’m finally getting back into the crafting swing of things after the vacation. I made two gifts this weekend - one is a bracelet for my friend’s daughter who is graduating from high school this week; the other is a similar bracelet (different colored pearls) with matching earrings for a friend whose birthday is coming up.

The supplies I ordered for the new bridal set arrived this morning so I’ll begin a “draft” of that necklace for the bride to approve tonight and also a couple pairs of earrings for her to choose from. I’m excited about the possibility for this set. It’s simple but different from what I’ve done previously.

I have an unofficial commission for a long necklace for a friend from church. I’ve back-burnered this project while I collected interesting beads and thought out a design for her. She said there is no rush and I haven’t been paid yet, but I know that she’s good for it and even if she changes her mind the beads collected are cool and totally usable for other projects. I’m thinking about making this one more in a rosary style than simple stringing, but it will involve a lot more work to make. Fun, though.

OK, I need to go get my son, who is supposed to be napping, but is playing in his crib instead.

I love doing custom orders. I like that they challenge my creativity a bit and that I can meet the specific needs of my customers.

Two custom orders were completed this week:

First is a custom beaded tea infuser as seen in these pictures. The woman who requested it plans to give it as a gift to a friend who loves tea and knitting. So the charm at the end is a ball of yarn with knitting needles in pewter. She asked for beads in reds and gray. I like the final product and so does my customer.

Second is the Red Hat bracelet and earrings in gold for a local woman that I met at the fall open house. I did some custom pieces for her after that open house, too. I love how rich this bracelet looks - my photography doesn’t do it justice.

There’s only one earring completed because the vendor I bought the leverbacks from only sent one. Weird. So I’m waiting for the other earwire to arrive and then I’ll ship these beautiful pieces to my great customer.

After the open house with my mother and her business partner in November, I had several special orders. One was for a bracelet and earrings for this woman who adores my mother (and her style) and requested almost exact duplicates of a bracelet and pair of earrings I had made for my mom. I made them similar without being exactly alike and sent them off.

I didn’t hear anything, but assumed all was good since people are more inclined to get in touch when things aren’t right. I was kind of hoping/expecting to see her at the open house next weekend so that I could get some feedback.

And then I got an email from her this week. She loves the pieces I made for her before and now she wants almost the same thing, but in gold and featuring her Red Hat Society colors of red and purple.  We went back and forth about exactly what she wants and the price for her set. I sent her the invoice for it this morning and have placed the order for the supplies that I need, which is a lot since I don’t work in gold normally (however, I think I will have to make more gold items with the leftover findings).

I’m hoping the supplies arrive early enough next week that I can try to put her pieces together to take to her at the open house on Saturday. I’d love to be able to present her with her finished pieces, but I don’t think it will happen and she doesn’t need them immediately anyway.

February has been a good month for custom orders.

I’ve been invited to participate in the Uncle Sam’s Niece/Tea For All Reasons spring open house in early March. I’m excited about it since I did so well at their fall open house in November. If my sales are even half of what I did back then, I’ll consider it a huge success.

Knowing that most of the ladies who will be shopping are tea enthusiasts, I am making tea themed items, including the earrings and bracelet that I listed in my Etsy shop. I’ll be working on making more beaded tea infusers, too, since my inventory is low.

I also have a pair of the earrings with white Swarovski pearls that I still need to photograph and list.

If you’re in Northern Virginia and would like information about the open house, please contact me. The dates are March 7-8, (Friday and Saturday) each day from 10am-3pm. Of course, you can always shop online at both shops linked above. Unfortunately, the proprietress of Uncle Sam’s Niece doesn’t have a website yet, but she has lovely things to offer.

I managed to list some new things the other day. On Monday we had bright sunshine, so I took the pieces outside to take pictures. For some reason I like how some things look in with the harsher shadows and bright light. I love how the light reflects through certain glass beads or crystals. And the colors are never truer than in the sun, imho.

I especially love this particular picture, which is my new Etsy avatar…

These are my new listings from that photoshoot:

It was a tough decision whether or not to take custom orders, but then I realized that I’d be missing out on way more benefits from doing them than the time it takes to do the work. And when a friend asked if I could make a bracelet to match the earrings she had just bought, that helped to push me, too. She has asked for a couple of other custom pieces since, too.

At the open house last weekend, I came away with five special orders. I’ve managed to get three of them completed with the materials I have on hand. Two others required a supply order, which I placed on Monday. I’m hoping it arrives this Monday. Here are what those pieces look like:

The other items ordered are another tea cup infuser with a specific blue lampwork bead that I used for a pot infuser that this customer bought and a bracelet and earrings set with pearls and Sterling accents for another customer. The earrings are to be teapots like a pair I made for my mother. And the bracelet is to match one also made for my mother.

And I also need to try to make many more infusers for my open house next weekend since I’m pretty much out. I’m also hoping to make a necklace or two and maybe a bracelet or two.

Busy week ahead!

I’ve listed a couple bracelets and pairs of earrings that would make great sets. They’re being sold separately, but if you’re interested in both pieces, let me know and I’ll give a discount on the set.

I have another pair of Agate and Aventurine earrings that I need to photograph and list, too. they look basically the same, but I added another agate bead below the aventurine rice bead.

I absolutely love the Peace Bracelet below. It’s oh, so tempting to keep it for myself!

I love a good bracelet. I love that a pretty bracelet can dress up jeans and a t-shirt. I love how a bracelet can show off lovely hands and wrists. I especially love making bracelets.

I have a small selection of bracelets so far, but I think it’s a good selection. The colors are varied as are the styles. I have stretch bracelets and toggle clasp bracelets. There are bracelets for small, delicate wrists and bracelets for larger wrists (like mine!).

Here are a few examples of the bracelets you can find in my shop: