This is the beginning of the African Jade Bead Embroidered Bracelet. What I have done so far is just dye the Lacy’s Stiff Stuff and glue the African Jade Cabochon on with E6000.

 

You can use Rit Dye as I have although I do recommend using boiling water and soaking for a full minute. Remember that when you rinse with cold water after soaking, the color will be a little lighter. I would like to have more of a green but I am using what I have on hand.

Lacy’s is the best bead embroidery foundation I have found. You can bead right to the edge without any fray and it gives a stable foundation to bead on. You can also use Ultrasude…I prefer the “soft” to the “light” as it is a little stiffer but my #10 and #12 needles glide right through.

Now I am ready to begin the bead embroidery. I am trying to select beads from the thousands of beads I already have on hand and this is what I think I will use. As I am going along, I might add or subtract from this pile depending on how it looks sewn on.

 

I always use Fireline for my bead weaving and bead embroidery. It hardly ever tangles and when it does it is quite easy to get out any knots. It comes in crystal and smoke so use whichever color is closest to the color of your beads. They won’t show for the most part anyway. I suggest buying it from a fishing supply store rather than a bead shop just because it is less expensive. It is a little more costly than beading thread but as far as I am concerned the extra pennies are well worth it!

 

Now that you have an idea of what I iwll be doing, be sure and follow me at Divella Delights on my blog!

Back at last!

Wow, it has been really long time since I have been here. I have been so busy with my website blog, Facebook page and of course, creating beautiful treasures of the beaded variety. I wanted to show you my latest addiction, bead embroidery. I remember when I began beading I swore I would never sew those tiny little beads and here I am...sewing all those tiny little beads.

As you can see, I make no pattern, it is all done freestyle. I put a large cabochon in the center and take it from there.
Make sure to stop by for an exploration to bead embroidered cuffs. I will take you through the next cuff from beginning to end with photos and exlanations. Come with me at Divella Delights!

Saving Money on Jewelry Making Supplies

There are a couple of things I try to do when buying supplies for my jewelry business. Free or low cost shipping! Not only do I want to save my own money, but also I want to be able to extend that price break to my customers. One thing though, I don’t ever want to sacrifice quality.

There are times items are less costly with one supplier than another but after I compute cost with shipping I am actually paying more per item.

After comparing prices, which takes a great deal of time, there are a few suppliers I use regularly who offer free shipping over a specific amount. I am not talking about thousands of dollars, a $10 or $25 minimum so it is not like I have to keep my list going forever before I make my purchase. I don’t have thousands of dollars at my disposal most months so I don’t use the $1,000.00 minimums or the 200-item minimum to get the best price.

There is one very large supplier out of California I used to use for gems and pearls but the quality had gone downhill and the cost had gone up so much I had to find others. I want to use high-grade materials in my creations. I don’t want to spend my time creating beautiful designs and then use inferior supplies.

So which suppliers do I use now? Well, there are several depending on what I am looking for.

If it is pearls, gemstones or gemstone chips on my mind I check out Artbeads.com and Beadin Path. The quality is very good and they both offer free shipping if your order is over $10 and $25 respectively. I do not think I have EVER spent less than $25.00 when buying jewelry making supplies! If you want it quicker there are other options but I prefer the free shipping.

If I am looking for copper I go right to Accessories Susan. Not only are her prices really good but her materials or lead safe and nickel free. She also has free shipping and with no minimum!

Any glass I buy I usually go right to the artisan. I did a blog a month or two ago about what some companies refer to as ‘Artisan created’. Careful here, most of it is not created by an Artisan as we think of it. My personal favorites are Generations Lampwork and Rufus and Roxy (free shipping $25+), both found on Etsy. Generations does charge shipping but it is nominal. They are both wonderful with special orders. Seed beads in bulk is something I have yet to find free shipping for so if anyone knows of anyone, please let me know. I buy most of my seed beads from Caravan Beads in Portland, Maine. If I am just looking for a tube or 2 then Beadin Path has a good selection but Caravan is definitely my go-to place for Delica beads. Caravan also has delicious pearls.

Although Gemphora is a little costly and they do charge shipping, they have wonderful great quality gems that I have trouble finding elsewhere like Kyanite, Fluorite, and Labradorite. I always get the $5.00 donation pearls when I shop with them. They pick them so it is a surprise each time I receive an order. I have never been disappointed.

I get most of my findings and Swarovski at Artbeads.com.

I hope this helps you find some better prices for your supplies. Let’s face it, we all enjoy saving some money when we can and I enjoy begin able to create pieces without having to worry about the end price.

Do you have any favorite suppliers?


I was not paid or compensated by anyone for this blog post