(I'm also posting photos on my Facebook and Instagram pages - please check them out and maybe you can win a giveaway from this collection! Leave a comment here, and win your choice from the three pairs of earrings!) Holy cow. It's been over a year since I posted here. Not that I haven't been creating, but 2020...well, you get it. But thanks to the fabulous Lori Anderson, we have another bead swap event to kick us all in the creative and sharing keesters, so without further ado, here's the Bead Soup Swap & Create! My partner, Kim Hutchinson, sent me lovely beads in shades of blue ..read more

One of the first things I pulled from the treasure trove of upcycled goodies to experiment with was tassels. There are basically two types: the shorter versions, which are typically more of a cotton fiber and were more often in pairs; and longer tassels, which are a silky-rayon fiber, usually only one of each color or shade in each trim sample. Some of the shorter tassels are visible in the lower left quadrant,  while the longer tassels are in the upper right corner. So, pairs of tassels = earrings! I made beaded bands for some, kind of like belly bands. Others I left unadorned and da ..read more

The flat trim that I used to make one of these bracelets (the center one in the top photo) originally had ball fringe attached. As much as I like a good ball fringe (I mean, who doesn't?), the idea of having those tassels flopping on a bracelet didn't sound particularly appealing. Or manageable. Or pleasant for those around you, especially if you use your hands when talking. So, the trim got a haircut. Or a fringe-ectomy. It became ex-fringe.         The puffy tassels of the fringe were beyond salvage. They were originally glued very securely to the decorators' s ..read more

As promised, I want to share the process of using some of the fabulous trims I got at the Zero Landfill event.  One of the biggest challenges with the trim samples is that they are small, short, and often single. In other words, the braid may not be long enough for a full bracelet, there may only be one tassel in a single color, etc, etc, etc... I wanted to use some flat braids for bracelets. As you can see, unless I'm making a bracelet for a toddler, I had to find a workaround.  Also, as you can see above, the ends had been stiffened with glue to prevent a (pretty spectacular ..read more

Every now and then, it's an exciting challenge to work with new material, something unfamiliar or unusual that kicks up your creative spark and leads you down some new paths. Over the next few posts, I'm going to share my adventures in using upcycled materials in my jewelry. Last fall, I went to a local event held twice a year, created with the mission to keep material out of the landfill. It's a treasure trove of designer samples, construction materials, and miscellaneous stuff, all free for the taking. Artists, creators, teachers, and anyone who's curious enough to walk in can walk out ..read more

So it's been a while since my last post, and good grief, it feels like a completely different world. I hope that you and yours are well and safe, and finding your way through the challenges of the pandemic as comfortably as possible. Amid the adventure of figuring out how to work the day job from home, I've finally decided to take the plunge to rebrand Beadsong Jewelry. The banner I've been using is at least twelve years old (!!!). The last time I re-ordered the business cards I display earrings on, I screwed up the format, and they were unusable. If that's not my subconscious sending a sign ..read more

Y'all, it's been a while. While I'd love to excuse my silence by saying I had been doing something really cool, it's just been life getting in the way. Surely you can relate. ANYWAY, life finally allowed me time to do some shows, and I got accepted into three in a row. The first was this past weekend in a lovely, hip neighborhood in Chicago. Perhaps the only selfie I've ever taken that didn't make me look deranged... The weather was beautiful, which was obviously a result of my having (after way too many years of getting soaked inside my tent during downpours) put waterproofing seala ..read more