Kelley Pounds of Kellscreations.com blogs about her jewelry, art, and creativity in general

It seems as though this winter has been longer than usual, so when Artbeads.com offered me the chance to blog about “The Beauty of Spring,” and to choose my own items related to the topic from their vast array of jewelry making supplies, the first thing I thought of was “butterflies.” I love butterflies, so that’s what I went in search of at the Artbeads.com site.

I found some beautiful porcelain butterfly wing beads in a variety of shapes and sizes in the “All Creatures Great and Small” section of the website. The beads are pretty online, but even prettier in person. I ordered the 36 mm Porcelain Disk Butterfly #3, which is royal blue and peridot green outlined in black, with just a hint of salmon and red. The glossy glaze on the porcelain butterfly bead I received has a beautiful luminescence that really enhances the vivid colors.

My only concern was that these large 36 mm porcelain beads seem a bit pricey, but these are handmade art beads, and the quality is fantastic.  As it turns out, there’s not only a President’s Sale going on until February 18, 2010 at Artbeads.com, there’s also a sale on many of these porcelain beads themselves, so be sure to visit the site and look for the codes!

To go with my porcelain butterfly bead, I chose some Swarovski Crystal Beads in sapphire and peridot, and I also chose to use some cashmere crystal yarn in the beautiful salmon-pink “padparadscha” color, which I found in the Swarovski Crystal Yarn section.

To finish the design, I used some blue silk fairy ribbon which I had bought at Artbeads.com several months ago but couldn’t find a way to use because it hadn’t really matched anything I made. But when I put it next to the porcelain butterfly wing bead, I knew what it had been waiting for. I was so happy with the bold blend of colors; they certainly awaken the hibernating visual senses!

Now, bring on the butterflies! I can’t wait until spring officially arrives. I’ll be ready.

Disclosure Notice: The porcelain butterfly wing focal bead, the padparadscha Swarovski crystal yarn, the sapphaire Swarovski crystal beads, and the peridot Swarovski crystal beads used in this piece were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for my participation in the Artbeads.com blogging program. I have not received any payment from Artbeads.com, and this post represents only my personal opinion.

I used to think that all cubic zirconias were clear, but when I started making jewelry, I definitely learned otherwise. Clear cubic zirconias have long been used as an inexpensive but beautiful substitute for diamonds, but CZs are also made in a wide array of colors, and in many cases are a wonderful substitute for natural gemstones. Artbeads.com recently offered me the chance to try, for free, some of their CZ beads. I had so much fun shopping, because of the great selection of sizes and shapes. Ultimately I chose olivine, amethyst, garnet, champagne, and jet tear-shaped briolettes, although these colors are just a small sample of the shades and shapes available.

Above are sterling silver earrings with olivine green drops. The clarity of these CZ briolettes is amazing, and the light catches them beautifully. Occasionally you’ll run into a CZ briolette with a hole that is even too small for 26 gauge wire, and while making these earrings I did end up breaking the tip off of one of the briolettes. But I’ve found that is true of most briolettes, whether natural or synthetic–the point is so small that you do have to be careful when wrapping them with wire.

Jewelry designers often create pieces in which the briolette, wrapped or unwrapped, is meant to dangle like a teardrop, and that’s what I did with the earrings above as well as the amethyst briolette I used to embellish this rose quartz heart. Again, the clarity of these amethyst CZ briolettes is wonderful, because it can be difficult to find inexpensive faceted amethyst briolettes with this kind of clarity, size uniformity, and richness of color. This piece would be perfect for a Valentine’s Day gift or a February birthday.

As much as I love dangling briolettes, I also love to create cluster designs, which is what I did in this polymer clay piece with a mixture of champagne and garnet briolettes.

In addition to the wide range of colors, I love the uniformity and the clarity of cubic zirconia, and I am grateful to Artbeads.com for giving me the opportunity to play with these little gems and share my discoveries with you.

Disclosure Notice: All cubic zirconia briolettes used in these pieces were provided free of charge by Artbeads.com for my participation in the Artbeads.com blogging program. I have not received any payment from Artbeads.com, and this post represents only my personal opinion.

Happy 2010 everyone! I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post, but I’m excited to make this my first post of 2010. I subscribe to the online edition of the print magazine called Bead Trends, and I just found out that the February 2010 issue with my “Go For Baroque” earrings is available online. I don’t know if this issue is on newsstands yet, but if not, it will be very soon. I can’t wait to see this magazine in print! Until then, I was able to get a screen capture of the magazine’s cover and the page with the photo of my earrings. Only one complaint–the photographer didn’t catch the kink in the chain on one of the earrings! But other than that, I’m ecstatic. Can’t wait to receive my free copies when Bead Trends returns my earrings!

My friend Heather, owner of Beads to Beauty in the Four Seasons Mall in Ruidoso, NM, is having a blowout party and sale to celebrate the Christmas season. For one day only, after the Parade of Lights that takes place on Saturday, December 5, Beads to Beauty is offering 50% off all beads, crystals, new arrivals, findings, pendants, etc! Heather has a great selection, so if you’re in the Ruidoso area, don’t miss out!

When: Saturday, December 5th
Time: After the Parade of Lights
Location: Beads to Beauty
Inside The Four Seasons Mall
2500 Sudderth #3
Ruidoso, NM 88345

For more information, give Heather a call at (575) 257-9903