Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Make a Sparkling Cane Glass Necklace, Happy Hearts, Scrabble Tiles, Glass Art Jewelry Supplies!



Our friend and co-worker Anne created this fresh, sparkling necklace using a combination of our USA-made cane glass beads mixed with our color-core translucent seed beads, tiger tail beading wire, and some simple necklace findings. The finished effect is just glowing! You can recreate this look in a color theme of your choice. Here’s the basics you’ll need to complete this necklace ~ colors are up to you!
To Make this Cane Glass Necklace:




Thread beads onto the silver tiger tail beading wire. Keep track of seed bead count between the larger cane glass beads.


Slide one crimp bead and then the loop of the lobster claw clasp onto one end of the beading wire. Insert the end of the beading wire back through the clasp's loop and crimp bead.


Pull the beading wire to tighten it, leaving a little room for clasp to move around a little.


With pliers, crush/close the crimp bead tightly around the beading wire.


Use wire cutters to trim off excess.


To finish, cover up your raw crimps by closing a bead cover over them.


Voila! You're brilliant! You've just created your very own art glass necklace! Keep it going with a simple and elegant set of matching earrings!


About the designer: WHO KNEW that our friend Anne Strasser was keeping her inner crafter all to herself! Well, no more! She has made some wonderful jewelry designs for us over the past year - including the sparkling cane glass piece above. Anne wears many hats - when she's not here she is mom to two high school daughters, usually while she's also baking, cooking, thrift-shopping or gardening. Let's face it ~ she's a Martha in waiting!


New this month! Happy Hearts, Scrabble Tiles (by Letter and Finish), Superb Quality Glass Art Jewelry Tiles, Make your Own Typewriter Charms Kit, Glass Jewelry Sets! Plus, the Dollar Bin is IN!


Ooooh! A New Year and a TON of NEW goodies have arrived! Not the least of which are these adorable 3/4" lampwork glass Happy Hearts in peppy colors featuring sputnik dots. They coordinate beautifully with our Bumpy Dot mix and our Happy Swirls if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise, a simple headpin, some top/bottom spacers coupled with our ear wires, cords. jump rings or bracelet forms and you've got a darling pendant or bracelet charm set to go!
We're thrilled to announce the opening of our Dollar Bin - yes, everything in this bin is under $1.00 ~ this is a really fun way to shop for first quality craft and jewelry items at bargain basement prices. Click to see what's NEW for Jan10, and review what treasures you might have missed for Dec 09! We also are still cataloging the very END of our Fall 09 Boatload shipment - all worth checking out ~ especially with 20% savings!
Meanwhile, LOVE is in the air and we've got some great inspirational goodies for Valentines Day ~ which also tend to work out very well for Mother's Day too. Our number one hands-down favorite for Valentines Day designs would have to go to our Pink Hearts Jewelry Maker's Mix.
Sneak peek alert! Some of our Feb10 items are in including all new handblown lampwork jewelry sets - featuring butterflies, hearts, or starfish. Some on cords, some on organza - great gift ideas for Valentines, Mother's Day and Teacher appreciation time!
New scrabble tile single letters are here! In addition to our scrabble tile lots, we've added Scrabble tile singles, in either vintage/used or new finishes. Just glue a bail to the back with e-6000, Weldbond or Diamond Glaze, seal the front if desired, String on our ball chains, cords or necklaces to finish, and you have an instant personalized gift on your hands.


Somewhat related - perfect for customized bracelets and necklaces - our brand new Typewriter Key charm kits are here - complete with 16 rimmed charm bases, 16 adhesive epoxy domes (very hard to find!), and 32 distressed alpha typewriter stickers.
Combine with our memory frames and altered art/photo charm blanks, ball chains, jump rings, neck cords, large-holed beads, bali spacers, jewelry maker's mixes, etc. to make beautiful altered art jewelry in a flash!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

4-Day 20% OFF SALE THANKS to YOU! Thru TUES Dec 1 Midnight

Great news for our DIY crafts, lampwork glass, millefiori and jewelry fans! We're celebrating YOU our fantastic customers ~ save 20% on every item on the site through TUES midnight Dec 1! Use code THANKS09 at checkout!

There's plenty NEW to see for November and December 09 A few of the highlights: Gorgeous new single flower and mosaic millefiori glass bead strands, New Pawprints! Zebra, Leopard, Animal print lampwork beads, amazing new Peacock Foil Millefiori Glass, by request ~ NEW deep-set thick-rimmed photo/altered art charms for use with resin and thick glazes, new 1oz TRIAL sizes of our popular clear dimensional Glaze and Gel, millefiori "thousand flowers" art glass heart pendants gift-boxed and ready to give, great new findings, charms, and color-coated steel beading wire necklaces in 10 rainbow colors.


Time savers! Our ready-to-give gift boxed jewelry items are that perfect "little something" for your beading and arty friends - take a peek!

Newsletter subscribers: Make sure you are registered on our site. Choose the "Sign In" option at checkout when prompted - your promo code box will appear. Enter THANKS09 to save 20% on your entire order before shipping.

Made with Love ~ Our silver and gold plated heart charms are perfect as jewelry components, package toppers, scrapbook embellishments too. Tis the season!
We stock these little message heart charms in silver and gold plated, Made with Love, Handmade with Love, and Made for You!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Make it Tonight! 4 New Inspired Holiday Project Ideas for You!

Get inspired! October's a great time to get a relaxed start on gift-making projects. Here's four wonderfully elegant yet simple jewelry ideas ~ easy and beautiful, you can make these tonight. Each project below includes a clickable supply list. Click any picture for detailed view.
Christmas Flowers - Our brand new single flower shaped millefiori glass beads are the inspiration for this sweet bracelet. Cheryl used the flowers as dangling charms and more millefiori glass coins in red and white as the core of the bracelet. Our new magnetic barrel clasps makes putting on your new bracelet a snap.
  • 1168 Millefiori Flower Beads
  • 1870X Millefiori Glass Coin Beads Red and White
  • 1326 Iridescent Glass Spacers
  • 1125j Glass Seed Beads, white
  • 1505z Ball End Headpins
  • 858a Silver Plated Magnetic Barrel Clasps

Blossoms of Red & Green Necklace Get in the Holiday spirit with this necklace using our Millefiori Single Flower Glass Beads. These 12mm beads are cut out in single flower shapes in a rainbow of colors. For this project, Cheryl chose the red flowers and green flowers only out of the 30 beads on a strand. Combined with red, green and clear seed beads as well as bright silver ridged spacer beads, Cheryl has created a very festive necklace. She chose to make her design in a matinee length at about 22 inches. We are sure you will be inspired to make your own holiday creations to enjoy this party season.

  • 1168 Millefiori Flower Glass Beads
  • 514 Bright Silver Ridged Spacer Beads
  • 763 Silver Tiger Tail
  • 1606R Silver Crimp Beads
  • 1606T Crimp Bead Covers
  • 1505V Antiqued Silver Metal Floral Toggle

Snowflake Ice Earrings and Bracelet, features our antiqued silver metal snowflake charms. Cheryl combined the snowflakes with our Aurora Borealis Crystal Cube spacer beads for a cool winter look. Add some bright silver ridged spacers and you have a darling set ready to wear or give for holiday parties.

Snowflake Ice Bracelet, features our antiqued silver metal snowflake charms and coordinates wonderfully with our snowflake earrings above. We used another of our super strength magnetic clasps for no fuss easy on/off.

You will need:
  • 633 Antiqued Silver Metal Snowflakes
  • 716a Clear AB Crystal Cube Spacer Beads
  • 514 Bright Silver Ridged Spacer Beads
  • 1558 Silver plated french earring hooks
  • 1300 Square Rainbow Cubes Mix
  • 763 Silver Tiger Tail beading wire
  • 1505Y Toggle clasp
  • 1606R Silver crimp beads
  • 1606T Silver crimp covers
  • 858a Silver Plated Magnetic Barrel Clasps
About the designer: Our friend and co-worker Cheryl Satterlee wears many hats here - packer, designer, copywriter and inventory tracker. When she's not here, she switches hats to mom and grandmom!

Newsletter subscribers ~ use promo code SAVE5OCT09 to save $5 on any order over $10. Good once per month per subscriber. Click here to join our subscriber list.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Make it Tonight! New Miami and Phoenix Necklace Designs

October is a great month to get a relaxed start on your gift-making and gift-giving ideas. Here's two wonderfully elegant yet simple jewelry ideas you can make tonight ~ easy to string samples and supply lists shown below.

This Miami necklace, by Shenoa Satterlee, makes you want to hop on a plane today! The aqua blue shell beads combined with olive green crystals and white clear seed beads invoke the sky, sea and sand of a tropical paradise. You will need:

  • 2 1001A Aqua blue coin shell beads
  • 1 1180N 6mm olive green crystal bicones
  • 1 1125j 2mm white clear glass seed beads
  • 1 763 Silver Tiger Tail beading wire
  • 1 1505Y Toggle clasp
  • 1 1606R Silver crimp beads
  • 1 1606T Silver crimp covers

Phoenix, an orange tabby cat, is the inspiration for this whimsical design A classic combination of bicone crystals and bali bead spacers is transformed with the addition of our cat charms and a cat/fish toggle clasp. Another inspired design from Shenoa. This is an easy project with dramatic results.

  • 2 1180W 6mm gold amber crystal bicones
  • 1 1503B Bali spacer beads
  • 1 1505X Cat face charms Toggle clasp set
  • 1 763 Silver Tiger Tail beading wire
  • 1 1606R Silver crimp beads
  • 1 1606T Silver crimp covers
About the designers: Cheryl and Shenoa Satterlee are our dynamite grandmother and grandaughter jewelry design team. Cheryl wears many hats here - packer, designer, copywriter and inventory tracker. When she's not here, she switches to her most favorite hats of all as mom and grandmom!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Our New Cameo Memory Pendants & Glass Inserts are Here! Squares, Circles, Rectangles LG and SM

JUST ARRIVED ~ our exclusive new CAMEO solid-backed silver plated metal art pendants with matching glass inserts!

I like things to be simple. So simple a kindergartner can do it. Yet elegant enough to give as a gift when I'm done. No such thing? Think again!

I have been wondering how to bypass the poured resin and/or layered Art Glaze method for art and photo jewelry. My world was turned upside down the second I discovered these pendant blanks with superb quality matching glass inserts. Just add your art and secure with clear adhesive or craft glaze - you're done!

Every part of these pendants are beautifully made - heavy frames, solid or patterned backs (on larger sizes), textured interiors to hold adhesive, superb fine-jewelry quality bails, and a raised tray edge which fits the optical lens quality glass covers perfectly.

We had our glass inserts cut and ground by an optical lens factory. The glass inserts are clear, with flat backs and very slightly domed surfaces. The are non-magnifying - your image under the glass is just that - perfectly protected under a layer of clear glass.

Our Cameo tm metal frames and matching glass inserts come in 6 sizes and shapes. Click here to see them all. Rounds, LG and SM, Squares LG and SM, Rectangles LG and SM.

We have easy instructions that go out with every set - just add your art glaze of choice or try our art glazes: Weldbond, Diamond Glaze, 3D Crystal Lacquer or DG3 Art Gel to finish. Complete the look with one of our cords or chains.

Please e-us (rubbernation@comcast.net) with pictures of your finished samples - we'd love to feature YOUR creativity in our new Cameo Gallery on the website!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Collage Sheets for Memory Frames, Patera Pendant Blanks and Microscope Slide Jewelry

Having a craft-challenged moment? These sets take all the guess work out of what to put in those memory frames and charm blanks!

These handy sets (in either VINTAGE or WHIMSICAL) include 6 printed cardstock sheets (opaque) and 6 printed acetate (clear) sheets, each approximately 5 1/2"x 6".

Each set includes over 90 pieces of artwork, contemporary graphic images, as well as ideas for 12 easy and beautiful projects. See our memory frames for coordinating accessories.

This is a great gift idea, or a great place to start if you've just discovered how FUN memory frames and microscope slide jewelry can be!
These images have been designed to be combined/overlaid with each other, creating yet a third image, and to fit both Memory Glass microscope slides and Patera jewelry blanks.

Combine with our memory frames and altered art/photo charm blanks, ball chains, jump rings, neck cords, large-holed beads, bali spacers, jewelry maker's mixes, etc. to make beautiful altered art jewelry in a flash! These lovely papers and cardstock are acid-free and lignin-free.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

New Photo Charm Styles Make Great Memory Gifts for Moms, Weddings, Graduates


Just in time for Mother's Day, graduations and June brides - our new photo/altered art charm blanks are here. These designs are slightly larger than some of our other charm blanks. We've found some lovely oval pendant/charm forms that match our 18mm acrylic cabochons very closely! They're solid-backed with a framed edge - able to hold resin and epoxy mediums if desired. Plus, we now offer a double sided blank -perfect for reversible or two-sided charms and pendants - one of our most frequent customer requests.


These also make great keychains! We now stock heavy duty keychains and ball chains which match the metal finishes on our Memory Frames

A crafty reminder - our Memory Frames come in many sizes, perfect for keychains with couple beaded flourishes strung on headpins and looped to top ring. You can finish off any of these little treasures with some of our key chains, Jewelry Maker's Ocean Mix, some jump rings, ball chains or cords, some headpins, bali bead spacers, and some millefiori glass beads from our smorgy selections.
Plan ahead as these are really FUN to put together in time for Mother's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, Father's Day ... happy creating!
Save $5 off your next order of $10 or more through end of this month! Type your subscriber's savings code: SAVE5APR09 in promo box at checkout on our site.