Czech bead manufacturers produce a huge range of bead types. So the different kinds of jewelry designs possible will be neverending!  I received some awesome Czech made 30 mm long bugle beads from Best Beads for review and had a lot of fun with them.


The range of colors is fantastic.

As you may remember, my favorite things to make are earrings!  So I made 3 pairs using these long beads. I also used 4-way metal connector beads (red and green earrings) and resin clay to make them all stud earrings!   I couldn't resist using the triangular theme with the blue pair below.  I wired pellet beads (also from Best Beads) at the top and bottom and onto a close metal ring at the top.  I filled the ring space with a flat disc of grey resin clay.  As this clay is also adhesive, I simply pressed a flat crystal in the front and a stud earring component with a large flat pad. Easy peasy!


You can see why I did not choose to use a third bugle bead for the bottom of the triangle  - it would have made the earrings too wide.  Try long bugle beads for a triangular themed necklace - see the tutorial in the first link below.



I didn't use wire to group the bugles for the green pair.  Instead I used Fireline and did a modified ladder stitch to not only keep them together but to go through the bottom 2 holes of the green connector metal beads for attachment.


Again a small flat disc of resin clay at the back of the connectors fixed the earring stud and pad to the new earrings! I was trying to go with the art deco look for this pair!


The red bugle beads earring dangles were attached to the round connectors with wire.  Like the other earrings, resin clay at the back of the connectors meant fixing on the earring stud components was easy. There is another added advantage in that the clay hides the wiring or threads.

The red bugle earrings are rather like chandeliers, aren't they? The tutorial for this pair will appear later this week.


I played around with many of the bugles and loved the ombre effect with some of them. So I laid them all onto a square bed of resin clay. Added a rolled snake around the beads, a ball chain around that and poked a hole at the top! I then made it faux gold with very fine sprinkles. The tutorial for the faux metallic effect will appear in the fall.


Giveaway
If you'd like to win the $50 worth of  Czech beads from Best Beads to create your own awesome designs,  please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info if you do not have an online shop or blog.  If you can, also let us know which kind of Czech beads are your favorite!

Subscribers need to click on the post title to come to my actual blog. Scroll down and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank. 

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, August 18, 2014. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips