On my last post about how much I am enjoying Candie Cooper‘s 25 Beads of Christmas advent calendar, loyal reader Divya (who has a great blog of her own) said it would be fun to follow along and see the beads, so I am going to post pictures.
Candie talks about them on her lives and posts extras in her shop, so I am not giving anything away as long as I don’t post beforehand. I’ll post photos through the bead for yesterday, and then do another post of the rest of the beads after the 25th.
Day 1 – This was a large blue ombre Swarovski mesh bead that I’ve already made into a necklace. See that in my previous post.
Day 2 – These are gorgeous vintage acrylic beads. The light shows through in a beautiful way. I love them!
Day 3 – Old new stock mosaic shell large hole bead. Early on in my beading journey, I got some mosaic shell beads at a local bead store (now closed) that had more unusual things. I made a necklace I thought was gorgeous, but is no longer my style. I’ll find that and see if I can use those beads with this one.
Day 4 – Ceramic floral decal barrel bead. I have vintage versions similar to this as well as some art beads that remind me of these. I envision a necklace combining them all. We’ll see!
Day 5 – Swarovski rhinestone spacers. I love these and never have enough. I love using these with more rustic beads and components for a beautiful combination of rustic and glam. Loralee Kolton is someone who does this especially well in her jewelry that mixes vintage, art bead, rustic and glam elements in surprising and beautiful ways.
Day 6 – An African glass bead (from Ghana) with “candy cane” inclusions! (Candie’s fans are called “canes”. I thought this was clever.) I really love the color combination on this.
Day 7 – Jeweled crown. So fun! It has a hole side to side, so it is possible to put a “head” bead in there.
Day 8 – Raku bead. I love the colors the raku process produces.
Day 9 – Wooden lama bead. This one just makes me smile. These came in various colors, and I’m super happy with my color. It’s very me. I might make a pin out of this.
Day 10 – This metal channel bead is especially exciting because I’ve been working with Apoxie Clay after a class I took with Erin Prais-Hintz, and this will come in handy for a project!
Day 11 – This was a Swarovski dragonfly bead that I also used already in a necklace that you can see here.
Day 12 – Lovely porcelain jasper pendant. I also wanted to feature a few of the little envelopes the beads came in. It is part of the thrill for me. I look forward to using them in some collage work in my art journal.
Day 13 – Tiny, adorable, detailed TierraCast bunny charm with a little ceramic half circle that I like to think of as a rainbow, or maybe a grassy hill the bunny will sit on.
Day 14 – Jeweled cheetah. I love this! Part of the fun of this experience is getting beads I probably wouldn’t buy. But I will enjoy this; I love a bit of bling. I know it will be the perfect thing for some as yet un-imagined project.
Day 15 – Large hole Swarovski crystal bead. Years ago when I first heard of Troll beads, I bought one (or more?) and it came with the bracelet. I think I’ll find it and add this bead to it. When I said that to my dad, he said, “Good luck.” Haha! He knows how much jewelry I have, but what he doesn’t know is that I’m pretty sure I know where it is.
Day 16 – Filigree curved metal bar. This is a beautiful piece. I can think of so many things to do with this!
Day 17 – This is a handsome cast pewter fellow. I think he is a bear or a fox. I like his rustic look, like he could be a cave drawing. He’s really heavy for the size, just nice and solid.
Day 18 – This large Czech glass flower is a fun one. I know these came out a little while ago, but I didn’t have any yet. It is quite a bit larger than any Czech flowers I have, and will make a nice addition to a pendant.
Whew! That’s a lot of pictures. Thanks for sticking with me. I hope it was fun. I look forward to opening my bead every morning. I would definitely buy the bead advent calendar again. I especially needed it this year, but it would be fun any year. I’ll fill you in on the rest of the beads in a post after the 25th. Keep staying safe and happy holidays for whatever you celebrate!