Auntie's Beads

Every once in a while I'm lucky enough to receive some goodies in the mail to create with and yesterday it was this little bundle of goodies courtesy of Auntie's Beads. Aren't they gorgeous?

The seashell strand is Czech Glass and I fell in love with these the moment I saw them. Sometimes, a bead just talks to you and you know you have to have it. But this strand wasn't just talking; it was shouting at me! I couldn't get it into my cart fast enough. I think I was secretly worried that if I didn't, there'd be none left by the time I got to the checkout. But now that I've seen them in real life, I'm wishing I had put 2 strands into my cart! I really LOVE them!

When I was looking for beads to pair them up with I had in mind a beach theme and I was thinking turquoise, sand, sea green.... you get the picture. I was looking for something a little shabby chic. But in wandering through the Auntie's Beads site, I came across these beautiful lapis lazuli rounds and thought how well they would go with seashells. I usually work with glass beads so selecting a semi precious stone was a first for me.

Now remember I said I wanted a beachy colour scheme? Well, that went out the window when I found these pyrite (fools gold) beads. I just couldn't resist how sophisticated this colour scheme looked - a long way from the weathered beachy look I'd initially imagined!

The filigree square was a little extra that they put in my package. What a lovely little bonus! Did they know how much I like filigrees? I mean, seriously, they are one of my favourite components to work with - just ask anyone who has done one of my resin jewellery workshops. I use them in a lot of my jewellery and I buy them whenever I find them and I now have quite a growing collection. But that's a post for another day.

I'm off to have a play to see where this little bundle of beady goodness takes me. I must say that I'm quite excited to be using semi precious stones as well as glass!

I'll be back soon with pics!

'Til next time.....

If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration, click here to find my books and printable pdfs