New Ribbons Are Here!

Our silk ribbon collection has grown by 6!  Here's the new chart:

Newbies are ballerina, terracotta twist, eggplant, electric avocado, grape lemonade and peanut butter cup!

~Lori

Best Selling Designs at Risky Beads

Today's post is a tribute to the best selling designs in my shop.  You never know which designs will take off, but it's always kind of fun to figure it out.  Here we go!

Personalized Mother's Bracelet, $15.95

 My Port in a Storm Anchor Key Chain, $17.95

Personalized Double Wrap Bracelet with Custom Charm, $44.95

Whoooo Loves You? Owl Key Chain, $14.95

Personalized Christmas Ornament, $19.95

 Sweet Harvest Earrings, $8.50.  Matching necklace is here.

Best Daddy Personalized Key Chain, $16.95

Personalized Aluminum Washer Key Chain, $13.95

Only 72 days left 'til Christmas!  International order deadline is November 1st.

Until next time,

Lori

Craft Juice, Fresh Squeezed Tuesday, 2/1/11

Well, it's Tuesday which means it's time to take a peak at some Craft Juice picks!  In honor of Valentine's Day only 13 days away, let's think romance!

Isn't this g-g-gorgeous?

Ruffle Scarf Handmade knitted Flamenco Scarf in rich by jarg0n

Nine Pointed Star Mixed Metal Necklace by OneHeartJewelry

Braided Warmth Silk and Copper Adjustable by meiguidesigns

Spanish Lace Huge Red Filigree Earrings by Prdgy

Hope you enjoyed! 

~Lori

Craft Juice, Fresh Squeezed Tuesday, 11/2/10

Sorry for the late posting tonight, but it's election day, and I had to flip my schedule around! Come with me to find some great crafty picks!

"R" Light Grey Hot Water Bottle Cover, Noton

Pair of Grape Glass Beads, One Heart Art

Green Aventurine Wrap Bracelet, Amore Valkyrie

Brass Leaf Medallion Pendant, Mookalite Jasper, Lune

Bird and Mushroom Plate, CMS Designs

Hope you enjoyed!

~Lori

Craft Juice Tuesday, Fresh Squeezed 10/19/10

Well, it's Tuesday again which means it's time to pick some Craft Juice pretties! Let's get going!

Gingerbread Man Glass Ornament, BPR Designs

Joy in the Morning, Mei Guide Designs

Blue Earth Globe Earrings, Dreams Corner

Art Nouveau Leather Cuff, tovicorrie

Smokey Charcoal Grey Fingerless Gloves, Think Knit Purl

Hope you enjoyed! Tomorrow is Wordless Wednesday... finds that leave me speechless! Stay tuned!

~Lori

Last Chance Designs at Risky Beads

Most of my designs are made to order, but there are a few in my shop that are either one of a kind or I'm down to my last one... here's a little preview of some of them:

Nudity Pale Peach Earrings, $8.50

Don't You Dare Take Me for Pomegranate Necklace, $24.95

Mother Nature Antique Brass Necklace, $22.95

Princess and the Peas Beaded Bracelet, $47.95

All of these pieces are available in my Etsy and ArtFire shops.  Today I just chose to showcase them from ArtFire.  Hope you enjoyed!

~Lori

Meet MiniFood and Her Sweet Treats

It's no secret that I, Lori of Risky Beads, go absolutely cuckoo when I stumble upon some beads that will easily pass for lettuce or ham or anything you might find on a menu.  When I started my Leftovers Series in the fall of 2007, I had no idea it would grow to almost 70 pieces today.  I mean, who knew Peanut Butter and Jelly could be so fascinating?  Well, today I want to introduce you to someone who makes even cooler faux food!  Her name is Huiyi Tan (pronounced Hway-Yee Tan) and she has two shops on Etsy, MiniFood and Huiyi Tan.  I am so impressed with how real her MiniFood jewelry looks, especially in its tiny scale, that I had to show you!

Dumplings Handbag Charm Fob Pendant

I asked Huiyi to give us a little insight into how and why she got into making miniature food, and she told me:

I enjoy making things for my Barbie which was my 6-year-old birthday present, such as cloths, hair decoration, jewellery, etc. The first MiniFood is originally my Barbie’s meal :) I'm a jewellery designer, maker. The ideas of use of materials and making techniques are adopted from some jewellery making process and skills which I learn at school of jewellery in England :)

 Mini Dessert Key Charms: 
The white bowl with white and yellow ingredients is sago and sweetcorn dessert.
The white bowl with green and white ingredients is white rice and mung beans dessert.
The white bowl with red ingredients is Seeds of Job's Tears and adzuki beans dessert.

 Cake Handbag Charm

Huiyi's creations are made from polymer clay, rubber, resin and other secret ingredients and sometimes take 3 days to dry.  I admire her patience and her ability not to eat them while she waits. ;-)

Shrimp Noodle Soup Charm

I don't know about you, but back in my day, my Barbies would've been hanging out together in the camper having a killer brunch with these darling little dishes.  Who needs Ken when you've got shrimp that looks like it just came out of your Easy Bake Oven?

 Delicious Miniature Handbag Charm

I hope you'll visit MiniFood and marvel at her delicious treats.  The amount of care and time it takes to create these little works of art impress me...hardcore.  You can follow Huiyi on twitter here.

~Lori

New DIY Bracelet kits at Risky Beads!

If you're a beader or an aspiring one, you know that spending money on beads is like a drug.  You walk into a bead store and see SO much potential and then you leave with an empty wallet.  One of my biggest challenges when I started beading was understanding how to work with all different shapes and types of beads.  I'm self-taught so I did A LOT of reading online and in books as well as watching tutorials on YouTube.  So while buying beads upon beads upon beads wasn't necessarily the most cost-effective way to learn, it did give me a chance to experiment with everything and figure out what I like, what I'm good at, and what I ultimately want to use in my work.

In that spirit, I'm creating some new DIY Jewelry kits complete with complimentary beads and charms, stringing material, and instructions on how to get started!  I listed 3 of them today...each of them is one of a kind.  First up is 'Autumn:'

details here

Next a Save the Gulf inspired kit!

details here

And finally, Make Love Last, a kit filled with some of the prettiest earthy mauve beads I've ever seen!

details here

Each comes packaged in a cute little box with ribbon.  They'd make a GREAT gift for yourself or the crafter in your life.  You can even have fun with these at parties for everyone age 6 to infinity!

I'll be putting together quite a few more!  Each is $9.95 or less and a great way to get your feet wet. You can view the rest of my shop here or just the supply section.

~Lori

More Evidence of Autumn....

Earlier this month I did a little preview of some autumn-inspired designs and since then, I've been busy making more.  Here's a sneak peek!

Autumn Upstarts, Rainbow Onyx Earrings, $19.95

Autumn Upstarts, the matching bracelet, $52.95

 Sweet Harvest Cell Phone Lanyard, $6.95

Seasonal Segue Copper Wire Bracelet, $19.95

Chocolate Acorns Earrings, $7.95

Hope you enjoyed!!

~Lori

Free Sweet Harvest Earrings with any purchase of $19.95 or more!

This Thurs. and Fri., get a free pair of Sweet Harvest earrings with any purchase of $19.95 or more!  Use the code FREEHARVEST in notes to seller when you checkout and they'll be included in your package.  And don't forget, shipping is always free worldwide!

Sweet Harvest Earrings, $7.95, free with purchase of $19.95 or more

~Lori

Fall Preview at Risky Beads

Hi, everyone!  Sorry for the long blog absence; I've almost completed re-shooting my shop and been able to make a few new pieces.  I love designing for autumn; earth tones make my day!  Here's a little peek..

 Sweet Harvest Earrings, $7.95

Sweet Harvest Necklace, $17.95

Tiny Leaf Earrings, $8.95

Harvest Leaf keychain, $7.95

Pulling Over to the Side of the Road

See this sign right here?

Click it and you'll go straight to our very first Souvenir Stand on the Handmade Highway tonight! We have 43 pieces of gorgeous jewelry marked down and ready to go! If you're not in the buying mood, that's okay! Just come by and enter our giveaway. You could win free registration on the Handmade Highway or a very cool necklace from one of artists.

3 Washers Necklace from Additions

Isn't that the coolest necklace ever? Remember, click the road sign to get to the Souvenir Stand! See you there, Lori

Sale runs 5pm - midnight, Friday, 9/18

The Unforgettable Audacity of Ice

So, I've working on this for a couple of days, and last night, it all came together. The goal was to learn how to make a video, to make a video version of this, and to start advertising on YouTube. And I figured it out! So now, the very chilly premiere of:



Please let me know what you think!

-Lori