Kits

Sometimes we hit that proverbial wall- Mental Block! It happens to all of us, some worse than others. It happened to me when I got back from vacation. Actually it was happening to me before I left. It all seemed so overwhelming- so many beads, where to start!?? 

A great way to combat this mental block, is to buy kits. I have several examples for you. Before I left town, I ordered a few kits from Jennifer Heynen of Jangles. In Jennifer's Etsy store, she had several pre-made jewelry kits. Not the kind where the design is specific. Just some fun coordinating beads that could go together. I bought 2 sets. A small set of 2 of her ceramic beads (flower charm and Love bead), and  a larger kit with several of her large Ceramic lentils and some coordinating beads and mixed media. See kits below.




















Yesterday afternoon I whipped out my kits and put together a few pieces ... this first bracelet utilizes the small kit of 2 beads.  A simple design with 2 strands of chain. I wire wrapped the Love beads, which the handmade clasp links in to. And then dangled the flower off the chain asymmetrically with a small lampwork flower from Blue Seraphim.



Here is another bracelet I created, using the larger set of beads. I knew I wanted something colorful so I used the ceramic lentils, a dice bead, the Key, an orange bead, and  the teal glass rounds. Perfect for Summer, colorful and happy with that cool mixed media vibe.



Lastly, I put together a beaded necklace using the large Indonesian pendant that came in the kit. I also utilized the navy seed round, the red cane glass bead, and the orange glass bead. I added in some funky veiny seeds, some earthy seed beads, batik patterned bone, a large turquoise nugget, and wood toggle. Dangling near the pendant is a wire wrapped Chalcedony briolette.



Check out these other Kits on Etsy next time you are feeling the Block! 


And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I am guessing that if you convo'd any of your favorite bead artisans and asked them if they could put together a coordinating kit for you, that they'd probably be happy to do that!

Comments

  1. I think you are so clever to use a kit as a starting point! Kind of like jump starting a car. The spark may have come from somebody elses battery but it's still your car. These are great designs and very Lorelei. And yes, I would put together kits. Maybe I will have to think about that in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting post - I often list 'sets' which are beads that are related, but not the same and I think I could be calling them 'kits'! I think people like them because, as you point out, it gives their creativity a jump start when life seems overwhelming...

    Such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice job with the Jangles kits! I really like that first bracelet with the love bead and flowers.

    I think you're right...it would be hard to find a bead artist on Etsy who would be unwilling to put together a kit upon request.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love that idea of inspiration kits. You did a beautiful job with it too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You know sometimes I am stupefied by how alike we think! I just started assembling kits this week! I am almost ready to start photographing and assembling them for listing!! Not that Etsy will let me list anything!! Great pieces!! I really love how simple and bold those bracelets are!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cool idea to use to get out of a creative funk.

    beautiful pieces you made too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful idea. A kit might do it and also sometimes with me learning a new technique makes feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooo love the kit idea. I will have to try offering those sometime. Love the new stained glass work!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I'm sorry to have to turn on the word verification here, but I got fed up with spammers comments!

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
Buddha