Etsy on Sale Free Credits!

Hi my lovely beading people :)

Have you ever shopped on Etsy and seen something like this above an Etsy listing? Well that's what we're talking about today! It is called 'EOS' or 'Etsy on Sale'

So what is Etsy on Sale? 
Etsy on Sale is a usefull tool that you can use for your Etsy shop to host a sales event! You can set time and date and it automatically starts and stops your sale! Besides hosting a sales event you can also use the tag tool or the auto renew tool, but today we are talking about the sales tool!

First things first. Does it really work? 
The answer is YES!! I tested it out for 1 week with my 'Starburst Delight Earrings'. I reduced my prices with 30% and sold 2 pieces within that week! Now of course it could be one time luck so I asked other Etsians what they thought of it. Overal the reactions where very positive!! The most thing I've heard etsians say is that it draws a different kind of customer to your shop (in a positive way haha!) I like to call these people 'Bargain Hunters' of which I am one myself btw ;)

(*Disclaimer: I do not guarantee sales with this tool, I am just sharing my experience. You can test this tool out for free with the code below, after that all credit purchases are at your own risk*)

So what does it cost? 
Etsy on Sale works with 'credits'. You can start a free trial in which you get 5 credits for free + if you add my special promotion code you will get 10 dollars worth of free credits: 7FTDN626MJ

When you are out of credits you can buy new credits. The cost of 1 credit depends on how many you buy at once: (you need 4 credits to host a sale)
10 credits cost 10 dollars = 1 dollar per credit
20 credits cost 15 dollars = 75 cents per credit
40 credits cost 20 dollars = 50 cents per credit
100 credits cost 25 dollars = 25 cents per credit
(noted on 03-09-2016, always check for updated prices on: Etsy on Sale prices)

How does it work? 
Well I can type how it works but I think the video that EOS made is much more helpful than my explanation will ever be ;) Click here for the video on Youtube or watch it at their site! I can assure you that it is very easy to understand and that you will be able to set up a sales event within 10 minutes or less!!

Pros and Cons:
It is very easy to use and it is a great way to host a sale without 'thinking' about it. After you inserted your sale dates EOS sends you an email when your sales starts, when it is about to end as you might want to extend your sale and when your sale has ended. You can even plan sales far ahead for all the upcoming special dates like Easter or Christmas if you like! EOS even has a special page where shoppers can shop for bargains: EOS sales page.

While you have your EOS sales event running you can't change your listing as when the sale ends EOS puts your listing back as it where before. Trust me I learned that the hard way ;) The cheapest option of running a sale is 1 dollar (besides the first 3 times of course) This means that you will have to pay in order to reduce your prices, kind of ironic right ;) But they do have a nice link that you can share on your social media to promote your sale + they put it on the EOS page of course, so I like to see it as a 'promotion' you are paying for.

Overal this is a pretty cheap way to host an awesome sales event that is easy, quik and nothing to worry about as it is all automatic. I give this tool a big tumbs up!

So are you going to test this tool out? Let me know in the comments!

Have a nice day,
Zina

3 days of bead shopping

Hi my lovely beading people!! :)

How are you today? Sometimes I really get a little nuts of having to shop for beads. Of course, I bead a lot and if you bead a lot you eventually run out of beads. And it is not that I don't like getting new beads, but it takes so much time out of my hands!

Shopping list:
4 Swarovski light rose rivoli's
48 4mm Swarovski light rose bicones
11/0 Matte Dusty orchid Miyuki seedbeads
15/0 Matte Dusty orchid Miyuki seedbeads
11/0 Pink lined Crystal AB Miyuki seedbeads
15/0 Pink lined Crystal AB Miyuki seedbeads
11/0 Galvanized Duracoat Dusty Orchid
11/0 Baby pink ceylon
15/ Baby pink ceylon
Pink superduos

Now that does not sound like a list that would take me 3 days to get together now doesn't it? Well actually it is not that simple! I do not know about other countries, but the color pink seems to be very hard to get my hands on. I am on a tight budget, so I can not afford to just shop anywhere as I have to make the most out of my money.


Day 1

The search for pink superduos;
If you think pink seedbeads are hard to find around here, you should try pink superduos! Every time again the same thing happens to me. *sigh* I look at the picture, it looks pink and when it gets here, it turn out to be purple. I think I already have bought at least 5 bags of superduos this way! And yes I could have returned them, but as I have to pay for the shipping cost myself so that would be just as expensive as the bag of superduos. No of course I can use the superduos, just not for the project I have in mind. So I have to go 'bead hunting' again.

After a very long search I found a shop that seemed to have them. As I did not know the shop, I had to check first if they where trust worthy. Luckely they where! So because I did not want to risk buying the wrong superduos again I emailed them a photo and asked if they where the same or at least close to the same superduos I used in this Zianna pendant:

Now before you think, why didn't you just go back to the store where you bought the same color of superduos, I did and they are sold out never to return. The lady said that the superduos where not the same but where not purple either, and that I could return them if they where not the color I am looking for. Good enough for me! So now the shipping cost at this shop are 3,50 euro when you order under 20 euro's. So I will order for 20 euro's,  but I will only put things in my cart for now, as here comes the problem I have with every single store here in the Netherlands. *sigh*

Shops in the Netherlands never seem to have everything I need. So this shop dit not carry Swarovski, the pink 15/0 seedbeads and the 15/0 dusty orchid seedbeads. That means I am forced to shop at one or more other shops to get my order together. At this moment I have to look at all my options. Most of the beadshops in the Netherlands do not carry Swarovski, so I will go to a special shop for that. But it seemed that the 15/0 pink lined seedbeads are nowhere to be found.


Day 2

So the search continuous. When I finally found a shop the next day that seemed to have the seedbeads I needed, I found out they have a minimum order amount of 25 euro's and they only sell seedbeads. *sigh* But on the top of there page it said that they have corresponding color numbers, so when I need 11/0 beads they also have those in 15/0. As I found that to be a good deal, as 11/0 with matching 15/0 beads are hard to find. I would just order some beads that are hard to come by also and so be it. So after I spend an hour on there site, getting all the colors together (so also the ones that I did not need), I found out that there statement was not true. So I spend 1 hour for absolutely nothing. *sigh*

Now I do not have many options left as all the other stores don't carry the 15/0 pink lined beads. So I have to get them from somewhere else. After a good long search I decided to go to my last resort, I looked on Ebay. Found a shop that said 'spend 25 dollars and get free shipping'. Well now thats a good deal! After another hour I filled my cart and was ready to check out. But my shopping cart still said: shipping cost 9,98 dollar... So I had to email the to ask how come. Well the free shipping was only for US people... *sigh*


Day 3

So after 2 days just looking through all the beads shops, I have to make a decision. I have to at least spend 20 euro or more to get my free shipping on my superduo order. The shop at Ebay has all the Swarovski and other things I need. However, I can only shop for 22 euro's as otherwise I have to pay 13 euro's of clearance cost, and they also charge me 10 dollars, which is about 8 euro's shipping cost. So I will have to see what I can put in my cart the best (as seedbeads are cheaper from other countries) so probebly I still have to get my rivoli's from another shop here in the Netherlands. Total cost? About 60 euro's, that is around 75 dollars. KATCHING! And what can I make with that? Well 4 Zianna pendants as showed above on the photo (or at least close to that one). And I will use some of the seedbeads for other projects.

Conclusion: beading is a time consuming and expensive hobby!

But I think most beaders already know that :) I hope you liked my little story, how do you do your bead shopping? Do you have a store where you can just but everything at the same place? Or do you need to go nuts and spend 3 days just searching and emailing for that one color, like me? Let me know in the comment section :)

Have a nice day!
HoneyBeads

Japanese Candy Review!!!

 Hi my lovely beading people and crafty friends! :D

How are you today? Today I want to tell you about my second love and no I did not trade my hubby for a new one :D I'm talking about candy! I'm a real sweet tooth and although beading and crafting are my number one hobby's, trying new candy's gets a good 2th place on my hobby list.

This time I've ordered some candy's from Japan. Japan is known to have wonderfull exciting candy's with better flavoured than we have in any other country. Also they have candy kits where you have to make your own candy before eating it, how much fun is that! I remember well that I had the Harry Potter kit when I was little, with the coocking pot where you put in stuff that bubbled up, so much fun!

So today I wanted to share what I bought and how some of them taste. I will make the candy kits into video's so that you can watch how to make those! Lets start what is in the box! :D

I bought this from NapaJapan, I ordered it with SAL shipping and it was here after in 10-11 days. I am subscribed to the news letter that contains a 'free gift' code every month (at least I believe they do this every month) My order was 24,22 dollar all inclusive (8,75 shipping) I think this is a very fair prize for shipping as we pay 6,75 euro (9,16 dollar) for shipping a package her within our own counrty.

I bought the following items:

Popin Cookin Kuru Kuru Takoyaki kit (the one with the octopus) (3,99 dollar)
Popin Cookin Candy Suchi kit (in the right corner) (4,99 dollar)
Pachi Pachi Wata Jelly Candy kit (the blue item in the middle) (3,99 dollar)
Puccho Miracle Multi Flavor (2,50 dollar)

The items I got for free:
Mintia Dry Hard mints (2,25 dollar)
Fuwarinka Rose Chewable Candy (2,75 dollar)
Chewing Gum Bleuberry (1,99 dollar)

**Mintia-Dry hard sugarless Mints in very strong mint with caffiëne (2,25 dollar)**

These mints where free as it was one of the 3 gifts in my box. There are different flavours and a box contains 50 mints each. The container is 3 inch by 2 inch. When opening the wrapping you can really smell the very strong ice minty scent.

The taste test:
HOLY CANOLI!!! These are so so strong wow!!! I was like wow what happens here!! I first thought that is was a little thin for a mint but WOW!!! Taste bud alarm code red!!! This is a real waker upper wow!! Super super strong mint flavour to the point I am in doubt if I like them or not. Very refreshing! There is an very interesting after taste to it also and the mint taste stays very long in your mouth. This mint makes me curious what the other mints would taste like!

Conclution:
If you like super super strong mints with caffiëne this is your mint! Not a mint you eat the whole pack of at once.


**Fuwarinka Rose Chewable Candy (2,75 dollar)**
These candy's where also free in my box and I wanted to try these candy's for a very long time! It is the reason I orderd at NapaJapan again to be honest! The packaging is 6 by 4 inches and the candy is 1/2 inch and contains 10 pieces. The package can be resealed what I really like! The candy contains Vitamin C, Hyaluricon acid and Collogen!! Japan is known for its collogen containing candy, which is benefitial for you skin. When I open the package there is a strong rose/strawberry flavor. I expected it to be more of a rose scent, but I really find it a bit of a mix. The scent is sweet and a little sour at the same time. Very interesting! They do smell more like candy's than roses!

The taste test:
Something I did not expect from this candy is the crunchy layer, yummy! The taste has a hint of soury rose, but not super sour. I had to take a second bite as this candy dissolves in your mouth very quickly. The texture of the candy is really nice! There is almost a slight jelly feeling in the texture but the candy is quit chewy. Not as chewy as a High Chew but a nice chewy texture. After 3 candy's I do start to taste the rose taste more. If you don't like parfum like tastes this is not your candy. I would buy this candy again!

Conclusion:
Crunchy yet chewy and a little sour. Not a candy for people who don't like flower/parfume flavors.


**Puccho Miracle Multi Flavor (2,50 dollar)**
This was recommended by NapaJapan as one of there favorite candy's. It is a chewy candy with little colored gummy's inside. The packaging is 4 inch by 1 inch and contains 10 pieces. I expect this to be like the famous High Chew candy's. The candy does not smell like anything but i really like the colorfull packaging!

The taste test:
As expected it is very very chewy with a little bit of fizz and a strong pineapple flavor. You can chew on the candy a very long time before it desolves, I like that a lot! The gummies inside are very yummy to! This really gives me the feeling I'm eating a good piece of candy. Although the pineapple flavor is very strong, the rest of the candy tastes very soft and smooth. It is a very nice texture! I tasted another piece and this one tastes more like apples, very nice also! I would not hesitate to buy this candy again!

Conclusion:
A very good candy for those who like chewy candies with pineapple and apple flavor. Love it!


**Chewing Gum Blueberry (1,99 dollar)**
This candy was also in my box for free. The package is 3 inch by 1 inch and it contains 9 sticks of flat gum. This is not a candy I would buy as I am not a big gum fan. I have not found a good gum yet that holds it taste very long and besides that I rather eat a normal piece of candy. Although this candy is made by Lotte, one of the best candy makers in Japan I'm sceptical. But that is the great thing about this goodies, you can try them for free!

The taste test:
The first taste is very blueberry like, very strong and sweet. After a longer chew most if the flavor wears off like expected. The gum has a light pink/mauve color and has a normal gum structure. But the gum acts like any other gum, its gets to firm to chew after a while and the taste is gone. After a minute or 5 I'm done whith this piece and I've thrown it into the trash can.

Conclusion:
It is a nice flavor for those who like blueberry but it is just a regular gum, not my cup of tea.


Here is a close-up of the candies I'm going to make into tutorials the next time. I have no idea how these taste and to be honest I don't like to know as the taste test will stay a surprise! :D

From top to bottom:
Popin Cookin Kuru Kuru Takoyaki kit (3,99 dollar)
Pachi Pachi Wata Jelly Candy kit (3,99 dollar)
Popin Cookin Candy Suchi kit (4,99 dollar)

Well I hope you liked my Japanese candy review! In the future there will be more as I really like to do these reviews! When I filmed the candy kits I will also place a review of them here!

I wish you a very nice day and until next time!
HoneyBeads

Goldfish and loombands

Hello my lovely beading people and crafty friends :)

Yesterday my goldfish died, it was the pretty kind with the long tail. Over the night he must have got stuck somehow as he laid in between the fake plants the next day. He was still alive but you could clearly see he had broken his pretty tail. He was already half white and I just knew it was over. This fish have had a lot of problems before with his health but I did not thought it would end like this for him, poor fish!

First I doubted to get a new one or not as the other fish was so very active all of a sudden after the other one was gone. I didn't know if that was because he was happy that the other fish was away or just because he missed his friend. But after taking a long look at the aquarium I decided we needed another one to keep him company.

So we went to all the animal shops in town as I don't think getting a new animal is something you just do. I have to live with that fish for a long long time (some fish can get upto 40 years although 10 would already make me very happy) and I don't want to make a dicision like that to fast. In the first stores they didn't had the kind of fish I was looking for. I wanted a long pretty tail like the one we have now. But in the last store we found one! A red goldfish with black dots on his long tail and on his fins. That was the one!

My son was very exited about the new fish that we took home. When my hubby went to pay for the fish and I took him to the buggy he was almost afraid we would not take the fish with us! When we came home we let the fish sit in the bowl with the bag he came in as he needs to get up to the temperature of the water first. Well then came that moment where I doubt that fish don't have the ability to think!

My other fish seemed to be very exited to see another fish! And the new fish looked like he wanted to meet the new fish too. He also got scared big time when my cat came for some water! Our cats drink out of the bowl but they leave the fish alone. The other fish just stayed calm while the new fish started to swim for his live in his bag. He will have to get use to it, even the cat looked like what are you doing hahaha :D

After a while we let him free in the bowl and the fish seemed happy with each other. You really see the fish needed some time to get use to the bowl. Not 200 other fish swimming around him that must have been a relieve! Nice and quit bowl with one other gold fish and the fish that sucks to the glass. Fresh waterplant and some deco. If the fish could think he would have thought like 'Ow I can get use to this!' hahaha :) He calmed down very fast and they went off swimming together.

Then I came to look at them. My other fish swims up to see of there was some food to score when the new fish hide underneath the plants. My other fish looked down to the other fish like 'what are you doing' hahaha :D I might be a little crazy but I always talk to my fish like I do to my cat. I think they understand in a way that I love them. I think this little buddy has to get use to people and being a part of a family as he is not use to it yet. We will se how things go :)

Speaking about goldfish! I made this cute little goldfishy's in my loom:

You can find the tutorial for these on my Crafting channel! I really like the loomband thing! First I thought it was not my cup of tea as I am not a hype person at all. But when I saw some of the youtube videos I just knew this was fun! This week I will upload the different color variations of this fish and next week there will be a tutorial of a bracelet. I do these things on my Crafting channel as I don't think it belongs on my beading channel.

Well that was it for this time :) I hope you liked it!

Have a nice day!
HoneyBeads

Paint jobs and pendants

Hi my lovely beading people!!

How are you today? Today I listed my first NEW PDF-file on Etsy! This is the first PDF-file that is not made out of one of my video tutorials. I am so happy I made the decision to not film these hour long tutorials anymore! I was amazed how many people understood and stood behind my disicion! :D This pendant was inspired by the Lotus flower as I find it to be such a pretty flower! This PDF will just be a little more expensive then the PDF-files I make out of my video's. I still tried to make them as affordable as possible because I don't want my PDF-files to be to expensive.

This is the pendant I made from my new pattern:

Link to pattern in Etsy

I also made another Zianna pendant that is up for sale. This time I used colors that kind of matched with the original Zianna pendant. I will be making tons more of these pendants as I really like making them.

Link to this pendant in my Etsy shop

This week I didn't uplaoded a tutorial as I was very busy with Spring cleening and painting my furniture. 

I painted them white wash white with foil on top with roses on it. And I added a decorative edge to the side of the furniture. It looks very girly and fresh :D I hope to finish my house next week, I always love a good paint job :) It makes your house as new!

Well that is all I have to say for now!

Have a nice day!

HoneyBeads

Written patterns, change of plans and jewelry for sale!

Hi my lovely beading people! :)

How are you today? A lot of you have been asking me for a while now to start making written patterns. Most of you said you asked because you didden't like to bead by the computer all the time. So I started to make written patterns a while ago. I have to say that I really enjoy making these! I'm also starting up a team of ladies that help me with my PDF-files. 2 ladies check my grammar flaws and one ladie makes the pattern to see if everything fits. In this way I hope to sell good quality material that everyone can enjoy. I sell the pattrns for 2,75 euro a piece, this is for the made-from-video patterns only. I thought this was a fair prize because I don't want people to pay the full amount because after all I already released the video for free. At the other hand the patterns do take me a lot of time to make, so I have to ask something for my time.

Link to my Etsy shop

With this I also made another change in my system. I will stop making advanced beading tutorials on my channel. The reason for this is that the advanced video's are beeing watched very poorly. To make my point, I made a beginners tutorial and an advanced tutorial in the same time period. The beginners tutorial now has over 135.000 vieuws where the advanced tutorial has only 18.000. But the beginners tutorial took me a total of 1/5 day to make, where the advanced tutorial took me at least 3 days to just finish the disign. My point is, I have to start spending my time in a more efficient way. That same advanced tutorial will take me only the making time twice (on doodle and one time right with photo's) to make when I make it into an PDF-tutorial. So that will safe me at least a whole day and maybe even more. And in this way the more advanced beaders will still have a change to make the patterns!

I'm also starting to sell my handmade jewelry on Etsy. It was time for me to stop hoarding only and start selling haha :) Here are pieces that are up for sale at this moment:

 The Zianna Pendant (HoneyBeads version)

This pendant is made with Steampunk colors to give the pendant a tough look.

Etsy link to this pendant

Dingeling Dangles Earrings

These earrings are made from one of my patterns that is not available yet. I used Sapphire and Silver to give the earrings a very diamond like look.

Etsy link to these earrings

English Roses Swarovski Earrings

These earrings are made from the 25mm beaded cabochon tutorial.
I used 2 english roses cabochons to give the earrings a girly look.

Etsy link to these earrings

In the future I will also be start selling kits. But at this moment that is not yet relavant for me. I have to buy my beads like anyone else, at the (online) bead store. This means that my kits will be very expensive because I also have to pay for shipping cost and I have to make a little something off them. So lets say I make a kit for 6 euro's, plus 2 euro shipping cost, plus 2 euro for me and 2 euro for shipping to your country. Don't forget about Etsy and Paypal fees! So that is also 1,20 euro. A kit will soon cost you 13,20!!! When it would be around 8 euro's to buy it yourself. In my oppinion this will only work if I have a business number and I can buy my beads at the wholesale department. But for now that is the future in maybe 3 years.

So that is all for today :) Have a nice week!
HoneyBeads

Free 5,- euro Etsy Discount Coupon

Hi my lovely beading people and Crafty friends! :)

I just got another coupon code for Etsy!!!

It is a 5,- euro discount coupon for friends (that's you haha) to spend on Etsy!! Maybe I got that because my shop is up and running??? And doing good even!! :D

I don't know for sure, but as I read it, it is for custumors to spend on there first purchase on Etsy. And I also don't know if there is a minimum that you have to spend before getting the discount. (It doesn't say anything about that so...)

But how does not try does not know so grab this 5,- euro discount coupon to buy something cute on Etsy!!!

------> 5,- euro Discount Coupon <------

Please let me know if this worked for you and what are the terms and conditions!!

Have a nice day!
HoneyBeads

10 Tips for beginners in beading

Hi my lovely Beading People!

Today I've got 10 tips for beginners, to help you start beading!

1. Start with simpel and easy projects.
-If you start with simple and easy project, your project will have a low change of failing. This is very important because most of the time your first beading project gets you hooked on beading when it was a succes. Beading is more about 'getting the feeling of it' and less about just making things.

2. Pick something you like
-You can find all kind of free beginners tutorials on internet. Pick one you like to make, it is important that your first experience is a nice one. You want to be proud at yourself at the end that YOU made that! Make it for yourself or to give as a gift, your friends and family will love your handmade jewelry!

3. Learn the basic techniques
-How funny this may sound, even opening a jumpring has a special technique! There are a lot of video's on Youtube that show you how to do these basic techniques. Watch them before you start with your project. It helps you to make your jewelry look profecional.

4. Practice a lot!
-Every beader starts with a lot of practice pieces. It doesn't matter if you fail a few times, this is all part of the learning proces. I myself still make mistakes and I keep learning from them and I'm a beader for over 11 years now!! So don't be afraid to make mistakes, take note and keep on going.

5. Get the right tools.
-Tools are very important! The right tools will give you the result you want. Don't be scared to invest in good tools, they will go a long way and you won't regret buying them if you want to keep beading. Tools that I reccomend when starting beading are: round nose pliers, flat nose pliers, a cutting plier, small scissor, a beading mat, size 10 and 12 needles and something like beeswax to coat your thread with.

6. Get the right materials.
-Depending on what kind of beading project you want to start with, get all the materials that you need to make your project with. Most of the (free) beginners tutorials give you a full list of the materials you need. I suggest when you need a certian amount of beads to get a few more. You can loose one by dropping and never find it back (yes it happens!) or you can have a bad bead that you will have to throw out.

7. Where to buy your beads?
-For beginners I always reccomend going to a local store to buy your beads. When you are a beginner it is very important to get ín touch with the beads. You need to see and feel them in order to make a good selection. Buying your beads online has a total different feeling about it and you will have to have a good insite on thing like size, color, amount, quality and other things. If you can't buy your beads in a local store, ask the webshop owner to help you pick out the right beads or buy a jewelry making kit.

8. Don't start selling yet!!
-I've known a lot of people that just knew how to add a bead to a thread and started selling. DON'T DO THAT! Of course you can sell them to your family and friends, but don't go on Etsy and other selling sites like that. People will expect high quality when your on selling sites or fairs. I made this mistake myself (and I wasn't even very bad!) and I got customers coming back to me with tarnished jewelry, jewelry that broke and other things your not happy about to hear from a customer. This was because I didn't had the skills or the knowledge how to make proper jewelry.

9. To buy or not to buy books?
-A thing a lot of beginners do is buying a lot of beading books. I myself did it to when I started beading, but at this moment I reccomend first searching on the internet. The internet provides a lot of beginners information that is the same as in the books. I recommend saving up that money for a book that you really like when you actualy can bead. Then you can pick a book you really like and that you will really use. Because once you know the basic techniques you won't forget them and that beginners book will be an the shelf for ever collecting dust.

10. Writer patterns, photo tutorials or video tutorials?
-Most people prefer video tutorials when learning how to make jewelry. Search for these 3 types of patterns and see what you like. If you know what you like you will know what to look for in the future. This is very important because when you want to start buying patterns you will have to know what works for you. I reccomend first searching the internet, some patterns that cost money on selling sites are free at other sites.

I hope you liked my tips for beginners!

Have a lovely day!
HoneyBeads

Long lost goodies found again!!

Hi my lovely Beading and Crafty people :)

How are you today? Today a blog for the beaders. A while ago I told you that I completely lost my big project somehow, along with the winter pendant that I was to send to Beads&Buttons. But after my montlhy stash clean up I couldn't find it anywhere!! But yesterday I wanted to make something wit my polymer clay again, and there they where!!! So I'm very exited!! I don't know if I still want to send it to the beads and buttons, so that is something to think about, but of I do and they might reject me I just make a tutorial of it :)

Here is a picture of my long lost goods;

So I'm very happy that I found them back! I'm also working on a very cute cross, that I hope to upload this week. It is a very easy pendant that can also be used for earrings.
For now I will leave it at this, I will have to go to the docter in a couple of hours. I need to get the stitch out of my arm, it got a little infected (why do I alsways have these things??)  But at least it doesn't hurt or anything, so I'm fine :)

Have a nice day!
HoneyBeads

Second Channel Happiness

Hi my lovely beading people :)

How are you today? Long time no see! I'm not really a good blogger, sorry haha :) Thats a thing that I really want to change this year. Mostly I don't know what to talk about, but I have to say, I do have more things to talk about now because I started a second channel on Youtube called HoneyBeads & Crafts It's a crafting channel with all kinds of simple and easy crafts to do for yourself or with your (grand)children. I started this channel because next to beading I also like crafting a lot!

There are not a lot of video's yet on that channel, but here are 2 examples of video's that are aready uploaded:

This is a snowball made out of cotton wipes, very cut for next winter :)

This are gesso jars for last Valentine's day to light a candle in.

I have a lot more of ideas to make for this channel, but I didden't have the time to uplaod them yet. But altough this channel had kind of a slow start, I hope it will be as succesfull as my beading channel. Because what in life is more joyfull than making your own stuff?? :D

I will try to write more on my blog, maybe there will be some random things now and than. Just something to chat about :)

Have a lovely day!

HoneyBeads

10.000 Subscribers contest!!!

Hi my lovely beading people!!! :)

How are you today? I'm verry happy because I've got 10.000+ subscribers yeeaaahhhhh!!!!! :D

So because I want to thank you all for this milestone in my life and 'beading carrier' I'm holding a contest where you can win a great package of beads :D (I show the beads you can win and a surprise goodie bag in the video)

I choose the Winterglow earrings as the contest piece because this is a simple and fun project to make. It doesn't cost a lot of money to make it, you can get the materials everywhere and its a beginners project. So anyone can enter!!!

If you also want to join this contest, click on the link below to go to the contest video. Please read and hear well what I have to say, because if you don't follow the (simple) rules I can't enter you.

I hope you enjoy this contest and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Newyear!!!!

Lots of love and huggs
HoneyBeads

Click here to go to the contest!!

(source; google/http://www.alegoo.com/)

40 free Etsy listings!!!

Hi my lovely beading people :)

I already posted this a few times here and there. But I wanted to place this on my blog to so that everyone can benifit :) I started my own Etsy shop (it's still empty so no link yet :) ) and I hope to start selling soon. I'm working hard on my own business cards and stuff like that. I'm making it all myself so I can completely disign how I want my packing material to look.

I will soon also make a video where I show my business cards and other stuff I've made, so that everyone can see that making your own issen't tat hard!

If you also want to start your own Etsy shop, I suggest you click the link below. For every person that starts there own Etsy shop through this link we get both 40 free listings!! So we both benifit! 

Happy beading!!
HoneyBeads

40 free listings!!

Ow my gosh I'm so sorry!!!

Hi my lovely beading people!

Ow my gosh I'm so sorry!!! :(

When one of you write something underneath my blogpost, I get a message of that in the inbox of my blog. Because I answered everything I wanted to delete the answered messages out of my inbox, but I accidentally deleted the posts from my blog :S

So I'm so so sorry! That wassen't what I wanted to do at all!!

So please, if you have a question post this again underneath the post! I'm so so sorry!
I feel a little stupid at this moment :(

Sorry sorry sorry!!!
HoneyBeads

A little about selling my stuff...

Hi my lovely beading people :)

How are you today?

I get many requests of people how ask me if I sell my jewelry. Because I get that question so often, I thought I should make a blog post about this :)

As some of you might know, normaly I will go to a Christmas fair once a year, but this year I won't because I don't have the time to properly prepare myself. But of course this is only in the Netherlands, so people from other country's have nothing to do with this.

I'm still working on my website, but I did not diside yet if that will be a dutch site or a intenational site. If it will be dutch only, I will create an etsy page, so that I can sell worldwide. But why wait so long you might ask?

Well that has all to do with my time, or at least the lack of it. If somebody wants a costum order, I want to be able to really take my time for that. But I don't have that time at this moment. Also I need a stash of jewelry, because I know that some people rather buy something they can already see, instead of making up there mind on how they want it to look.

Also I want my own label, business card, my own packaging and other stuff like that. I really want any order to be a present to get. And I really want my own look and feel if you know what I mean. I want people to recognize my packaging in one glance of an eye. But this takes time and cost a lot of money. But I won't do it for less.

Also I'm creating a new bead stock with only quality beads and findings. I want this not only for myself and the name I have to keep up, but also to give my customers the best they can get. Also I found out that people from other country's arren't as greedy as dutch people. They know what handmade costs and how much time it takes to make something and they respect the prizes that come with that. So if I would only be able to sell in the Netherlands, I would have to use cheaper materials than I can use for other country's. So this takes me a while before I have enough good quality materials to make and sell any request. Because as most of the people, I don't have a pile of money laying around to spend on beads (I wish I had gosh hihi) So I love to go and by quality beads, but it will take me some time.

Speaking about time, I will not have that in a while either. My son is now 2,5 years old, so I will have to wait a while before he go's to school. But when he does I will have plenty of time to bead all day. And that is the time I will start making and selling custom orders. Probebly that is also the time I will start making patterns in PDF files, so you van download them.

So I hope everything is clear on the how and why's about selling or don't selling my jewelry. I hope you understand and I will keep you updated on this subject.

Have a lovely beading week!
HoneyBeads

Ideas and Happiness!!!

Hi my lovely beading people! :)

How are you today? Did you see one of my last video's? You might have noticed that I 'showed' myself for the first time! If you didden't see me there, go ahead and take a look! In that way you will have a face to go with the blogposts :)

I'm excited to tell you that the DIY beading club (http://www.diybeadingclub.com) invited me to be in there next monthly issue! They make internet magazines with patterns that you can buy for your tablet or pc. (PDF files)
And in the next issue there will be a little article about me :D Issen't that cool!

Some of you might have seen my 'Beads for Blogpost Contest Winner' video. I got 1 kilo of beads send to me from Preciosa Ornela (http://preciosa-ornela.com/)!!! In the video I show you wat is in the package and it the video I explain how you can have a shot at such a great prize to! I'm still very exited about my prize and I will make a lot of good jewelry with them! I use the pen that was in the package every day, and every day it reminds me of how lucky I am to have such great beading friends :)

I'm working on many projects at the samen time as usual :) I'm totaly in to wire wrapping the last few weeks, I'm working on Christmas items and I still need to think of 'normal' beading projects. I'm also working on a big project, and for my 'Don't got time for that' days I will have project that need a redo video :) So enough work for me!

Gianna (http://www.youtube.com/user/Beading4perfectionis) made a Etsy page (http://www.etsy.com/shop/B4perfectionists) where she offers a written pattern in PDF file for 2 dollars (that is 1 dollar fees and 1 dollor fund raising) I thought that was a very good idea. So I think I will follow in her foot steps and I will make my patterns in to written versions to. It will take me some time to do this, and I can't promis you when it will be ready. I want to do this because I get a lot of questions if people can print the instructions, or that I can speak in my photo tutorials. So my sulusion is that I will make written patterns with pictures and sell them on etsy, and the rest of my video's will be spoken. In this way I try to avoid comments like 'Can you please talk us through' or 'Are there any written instructions?'

I still don't know what I want to tell and/or show you on this blog. But I had a thought that it might be nice to put little updates about beading here, and maybe a little more about me and what I do besides beading. Because there is more to me than beading, although that is a big part of my life hihi :)

Have a lovely day :)
HoneyBeads

I'm back!!

Hi my lovely beading people!

How are you today? Sorry I have been away for a while now, but I was very very busy! In 1,5 month we had about 15 birthdays and 1 wedding! So I was more away then I was at home. Most of the time I was really tired at the end of the day and I just could'nt make anything. Nothing came out of my hands. But If I had an idea I would just make a little sketch of it so that now I can still work out these jewelry pieces.

Some of you might have noticed that I have a camera now! It is already half mine, because I have to pay back my Auntie the other half. So a big thank you to her for making it possible for me to shoot some video's already! She said that she could really see this is my passion and that this is something I want to keep doing. And that is why she helped me so that I didden't have to wait to the end of this year. 

Is it already nice and warm in youre country? Here it is raining at this moment. I really don't mind that much because it is nice beading wheater :) But most of the people here are complaining about the wheater. This are the same people how also complain when it is really warm in a couple of months, people will always complain about something :)

That brings me to a different subject. I don't know if all of you how read my blog also follow me on Facebook, but we had an little 'grouptalk' there about me placing the following;

Hi my lovely beading people.

Now I don't want to upset anyone, but I have to get this one of my chest. I consider to be myself a loving and gentle person how treats other people with respect, because I like to be treated that way myself. So if you comment on my video something like "I like your video but you spell this word that way" or "This is not really my cup of tea but thanks for sharing" I consider this to be constructive criticism or at least your own opinion and I respect this.

But if your going to comment somthing like "Youre nails are ugly and I hate this bracelet" or "Youre voice is so annoying, stop making video's" I consider that to be a lack of respect and I will immediately remove your comment and block you for the rest of my time on youtube. Just because if you don't respect me, why should I respect you?

I think we all now what are disrespectful comments, so if you don't make these you don't have to worry.

I have a very thick skin because I went true a lot in my life, so it does'nt effect me in any way. But I just want to protect our beading group from negative people, because they don't add anything positive to our society.

I hope that this message is clear to all of you, lots of love
Honeybeads
But if your going to comment somthing like "Youre nails are ugly and I hate this bracelet" or "Youre voice is so annoying, stop making video's" I consider that to be a lack of respect and I will immediately remove your comment and block you for the rest of my time on youtube. Just because if you don't respect me, why should I respect you?
I think we all now what are disrespectful comments, so if you don't make these you don't have to worry.
I have a very thick skin because I went true a lot in my life, so it does'nt effect me in any way. But I just want to protect our beading group from negative people, because they don't add anything positive to our society. 
I hope that this message is clear to all of you, lots of loveHoneybeadsBut if your going to comment somthing like "Youre nails are ugly and I hate this bracelet" or "Youre voice is so annoying, stop making video's" I consider that to be a lack of respect and I will immediately remove your comment and block you for the rest of my time on youtube. Just because if you don't respect me, why should I respect you?I think we all now what are disrespectful comments, so if you don't make these you don't have to worry.I have a very thick skin because I went true a lot in my life, so it does'nt effect me in any way. But I just want to protect our beading group from negative people, because they don't add anything positive to our society. 

I hope that this message is clear to all of you, lots of love

Honeybeads

I just really do care about all of you lovely beaders, and I don't want negative energie in our group. And I don't have any joy in deleting people how are disrespectful, but I don't let anyone walk over me and my lovely beading people. Because I look at it in this way, what effects my friend effects me to. And I can proof that it is true, because this topic was the best vieuwed and talked about topic of my facebook page ever!


How do you like my crafting tutorials? I love making them! I will keep making these and they will all be jewelry or gift realated. I think they are a nice variation on the beading video's, something simple to do when youre bored :)

Also I found another to-go-with-beading hobby! I'm making cards now! I will show you more of this in the future but at this moment I'm still a beginner, so there is not much to see yet :) Maybe I will show the cards I made on my facebook page :)

So sorry if this blogpost is a little bit all over the place, but at least you know now that I will start wrighting on my blog again now :) I will start to catch up on photo's and stuff like that tonight :)

Have a lovely day,
HoneyBeads

Spring days in the snow

Hi my lovely beading people!

This time a different blog post that usual. Don't get me wrong please, I am a very happy person that enjoys life every day. But even happy people get unhappy feelings...

I wassen't in the mood for a while to wright something on my blog. Not because I don't care about you guys! But just because... well I have... well lets call it the Winterblues. It is still snowing here, and al though I like snow and winter time a lot, I kind of start getting a little depressed of the dark winter days. My Christmas tree is gone of course ( I mean its 15th of March so it should be) but I miss my tree a lot. I miss the lights and the happy decoration. Something I bump in to every year again and again. Normaly I would hide myself in dark and alone places if I get this feeling, but this time I decided to make my house spring ready. In this way I tried to give my depression a positive turn, and it worked! :)

With my hubby and son I went to town and bought a lot of colorfull fake flowers, birds, hearts and other joyfull stuff to decorate the house with. I cleaned my house a little extra and I also bought some fresh new plants. I have to say that that worked a lot better than hiding myself! I try to take a walk every day with my son to see the sunshine and I go to bed early to rise fresh in the morning.

At this moment I can say I'm doing fine and I'm getting much more happy already! My hubby bought me the missing 6 lamps that go in my chandelier above my beading table, it shines so bright that I can even see the colors of my beads again haha :D Also I already asked everyone to give me money for my birthday so that I can buy a videocamera. I don't know if ot will be enough but in this way I can get it faster than the end of the year :) They all thought it was a good idea so that made me very happy to. I'm always a little shy to ask something for my birthday and I'm glad with almost everything. So it was a big step to ask money but I'm glad I did it!

So hopefully I stay in the happy mood now! I will do my best :) I'm so glad I have you guys supporting me! It means a lot to me :)

Have a lovely beading week!
Lots of love, HoneyBeads

Valentine's soutache

Hi my lovely beading people :)

How are you all doing today? It's cold and rainy here in the Netherlands. Perfect beading weather! My dear friend Gianna introduced me to soutache. So if you heard some loud swearing a few weeks ago, that might have been me haha. The needle and the inside of my finger met a couple of times, my thread came apart, my stone fel out of my beadwork and it go's on like that. So you might understand that after my first soutache piece, I never wanted to work with soutache ever again!

But then I started to work with the other more shiny threas I had. And that was so much better! So after my brown/gold one I made this pair of earrings;

I found them to be much better then the bracelet. The materials was very soft and my needle glide trough the middle as if it was butter! So I made a second project;

This time a pendant. I thought it was easier to make 1 good project as a beginner, because in this way you don't have to make 2 the same pieces to make it look good. But when I was half way, my rivoli fell out of my bead work :S. My soutache was damaged on one side. But I remembered that somebody made a tutorial on how to glue on your soutache. So I thought, lets give that a try and maybe safe my soutache this way?! That was succesful! After this one I decided to make my first Valentine's Day soutache pendant!

I think this is a romantic piece with the roses and the hearts :) I made this one in to a tutorial. You can check it out on my youtube channel if you like.

Have a lovely beading week!
Greetings HoneyBeads

Valentine's Day is coming!!!!

Hi my lovely beading lovers :)

It is almost Valentine's day and because every beader on Youtube made a Valentine's Day video, I didden't want to stay behind :) Valentine is a special day for me, it is the day me and my hubby are 3,5 years together. This year we will celecrate it in the Efteling, a theme park here in the Netherlands. We are really lokking forward to it, because it is the one time in the year we can be a child again. We love the rollercoasters and the beautiful atractions with fairy's and such.

This week I made a simple beaded heart with twin beads and bicone's. You need some skills but I think a beginner should be able to make it. I prefer using Miyuki seedbeads with this project, because the shape of the hart turns out a little better. I hope you like this project :)

Have a good beading week,

HoneyBeads

Made with Miyuki

Made with Toho

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hi my lovely beading people!

This week I worked on a soutache piece. I wanted to make a bracelet, with the idea of a child sitting on a lion. I had a hard time making it, it took me 3 days to finish it. I just didden't know where to go with the material. I did my best but it was a total fail. I can't even tell you how much is wrong with it! But I can learn from my mistakes now and I will practice more this week. This is a picture of the failed piece;

But now I had to come up with something else. So I thought I do the heghly requested video, the necklace of HoneyBeads that I use as my logo. I didden't want to make the exact same piece, because the original piece is my firt bead embroidery necklace. So it looks good, but my techniques were not so great back then. And also I made it with cheap beads, and I use Miyuki and Toho now, so I changed the pattern just a little bit. Here are 2 pictures of the pendant and the pendant with the necklace

At this moment it is snowing outside! It is such a pretty happening. We went sleigh riding today with our son. He enjoyed it a lot and so did we. We made a lot of pictures to, all for inspiration later this year :) I hope the snow stays for a while so that we can play in the snow just a little longer. But I also like to look at it while I'm beading :)

So this week I will be fighting with the soutache again, hopefully I will succeed and make a tutorial at the end of the week. And of not, I will post another tutorial in the meantime.

Have a great beading week!
HoneyBeads