Everything Old is New Again

"Everything Old is New Again" was the theme for this round of beading bloggers from artbeads.com. I chose to do a "steampunk" theme since I LOVE the looks of it and have never really been brave enough to try it. I had a hard time figuring out what to do but ended up with some REALLY great beads and findings to play with.

This is all the brass/antique brass stuff I picked out.

There are some gears, a great butterfly, a very cool clasp, chain, wire and of course swarovski crystals. I can't seem to make ANYTHING without using crystals! I didn't end up using the wire as it was shiny brass and it didn't work with the antique brass. I'm sure I'll use it on another project. I also used some Tim Holtz gears and a spring ring and head pins (that I cut the ends off to use as wire) and a few extra little red crystals I had in my stash.

"Brass Butterfly"

This is all the copper stuff I picked out.

In the copper I picked out some chain, bead frames, a clasp, some crystal rivoli settings, and the rivoli crystals to go into the settings. Let me tell you, those crystals are GORGEOUS in the sunlight! I used GS Hypo to glue the crystals into the bezels. To make this I also added in some 8 mm clear swarovski rounds, some Tim Holtz gears I glued together with my GS Hypo to make a center piece and a few others I had laying around and used copper wire and split rings from my stash to hold it all together. I really love copper stuff. I see myself wearing this pretty frequently.

"Copper Chains and Crystals"

Thanks for checking out my latest projects. I LOVE being a beading blogger partner! It's always fun to challenge myself with new and different products.

Disclosure...As a reviewer of products at Artbeads.com, I received all beads pictured in the first photos posted above free of charge. I have been asked to review these products and give my honest opinion of the products...positive or negative. I am not being compensated by Artbeads.com for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.