Sparkle Steam!

Here is a little necklace I created that I am calling Sparkle Steam, full of Swarovski Elements Crystals and some fun gears!  Enjoy!!!

Lots of fun to create and loving the collage effect!

Sparkles!

June

designing detours

A post in the Create Your Style with Swarovski Elements community sparked some thoughts in regards to designing and how the best laid plans can sometime go awry.......

I personally enjoy this part of the creative process, I think I am going to do one thing with the lastest piece I am designing, a detour happens and a new creation emerges.

Truth is ......sometimes designs work, sometimes they don't.......either way I am good with it not turning out as I originally planned as long as I am happy with the end results of the piece. I think it is important for us to remember the journey and the love of designing as much as just deciding that "Project Sparkles" has to turn out exactly this way! Fantastic when that happens but let's be realistic, that just doesn't happen all the time.

Case in point: I had an inspiration necklace that I had designed on paper for a big project, thought (thought being the operative word) that it could be executed one way only to find out that it was absolutely not going to work (much mumbling and grumbling happened along the way I might add).....end result, I had to totally rework the necklace. Surprise! It actually turned out much better the new way as well as it was more wearable and had stronger execution for the overall necklace yet still retained the essence of the original design. Really unless I told you which piece that was and how it "should" have been, you would never know the difference, LOL! I have no doubt that each of my fellow ambassadors could tell you a similar story.

Recently, I was asked to design some pieces for a beading magazine. I was so delighted to have been asked, of course I had so many thoughts and ideas about what to design. Finally after much personal debate, decided what I was going to create and you know what......???? Almost none of the finished pieces that I sent in looked like what I originally planned to do ( which was fine for this particular project). The beautiful pieces morphed and created into stunning pieces that looked nothing like what I thought that they would. I liked that I was open to the changes and was pleased with the results!

Now truth be told, if the project needed to look a certain way then I would make that happen ( goes with the job, LOL!) but I like the freedom of designing when I am not locked into a certain type of design.

Sometimes we can unlock the creative juices just by being told we can only use a certain technique and need to create designs that fit into the technique vs a particular design. I had another recent project where I was asked to create several unique stringing projects using certain colors and themes ...... honestly, I don't do a lot of stringing these days more wire and mixed media projects. However, I can tell you that some of my recent favorite jewelry pieces (full of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS pearls & crystals of course!) that I wear quite a bit these days were created and inspired by that project request. Who knew that I would rediscover an old love!

I think it is nice to share our "real truths" about adventures in designing....takes some of the fear out of it especially for beginning designers. I personally do that in the classes that I teach, giving my students tips, tricks and things I have tried that didn't work and why it didn't work in addition to the ones that of course do work......I have also gotten lots of fantastic tips from my students in return as well!

Honestly, the process and planning does get easier and you can create exactly what you want to create when you need to but be open to the detours and where they can take you while designing! You might be surprised where you end up!

Sparkles!

June

Featured

I am delighted to say that I have a couple of new jewelry designs that are in two of my favorite jewelry magazines at the moment.......one of my necklaces a cool vintage and gemstone mix is the December birthstone jewelry design featured in the current issue of Bead Style Magazine.

I also have a necklace in the new Bead Design Studio Magazine ( formerly Bead Unique Magazine).  The fabulous editors there had asked me along with some other designers to participate in a chain challenge for the magazine.  So happy to have been able to participate!!

Check out both of these fabulous magazines!  So much inspiration and fabulous unique desigsn!

Happy Reading!

Sparkles

June

New Spring 2011 Jewelry Affaire Magazine

So excited to say that I have several pieces of jewelry in the new Jewelry Affaire Magazine that is hitting newstands now!  I love this magazine as well as its editor and staff!  Delightful! 

Here is a sneek peek at the new cover, love the earrings!

 One of my featured projects in the magazine, Vintage Rose necklace below is created from some wonderful vintage vintage beads and pendant from my huge vintage stash of goodies in the studio and some sparkling Swarovski Elements crystals of course! 

 One of the things that I found with this necklace was that a clean & simple design was actually better compared to a busy, more complicated design.  Sometimes, we can "over-design" so keep that in mind as will I when working on future jewelry projects.

I get so excited when the newest issue of a magazine that I love comes out and some of my jewelry is featured......it make for an extra-special sparkling day when it arrives and I can finally share with everyone!  Can't wait to see all of the other projects in this issue of Jewelry Affaire!

Sparkles!

June

50% Off Sale Extended

We are extending our Spring 50% off sale till Saturday March 20th!

Remember to use coupon code: spring09 at checkout
to receive you 50% off discount off your total order at
http://www.beachhausdesigns.com/ now through Saturday!

Our jewelry makes the perfect gift for birthdays, graduations
and of course Mother's Day!

You can stock up at these prices!! Use coupon code: spring09

Have a sparkling day!

http://www.beachhausdesigns.com/

New Jewelry

So I am trying to get back in the groove of things and to start off my to-do list today I am posting some new jewelry that I finally got photographed and ready to put on the website and blog! YIPPEE!
I love this double strand cool necklace! Full of wood coco beads, freshwater pearls & Crystallized Swarovski elements crystals it is perfect to go with everything! Don't you agree!


Just Beachy is one of a kind and my return to my roots with our authentic beach glass (or some people love to call it sea glass) jewelry. I love the color of this beach glass is a a beautiful shade of aqua that we have wrapped and embellished with Crystallized Swarovski Elements crystals and sterling silver. Fabulous.........
Golden Venice is a classic, elegant necklace of sterling silver, vermeil, Crystallized Swarovski Elements crystals and a fabulous Murano glass pendant. Stunning!Circle of Blue is just fun & cute!! Dress it up, dress it down......
I love the swing factor in the tassel don't you?

All of these pieces are available on the website with some more being added shortly!

Have a Sparkling Day!
June

Sparkling Party in Tucson

Our last night in Tucson was just a blast....the annual Crystallized Swarovski Elements party was held in the courtyard in the new location for the showroom & classes this year. So we had a beautiful, perfect evening under the Tucson stars with music, drinks,friends & fun....who can ask for much more!

At the party & under the Tucson Sky....love the lighting & catus! Hubby took this picture.......cool isn't it?

The classes and demos went well. Here I am getting ready for my students.....

Here I am working hard at the Demo booth in the Crystallized Swarovski Elements Showroom showing how to make my Sparkling Crystal Watch Bracelet!

My new friend the talented, Jamie North from Canada! Her earring demo followed mine at the showroom.....see all those sparkles behind us....each one was a fabulous Crytallized Swarovski Elements crystal.....They were fabulous in person!

One of the best things of the week was that I was invited along with 19 other designers to become an ambassador for Crystallized Swarovski Elements.........I am beyond honored to say the least!!! I will let you know more about that later but I am doing a sparkling crystal dance.

Isn't this just a sparkling laptop......it was in the showroom in Tucson!

I met some other instuctors that to just say that they are talented is not doing them justice at all! They are some of the most amazing, super talented ladies and gentlemen that I have had the pleasure to know.......I feel so inspired just being around them! One of the gals that I met was Jamie North. She is FABULOUS! Wait till you have a chance to take a peek at some of her jewelry....amazing! You have to check out her Glitz N Kitz Website if you are looking for some new design ideas and yes, she sells both kits & finished jewelry.

Here is Leslee, Jamie & myself at the party!

Also Deb Simon......the gal has done it all! Fabulous and she has a new book out. We were teaching classes side by side.

One of the instuctors that is so nice, sweet and super talented is Valeen Hirata. She is just adorable and what a pleasure to meet her!

Leslee Frumin is a bead & metal artists that is just an amazing instuctor......She lives in California but originally lived in Michigan so we of course hit it! Truly a wonderful lady and very talented . She has been teaching for many years. I am thinking I will need to check out one of her classes in the near future!

There were so many more wonderfully talented instuctors there and several that I didn't get to meet but had hoped to so maybe next time!

2 Day 50% off Sale!

We are having a 2 day 50% off sale
at our website Beach Haus Designs starting today!

Use Code: Happy50 to get your discount at checkout.

Sale will end at midnight tomorrow!!!

Happy Thursday

Thursday, already! Whew too much to do and never enough time to do it all.....
my wonderful parents are due in today from down south
so the little assistants are beyond excited (me too, to be honest!!)

Ok, so on to the main attraction.....what's new, you ask??? A couple of things....Well, other than getting lots of exclusive goodies ready for our upcoming shows in St Petersburg, Florida in October and Occoquan, VA at the end of September we have been working on the new June Beach Collection catalog for our wonderful wholesale customers, the new ad for Southern Lady Magazine and much more.......YIPPEE! ( I will show you some of those sneek peeks next week, promise!)
This necklace is fun yet a good reminder for all of us not to forget our dreams...don't you agree???? I love the turquoise, sterling silver & swarovski crystals.This is swirly girl! A personal favorite of mine ( yes, I really do have my absolute fav's out of the collection) This necklace is a bit longer than the usual 18", handblown glass bead makes it one of a kind and I love the cool swirly sort of organic shaped sterling drop. What do you think????This is our Out of the Blue necklace, cool blue tuquoise, blue jade, sterling silver & Swarovski crystals.....simple, classic yet totally fun and blue!

Till later! Have a Sparkling Day!

June

Bay Harbor

It was a fabulous weekend & just beautiful weather although we did get a little rain on Friday but that turned out to be ok too...... Great artists, show by shores of Lake Michigan and an adorable village......not bad right? Right! We had a great time as usual and it is always wonderful to see our customers that have been wearing Beach Haus Designs jewelry for years now.
Just a couple of photos from the booth........it was a bit windy due to being near the water .
Sorry to have not posted much lately but with vacation and working on lots of new pieces I will have tons to show you shortly!!! Hang in there with me.....promise, lots of goodies to come!!!

We are also getting ready to head to Virginia for the show in Occoquan in September then we are off to Florida in October for Angels After Dark..........going to be a busy busy fall again.

Sparkles!
June

The Girls Are Back

Well, after a nice wonderful weekend full of laughs, sun and much Diva'ing....we are back to our real lives. What a fun time my girlfriends& I had.......I couldn't have asked for three better friends to have spent a beautiful girls weekend with!

I love this little winery......Peninsula Cellars. Their tasting room used to be an old school house and then it was an art studio of some friends of DH's family before becoming part of the winery......they even use chalkboards inside to write "I will not drink bad wine", awards, promotions, etc.....so cute!

This is Diva S wearing our Pink Lemonade necklace isn't it just too cute on her! Course she is adorable and yes I am completely biased, LOL!!
Diva Z was loading up on some of her new favorite's!!!

2 Lads winery is just fantastic and has hands down the BEST view from a tasting room with beautiful views of Lake Michigan from every angle......they are the newest winery on the peninsula these days and are rapidly becoming known for their sparkling wines and reds! Here is the gang! Diva K, Diva Z, Diva S & Diva J course we are all wearing some cute new Beach Haus Designs jewelry while we were doing our sampling & food pairings.......honestly there was some amazing food samplings like an artichoke spread that was out of this world from Bower's Harbor Inn ( Ben & I got engaged at this fabulous restaurant)

Kim getting off the phone with her adorable little girls.......She is the owner of Girl Party TuTu's that I have told you about in the past!! Nice to put faces & names together isn't it??? LOL!!

Can't tell we are having a good time , can you???


Chateau Chantal was our last stop for the evening before heading back to the cottage for a beach fire. Chateau Chantal has the best view of a sunset and the whole setting is just beautiful so it was fitting that we ended our Diva's tour here.
The rest of our weekend was spent sitting on the beach, the deck, checking out some great little restaurants ( discovered that I liked baked potato pizza, who knew!) and we got in a little shopping and even went to a Daylily & Iris Farm that Diva K fell in love with.......

All in all it was fabulous, relaxing & just what we all needed and now we are looking forward to our next adventure in the fall as well as doing "Diva's Uncorked" on Old Mission again next year!

Sparkling Cheers To Everyone!!!
June

Girlfriends & New Beach Friend Links

This weekend is going to be a bit of a re-charge as I am heading UpNorth with some girlfriends for a fun girls weekend! YIPPEE! Don't you think we all need one of those? A think a bit of re-charge is in order.....just think of all of the new creative ideas that will be popping out, at least that is hope, right? LOL!

But first I want to leave you with a few new things as well as a couple of links.....

You know me, we have to do "beachy" designs here & I love our new starfish in black lava stone with turqoise & Swarovski crystals!!!

Blue Italy is so light & airy but the Murano glass twist pendant is so beautiful when you can see the gold & white through the glass.......

Candy Jade, Mother of Pearl, Swarovksi crystal & sterling silver.....simply sweet & beautiful!

I think this necklace hits just the right note of sweet & fun, what do you think?? Again, light & airy but still colorful with all the mother of pearl & swarovski crystals

This is a bit of a fall preview so don't get too excited yet.........but I love this necklace full of Smoky quartz crystal pendant, handblown glass, 14ktgf, and vintage carnellian....striking & beautiful!Course I know you are not surprised at all that I have shells in my collection at all, are you? I love abalone shell and this one is double sides so it doesn't matter which way you wear it, perfect!!!

So I am going to start spotlighting on our blog once a week some of
the Beachy Links & Friends that I love so here we go........

I am also very excited to say a dear friend is about to be a grandmother.......Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse!! Congrats! She is in for more fun than she can even begin to imagine. Check out her shop she has beautiful sparkly crowns, gifts and more beautiful things than I can mention here.....

Also, check out Girl Party Tutus for the cutest tutu's for your little one......I just gave one to a friend of mine for her newborn for some adorable baby pictures!

If you are in the market for some fabulous tea you must check out Dori at Island Tea House! She has the yummiest tea and I just love reading the descriptions alone.....

Gina at The Nest has some of the cutest aprons around in her beautiful shop in Eureka Springs.......I love that cute little town so does Ben....it has such good memories for us!

Gabriela Delworth is just a treasure & her one of a kind crowns are well just that as well!!! I am going to have her make one for Little Assistant #1's upcoming birthday party......I will tell more about the theme & such later.....(Hint: going to be VERY girly this year!!)

I will have more for you next week.....off to the beach's of Lake Michigan!!!

Hope you have a Sparkling Day!!
June

New Designs Part II

Oops, sorry if you got an earlier post....wasn't finished & it got sent out.....forgive me. UGH!!!

Been a busy week here at the Beach studios! Lots of thing bubbling but some that I can't share although I will share some new designs that are HOT off the press.....would love to hear your thoughts........I love feedback on designs!

So I am loving this adorable necklace! Full of color and it just makes me smile looking at it!

This is a newer style that we have been doing, a bit more vintage in its feel.....I love this & think it is a great transition necklace for the seasons as well as a great throw it with a tank & jeans, off you go you gorgeous gal!

White Turquoise is one of my new favorite stones and here it is in a classic, simple yet Fab necklace! Love the sterling & wood pendant, don't you?

One of our new bridesmaid & special occasion designs. Full of pink & hot pink Swarovski crystals....simple yet plenty of sparkle!

Course those of you who know me well know that I LOVE vintage and this necklace is full of vintage flowers & pearls but updated to look at bit modern & fun with Swarovski crystals, freshwater pearls & sterling silver.Let's do the twist! So a little throwback there for you but isn't this necklace fun! The pendant is Murano glass done in royal, green & red......we added beautiful sterling silver, lapis, turquoise & of course our favorite Swarovski crystals!!! Cool, light, sassy & fun....can you ask more from your necklace?

Well, that is it for today......off to the studio!

Have a Sparkling Day!!
June

Summer Fun

Can you believe that summer is actually here!??!!! I can't but I am SO happy as I love it so much......course Spring is I think my favorite season as I love watching the flowers bloom & the new leaves appear on the trees...such an inspiring rebirth every year.

Ok, well on to some new things finally! I am back in the studio & working hard to get tons of new things listed in the store.

So these two necklaces are some of my new fav's! We are calling them Pink Lemonade
& Sassy Palm Tree! Bet you can't tell which is which.....LOL!!! They are our new featured necklaces in our new ad for Southern Lady Magazine

This adorable bracelet is from our June Beach Collection & about to be a give-a-way next week on Friday Findings on June 13th at Capitola Girl & Posh Mama.

I will post the link for everyone when it goes live next week so that you can enter.....
maybe you will be the lucky winner!

Off to the studio to work and get ready for a show next Wednesday in Birmingham, MI! I am doing the Women of Bloomfield art show and there are just some great artists there every year. Worth checking out if you are in the area........
I will have lots of one of a kinds there just for the show!

Happy Summer Sparkles!
June

Green Beach & Beach Glass

As we all know the big buzzword these days is "Green" & here are Beach Haus Designs we try to do our part too with recycling packaging, beads ( I LOVE anything vintage & have been collecting vintage jewelry & accessories since I was 10 years old!), chains, etc.....sometimes I get so attached to certain pieces that I really feel this need for the piece to get a home with someone who will treasure the jewelry & components in it as much as I do.

Well, one of the other things we do here and is one of our founding designs is our beautiful one of a kind, authentic Beach Glass ( course some people refer to it as Sea Glass as well but being that we are Beach Haus Designs we stick with Beach Glass, LOL).
I have not done as much of our beautiful Beach Glass lately for several reasons but I am happy to say that it is back & here are some of our authentic Lake Michigan beach glass designs......get them while you can as they are all one of a kind & when they are gone....well, you know the drill, their gone!

I love the story behind so many of the colors that you find....cobalt blue beach glass is often from old Noxema jars, Lavender used to be white but during the wars WWI & II they took out a product out of the glass that turned it white that was needed for the war effort and the new chemical over time turned white glass lavender........rare.
There are reds, browns ( old root beer & beer bottles), green (7 -up bottles) and of course white & clear ( soda bottles, etc) I have a fabulous piece of large beach glass that still have the writing on it from the soda bottle, too fun!!!We have done and are always happy to do custom work for our customers using their own beach glass that they found on a favorite vacation, etc.......contact us at customerservice@beachhausdesigns.com for more information about custom work.

Many of our Beach Haus Designs brides have used beach glass in their bridal jewelry for their beach weddings in bracelets, anklets & necklaces! What a great one of a kind gift to give to those who stand up in your wedding.

So here is to a green world!
Check out our Beach Glass Jewelry and snag a piece while you can!

Sparkles
June