Great news!

Hi everyone! 

Today I want to share with you some nice news and improvements I have been working on lately.

First of all, let’s talk about Pinterest: I recently started exploring it and I just love, love, love how inspirational this social network can be for beaders and creative people in general. With all the beautiful works shared by hundreds of talented artists, it is an endless source ideas. I therefore decided to start using it much more frequently. 

And here is the first small new feature: you can now directly pin any image posted on this blog by clicking on the little button that appears on the top left, when you pass with your mouse over it.

But now, let’s get to the seriously interesting stuff! I indeed collected the most gorgeous pieces I could get my eyes on and got them organized in 3 boards in order to share with you my sources of inspiration. They are called earrings, bracelets and necklaces respectively and contain beautiful designs for which patterns are not available or are for sale. I hope they will help your creativity fly (at least as much as they helped mine ;-) ). 

But wait, that’s not it! I said “seriously interesting” right? And that to me means patterns lots of them and possibly free!...so here is the juicy part: I also created my new, super-favorite board, called FREE PATTERNS where I am collecting a fantastic mix of jewelry pieces, coupled with instructions to start making these beautiful treasures right away! Just click on the Pinterest button you find here on the left, and let the fun begin!...

And..don't go away! News are not over yet! Indeed, I LOVE video tutorials, so I also started putting together all my favourite ones into playlists on my new youtube channel, which you can visit by clicking on the button you find here on the left, just under the Pinterest one! 

Ok, this is it for now…I hope you will enjoy these little improvements, and don’t forget to come back soon, more great news are on their way! ;-)

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

Featured creations

Big thanks to the lovely wesites and blogs that have featured my creations!

Strung Out: Ocean
Treasures winner profile

Cozy Little House:
Tweak It Tuesday #70

The Charm of Home: Home
Sweet Home #148

Strung Out: January Gems 

contest finalists

Strung Out: In Honor Of...
contest finalists

Strung out: Pantone Spring 
contest finalists

Strung out: Love Is In The

 Air contest finalists

Fire Mountain Gems:

2009 contest finalists

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

My creations

Hi everyone,

today I want to tell you more about what I like to create: most of my pieces are made of beads (I’m sure no one would have guessed that! ;-) )….well I love beads (ehm…lots of surprising information in this post!) and I would buy all those little sparkling treasures (of course)… but, I don’t! (…surprised now? :-) ). I only hand-pick the best materials, because every piece for me needs to be unique and special: I put a lot of passion in what I make and I want my creations to last for a long time.

I use mostly glass, fire-polished and high quality crystal beads (Swarovski or Preciosa), as well as gemstones and pearls. I mostly take inspiration from nature: flowers, leaves, butterflies and snowflakes are among my favorite themes and almost of my pieces have a romantic look. Probably because I want them to make people dream (ok, fine!..I just can’t hide my romantic side when I design them :-) ).   

I also love to test my skills and to have the opportunity to be challenged, so every once in a while I enter a beading contest. At the bottom of the post, you can see the creations I made for these special occasions.

My pieces are all designed and handmade by me. Whenever I take inspiration from someone else’s work, I always give credit and eventually link to the page where the original design is displayed. I think this is a matter of fairness, as I deeply respect other people’s work. I therefore encourage anyone taking inspiration this blog to do the same. 

In case the above argument doesn’t sound convincing to you, please look here on the right! This is my mean face…are you extremely scared now? I’m sure you are, so please link to my blog!!

Well, after the ugly picture above, I hope you will enjoy the gallery below…and come back soon!

Lost in the Ocean - 2009 FMG beading contest - FINALIST

Native Flowers - 2013 - January Beadaholique contest - FINALIST

Letter from Paris - 2012 - Strung Out contest - FINALIST

 

Snow Queen - 2012 - January Beadaholique  Contest

2009 - Colorworks contest

Magical forest - 2009 - Stinging contest

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

About me

Hi, and welcome to my blog!

I’m Chiara, I’m a university student, but also an eager crafter. I started beading when I was in middle school, but since then I also tried découpage, cross stitching, sewing, decorative painting, and recently knitting and crochet…and I think quilting will be my next victim!

I was born in Milano, Italy, but I lived for one year in the US and I spent one semester in the beautiful city of Copenhagen (Denmark) as exchangee student. 

I am an outgoing, happy, creative and optimistic person (also very modest, as you can see :-)).
I hope I will be able to inspire you, or at least to make you laugh with my clumsy attempts to make sense of the world of yarn, needles and hooks, which for me is still a mysterious, incomprehensible weaving of loops and knots!

Have fun and visit the blog often for new updates!

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)

The blog

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog!

 

My name is Chiara and I’m a university student (not for much longer, as this is my last year of studies :-) )... no, wait, don’t run away!... this blog doesn’t talk about books or exams!!!...here I want to share my passion for crafts! I enjoy everything from decoupage to crochet, from decorative painting to cross stitching, but my deepest love is for beading and jewelry making.

I started when I was in middle school, just one small package of beads at the time...but I soon found myself to be addicted to any kind of sparkling little treasure. Here I want to share my creations, as well as tips about how to make your own.

 

Posts are divided by themes…there are 12 of them, one for each month (some look very odd, but in the theme section you can find the reason for my choices, just to reassure you that I’m not totally crazy! :-)).
 

Month themes were my choice because I see that people often don’t like some parts of the year; they tend to believe cold months are sad and dull, while I find every season to be beautiful and inspiring and I would love everyone visiting my blog to see how creativity and optimism can spark all year round!

Posts are divided between “creations” (containing all my handmade pieces and a how-to section with tips) and, “chatting about…” (other topics as book reviews, websites to visit,…).
 

I would love to know what you think, so please, leave comments with your opinions, ideas and suggestions.

I hope you will be inspired,
Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!

 

P.s. If you don’t want to miss any crafty project, remember to follow the blog by clicking on the “join this site” button in the right column ;-)