I want to make something pretty of good quality for a special little girl. I don't want to use whimsical stuff. Since I'm very new to beading I'd like to see something first to get an idea of where to begin. Anyone make anything they can share or send me to a book or link? I was thinking of something like the beaded flower necklaces that people made in the 60's but maybe a little ore updated.

Thanks

Unfortunately, I don't remember the beaded flower necklaces people made in the 60's even though I lived through them; I was pretty sheltered then. 

One of the additions to my line of jewelry has been what I call "Jewelry for the Younger Set".  Here's the URL to that page of my website:

http://www.donnascraftycreations.com/DonnasCraftyCreations/Jewelry_for_the_Younger_Set.html

I use less expensive components for these, so parents don't have to worry about their little girls losing expensive jewelry.  If your special little girl is old enough that lead crystal isn't an issue, I'd use Swarovski crystal components for extra sparkle - but she has to be old enough to understand that she can't put her jewelry in her mouth.

Good luck and please let us know what you decide to make and how it turns out. 

Thanks so much for your link. Your work is very beautiful and inspiring. I wound up making a swarovski bracelet and necklace in shaes of rose, light rose, peach and yellow. I used rose colored crystal rondelles and gold seed beads too. She will love it.  It's very sparkly and princess-like. I am still  looking for the instructions to make the flower necklace. While you may not remember it, if you saw a picture you would say "oh yes, I remember those". It was a plain seed bead necklace but you could make a little daisy type flower by going back though one bead. I have to play around. I'll bet I could get it if I had the time to sit and mess around.

Thanks for the tip of not putting swarovski in the mouth. The little girl is old enough to understand those instructions but I never knew it.

Adrian

Hi, Adrian,

Thank you for the compliment on my jewelry.  The bracelet and necklace you made sound lovely - I love the colors you chose.

Your description of the flower necklace does sound familiar.  I may play around with it today, since I'm off today.

There has been a lot of debate about the lead content of Swarovski crystal, since it's lead crystal.  The lead shouldn't leach out, after all we drink wine from lead crystal goblets, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

 Donna

here's a how-to for a daisy chain. hope it helps!

Daisy Chain Link

Ladybug,

That is absolutely adorable.  It's amazing how something that looks impossible to do is so do-able when it's broken down step by step.  Do you think it would work with stretchy cord?

Laura Z.

hmmm, maybe. it would depend on what size seed bead you're using and what size cord. i haven't made any yet, i've just been looking at it. i think it'd probably be easier with the thread. i normally use this for seed beading. good luck!

Thanks Ladybug! That's it. I made her the swarovski necklace but I would love to give this a try. The Fusion beads site makes it look so simple to do.

yeah, i love fusion. their free shipping is really fast too, less than a week

i order from them all the time. i just got a crystal components flower(20mm)that's normally $5 for $2 'cuz it was on sale! that's one of my fave finds. they have a really cool idea called Anemone, and i made two bracelets with that pattern that i really like, too.