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KRISTAL: Hello, Kristal Wick here with Artbeads Café. All things caffeinated, beady, sparkly,
and Teri. Yay, welcome to the segment, Teri.
TERI: Hi, Kristal.
KRISTAL: We're here for jean jacket extravaganza. Come on, say it with me.
BOTH: Jean jacket extravaganza!
KRISTAL: Okay, everybody knows these jeans and the jean jackets out there are hundreds
of dollars that are all blinged up. Well, you can do it yourself. We did it. We've
done it ourselves. So if we can do it, you can do it. I'm going to give you a little
tour of some of the fun things that we've had here. Now, these are normal, regular jean
jackets and jeans that you just get commercially out there. Make sure they fit. That's #1.
And then, #2, get all the bling.
So I'm going to point out a few things. This -- oh my goodness, this is one of my
favorites in that I had a good time making all these pretties on here. We've got some
flowers going on here. We've got some beautiful Volcano colors. That's my very favorite
crystal. You can see these here, all the way down. And that is -- around the collar is
really a great place to put it. As well, the pockets. Then you flip it over and voila,
pretty on the back too. I put a few little butterflies on there. Isn't that fun? So
that is a really great idea to use some of your hotfix. I did this jean jacket with hotfix.
Now, Cynthia did this jacket -- oh my goodness -- and this is using a very unusual hotfix
crystal called the molecule. Look at that. Cute little molecules. And that's all done
with hotfix on there, on the little pockets and all the way down. Isn't that lovely?
TERI: They have movement.
KRISTAL: They really do. And when you wear them, woo! So that's unusual. Because again,
we like to do hotfix and different applications to the jeans, but you don't always have
to just use rounds. You can use all different kinds of shapes. Now here, a pair of jeans,
actually jean-jeans, and again -- you guys, these are hundreds of dollars when you go
and buy them at the store, but you might as well make your own. So this guy, these are
on the back pockets of jeans, and this stitching was already on there, and it was just plain
white stitching that I thought was mm, not so good. But I loved it. Why? Because hotfix
sticks really well, it melts into the fabrics of any kind of stitching or fabric. So I used
the beautiful Volcano colors and just did a zoomy-zoomy little design there, and I think
that is really fun. And again, $100 pair of jeans there.
TERI: Really pretty.
KRISTAL: Yeah. And you can also go to your secondhand stores and get jeans there. They
always have tons of jeans there. So just bling it up a little. Now Teri...
TERI: Yes.
KRISTAL: Look at her. Show me a little bit about what's going on over here on your
shoulders. This is so cool.
TERI: Rose pins.
KRISTAL: Rose pins, another really fabulous way to bling up your jeans.
TERI: That's right. And washable.
KRISTAL: Right, that's key.
TERI: They're locked in and sparkly.
KRISTAL: Talk about the rose pin a little bit. Here, we have some rose pins, and there
are little prongs on there. So talk about how that works on your jacket as you're
making it.
TERI: It's so secure. They are forced through the fabric with the help of the tool.
KRISTAL: It's the Crystal Applicator is what we use to put on rose pins, to use the
rose pins.
TERI: Just a squeeze, and even through thick denim, it's easy peasy.
KRISTAL: Nice. Show us a little flash of shoulder there.
TERI: Sparkly.
KRISTAL: As you can see, it's really sparkly, and these are -- it comes in all different
kinds of colors and styles and really, really pretty. A whole different kind of application.
TERI: I use three sizes to get more color play, more sparkle.
KRISTAL: Yay.
TERI: The different sizes.
KRISTAL: We love that. And it gives it a lot of depth, because they're very three-dimensional.
They're very -- they pop out. It's a whole different kind of application.
TERI: Yeah.
KRISTAL: Really pretty. Cool, this is fun. So this is our...
BOTH: Jean jacket extravaganza!
KRISTAL: Cynthia, it's time for Kristal Wick's Picks, where I get to share with
everybody some of my favorite things here, and oh my gosh, WireLuxe, WireLuxe, WireLuxe.
We have gone crazy with this, haven't we? And it's the tip of the iceberg. I mean,
we have barely started to dive in, but holy cow. Okay, some of the things we have to point
out here, share with you guys, is what to do with this WireLuxe stuff. You look at it,
you get it from a package, it comes in these beautiful colors, lots of different colors,
and you go "What do I do with it?"
CYNTHIA: No, that's true.
KRISTAL: So we're going to show you some things. Bracelets, fabulous. I did some flatback
enhancement on the WireLuxe, added a little clasp and a toggle at the end, and voila,
you've got a bracelet and you can wear it. Again, this can stretch. You can stretch it
in different ways and different shapes. This I just did a zigzag stretch, and it keeps
its shape, which is lovely. And then just attached a removable bail, dangling a beautiful
Swarovski heart. But you could dangle anything you want, and the removable bail comes off.
So you can wear this plain without anything on it, or you can add something to it. So
now show me your bracelets. What'd you do with those bracelets? Oh my gosh, to die for.
CYNTHIA: Thanks. The first time I saw WireLuxe, I thought it was such a great product, but
it was very intimidating.
KRISTAL: Was it?
CYNTHIA: Yes. Like you said, what can you do with that? And then I saw an example where
someone did some seed beads inside, and I thought, "That's such a great idea."
So I came up with this one here.
KRISTAL: I love that.
CYNTHIA: And I used a stairway Swarovski crystal, and there is no technique to do this. You
just sew the beads through the wire, and that's it.
KRISTAL: So it's kind of embroidery in a sense, that you kind of go -- you make it
up as you go along. So there's not a pattern, it's not like you follow any instructions;
you just go along with your seed bead embroidery, only you add this. So you did the seed beads
and then the beautiful -- oh my gosh, that is so blingy. It's got everything in there
you could love. WireLuxe, seed beads, and bling. It's gorgeous.
CYNTHIA: And what is so easy is, it's so easy to hide a knot when you're done because
of the wire, and you can push inside the wire. So it's really, really amazing what you
can do with that.
KRISTAL: Love it.
CYNTHIA: And here, I did something very simple. I took a sew-on crystal again and I just sewed
here on the side. I chose a thread that is the same color as the wire, so you don't
really see that there is a thread in there.
KRISTAL: Wow, that's really fun, because you can either glue on this, you can sew to
it. I mean, the sky's the limit on this. And this is lovely. A more simple color palette
and design, but so easy to do. All you do is sew on three pieces.
CYNTHIA: Exactly.
KRISTAL: Oh, I love it.
CYNTHIA: And I saw some designs also where people do some picot edge here, so you can
also sew on the side of the bracelet. And like you said, there is so much you can do
with it.
KRISTAL: Yeah, once you start, right? Isn't that the key, is once you start, then it triggers
all these ideas that you have. But you've got to take this stuff out of the bag and
just go for it like we did. So I encourage you to just go for it. Thanks for sharing,
Cynthia. This is so pretty.
CYNTHIA: You're welcome. Oh, thank you.
KRISTAL: I love it.
KRISTAL: Cynthia, it's time for our Q&A, and this time, Sally in Utah asks, "What
do I do when my bracelet or necklace is too short?" So common. This happens all the
time.
CYNTHIA: Yes, it does.
KRISTAL: I know you have some really good tips for us.
CYNTHIA: And there are different ways, but the easiest one is to use an extender, a chain
extender.
KRISTAL: A chain extender, yeah. Those are great.
CYNTHIA: Yeah. For example, let's say you have a certain necklace and you find out that
it's too short. Very easy; you just hook an extender chain right here with a jumpring,
and this one is really cute. It has a dolphin at the end.
KRISTAL: Oh, it's a little dolphin too. Look at that.
CYNTHIA: What is great with the extender chain also, you have different lengths. You can
go close or if you want even longer, you go down to the charm.
KRISTAL: That's so great, because every shirt you wear is different length, and then
you're going "Oh, well I can't use that one for that and I can't use this." This
is great. Look at all the different little ends on the extender chains. So sweet.
CYNTHIA: Sweet little balls and little hearts. And there is one that has nothing, so be creative
and put your own beads or put your own charm or something that you can stamp "made with
love."
KRISTAL: Oh, that's sweet. Or like a little dangle of a crystal at the end, just a touch.
Nice, Cynthia.
CYNTHIA: So then let's say you made a necklace, but at the end you realize, "Oh, it's
too short."
KRISTAL: Happens to all of us.
CYNTHIA: Yes, especially when you crimp. Again, just put an extender chain right there. So
right after the crimp, I put a jumpring, and then you just hook your chain, and here you
have length.
KRISTAL: Right, because some people would think, "Oh, I need to cut it apart and restring
it." No, no, no, no. Just add a little chain.
KRISTAL: Love it. That’s a great idea.
CYNTHIA: And then also Caspia. Caspia bracelets have also an extender, so you just take this
off, you unscrew, and you screw this one on.
KRISTAL: Nice. That's really nice. And that goes for all kinds of wrists, because you
just attach it to whatever link fits you.
CYNTHIA: Yes, exactly.
KRISTAL: Love those.
CYNTHIA: Now let's say that you don't have any extender chains with you at home
and you made a necklace, like I did on this one, and I realized that I cut my cord way
too short.
KRISTAL: Oops.
CYNTHIA: Yes. And I didn't want to redo it.
KRISTAL: No.
CYNTHIA: So what I did, I just put jumprings together until I had the size, the length
that I wanted.
KRISTAL: That's great, because you can always do that at the last minute.
CYNTHIA: Exactly. So those are the ways to make your necklace fit you.
KRISTAL: Oh, lovely. Those are all really good ideas. And I hope, Sally, that you enjoy
those, as well as all of us. We always have that same problem, don't we?
CYNTHIA: Yes.
KRISTAL: Too short, too long, whatever. Well, thanks for joining us here at Artbeads Café,
and if you have any questions for us like Sally did, please let us know, Artbeads.com.
And we wish you all happy beading.
KRISTAL: Kristal Wick- Kristal Wick -- that sounded like fricking Minnie Mouse! How did I do that?