Hi Beadaholics! My name is Theresa. I work in Inventory and Order Fulfillment here at Beadaholique. When I started the job, I had never made a piece of jewelry in my life! Slowly but inevitably, I got sucked in by all the cool beads that passed through my hands every day. I started small, with simple pieces for my boyfriend and myself. But now, I think I can truthfully say, I am a Jewelry Designer to the Stars! When you think of ‘N Sync what comes to mind? Well how about one of the biggest pop selling bands in America. Sold out world tours in minutes. Millions of albums sold in a week’s time. Now if you are like me you still know why the names Justin, Joey, Lance, Chris and JC all sound good together. Also like me you probably had a favorite, you know — the one you would post on your wall and tell all your friends how oh so dreamy he was and that you were going to marry him someday.
Don’t worry, beaders, this is heading towards beading, just read on.
The ‘N Sync fanatic days have died down, but that doen’t mean that every fan has gone and replaced her favorite ‘N Sync member. My favorite member has always been Lance Bass–you know, the cutie with the baby face. Super fan that I am, I recently had one of the best moments of my life when I was able to design a special necklace and give it to Lance myself.
A few days ago, October 31, 2007, I was at work listening to the radio and much to my surprise Lance was on a local Los Angeles station talking about his new book that had just been published. He announced that he would be holding a book signing at Barnes and Noble on 11-01-07. Now being that I was at work I did not freak out because (1) I didn’t want to scare my co-workers and (2) I didn’t want to lose focus on filling your orders! As I worked that day I came up with the idea of maybe making him a kick butt necklace since I work around a bunch of great beads anyway. I went home that night still thinking about what to make for Lance. I knew he had really great green blue eyes so I figured I would do something with Turquoise to really bring those colors out. So by the time I went to bed I knew almost exactly what I was going to make.
11-01-07, yep the big day. All day my mind was on nothing other than “ok, let’s get this necklace made and hope I can give it to him”. That day went endlessly on and on, or maybe it was just all in my mind. I called Barnes and Noble about six times that day to find out the time of the signing and the number of people that would be admitted, only to be told something different each time I called. Now I started to have doubts that I would be able to even go, because I doubted I would make it to the signing in time.
Hoping against hope, I gathered all the materials I needed for the necklace from the Beadaholique warehouse and at 4 PM I headed home as fast as I could. As soon as I got in my apartment I cleared my coffee table and went to work. I finished the necklace with about an hour to get to Barnes and Noble for the signing. Only problem was, L.A. traffic is so bad that you can’t get far in an hour–it’s a nightmare. But I somehow made it there just under the wire to get in line for the signing. I was number 120 in line so that gave me a bit of time to calm down and relax before the big moment. With every scream I heard up ahead, and the closer I got, my nerves hit me again. Finally I was only one person behind to meet the guy that had lived on my walls for years. I approached the table to give Lance the necklace! I half-expected one of his assistants to take it on his behalf, but he was super gracious, and more than happy to receive my gift
himself. After his first words and big smile I was at ease and was able to talk to him coherently. He asked me about a few of the stones and what they were (don’t worry Beadaholiques, I will tell you soon!). After a quick chat with him I asked him would he put the necklace on? What a great guy, he even posed for a picture wearing the necklace, all before asking me “Hey are you a designer now?” Wait, hmmm, DOES that make me a designer? He thanked me and gave me a big hug for the gift. I got my book and walked away a very happy young lady.
Want to make your own Lance Bass necklace for all your friends this year? Are your wondering whether this would be a great gift? Well I’m here to tell you HECK YEAH it would. Here is how you can make your own:
Materials:
Tools:
- Cut the length of Soft Flex wire. Cut it the length of the finished necklace, plus about 2 inches. You can make this necklace as long or as short as you desire. For Lances necklace I went for more of a choker style for guys, which would be 15.5 to 16 inches finished length. If you want a longer length for guy, you might want to go up to 20 inches finished length.
- Next attach one side of the barrel clasp to the beading wire, securing with crimp bead. Trim some of the excess Soft Flex, leaving about half an inch ‘tail’ to conceal inside the first couple of beads.
- Now it’s time for your beads. The pattern I chose to use as seen in the picture is a very simple one. I used two wood beads on each side of the clasp, then two turquoise jasper beads, then two silver rounds, one pyrite cube, and two silver rounds. The pattern stays pretty consistent with two turquoise beads next, one silver bead, one pyrite cube, one silver ball and back to two turquoise cubes. Follow this pattern until you get to the point where you want to attach the carnelian claw tooth pendant. On each side of this I used one silver round bead. Once you have the pendant on and centered finish out the necklace with the same pattern as above.
I hope this project turns out to be as fun for you as it was for me.
Happy beading to all.
PS: If you’re still wondering “OK, who’s ‘N Sync?”–you’re on a computer, right? Go Google the name, fall in love with these guys and make yourself a cool necklace worn by none other than the man himself, Lance Bass. Yep the cutie with the baby face!!!!!
Have Fun!
Teresa : )
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By far my personal favorite, however, was “A Bead Timeline of History”. It was worth the visit for this exhibition alone. In a series of display cases, groups of ancient beads are displayed in the context of a historical timeline. The materials and styles of the beads change as civilizations rise and fall, from the first shell beads found in Syria, dating back to 12-10,000 B.C., through the centuries, right up to the present day, where the museum showcases some beautiful modern work by lampwork bead designers. The exhibition is further broken out by geographical area. And so you can see, for instance, Etruscan beads from 800 B.C and their influence on contemporary Chinese beads as the beads were carried over the long silk route to China.
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