BeadCrate is a monthly subscription box for bead enthusiasts. Every month you’ll receive a curated collection of beads, findings, and other goodies to enhance your beading creations! There are three box sizes – Hobbyist ($7.99), Enthusiast ($15.99), and Collector ($35) [prices don’t include shipping] to choose from. This is the Enthusiast Crate!
The beads always come neatly packaged inside individual well-labelled plastic bags inside a cute organza bag. We also have a curator’s note explaining the theme. This month, we are told that we need to relax and breathe! Walking through a nice garden, with the moon in the sky, a waterfall with stones, and a pond with the statue of Buddah. I LOVE this theme! And I’ve seen some spoilers on their instagram (in Black and White, they are teasing us!) and I was so excited when I saw the moon and the Buddha Heads! Also, you can share your creation on their social media (instagram or Facebook, don’t forget to tag them!) for a chance to get a little surprise in next month’s box.
The crate comes with a chart that tells you exactly what you’re getting.
Pebbles and stones!
7mm Czechmates Matte Jet Cabochon. They are double holed (two holes on each sides of the cabochon) and they do look like little black stones along a river or waterfall, like shale or mudstone. They are quite light, but I’m afraid of two holes beads, I don’t know why. They also look like dark chocolate chips…
14x12mm Matte Iris/Brown Large Pebble. One of my favourite in this month’s box, I want to thread it simply on a piece of vegan leather and wear it every day. No one would even ask me questions. I love my stones. (Those are not real stones, they are czech glass, but they look the part!)
Water-like beads!
6mm Firepolish Black Diamond. I love the brownish colour of these beads. It’s such a nice subtle colour, very peaceful.
7x5mm Light Sapphire Gemstone Donut. The colour is just amazing! I wanted to use them in my design, but it just didn’t fit with the colours I had chosen. Did I mention how much I love the colour? It’s light, breezy, summery and it reminds me how clear the river near our cabin is in the summer. I might just turn them into a bracelet with darker blue opaque beads.
6mm Firepolish Renaissance Crystal. I really like the cut on these. They are like… hexagonal? Square? They go super well with round beads, and that’s how I used them this month.
Be zen!
4mm Firepolish Light Prairie Green. BeadCrate always includes a lot of smaller firepolished beads, and they are always nice to add sparks without making a design heavy. These light green beads are just the right shade for zen-like design, or to get into Spring. If Spring could actually show up, it would be awesome. Enough with the snow and the cold.
3mm Firepolish Luster Iris Montana Blue. I love how the colour changes depending on the light! I really wanted to use them this month for something delicate.
3mm & 4mm Zen Mix. This mix is lovely all together on the table. You get some purple, light and dark blue druks, crystal AB coated firepolished, and so on. This mix would be great in a cluster, or randomly thread.
Toho Beads!
Toho 8/0 Milky Kiwi Japanese Glass. This month, we received two different type of Toho beads. I love the green colour, it’s a perfect zen shade! I used them this month in my project, even though I dropped half of them on the floor (as usual…). I like the size, they are perfect to be thread by themselves with some other beads as accent.
Toho 11/0 Opaque Gray. Love them! I wanted to some bead weaving with them, but I got distracted.
Special beads!
9mm Matte Crystal AB Moon Faces. They are so cute and adorable! One side is AB coated, giving more definition to the faces. I would see them on fun earrings with a cluster of the zen mix above them.
12x17mm Tierracast Antique Silver Plate Lotus Charm (pewter). Lovely charm, I’ve seen something like that on elastic or memory bracelet quite often. It can also be hung on a simple silver chain or on vegan leather.
8x11mm Hematite Buddha Heads. Definitely my favorite beads this month! They are quite heavy for their size (hematite is heavy). On top of a tassel, as a pair of simple earrings or on a bracelet, there are so many things you can do with them!
My first project this month is this layered necklace. When I saw the green toho beads, I knew I had gemstones in a similar colour (magnesite). For the shorter layer, I used green wooden beads and heishi wood beads from BeadCrate Boho Box (June 2016) that I mixed with green gemstone beads. For the Lotus layer, I made links with the Iris Montana Blue beads.
But then, I couldn’t ignore my favorite bead: the Buddha Head. I made a simple elastic bracelet with the Buddha Head and the Renaissance Crystal Beads. I added more hematite beads (I like the weight) and Howlite beads. I like White, Grey and Black designs!
March’s box was definitely my favourite BeadCrate box in a while. It was so peaceful, the colour were more subdued, with just the right amount of sparks. It fits perfectly with the picture described by the founder in her info card!
Next month is Aurora Borealis and it looks as awesome as this month!
What do you think of this month’s BeadCrate box?
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