Update On My Beading Endeavors

Just a quick update on what I've been up to lately with my beads.

1. I've just completed a peyote stitched pattern I was testing for a designer and sent that off, so I'm back to working on the Mini Mona Lisa.
2. I played with BeadTool for an evening and realized once again that I'd really like to have a Delica sample book with me when I do that. Since I cannot afford to purchase that right now I've designed and printed some cards and I'm busy stitching on the beads that I have in my stash. I'll show you all the final results once all my beads are on and the pages are stitched together.
3. Plans are in the works for creating some beads from recycled materials. I'll be posting pics and instructions once I've completed that project.
4. My niece has been bead shopping and I'm told picked out some really nice ones. I'll be getting together with her soon to show her what she can do with them. I haven't yet seen what she has, so I have no idea what kind of a project this will be. I'm guessing it will be stringing; but since she's a very creative girl, she might surprise me. Of course there will be pics coming from this as well.

If you feel so inspired, go ahead and comment here on the projects you are working on. Links welcome :)

Rings & Things Wins a Green Business Award

Rings & Things has long been my favorite place to buy gemstones. I'm proud to say in the past week they were granted an award by the City of Spokane, Washington for their for their implementation of green and sustainable management practices.

The SMART (Sustainable Management of Assets, Resources and Technology) Business Recognition Program recognizes businesses at either a “participant” or “certified” level in a variety of categories, including energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, renewable energy, water conservation, green building, transportation/commute trip reduction, and pollution prevention. Rings & Things was awarded certification in the categories of Waste Reduction and of Transportation.

You can read more about this and about their other green awards at the Rings & Things site.
Their SMART award
An award for their Green Transportation practices
Details of their Transportation plan (includes a link to see the amount of miles and carbon dioxide reduced)

Environmentally Friendly Beading Wire and a contest

It's so exciting to see the beading world become environmentally friendly. This week I've discovered that Soft Flex has become the worlds first wire manufacturer to go green. I like their green page better than Fire Mountain Gems.

• It talks about their new Extreme Flex Eco Friendly Beading Wire.


• It tells us how to recycle the packaging and spools the wire comes on.


• It tells us where we can send in your wire scraps and spools so they can be recycled.


• It tells about their green practices, like one third of their employees telecommuting. (Hey I'm in the market for a job, maybe they can hire me to telecommute!)


• It's got lots of tips on many ways we can all be more green.

There's currently a contest on Bead & Button with several spools of Soft Flex as the prize including the new Extreme Flex. The contest ends on March 31st. Good Luck.

Keep watching, I've got a couple more posts on green beading in the works.

Fire Mountain Gems is Green

This is great news! Fire Mountain Gems is doing their part to reduce packaging and also uses recycled materials to produce their packaging. They even provide a page on their site with tips on how to reuse their packaging and further reduce waste!

Their boxes are made of recycled materials and can be reused to package gifts or as storage. I even used one once to send a care package to kid at summer camp, it was the perfect size.

The tissue paper in their packaging is also made of recycled materials can be reused as gift wrap. I've used it to make little packages for the jewelry I've sold and also in decoupage and scrapbooking projects.

For the baggies that the beads come in, their stickers are designed to be easily removed from the plastic bags. This allows you to reuse the labels and identify your products by item number for easy stocking and re-ordering. If you are a bead seller, you can also remove their label and place your own there (no need for re-packaging). I've removed labels and reused the baggies for packaging when I sell earings, rings and other small items. You can also store your beads and supplies in them.

Their catalogs are also printed on recycled paper. They are great for inspiration and I haven't met a beader yet that has thrown one of those out. :-)