Dry Gulch February 2016 Newsletter

Volume 2 - February 2016

Edition 2 

 

Dallas Bead Market

Richardson, Texas

 

 

Come see Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry at the Bead Market!  Visit us for findings in every style and color, sea glass, Dry Gulch lampwork, one-of-a-kind components, chain, tools, patinas, Dry Gulch exclusive painted pendants, vintage supplies, seed beads and so much more.  Plus, we're hosting our Patina Collage Pendant class (read below for more info!).  We also repair jewelry, demonstrate techniques and design custom creations.  It's a weekend of fabulous bead shopping!

Dates: February 26, 27 & 28 

Time: Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturday 10am to 5pm; Sunday 10am to 4pm

Details: FREE admission

Location: 

Richardson Civic Center
411 West Arapaho
Richardson, Texas 75080

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Patina Collage Class

Richardson Civic Center

Bring your creativity to this class, it's time to play with patinas and color!  Join Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry and The Bead Market this February 27th and 28th for our Patina Collage Pendant class!  Learn how to put together filigrees and findings in a collage pendant, and then to use color and patinas to bring it all together.  We'll discuss special effects and different sealing techniques, too.

How much?  $20

What's included?  Materials are included in the price of our class!  Each student will receive 2-3 filigrees, 1 sparkly special component, brushes and the use of our patinas and Gilder's Paste.  Students are welcome to bring their own pendant elements and patinas to class to enhance their creations.

When?  Saturday, 11:00am to 12:30pm - Sunday, 1:00pm to 2:30pm - each class is 90 minutes long

What do I bring? Bring any basic jewelry tools, and/or metalsmithing tools.  You can also bring your own jewelry elements and patinas.  We'll have tools and patinas to use during the class, but the more tools and colors you have, the better!  Last but not least, don't forget to bring your creativity!  This class is all about having fun and learning how to collage and color.

How do I sign up?  To reserve your class spot, call Jennifer at Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry - 417-628-2828.  If you have any questions, do call Dry Gulch and we'll be happy to answer them.

Location: 

Richardson Civic Center
411 West Arapaho
Richardson, Texas 75080 

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Antique & Natural Bead Sale!

Antique & Natural Beads are 40% OFF! 

Enjoy 40% off all of our Antique & Natural beads this month at www.drygulch.com!  Use coupon code "ANTIQUE" during checkout for 40% off your order of Antique and/or Natural beads.  Hurry, sale ends February 29th!
(Antique & Natural bead sale not valid with volume discounts.)

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Bead Blog Feature

Read about Dry Gulch in our latest feature

We were featured in the latest blog from The Bead Collection!  Read about us on their blog today!

2016 Bead Peeps Swap N Hop Partner Intro

We're very excited to be doing the 2016 Bead Peeps Swap N Hop by Linda Anderson again this year!  During this challenge, entrants are matched with partners and both swap bead mixes.  They make jewelry out of those mixes and then showcase them in a blog hop during the Swap N Hop Reveal!  You can read more about this year's Swap N Hop on the official Facebook page here.

This year, our partner is Christina Hickman from Vintage Treasures Jewelry!  She creates eclectic designs featuring earthy colors, natural components and more.  She does not like orange, and she's an avid birdwatcher at her home in Washington, USA.  This is her first Swap N Hop, but she has done a Bead Soup Challenge before.  Her favorite jewelry designers include Lorelei Eurto, Heidi Kummli, Sherry Serafini and Andrew Thornton.  Make sure to check out Christina's fab jewelry on her blog at Vintage Treasures Jewelry, and see her Swap N Hop Partner Intro here.  We're very excited to have you, Christina!

Below is a Q&A about Dry Gulch for the Swap N Hop.  Enjoy!

1. Why or how did you get started making jewelry?

Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry is a family-owned business having three generations of women designing and creating beautiful jewelry to be worn casually, professionally and formally. We are Deborah (Grandma), Jennifer (Mama), Catherine and Gianna (Cat and Bean - Granddaughters).  We have a retail/wholesale website with clients and customers from around the world. We carry a large selection of exclusive Dry Gulch components, crystals, beads, findings, chain and tools etc. and our finished jewelry is also sold in several boutiques. We also create torch-fired lampwork beads, hand-cut and stamped metal, painted and enameled components and many other custom pieces. We have a love of “vintage” and often incorporate that into much of our jewelry. 

2. What style(s) of jewelry do you like to make?
Because there are four of us, our jewelry has a really big range of styles!  We create earrings, necklaces and bracelets, and occasional odds and ends like bookmarks and key-chains.  We love vintage and antique styles and often reuse vintage jewelry components in our works.  We also love mixed media, and incorporate leather, wire, metalsmithing, paper, paint/enamel and fibers in our work.  Deborah's works tend to be bohemian in style, Jennifer loves to break down and re-imagine vintage jewelry, Gianna creates intricate seed bead works and I (Cat) enjoy metalsmithing and playing with leather.  

3. What materials do you prefer to use (and which ones do you avoid)?
We don't really shy away from odd materials!  The older the materials the better, and hand-fabricating from start to finish like in metal-smithing is a challenge we love tackling. 

4. What techniques do you prefer (and are there any you don't like)?
We love all techniques!  We enjoy metalsmithing, leather working, lampworking, crocheting, and seed beading.  One of the things we really haven't tried is polymer clay, but we will remedy that soon!

5. What colors do you use most, and which do you run screaming from?
Also the same answer as #4, we don't shy away from any color in particular.  While we tend towards the vintage styles, which includes colors like pastels and neutrals, we also love to break out of the box and create with colorful and bright palettes too!

We'll post a teaser of our bead mix when we send it out to our partner.  Also, we'd like to send a big thank you to Bead Peeps organizer Linda for hosting the 2nd Annual Bead Peeps Swap N Hop! 

Dry Gulch February 2016 Color Challenge

Design with color and inspire your creativity!

Welcome to the

Dry Gulch Color Design Challenge!

Every month Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry will be hosting a challenge for creative artisans everywhere.  Be inspired and unleash your creative talents!  What will you create?

Love Cupcakes

 

Use our colors to inspire your creativity!  Post your project using the color palette above.  Your design will be eligible to win either a $50 gift certificate or a $25 gift certificate to Dry Gulch Beads.
 
Anything can be created for this challenge, including;  finished jewelry pieces, headbands, wearable pendants/pins, handmade cards, lampwork beads, seed-bead art, sewing design, metal-smithing/art, paper crafting, clothing/fiber art, leather work, painting, even your favorite culinary delights (like cupcakes), etc.  Your project must be created newly and specifically for our current monthly challenge.  The sky is the limit!  Show us how creative you are with our color palette.
 
For this challenge, Dry Gulch is offering a $50 gift certificate to the Winner and a $25 gift certificate prize to the Runner-up.  The judges will be looking for adherence to the color palette, creativity of the project’s design and effort.  You may purchase and use Dry Gulch components in your project, but that is not a requirement to win.
 
Your judges (4 judges) will be the 3 generations of women who create at Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry.  The judges may create and post their own visions of the monthly color palette also, but for inspiration and presentation only.We’ll publish each created work on Facebook and on our website challenge page.  Add your photo in the comments on our Color Design Challenge Facebook Event or email us your photo to custserv@drygulch.com.  When uploading, you may add a description of your work.  If also Facebooking and/or blogging your Dry Gulch Color Design project, please add a link to the Challenge on your page.
 
Entries for the Dry Gulch Color Design Challenge may be turned in from now until midnight CST, Monday, February 29th, 2016.