Superior Quality And Elegant Cloisonné Beads

There are lots of interesting beads that are designed today and among them are cloisonné beads. These beads are made by affixing a metal wire to the base of the design which also acts to separate the color. The process of making cloisonné beads is similar with making stained glass. Once the metal wire has been installed, a powder-colored glass enamel is painted in between the partitions made by the metal wire. The beads are then fired and polished after being painted by hands. Then, the beads are electroplated in gold or silver film to form beautiful and elegant beads. These beads look very lovely and interesting so you can use them to make different designs of jewelry such as earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

You can also pair cloisonné beads with different kinds of beads that you have in your craft kit. However, when choosing beads that will complement cloisonné beads, make sure that you choose those that come with plain designs so that they will not compete with the design of the beads. Cloisonné beads pair well with plain seed beads, delica beads and other types of beads that you fancy. When choosing the threading materials, it is better if you use metal chain links that complement the color of the metal wire used in your beads thus if the metal wire used in your cloisonné beads are gold-plated, then you should opt for gold-plated chain links too. If, however, you don’t have metal chain links, you can always use nylon and ribbons as your threading materials. Now you may purchase brand new cloisonné beads at clearance prices at beadsbarn.com.

Pennsylvania Church Wedding

i love this wedding for so many reasons. the church is just adorable. the wedding details are so pretty without trying too hard. why and when did weddings become such extravagant/overdone affairs anyway? found via bowtiesandbliss.com. photography by Cami Haynes Photography

California Surfer Engagement Shoot

i love the relaxed style of this couple. Her sweatpants and Vans are so cute and the bike is perfect. Photos by Braedon Photography

{Sean and Mandie}

~October 18, 2008
~Location: Fairfield, Iowa (my {the bride’s} hometown)
~Venue: Fairfield Arts and Civic Center (we got married on the theatre’s stage, because I have been acting since I was bout 11 years old and am a musician in a band with my two sisters, and had the reception in the nearby pavilion – sooo convenient for our guests and fun too!)
~Size: We each had 5 attendants. I had my two younger sisters, Michaela and Whitney as my matron and maid of honor, respectively; and my three best girlfriends from college stood up with me too. Sean had his sister (and only sibling), Crissy, stand up with him as his “best maid”; it was so sweet and meant a lot to both of them, since they’re very close. His other groomsmen were friends he’s literally had since about kindergarten! So cool that they could all be there!
~There were 350 guests in attendance. We were very blessed to be able to have so many of our friends and family with us to celebrate our marriage!
~Colors, etc.: I let Sean pick our colors since I was doing most everything else – ha! He, of course, chose his favorite color red and added in black – pretty typical, I know. I requested that all other accents be off-white instead of the usual stark-white used in most weddings; because my dress was cream (I’m an Irish dual-citizen – we are PALE people! So, white isn’t the most flattering – haha!).
~Our flowers were done by my cousin Patti Balderson of Simplicity Flowers in Fairfield (no website); she is a genius! Otherwise, everything else (and I mean EVERYTHING) was done by my mother, Kerry, Sean, and myself.
~Details: We had long, king’s tables for the reception rather than rounds. Each table was named for a classic Hollywood film (ours was our favorite old movie, “Casablanca”). We sat in a special, “lover’s cabana” – very romantic! A trail of red and black stars with classic, Hollywood actors and actresses lead the way from the theatre to the pavilion for the reception.
~Instead of cake, we had three flavors of gourmet cupcakes (including a giant cupcake for ourselves to cut with a bejeweled “C” on top that I made) – red velvet with cream cheese frosting, champagne with buttercream frosting, and spice cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. They were so good, and were conveniently made by our caterers John and Sonya of Village Cup and Cake in Keosaqua, Iowa (no website).
~My girls wrote sweet sayings on the soles of my shoes; and Sean’s sister wore the same outfit as my girls, but in all black instead of all red like my bridesmaids.
~Photographer: Our photographer was our good friend, Kyle Lane of Transcend Photography in Springfield, Missouri (we live in Branson, MO); but unfortunately, he does not do weddings anymore, and hardly even photographs anymore. We were grateful to have had his talent capture our wedding, but we are sad that nobody else gets to see his work anymore.

Mandie
blog.tolovearose.com
The Beautifully Broken
myspace.com/thebeautifullybroken

(Caitlin and Sean)

~Ceremony Location: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Sacramento, CA
~Photography: The Memory Journalists. They also do amazing baby/children’s photography!
~Reception Location: Beatnik Studios in Sacramento, CA
~Reception Designer: Kevin Cohee of DO AN EVENT Event Planning
~Flowers: Botanica Floral Designs
~Pianist: pianist is Karen Westbrooks
~Caterer: Joe at Crisp Catering
~Dessert: Bliss Bakery
~Lighting Effects: BP Productions
~Coffee: A Whole Latte Love
~Dress by Romona Keveza
~Jewelry by Christian Dior