Blueberry Cove Beads is a beading subscription from Canada. Every month they ship beads and supplies and post a challenge incorporating one or more items from the box. If you choose to enter the challenge, you share photos of your project and may win your next month’s box free!
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The Subscription Box: Blueberry Cove Beads
The Cost: $27 ($22 for the subscription + $5 shipping)
The Products: A curated selection of beads and findings centered on a theme.
Ships to: US and Canada
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There isn’t a traditional information card with this box. This month the challenge is to make earrings using a certain bead in the box; the theme was “rainforest.”
A note on prices: Items like this can come from a variety of different suppliers at many price points depending on how many you buy, etc. Even different colors of the same size and shape of glass beads are priced differently due to materials needed to make the colors! So I have opted not to provide prices in this review.
Blue Lampwork Bug
This kept rolling so I couldn’t get a good picture. But in person, it is pretty cute. (It’s a blue bug on a plant stalk.)
Ceramic Snakes (2 count)
These were cute. See below for a close up (they had little tiny eyes painted on). With only two, the obvious choice is earrings, but we will see.
Lizard Charms (5 count)
I used every one of these in my projects. I like charms lately, quite a lot, and I am going to look for more of these.
Here’s my attempt at a close-up of one of the snakes.
Silver Leaf Beads
I used a couple of these but I still have a lot left. Maybe I can make a coordinating piece? Basic metal beads are always good to have around, anyway.
Acrylic Flowers
I don’t actually know the material for these, but they are pretty light so I am guessing acrylic. Not sure how I will use these yet although I have the beginnings of an idea.
Teal Wooden Beads
I am going to practice my macramé skills and then use these in a piece. (Wood beads always make me think of macramé.)
Green Ceramic Beads
These have some weight to them so I will have to think about how to use them. They are a bit heavier than the sorts of beads I typically work with.
Strand of Larger Green Rounds
These have the weight and feel of semiprecious stones but I don’t really know what stone they are. I used quite a lot of them in the stuff I made this month.
Strand of Smaller Dark Green Rounds
These also have the weight and feel of semiprecious stones but again, don’t know what they are. I used some of them as well.
Eek, didn’t realize how blurry this picture was until it was too late to retake it (as in, many of the beads have been used). Sorry about that. I can’t do manual focus on my camera.
Frosted Glass Fluted Rounds
There were 8 beads here, pairs of four different colors. I used some of these in a pair of earrings (see below).
Green Cat Eye Glass Drops
I used a couple of these as well. I have enough left to make a coordinating piece, or to make more earrings (I have 6 piercings in each ear and can wear dangly earrings in 4 on each side).
Green/Gold Glass Rounds
These were the beads from the challenge this month. I didn’t end up using them (but I never enter the contest because it involves social media, which I avoid). But, that just means they are available for some future project.
Here are some earrings I made with (mostly) beads from the box. I did use the chandelier findings from a different bead box (center pair of earrings) as well as some chain and titanium hooks (I can only wear titanium earrings) I had at home.
And here are some bonus stretchy bracelets I also made. I supplied the silver beads that the lizard charms are attached to and the tiny silver spacers on the bracelet with smaller beads.
Verdict: I did not calculate a value for this box, as explained above in my note about prices. I am sure that if you are buying wholesale, you could get a better deal. But then you would end up with pounds of the same type of bead. If you do the math, it comes out to a little over $2 per item. While some of the beads are undoubtedly worth less than that, the semiprecious stones, lampwork bug, and several of the others are probably worth more, so I think it evens out. Plus, I particularly loved the lizard charms and the silver leaves, and I liked the rainforest theme. Overall, this was a good month for me.
Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.
What did you think of the July 2016 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
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