Blueberry Cove Beads Subscription Box Review – May 2017

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 can share photos of your project and may win your next month’s box free!

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

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: U.S. and Canada

Good to know: You will receive this towards the end of the month or the beginning of the next month if you live in the U.S. since it is shipping from Canada. (Blueberry Cove Beads did recently start using a new shipping service so now you can track your packages, though!)

Check out all of our Blueberry Cove Bead reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great craft supply and DIY project boxes!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

There isn’t a traditional information card with this box.  This month’s theme was “Ancient Civilizations.”

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.

Please note that no directions are given and you have to supply your own needles, stringing materials, tools, and findings.  Also note that you will receive this towards the end of the month or the beginning of the next month if you live in the U.S., since it is shipping from Canada. (Blueberry Cove Beads did recently start using a new shipping service so now you can track your packages, though!)

Brass (?) Plated Connectors

The obvious use for these would be earrings, but I actually came up with something else for at least two of them. (See below.)

Gold Tone Seed Beads

I would put these at an irregular size 6-8 (or thereabouts) for seed beads. I have no idea what they’re made of, though they are pretty lightweight and appear to have some sort of coating on them to add the color. I really liked the organic/imperfect sort of look they added to my work.

Brass (?) Plated Goddess Pendants

These are all the same size.  I feel they’re a little large for a charm bracelet but would work as earrings and a pendant.  Somewhere I have more of these in bone and turquoise (or faux turquoise), and it might be interesting to put them all together in one piece.

White Rondelle Beads

I also don’t know what these are made of. They could be dyed howlite or something like that. Anyway, I like them and used quite a few of them this month.  (See below.)

Turquoise Colored Heishi Beads

I love flat discs and rounds and such, so these were right up my alley. For what it’s worth, a lot of them were stuck together, so I guess the coating was applied after they were strung on the temporary strand.

Brass (?) Plated Links

I like links and drops and such for mixed media work, so these are appreciated. They are already textured and everything!

Brass (?) Plated Barrels

These have larger holes, so they could be strung on leather or cording next to some crow beads or ceramic beads with larger holes. Not sure how I will use them yet, but I do like the texture.

Stone (?) Cylinders

Once again, I am not sure what these are made of. I do wish the information card came with a listing of materials (sorry about all the guesses – I’m doing my best). They have a suitably rustic look and go well with the overall theme.

Gemstone (?) Ovals

I am assuming these are some kind of semi-precious stone, but I don’t know which one. I have some of the white rondelles left over, and I think those would go really well with these in a simple necklace or something like that.

Semiprecious (?) Ovals

I am guessing these are some kind of jasper or agate. They are pretty colors and go well with all the brass accents from this month. I haven’t used them yet, but my stash is pretty low on semi-precious anything, so they are welcome.

Ceramic Scarab

This is nice for a pendant or focal component. I haven’t used it yet, but years ago, I bought a bunch of other scarab beads, so I’m wondering if I could use them all together. (Then again, right now, I am terrified of beetles after finding one on my deck last night that was the size of a golf ball.)

Spike Beads

These could be dyed howlite or magnesite (stones often used to mimic turquoise). I really don’t know. I think I would like to use them in earrings (with two dangles on each side) because they’re not too heavy.

Sea Glass (?) Rounds

These have the look and feel of sea glass. I bought a bunch of sea glass last year, and this color will go well with what’s already in my collection.

Red Seed Beads

Blue Seed Beads

As with the gold beads above, I’d put these at an irregular size 6-8 (if I had to guess). Whatever they are made of, they seem to be coated with color. A few of the holes were blocked with the coating, but most were usable. See them in use below.

Here is a necklace I made using this month’s beads. I actually managed to use five different beads, plus the connectors. (As an aside, I think I need a longer necklace display stand.)

Verdict: I did not calculate a value here because it is hard to find similar items when you don’t know the precise materials the beads are made from (I do wish there was more information on the card that comes with the box, in case I find something I’d like to order more of). I liked that all of the metal-finish beads matched this month (that is not always the case). I was actually able to use more than my usual number of beads from the box this month in my necklace (and now I kind of want to make more necklaces similar to what I made this month). The theme this month appealed to me, as well.

What did you think of the May 2017 Blueberry Cove Beads?  Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?