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Blueberry Cove Beads Subscription Box Review – June 2018

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyJul 5, 2018 | 2 comments

closed Blueberry Cove Beads box

Blueberry Cove Beads
4.8 overall rating
4 Ratings | 2 Reviews

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!

black silk pouch cinched

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

Blueberry Cove Beads June 2018 Review

About Blueberry Cove Beads

The Subscription Box: Blueberry Cove Beads

The Cost: $22 per month plus $3.50 shipping to Canada, $5 shipping to the US, or $8.50 shipping internationally

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!)

Blueberry Cove Beads June 2018 Review

Blueberry Cove Beads shipments always center around a theme. This month was inspired by Celtic Scotland:

There isn’t a traditional information card with this box. This month’s challenge was to make a necklace using at least two citrus colors. (I don’t always do the challenges although my project this month happens to fall into this category.)

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 US 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!)

Irregular Tumbled Amethyst Chunks

Irregular Tumbled Amethyst Chunks

I don’t really know what to call these and I’m guessing at the material, but amethyst seems reasonable based on the color. I am normally kind of regimented when it comes to designing jewelry (see this month’s necklace as an example, lots of repeated patterns and symmetry) so these will force me to break out of my comfort zone a little bit.

Opaque Purple Chinese Crystal Rondelles

Opaque Purple Chinese Crystal Rondelles

The material here is a guess but these do have the look of Chinese crystal to me (which tends to come in less varied finishes than Czech or Austrian crystal). I actually used quite a lot of these in a necklace this month, which you can see below.

Gray Stone Rounds

Gray Stone Rounds

Sorry if my item names aren’t very descriptive; as you can see from the information card up above, we don’t get a materials list with this subscription (I understand it gets posted on Facebook sometime after the box arrives, but I can’t access it since I don’t have a Facebook account and refuse to sign up for one). At any rate, these are a good neutral color that might either be fun in black/white/gray designs or with some shiny metal in a contrasting color.

Green Glass Druks

Green Glass Druks

I’m just guessing at the origin here (if they weren’t Czech, “druk” wouldn’t be the right word to use, I think). But anyway, although I didn’t use these in my project this month, they nicely match with the color palette I’ve been buying lately and are a good size (I think about 4mm) for use in patterns with seed beads.

Green Shell Teardrops

Green Shell (?) Teardrops

I think these will become fringe/danglers in a necklace one of these days. They are drilled side-to-side across the narrow part of the bead. You may want to test these for colorfastness or just be careful not to get them wet.

Green Stone Rounds

Green Stone Rounds

I have no idea what type of stone this is but there were a lot of these so I decided to use them with the dark purple rondelles in a right-angle weave necklace. I ran out of beads for that pattern so I had to finish up using a simple stringing technique. Serves me right for trying to do bead weaving, but that’s always my first idea.

Celtic Knot Charms

Celtic Knot Charms

There were several silver-tone charms this month. (You don’t always get matching metal tones with the metal components in this subscription.) These knots are pretty simple and a good size for use in charm bracelets and/or a good weight for use in earrings.

Chinese Crystal Focal Bead

Chinese Crystal Focal Bead

Again, I'm guessing on the material. This is quite a large bead (i.e., too large as a bracelet focal, at least for my wrists) and might be nice as the centerpiece of a necklace. The brown color coordinates with some of the shell drops (see below).

Lilac Chinese Crystal Rondelles

Lilac Chinese Crystal Rondelles

Here are more Chinese crystal rondelles in a lighter color and slightly larger size than those previously shown.  I used a few of these in my necklace this month.

Multi-color Glass Beads

These are glass (I think) with purple and green swirled on them. If you were having trouble bringing the different colors of beads in this box together, these may provide a bridge. There are quite a lot of them, too, so it would be easy to make a larger beadwoven piece or complete jewelry sets with matching elements.

Silver-Tone Bead Frames

Silver-Tone Bead Frames

These are actually drilled across the middle so they could be used as bead frames, although I came up with something a little different that took advantage of the open loops around the sides (see below). I have a few left that could be used as bead frames in a coordinating piece, though.

Shell Drops

I like shell drops. Another time after getting some in this subscription, I went out and bought a whole bunch more. They are super lightweight and so easy to attach to things using jump rings. (They come in all sorts of dyed colors; this color goes well with the larger focal bead pictured above.)

Celtic Triangle Charms

Celtic Triangle Charms

I am sure this symbol has a name but I don’t know what it is. At any rate, this is the third type of metal bead or charm this month and it does coordinate with the others so you can use them together easily. These are also a good size for earrings or a charm bracelet.

Here is a necklace I made this month. I started out doing right-angle weave and realized I wouldn’t have enough beads to finish a necklace that way so I improvised. Most of the beads here are from this box, though I supplied the seed beads, clasp, jump rings, crimps and crimp covers and the silver-tone beads connected to the ring elements on the front side of the necklace.

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). There were 13 items (if I counted right) so you are paying about $2.08 an item once you factor in the cost of shipping. I think that is reasonable, especially since there were quite a few long glass or crystal strands and charms this month.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, your first box would be July or August's. From Blueberry Cove Beads:

Members are billed on the 3rd of each month and boxes are mailed out around the 9th of the month.

Sometimes leftover monthly boxes show up in the Blueberry Cove Beads shop and they occasionally have sales, too!

Value Breakdown: At $27 for this box, including shipping, you are paying about $2.08 per item.

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!

What did you think of the June 2018 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?

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Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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2 comments

Chelsea

I can’t wait to get back into beading…Have to wait for my children to get a little older and more independent…then I can dedicate more time to it

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Virginia

Purple and green combo is one of my favorite color mixes. I really would have liked to see the purple and green mingled together more. Maybe you can do another one and show it in a review.

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