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!
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Blueberry Cove Beads
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: the US and Canada
Blueberry Cove Beads February 2019 "Free Spirit" Review
Blueberry Cove Beads shipments always center around a theme. This month’s theme was “Free Spirit”:
There isn’t a traditional information card with this box (i.e., you don’t get an item list). The card typically contains a photo or piece of art on one side and information about the theme on the other.
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 if you live in the US since it is shipping from Canada. (Blueberry Cove Beads uses the Chitchats shipping service so now you can track your packages, though!)
Peridot Colored Glass Rounds
These are great accent beads and are regular enough for beadweaving or would also work as spacers between more decorative beads. These actually fit pretty nicely into my stash so, although I haven’t used them yet, I have a lot of coordinating beads they will work with.
Gemstone Rounds
My semiprecious gemstone identification skills are not as developed as I would like (I don’t often know one agate or jasper from another) so I am not sure what these are, but they fit nicely with the other earthy colors from this shipment and they seem to be decent quality (gemstone beads can have variable quality, and I’ll admit I didn’t scrutinize these with a great amount of detail, but the ones I looked at had even holes and smooth surfaces).
Wooden Rings
When I see wood beads, I think of macramé, although these are a bit small for macramé (somewhere between dime-sized and penny-sized, maybe?). You could also string them together with some beadwoven sections in between, or possibly use them as dangles in earrings since they are so lightweight.
Spiral Charms
It is kind of hard to tell in the photo but these have an oxidized/antique brass finish. I used a few of them in my necklace; I was inspired by the fact that we received another item in this same finish that was easy to hang these from.
Hammered Drops
I think these are great. They’re on the large side but they are light and they could work as earrings. But I am mostly into them for the texture. When I have a dedicated craft room I am going to do a whole lot of metal texturing because I do like the look a lot. These are also super polished and shiny.
Silver Tone Lotus Links
I almost used these for my project this month but I changed my mind at the last minute. I do really like them though and may use them to connect segments of semiprecious beads.
Gemstone Chips
These are largely a reddish stone, maybe non-heat-treated carnelian or a red agate? Although there is a stray bit of unakite in there (the pink/green one). I used a lot of these, this month. I am challenging myself to do more with chips because I have a ton of them.
Brass Flower Links
These have the same metal tone as the spirals from up above. They’re a unique link style, too, with one loop at the edge and one on the back. I used all of these but I like the design possibilities and I may look for more on Etsy or somewhere similar.
Tibetan-Style Beads
As it happens, I have a whole bunch of matching clasps and some crescent pendants these will look great with, already in my collection. (You can find more in this style if you search for Tibetan or Nepalese inlaid beads or clasps on Etsy.)
Millefiori Beads
These put me in mind of spring, which is a good thing right now since we are having a cold snap and the weather is making me miserable. They are small and delicate and would look great in earrings (plus they would not be too heavy).
Ceramic Spacers
These have large enough holes that they could slip over a 1mm cord or something. They might look nice just with the cord knotted between the beads and formed into a simple bracelet.
Goldtone Feather Charms
These are maybe an inch long or a bit longer and they have more of a bright gold tone as opposed to the antique/oxidized brass of the other components above. They are small enough to (potentially) be bracelet charms and light enough to use in earrings.
Here is a necklace I made with the gemstone chips, the antique brass flower links, and some of the spirals. It is always a challenge for me to come up with uses for gemstone chips (I have SO many of them in my stash) but I think the color goes well with the antique brass and the chips allow the details of the charms and links to stand out.
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 12 items so you are paying about $2.25 an item once you factor in the cost of shipping. There were a lot of interesting items this month and I have a lot more ideas for the beads and charms from this box (I just didn’t have time to do more than one project for this box).
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, your first box would come in March. However, sometimes leftover monthly boxes show up in the Blueberry Cove Beads shop and they occasionally have sales, too!
Value Breakdown: This box costs $22 + $5 shipping, which means that each of the 12 items in the box has an average cost of $2.25.
Check out the Craft Subscription Box Directory for more great craft supply and DIY project boxes or see my other Blueberry Cove Beads reviews here!
What did you think of the February 2019 Blueberry Cove Beads? Do you subscribe to any beading or craft boxes?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.