5 on 5: festivities

Next friday holds our annual shopping experience for Rain dance. Beading Dancer will having some special things...We are in the studio preparing some goodies for December. Working on some stab bound notebooks. We are using fabric and paper to make the covers and books will be soft and hard covers. 

Come join us at Raindance in Maboneng Precinct, Jeppestown in Jozi. Items from the shop will be available as well as some tea. 

Journaling a new chapter

So, this last week flew past and found Beading Dancer in a whorl. Balancing all the products can be difficult, but we love them so much...we can leave one behind. 

We have looked at other products and now its time to let our voices shine. Beading Dancer started making journals because the journals we bought did not have enough pages, weren't blank, didn't allow any free thinking and they were imported. 

So the journey started with up cycling paper that was around the house and studio, then learning about Japanese stab binding as an Eco-friendly beautiful, ancient way of assembling books. You can easily take off the cover and replace the inside pages by the way...

Any way, we even went as far as to use glue to bind the paper. This method is o.k...but not good enough if you are going for an Eco-friendly solution with a pretty finish. 

We continue to look for different ways to bind books. This time we have chosen wire binding. We have new planners for next year. These have blank pages in-between the months so that you can turn them into recipe books, grocery shopping books, study schedule book, doodle book...basically anything you want with time frames in the year. 

Come grab one, they come in two sizes and different covers. Other journals are plain blank journals with some simple and beautiful paper and fabric covers.

Jewellery: November

These are the latest items made so far. Some cheeky semi-precious stone drops and some items for the wrist. His and hers semi-precious bracelets available, some star sign pendants still available. Be sure to check out which stones are great for Sagittarius on my Facebook group: beading dancer.

New soaps

The Soaps available at the shop currently:

Charcoal Spearmint, Lime Coconut, Rose Chamomile, Hempseed Orange and Coffee. These all smell great. And if you are looking for a soap that exfoliates, we recommend the coffee.

Exfoliating fennel and lavender sugar jars are still available. These are great to include in your bath regime. They help get rid of dry skin and rejuvenate the skin. Your skin renews itself all the time, it may look a little dull because it needs a little exfoliation. 

So make sure to wash with these and once a week: exfoliate. 
Make sure to get these early as they tend to fly off the shelf.

Jewellery

I have just finished making new stock. Some really cute pieces for December will be available at the shop soon. 

This range is made from stones and metal. I was inspired by the fact that we will be entering Sagittarius soon. So some stones for Sagittarius will be available. Find these at the shop on the weekend. These are both for men and women.

If you are into stones, jewellery..and self, pop by the shop. Whether you are looking to open some chakras, let love into your life, protect your heart, create good vibes, or just look pretty with some semi-precious stones, come choose from our selection. 

 

New work and skin products

So since the shop opened I have been busy, busy, busy! 

I was recently disappointed by a potential supplier(at that time) and had to make my own boxes. I managed to finish the first batch last week and the week before I had moved in new soaps and new skin products. 

My skin products are based on natural products and lifestyle. Beading dancer stocks salves, body butters (made from Shea butter), sugar scrub, soaps and bath cream is made to order. 

If you love your skin and consider where the things you use come from or simply want to use natural products...pass by the shop and grab some. 

 

Raindance

Beading Dancer has come together with RainQueen Creations to co-run a shipping container space in Maboneng Precinct in Jeppestown, Johannesburg. 

Our shop has products from both shops. You will find Jewellery, Skin products, Journals, Artwork, tea, clothing, bags and postcards. 

We are located in  a shipping container inside the Main Street Bizarre, corner Main street and Maritzburg street. See below map.

The shop opens Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.

Old shoots and notes

 This was my first shoot for Beading Dancer. My friend who is a great photographer took the photos.

Shooting your own jewellery can be a task and a half. One thing you cannot compromise on is good quality photographs of your products. If your work looks good, chances are someone will buy it...heck,if it looks good and I have the cash,I`ll buy it.

1. First thing you need to do is decide if you would like to do this.
2. Second thing is the dates, decide when you would like to do it and dedicate your resources to doing this. 
3. Then what you need to do is decide on your team. If you don`t know how to use a camera, set aside a budget for a photographer. If you would like to use models, decide how many.
4. Find a venue that will work with your items. I find that if I have a central concept, everything becomes easier. 
5. Once I decided on a day, team and place everything else was pretty much done.

My theme for this was simple enough. My brand is urban,fresh and looks to take the old and renew it. So I looked for a location that says that, I used an old power plant for the venue. I set up a meeting with my photographer to make sure that she understood my brand and the look and feel I would like. A day before the shoot, I took my models to do their hair so that they can sync with the shoot.

I had a photographer that understood my concept and where I wanted to be with the shoot. So I didn`t have to direct the shoot. If you get a first time photographer or a novice you would need to plan out the shots or scenes so that you get the best out of your shoot. Also think about the light, if you aren`t using actual lights.

Shot by Lerato Maduna