A Few New Pieces

Wire-Wrapped Rock In Black

Mulit-Necklace Set

Pearls on a Wire

Mother-of-Pearl and Rose Quartz

A Stone Wire-Wrapped In Black

Crocheted Floral Pin

Shell Loop Earrings

Glass and Stone Opera Length Necklace

"Love" Paris Charm Necklace with  Aventurine

Crystal Quartz Necklace

Pearls and Crystals Tassel Earrings

My Little Business

My kiosk at Christmas time.

Isn't it just cute?!

Decorating it was totally fun.

Everything's handcrafted by me.

It's difficult at times not giving in to the temptation of just buying merchandise already made.

Pearls

Akoya Pearl Strand

Pearls, a natural gem, is considered a sign of wealth and good taste. It's the only natural occurring gem created by a living creature. And, they never go out of style. They have been worn for thousands of years. They can be worn as a: single strand, multi strand, twisted multi strand, as a pendant, or within a pattern of other types of beads. Pearls are classified as either  natural or cultured.

Natural pearls are harvested from saltwater or freshwater. They occur naturally without human intervention. A mollusk secretes layers of nacre around an irritant, that has entered naturally, to protect itself. This nacre covered irritant becomes the nucleus of a pearl. The longer the irritant is inside the mollusk the larger the pearl will be. An irritant can be a small sea animal, snails, worms, debris, shell bits, clay, or on the rare occasion  a grain of sand. A natural pearl is very rare and extremely expensive. Natural pearl color is usually white. And, its shape might be round or baroque.

Cultured pearls are harvested from saltwater and freshwater, as well. The difference from a natural pearl is that instead of the irritant entering the mollusk naturally, human intervention takes over and skilled hands will place an irritant inside the shell. The mollusk is usually a oyster or mussel. And, very good care is taken to cultivate the pearl until it's ready to be harvested.

For cultured freshwater pearls, the irritant introduced to the mollusk that will eventually form the pearl nucleus is a piece of shaped mantle from another mollusk. A single mussel might grow 10-20 pearls, therefore, this method is inexpensive.

Cultured saltwater pearls have a shell bead nucleus with mantle tissue introduced as an irritant. When the pearls are harvested in this instance, the oyster dies.  The rate of pearl production for cultured saltwater pearls are slow. Only 1 in 5 pearls from a given oyster is salable, hence a higher price. Cultured pearls very in size, shape and color. Naturally occurring colors are white, pink, lilac, cream, grey, black or gold.


Popular Pearls:

Lake Biwa Pearls-Lake Biwa is where freshwater pearls are grown in Japan.

Akoya Pearls- a name of a cultured pearl type also known as "Japanese pearls". These pearls are round or near round and are usually about 7mm in size. The colors vary between white and cream to silver with pink overtones.

Persian Gulf Pearls- are natural pearls, also known as "oriental pearls". This area is considered the main hub for the finest natural pearls on Earth.

South Seas Pearls- Seawater pearls from Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines and Southeast Asia to Northern Australia across to French Polynesia to the Tahitian Islands. Pearls cultivated here are the largest and most expensive, especially those from the Australian waters. The color of the pearl depends on the specific area it's from, for example, the Indonesian and Philippine pearl might be golden or light yellowish, whereas the Aussie pearl might be white and silvery.

South Sea Golden Pearl Strand

Tahitian Pearls or Black Pearls- these pearls are legendary occurring in sizes 8mm to 18mm. They are harvested from black-lipped oysters and are the only natural black pearls in the world. Pearls from this area have also been known to be light black or silvery, dark or light grey with the rarest being peacock green.

Tahitian Black Pearl Strand

Sources:

"Pearls." Pearl Necklace, Cultured Pearl Earrings, Bracelet, Pearl Jewellery UK. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. .


"Pearls." American Museum of Natural History. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. .


"Pearl Education a Guide to Pearl Knowledge." Pearls - Everything Pearl from Pearls.com. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.  

Gemstones

Diamonds

If you're fortunate enough to be able to use gemstones in your designs or you're interested in using them, buying them or you just want to know, below is a short list of the best-known gemstones and a little bit about them:

Diamonds- the hardest substances on Earth. It can only be cut with diamond or diamond powder. There are various types. A diamonds color can range from yellow, brown, green (rare), blue, reddish to orange black. It is very rare. And, produces an optical effect that emanates a strong luster. Some famous diamonds are the 'Hope' Diamond, the 'Tiffany' Diamond and the 'Star of Africa' Diamond.

Ruby- "ruber" Latin for red color. Pure red with a hint of blue called "pigeons blood" is the most desirable, but varying degrees of red are also available. It is the hardest gemstone after diamond and very expensive. Some famous rubies are the 'Edwardes' ruby and the 'Peace' ruby. Of the Corundum Species.

Rubies

Sapphire- "blue" in Greek. Corundum gemstones of all colors, except red (rubies) are called sapphire. Sapphires have the same hardness as a rubies. A few famous sapphires are the "Star of India" a star cut sapphire, the "Midnight Star" a black sapphire and the "Star of Asia" a star sapphire. Also, of the Corundum Species.

Sapphires

Emerald- Greek "smaragdos" or "green stone". The most precious of the beryl group. It's color is incomparable. Of the Beryl Species.

Emeralds

Aquamarine- Latin "water of the sea". Dark blue is the most desired, but can also be found in light blue, dark blue and blue-green. Of the Beryl Species.

Aquamarine

Spinel- a group of related minerals. Greek "spark" or Latin "thorn". May occur in all colors, the most desired being ruby-like red.

Spinel

Topaz- the most common color is yellow with a red hue, but the most valuable being pink to red-orange.

Blue Topaz

Garnet- Latin for "grain", because the rounded crystals look like red pomegranate seeds. All colors are common, but the most popular are red pyrope and almandite.

Garnets

Zircon- Aramaic "golden colored". It has a lustrous and brilliant sheen. Includes all colors. The green zircons and those with a cat's-eye effect are the most prized.

Zircon

Quartz- Slavic for "hard", includes: Rock Crystal, Smoky Quartz, Amethyst, Amethyst Quartz, Citrine, Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Blue Quartz, Cat's-Eye, Tiger's-Eye and Hawk's-Eye.

Tiger's Eye

Rose Quartz

Citrine

Amethyst

Chalcedony- all cryptocrystalline quartz: Carnelian, Bloodstone, Agate, Onyx, Jasper, and Petrified Wood

Bloodstone

Agate

Carnelian

Petrified Wood

Opal- Sanskrit "stone": White Opal and Black Opal

White Opal

Jade- Spanish piedra de ijada or "hip stone". It was thought to protect  or cure the wearer from kidney disease. Mainly green, but all other colors have been found, as well.

Jade

Peridot- Arabic faridat "gem".

Peridot

Tanzanite- named after the African country of Tanzania. It's commonly found as ultramarine or sapphire blue. In the light it appears amethyst violet. Of the Zoisite Species.

Tanzanite

Hematite- Greek "blood". When cut it becomes red. When it is polished it becomes metallic and shiny.

Hematite

Pyrite- Greek "fire". If stroked against something it produces a spark. Also known as "fool's gold".

Pyrite

Moonstone- A white shimmer similar to moonshine with a luster. Of the Feldspar Group.

Moonstone

Labradorite- named after the Labrador peninsula in Canada where it is found. Lustrous metallic tones of blue and green. Of the Feldspar Group.

Labradorite

Rhodonite- Greek "rose colored". Appears rose-red to yellowish with stripes.

Rhodonite

Turquoise- means "Turkish stone" after the trade route to Europe from Turkey. It is usually interlaced with brown, gray and black veins.

Lapis Lazuli- Arabic and Latin "blue stone". It is composed of several other minerals including lazurite.It appears as the color lazur blue, violet and greenish-blue with spots.

Lapis Lazuli

For a more comprehensive look at gemstones and their varying colors, shapes and sizes try these books on for size:

Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks) by Cally Hall
Gemstones of the World: Newly Revised & Expanded 4th Edition by Walter Schumann
Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition: How to Evaluate, Identify , Select and Care for Colored Gems by Renee Newman

Metric Equivalency Chart

Sometimes when beading or making jewelry you'll run into a pattern that uses metric measurements rather that the U.S. unit of measurement. In that case, below is a chart to get you started with conversions from inches to centimeters and yards to meters. For lengths exceeding 30 inches and 10 yards or all half numbers see the links below.

Inches to Centimeters

1-in 2.5 cm
2 5.1
3 7.6
4 10.2
5 12.7
6 15.2
7 17.8
8 20.3
9 22.9
10 25.4
11 27.9
12 30.5
13 33.0
14 35.6
15 38.1
16 40.6
17 43.2
18 45.7
19 48.3
20 50.8


Yards to Meters

1 yard to 0.91 meters
2 1.83
3 2.74
4 3.66
5 4.57
6 5.49
7 6.40
8 7.32
9 8.23
10 9.14




World Wide Metric at http://www.worldwidemetric.com/measurements.html
Unit-Conversion at http://www.unit-conversion.info/metric.html

Beyond My Beading

From time-to-time I scour the web for beading ideas from other sites. And, recently I found a few that I really adore. These are probably some of the most unique jewelry accessories I've seen in awhile. So, here are links to those sites. Have fun, beading.

1. Heaven of the Heart Necklace by LangLang Inspiration
2. Pretty Please Dear Jet Fringe Earrings by StyleHive
3. All Wired Up Earrings Photo 8 by All Wired Up
4. Tree of Life Cuff Bracelet by mybellebijoux
5. Rainbow of Pendants at Beadingdaily.com
6. Beaded Napkin Ring by Chillipit

 Additionally, a few beading books that you might enjoy are...

1. Teach Yourself Visually Jewelry Making and Beading  by Chris Franchetti Michaels
2. The Best Little Beading Book by Wendy Simpson Conner
3. Big Book of Beautiful Beads: Over 100 Beading Projects You Can Make by Kp Books
4. Beadwork Creates Beaded Rings: 30 Designs by Beadwork
5. Beaded Bracelets by Bead and Button Editors

Lastly, I love bracelets. So, if I've hit a rough patch in my design ideas or I just need inspiration I'll frequent these sites for help:

1. Vintaj Gallery at Vintaj.com
2. Beadage Gallery at Beadage.net
3. Etsy Handmade Bracelets at Etsy.com
4. Handcrafted Bracelets at Flikr.com
5. Pearl Bracelets at Novica.com