Feature Designer : Helmetti's Herringbone Weave Earrings

Helmetti is a Finnish jewelry designer whose skill with wire is truly inspiring. I was particularly taken with this woven wire pair of earrings using a herringbone pattern. The silver encases the fancy jasper gemstone beads, layer upon layer forming an unusual design. It's easy- sometimes way too easy - to bend wire. But it is another matter to bend it well!

This is not the first time I have featured her work. My past post on Peridot: The Evening Emerald showcased her "Tree of Life" pendant using this gemstone. Her original Flickr photo of these earrings can be found here. Her Finnish blog (see my blog roll on the right sidebar) also showcases more recent designs. Not everyone can read Finnish but all can appreciate the photos!

Photo with kind permission from Helmetti.

Erin's Turquoise, Brecciated Jasper and Wood Necklace

Erin liked the bright blue of turquoise beads but she chose to team it with the chocolate colour of large round and oval wooden beads. Flanking each turquoise bead are round brecciated jasper beads which have a reddish- brown hue. The vivid colour of the turquoise thus pops up at regular intervals in this design.

Chocolate brown is another alternative to black or silver to compliment the turquoise. This colour combination has come up time and time again in jewelry designs I have seen and yet, every single creation has been delightfully different.

Beader Design #174

Ruby's Revamped Chandelier Earrings

Ruby brought a most forlorn looking pair of sterling silver hoop earrings to a beading party. The original dangles were long gone. One of the catches was rather bent. Definitely a candidate for some revamping magic!

So she added new dangles focusing on subdued pink beads, silver tone bicones and touches of tourmaline chips here and there. A quick fix of the catch followed and Ruby found herself the proud owner of brand new looking and unique earrings!

Beader Design #173

"Lettuce" keep our jewelry safe!

Other than the bank, where would you store your jewelry? In your jewelry box? Tucked inside your underwear drawer? Hidden under the bed? Behind that loose brick in the fireplace or under a loose floorboard?

If it all sounds familiar, you can bet that those would be the first places a burglar would check. But it's not likely that thiefs would think of looking in the vegetable compartment of your refridgerator let alone notice this realistic looking lettuce safe with a hidden compartment for small valuables like expensive jewelry. Even if they did look into your fridge, it's a "safe" bet that they will make off with the beer first and ignore the veggies!!

Available from Bim Bam Banana for $49.

Source via Gizmodo and Ohgizmo

Barbara's Blue-Green Bead Earrings

These two tone earrings were designed by Barbara who hails from Wales when she came to visit her family in Canada. Perhaps the green valleys and blue skies of Wales inspired her to pick the these particular beads from Widget's Beads' collection. In addition to the colour, the choice of different beads - seed, long bicones as well as twisted nuggets - also help make Barbara's earrings uniquely her own.

Two tone glass beads are an inexpensive alternative to the truly scrumptious gemstone versions like ametrine, an affordable yellow-purple quartz or the well known watermelon tourmaline (green-red). But for a rare and expensive gemstone check out the gorgeous orange-red padparadscha, a corundum like rubies and sapphires. See all three bi-coloured gemstones here.

Beader Design #: 172

Magali's Silver Foil Bead Pendant Necklace

We all had a little giggle at the end of the beading party for some of us thought that Magali had created an elegant piece of jewelry for going out. The others thought her design suited casual occasions. Indeed this versatile design would be fine for both situations depending on what Magali chose to wear.

What did Magali herself intend? She wanted to design something simple that wasn't dressy and succeeded in doing so. She did this using a single large silver foil bead as a pendant. Different silver and silver-lined seed and bugle beads formed the rest of her necklace.

Beader Design #: 171
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Graham's Mother and Daughter memory wire bracelets

Graham had already surprised me before when he designed a nursing bracelet for his wife just prior to the birth of their first child. I didn't know what a nursing bracelet was!

And he did so again by designing a pair of matching memory wire bracelets for his wife and daughter although the latter will have to wait a few more years yet before she can wear it!

He used plenty of round snowflake obsidian gemstone beads. As these had a touch of grey on them, he chose grey silver lined seed beads. But for the bright colour contrast, he went for bright light pink beads. The one solitary purple bead is special for it is a UV-sensitive bead that is a creamy white bead when it is indoors. What a great idea for both Mum and daughter to have an indicator when to put on more sunscreen or seek shade.

Beader Design # 170
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Traditional Indian Bridal Jewelry

India has long been famous as an important source of gemstones, skilled artisans and rich jewelry designs. So it is to no one's surprise to see the magnificence of traditional Indian bridal jewelry.

An Indian bride is literally covered in jewelry from her lovely head to her dainty toes. The gemstones and the particular design of the jewelry set in gold are chosen to compliment her trousseau. The bride here chose a choker necklace rather than a long style which suits her higher neckline. What looks like garnets and the gold settings match her veil. Apart from the necklaces, bangles, earrings, armbands, anklets and toe rings, three jewelry items are distinctly Indian - the maangtika, the nath and the ring bracelet.

The maangtika or tikka is the most essential and traditional item. This elaborate headpiece graces the forehead of the bride, following the hairline just so. Another must-have is the nath or naath, the nose ring - it may or may not be attached to a chain which is then hooked into the hair. The ring bracelet as its name suggests is actually two pieces of jewelry connected by a chain. The wearing of some styles of jewelry like the ring bracelet or the chained nose ring will depend on particular caste custom.

My previous post on The Sanggul Lintang of Traditional Malay Brides is another look at bridal jewelry from another part of the world.

Photo credit : Saad took this stunning photo and shared it on his Flickr site where he received many well-deserved accolades from other photographers.

References

Harpreet Vohra's article on Indian Bridal Jewelry

Gauray Doshi's article on Bridal Jewelry in India

Indian Wedding Site

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Feature Designer : Cravebeauty's Ruby Cuff links Earrings

I was taken by this unusual earrings sporting ruby cabochons because they were made from a very special pair of cuff links. I like to write about redesigning jewelry from older pieces so here is the first example I know of a masculine jewelry item being made into something that is mostly worn by women.

Cravebeauty, an American designer remade her Dad's cuff links so that she could wear them often. According to her mother, her Dad bought them in Tokyo in the 1950's whilst on leave from the US Army during the Korean war. He passed away a number of years ago so these earrings have become a wonderful memento. She says that she often "worries" the stones when she needs to de-stress perhaps subconsciously calmed by memories of a much-loved father.

Picture with kind permission from Cravebeauty whose Flickr site is here.

Melanie's Starry Earrings

Ten year old Melanie is a veteran beader together with her mother. So she was quick to come up with her design inspired by some multi-dangle earrings that she saw in a beading magazine.

The dangles were in three different lengths and had either a star or a crystal bead in subdued hues at the end of the sterling silver wire. This neutral design will match many of Melanie's outfits. She definitely earned stars from this teacher for her creation!

Beader Design #169

Jenny's Blue Bead Leather Cord necklace

Jenny is severely allergic to metal and until now, could not wear jewelry without consequences. So you can well imagine her delight when she not only created her first necklace but one she could actually wear.

Blue is her favourite colour. So in addition to the heart-shaped focal glass bead, she chose all sorts of seed beads in different shades of blue as well clear and black coloured beads for contrast. The black ones do pick up on the black leather cord used. The sliding knots mean that Jenny can put on and take off her necklace easily but more importantly, there are no metal clasps to trigger a reaction.

I too suffer from a metal allergy though not as badly as Jenny and have written a past post on metal allergies as well as the harmless skin discolourations that some encounter and how best to avoid them.

Beader design #168

Susan's Round Turquoise Bead Bracelet

I've noticed that many people like turquoise coloured clothes but fewer of them go for the actual gemstone in jewelry. Perhaps Susan's design here will persuade them otherwise for turquoise is a bright and happy colour.

Beaders may be hesitant because they aren't sure of what contrast colours to use. Susan has chosen to offset the bright blue with black seed beads. The metal elements also tone down the bright colour - notice the alternating and repeating pattern of solitary metal bead with those flanked by the seed beads. All in all it's perfect for summery outfits!

Beader Design # : 167

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Victorian Fashionistas and their Etruscan-style Jewelry

Today's young fashionistas who avidly follow every fashion trend and the styles of celebrities and pop stars are not a new phenomenon. There were fashionistas all through history.

Victorian era fashionistas were lampooned in this Punch cartoon entitled "A young lady on the High Classical School of Ornament", published in 1859. They were wealthy English tourists on their Grand Tour who stampeded to the Italian master jeweler Castellani's workshop, buying all the Etruscan reproduction jewelry they could get their hands on. These designs were based on jewelry found in various ancient Etruscan and Greek archaeological sites which were being excavated around that time.

Castellani himself faithfully copied Etruscan designs. Despite his best efforts, he never discovered the lost Etruscan technique of granulation - attaching tiny gold grains onto gold pieces without soldering. It wasn't until the 20th century that the mystery was solved - the grains had to be stuck on with copper carbonate, water and fish glue. When heated, the copper carbonate fused with the gold thus creating a solder-less bind. The gold beads in the detail of an Etruscan necklace on the right show a powdery texture made by those tiny gold grains - the hallmark of the Etruscan jewelers' skill.

References
Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Kenneth Snowman (1990). The Master Jewelers. Harry N Abrams. Inc.
Clare Phillips (2000). Jewels and Jewelry. Watson Guptill Publications.
Hugh Tait. Jewelry (1991). 7000 Years. Harry N Abrams. Inc

Elizabeth's Foil and Copper Bead bracelet and earrings

Elizabeth came to her first ever beading party already a jewelry fan. She soon saw the potential of being able to design her own which made her twice as avid!

Elizabeth liked the copper beads. She was also drawn to the gold foil beads and to other beads of that hue. So she put them altogether for her bracelet and earrings. The red beads added focus and additional colour. Also note the use of lamp-work beads with a touch white and tortoiseshell dagger beads as dangles for the earrings. It's these individual choices that beaders make which not only shows the personality of the creator themselves but assures the design is truly original.

Beader Design #166
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Amanda's Amazing Multi-tiered Chandelier Earrings

Amanda had never made or designed her own jewelry before but she was certain of what she wanted and built up her design with little to no hesitation at each step of the way.

This amazing multi-tiered chandelier earrings were made up of simple round chandelier findings - two for each earring. The brownish round disc beads were made from bone. These contrasted well with the dark red cylindrical glass beads. Amanda deliberately made the design asymmetrical - something not many beaders do - for a truly personal design touch. I am sure she will hear many "Wows" for this creation!

Beader Design # 165

Jade's multi-coloured millefiore necklace

Jade scored two successes - this was her very first visit to Canada which she enjoyed. And this was Jade's very first effort at designing jewelry for herself using beads from Widget's Beads' collection. The flat square brightly coloured millefiore beads were evenly spaced out with tiny silver-lined seed beads. The necklace looked lovely and suited this equally lovely young lady.

It seems like a long way to come over the "pond" to try out beading but we and Jade think it was worth it!

Beader Design #164
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Go for Broke with Baroque Pearls!

Perfectly round pearls are hard to come by. Only about 5-10% of cultured pearls are round. Consequently, this most desired shape is also the most expensive.

However, irregularly shaped pearls called baroque pearls can still be and are used effectively in jewelry designs. So if you "go for broke" or go all out with baroque pearls, the design is bound to be a winner because these pearls are more interesting than just plain round ones. They are not just for ordinary folks either but also fit for a royal crown. The former Empress Farah of Iran's coronation crown in 1967 seen here is graced with many of them.

Freshwater pearls are often baroque because they are started from small pieces of mantle tissue rather than a round mother-of-pearl starter bead as are seawater pearls. The most valuable of baroque pearls are the mostly dark coloured Tahitian seawater cultured pearls.

References
Wikipedia : Baroque Pearl
Pearls of Joy Company : Cultured Pearl Shapes

Ruth's Scrumptious Blueberry and Cranberry coloured Necklace

Ruth created this necklace with beads in what I would call fruity colours - the blueberry and cranberry colours make this design truly scrumptious.

She used two beautiful heart-shaped hand-painted Chinese glass beads with inside blue as her starting point, placing them on the side. She then chose beads to echo the colours of the heart beads namely the blue and the light touches of red. Ruth used crimp beads to isolate her main focal area from two groups of beads further along her bare wire necklace.

Beader Design # 163
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Shay's African Inspired Memory Wire Bracelet

Shay wanted a bracelet that fitted snugly to her wrist especially for work. Memory wire bracelets also appealed to her as she liked the ease of putting on and taking off this type of bracelet.

Another bonus to her choice became evident when she decided to pick different beads randomly in the colours that appealed to her. The resulting design was an eclectic mix of different kinds of copper beads, with reddish wooden art beads and a few glass pearls for a little touch of class. Shay was delighted with her first design effort and better still, the bracelet matched many of her outfits!

Beader Design #162
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Peridot : The Evening Emerald

Peridot is the gemstone specimen of the mineral olivine. It is one of the few gemstones that comes in only one colour. It is called an idiochromatic gemstone because its colour comes from its own chemical composition and not from impurities as is usually the case with other gemstones. But peridot is also known as the Evening Emerald because it is at its loveliest at dusk rather in the harsh daylight. It was once mistaken for emeralds in the past and has yet another and less charitable name, the Poor Man's Emerald.

It was highly prized in antiquity especially by the Egyptians and considered sacred. It was one of the twelve gemstones in the Breastplate of Aaron and was known as chrysolite. The crusaders brought the gemstone back to Europe. Peridot has been mined for thousands of years from a barren, fearful place, St John's Island (Zagbargad today) in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. Mining there has since ceased. Today, peridot comes from a number of places, with superb specimens from Pakistan and Burma. However, the USA is the chief world supplier - 90% of available peridot comes from just one place, the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona.

How is peridot pronounced? Most commonly "pear-a-doe" but "pear-a-dot" is also used. There are two possible word origins so either could be correct.

Photo with kind permission from Finnish Jewelry designer, Helmetti, who has a way with wire. This is her take on the Tree of Life pendant style using this appropriately hued gemstone as shown on her Flickr page.

References
Peridot by Gemstone Organisation
Victoria Finlay (2006). Jewels : A secret History. Ballantine Books.

Cally Hall (1994). Gemstones. Dorling Kindersley Handbooks.
Judith Crowe (2006). The Jeweler's Directory of Gemstones. Firefly Books.

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Susan's All Metallic Bracelet

This bracelet will surely appeal to women who prefer metallic jewelry to those made with glass and gemstone beads.

Susan strung a scrumptious mix of silver and copper beads. The larger ones were boldly textured. Her smaller spacers were either daisy rondelles in silver tone or plain rondelles and discs in copper. Her contrasts were along the lines of large v. small, patterns v. plain and best of all silver v. copper. I cannot decide if this design reminds me of Eastern art forms or would suit fantasy fans. But you don't have to like either to appreciate this lovely design.

Beader Design #161
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Ellen's Porcelain Beaded Anklet and Earrings

Ellen may only be just 12 years old, but she knew the colours that looked best in clothes for her and therefore which beads to suit her pale complexion.

She chose delicate porcelain beads with swirls of grey and light orange and coordinated those with reddish brown seed beads as well as metallic silver ones. Ellen maintained the same pattern on her earrings once she was finished with designing her anklet. The "stiletto" style of earrings is a popular alternative to chandelier earrings. Perhaps their thin profile helps give the illusion of long, slender necks which is a good thing.

Beader Design #160

Bygone Style : Bejewelled Stomachers

Stomachers are the front triangular panels in the bodices of women's gowns. They were popular in the 15th -18th centuries. They were often heavily embroidered, ribboned or bejewelled.

One famous fan of stomachers was Queen Mary (1867-1953), Consort to King George V, and grandmother to the Queen Elizabeth II. A regally poised woman, she had her own sense of style and loved jewelry. She wore lots and yet got away with it much to the admiration of her contemporaries. She always dressed up for dinner every evening, complete with tiara and carried jewelled fans. Her famous all diamond stomacher shown in the picture was an elaborate three tiered affair so her evening gowns had to be reinforced with buckram in the front to bear its weight when it was pinned on. Queen Mary's interest in jewelry and involved planning played a large role in today's Royal Collection.

The photograph was taken in Ottawa in 1901when she was still Princess Victoria Mary, Duchess of Cornwall and York on a Royal Tour of Canada with her husband. Notice her tiny waist - corseted 18-inch waistlines must have been so uncomfortable!

References

Wikipedia : Mary of Teck

Leslie Field (1987). The Queen's Jewels : The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II. Harry N Abrams Inc.

Deidry's Pretty Red Floral Earrings

Deidry, like many beaders, cannot bear to see jewelry thrown away when they are broken or when the owners are tired of them. So she collects beads from such items and uses them to recreate something new. Here is proof that you can revamp old jewelry effectively.

This earring design uses two different sizes of cube beads in two colours at the bottom. Pretty metallic flower beads are the focal points of Deidry's design. Red seed and silver beads at the top tie all the elements together nicely.

Beader Design :#159
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Erin's Yellow Beaded Bracelet and Necklace

Erin designed this yellow beaded set with a simple pattern of alternating glass and shiny metal beads. The camera does not do justice to these sunny beads as they are just the right shade of yellow to suit a wide range of complexions.

Although the yellow beads are plain, the metal filligree beads gave the design interest and texture. An all yellow beaded set like this will lend a touch of class to grey or black outfits.

Beader Design # 158

Feature Designer : Boxc Jewelry's Ardae’Ona Necklace and Pendant

This amazing pendant and necklace was hand-made by Boxc Jewelry. It is a design from the For the Love of Dragons Series and was specifically called Ardae’Ona: (Earth’s Gift). Truly a design that will delight fantasy fans as it represents the earthly gifts of dragons.

The centrepiece is an Earthen Cantera Mexican Opal, teamed with a smaller garnet cabochon below. Agate rounds and sterling silver spacers are also found on the main necklace. The antiquated sterling silver wings was hand sawn and the other embellishments were either hand fired or wrought. A meticulous one of a kind creation that showcases craftsmanship and original design.

Picture with kind permission from Boxc Jewelry. For more designs, check out the website here.

Wendy's Gemstone Chip and Beaded Hoop Earrings

Wendy was aiming for earrings using warm colours when she designed her classic hoop earrings.


She use red tiger eye gemstone chips as the middle beads, flanked with red and black toned beads. Red tiger eye is a worthy alternative to the more common yellow tiger eye. My previous post has more on tiger eye gemstones. As an added contrast, she used large dark gold seed beads on the outside. This hoop design is a variation of the hoop earring style which dates back thousands of years.

Beader Design # : 157
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Gems from the 1622 Spanish Treasure Fleet

For about three centuries beginning in the 15th, the Spanish transported considerable wealth in gold, silver, jewelry and trade goods from their colonies in Central and South America through the Caribbean and back to Spain to help pay for their many wars.

The most famous of their convoys was the Tierra Firme Treasure Fleet. The 1622 fleet consisting of 28 galleons encountered a fast moving and severe hurricane just off Key West, Florida. Eight ships and hundreds of lives were lost. The Santa Margarita and the Atocha ran aground on reefs and sank close to each other. The Spanish did salvage some of the Santa Margarita's manifest but they never did find the Atocha. Fast forward 363 years - Mel Fisher, leader of a treasure hunting consortium, located this bounty worth millions, arguably the largest find ever. This beautiful Colombian emerald cross was one of the fabulous Atocha discoveries.

Not everything has been found. Just last month, divers discovered a small sealed lead box from the Santa Margarita, containing thousands of pearls. These are considered rare because of their age, condition and provenance. Pearls, once outside their oysters would not survive for long in a marine environment but these were protected inside the lead box which in turn was buried under silt. The value of this latest find has been pegged at over a million dollars. Watch the Blue Water Ventures press release movie of the opening of this box here - great excitement over these mud-encrusted pearls!

Painting : Spanish treasure fleet being loaded by an unknown 16th century artist.

References
Wikipedia : Spanish treasure Fleet
Wikipedia : Nuestra Senora de Atocha
Guardian UK, June 16, 2007 : Thousands of Pearls found in Shipwreck
Mel Fisher Heritage Society Museum Official Site
Blue Water Ventures
Shipwreck Treasures Inc : The Atocha and the Tierra Firme Fleet

Ethel's Earthtone Bracelet and Earrings

Ethel combined some lovely earth tone beads for the basis of this design.

The gold foil beads added a touch of glamour. But a touch of green also graced both the bracelet and the matching earrings in keeping with the natural colours of Ethel's design. The use of metal beads in her bracelet made it that much more classy and also tied in the use of the Tibetan silver toggle clasp.

Beader Design # 156
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Cathie's Gypsy Hand-Painted Bead Necklace

Cathie loved the look of this Gypsy hand-painted bead and made it the focal point of her necklace.


Several things stand out with this design. Firstly Cathie chose to start off the necklace from this bead rather than suspending it as a normal pendant. The two halves of the necklace were left largely bare - the gold-tone beading wire perfectly complimented the gold highlights of the beads she used. Crimp beads were used to add two matching sections consisting of tiny seed beads, large round beads and extra long twisted black bugle beads. Definitely a one-of-a kind design by this artist.


Beader Design #155

The Man Who Stole the Crown Jewels

Thomas Blood (1618-1680), a bold Irishman with the gift of the gab, goes down in history as the only man who stole the British Crown Jewels. He had to be a facet short of a brilliant cut to even come up with his scheme!


He was an unscrupulous if charming rogue who fought under King Charles I during the English Civil War, quickly switching to the Parliamentarian side under Cromwell when all was lost for the Royalists. When King Charles II was restored to the throne, Blood and his family sensibly withdrew to Ireland. There, he made two ambitious but failed attempts to kidnap the Governor of Ireland. Having tried seizing Dublin Castle, he must have considered himself sufficiently experienced enough to tackle the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are kept. This he did by first insinuating himself on Talbot Edwards, the Keeper and his family, over a few visits, masquerading as a parson.

On May 9, 1671, he and his accomplices went into action. While one posing as his "wealthy nephew" chatted up Edward's pretty daughter, Blood and the others were taken to see the Crown Jewels. A farce ensued after they overpowered the Keeper and tied him up. Blood used a mallet to flatten the St Edward's State Crown to hide under his clerical coat, another man stuffed the Orb down his trousers and the third filed the St Edward's Sceptre in two pieces because it was too long to smuggle out. They were so inept that the elderly Edwards managed to free himself despite being hit on the head with the same mallet and stabbed before being tied up. The alarm was raised and the lot of them were apprehended before they got far.

Trying to steal the Crown Jewels was (and still is) an act of treason. The full penalty for treason back then was by hanging, drawing and quartering. Astonishingly, Blood weaseled his way out by first getting an audience with the King and then amusing said King so much so that he not only got a full pardon but was granted a pension of 500 pounds a year - a substantial sum for that era. Such was his slippery reputation that after he died, his body was exhumed to make sure that he was well and truly dead and not up to his old tricks!


References
Wikipedia : Thomas Blood


Wikipedia : English Civil War

Theft of the Crown Jewels
Trivia Library : time and history 7 am - British Crown Jewels stolen