The Beading Gem

Anna brought to a beading party a necklace given to her by a friend. She liked it mainly because of the jade pendant. It really didn't have much else going for it except a few beads like the long cigar shaped bone-coloured beads and on a plain hemp string if I recall correctly.

So she took it apart and then added many more beads to make a rather eclectic necklace. She used smokey grey daggers beads and some red and white beads to great effect. She also added a matching dangle to original pendant. Now this necklace has pizazz! Way to go, Anna!

Revamping older pieces of necklaces are great ways to recycle good beads to make jewelry YOU like.

Beader Design #: 362
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Book Review

Blogs are short for weblogs which means they are a journal form of websites. They are much more dynamic than static websites because they can engage readers and are also updated much more often.

There is one more advantage when you write about visually appealing art forms like jewelry and crafts because pictures are worth a thousand words. Every one enjoys the eye candy!

Artful Blogging is a quarterly publication by Stampington and Co. that was launched in 2007 which showcases the most inspiring arts and crafts blogs. The visually stunning pages shown in their sample pages sure set the mark high for those of us dabbling with blogging. The Guardian (UK) also reviewed the publication.

If you are sufficiently moved to consider starting your own blog, I recommend you check out my previous post "6 Questions to Really Ask Before You Start Your Own (Craft) Blog". Another great article if you are pondering on making the switch is Problogger's "Should I Change My Website Into A Blog?"

via Bloggersblog.com
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Liz used two styles of tiles to make her pair of earrings. The blue flat square tiles are dyed mother of pearl shell beads, whilst the rectangular and beveled burnished brass tags for the vintage effect. The vintage brass tabs help anchor the use of of brass beads and the brass lever back ear wires at the top.

To help "stage" such vintage style designs, I've been using scrapbooking paper which has old postcard pictures on them. The background does suggest these earrings were old even though they are modern creations. The sepia hues of such paper do a good job of highlighting the lovely colours of Liz's earrings.

Beader Design # : 361
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Although a few men have attended my beading parties (and workshops), men usually make themselves scarce. They are either out or have something else better to do in the basement! Except once when the husband of the hostess watched us bead for quite a while.

The reason for his interest became clear when he explained he was an avid fly fisherman and helpfully suggested that I might consider fishing lure making parties! If you've ever watched how fishing lures are made, you'll understand why the intricate tying of feathers with strings can be applied to jewelry making. The Japanese have taken this to a veritable art form!

Kaga fishing lures are a Japanese folk art which some say embodies the samurai spirit. The featured designs are from a Japanese family firm called Meboso Hachirobei Shoten which has been in business for 430 years! Their latest craft is transforming them into wearable pieces of art in the form of jewelry.

Feather Jewelry
Part 1 of 2

Space Mermaid.com makes the most amazing bird rings. These exotic birds sit on adjustable ring bands and come in a wonderful array of bright colours. Fun and funky for those who crave unusual jewelry. Custom orders only.

However, if wearing a small bird is not your style, consider making feather earrings. These are fun to make and wear.

I've made a few over the years (see below) after somebody actually asked me if I had any. She really wanted the big peacock feather variety! I did find some feathers in the fishing department. The secret to making these is to use beads with large enough holes. The feather shafts have to be tied and glued to the head or eyepin such that the fastenings do not show. You can then do your normal wire wrapped loop at the top. I've also used just Fireline instead of a metal headpin or eyepin.



Beader Designs #: 359-360

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Melissa liked a large silver foiled topaz tiled bracelet I made. She took that inspiration and created something different for herself.

Unlike my original design which used all the same sized tiles, she varied the size of the tiles. She also spaced them with round smokey coloured glass beads. She chose to complete her design with a copper toggle and bar clasp whereas I had used a pewter one. The result was a bracelet that was uniquely hers. Melissa has a great eye for design - I know for her house where a beading party took place is a stunner.

Beader Design #: 358
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When Princess Diana married Prince Charles in 1981, Queen Elizabeth II gave her a diamond lovers' knots (bow) pearl tiara that once belonged to her grandmother, Queen Mary. The tiara was originally made for Queen Mary in 1914 by Garrard, the Royal Jewelers, recycling pearls she received as a wedding present. Yes, even royalty recycle and revamp jewelry!



The original tiara had more than the 19 drop pearls seen in the portrait of Queen Mary here. The tiara had an additional row of upstanding pearls all along the top. Typical of Belle Époque (late 19th century to WWI) jewelry designs where jewelry could be taken apart and worn in different ways, these upright pearls were detachable. Most photographs of the Royal Family show the tiara worn without the extra row.

Author, Suzy Menkes (see reference below) speculates the inspiration behind its design is Russian in origin. The design is more the style of Cartier rather than Garrard and is reminiscent of the bejewelled kokoshniks or tiares russes made for the Romanovs. The bow tie and ribbon motif was used in French designs during this period and in Romanov jewelry.

In 1925, the Bolsheviks discovered a huge cache of incredible jewelry in an underground dungeon at the end of a secret passage of the Moscow Palace of Prince Yussupov. He was the Russian Prince who, with others, murdered the Mad Monk, Rasputin in 1916. Amongst the treasures was an nearly identical diadem. Menkes makes the case that Queen Mary would have seen this distinctive tiara she met up with her royal Russian relatives when they gathered together for an aristocratic wedding.

NB. The caption for the picture of Princess Diana incorrectly identifies the tiara as the Spencer tiara.

Protrait source

Reference
Suzy Menkes (1985). The Royal Jewels. Grafton Books.
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I don't know about you but orange is such an intimidating colour to use for jewelry design. But there is a way to introduce it without feeling like your jewelry is drawing too much attention on you as in "Look at me! Look at me!" . Tone it down with white.

Ten-year-old Olivia chose to mix the bright orange and orangish-red beads in her creation with white and clear beads. She also used a number of seed beads with an orange inside colour. Her necklace is quite an eclectic mix of different types of beads in different shapes which goes a long way to making a one of a kind piece of jewelry.

Beader Design #: 357
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Feature Designer

There are so many wonderful jewelry techniques out there. If I had to pick which was the most popular, then I would choose wire wrapping. Therefore I was delighted to come across another wire work artisan who does some wonderfully inspirational designs.

Suesun who is from Milan, Italy, has been making jewelry since she was five years old! She started with polymer clay until she converted to wire work. Now she is hooked! She is largely self taught and is a big fan of Eni Oken and Iza Malczyk.

Her Etsy store has these lovely wire wrapped earrings (above) which she titled Pistachio Nut Biscuits - Earrings. The focal beads are faceted jasper beads which was inspired by the colours of pistachio nut biscuits. She included the recipe for them in her Etsy listing - yummy! I also loved the way she backed the earring with felt figures.

What caught my attention about Suesun was not just her skill but the inspirational sources from which she expressed her artistry. Her Moonlit Night Bangle was from a poem by Whitney Fong, entitled "A Glorious Moonlit Night" which she reprinted in her listing. Surely her design is glorious - reminiscent of bead weaving but all with oxidised sterling silver wire. She used a lot of gemstone beads -white agate, lapis lazuli, pearls and amethyst. I agree with Suesun - this is a very romantic design.

Her Maya Copper Earrings were inspired by her Mexican holiday in Akumal, Yucatan. She was fascinated by the Mayan culture. In this design she used tons of different gauged oxidised copper wire coupled with gemstones like top quality flashy blue faceted labradorite and moss agate.

Suesun has started a blog and you can catch up on what is doing there.
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I bought a packet of colourful dyed turquoise which were mostly round beads. The colours were mid-tone but what you might call "happy" colours. They were cheerful and just waiting for the right person to come along to a beading party or workshop.

That person was Sharon who saw their potential. She took the one large faceted bead to make a pendant. She added two dangles to the end for extra interest. As you can see, a jewelry design can consist of turquoise, pink and a muted lime colour - it just takes a little pizazz and the right outfit. I am sure Sharon already had that in mind!

Beader Design # : 356
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You can see why British-born and New York-raised actress Mischa Barton has made an impression in the fashion and beauty world and has been featured in numerous advertising campaigns.

She is not only beautiful but she also has style. The picture shows her wearing a necklace on her back - a different and elegant touch to her evening gown. I've also seen necklaces worn this way on Paris fashion runway pictures. It's something to think about as jewelry artisans - designing something for the back rather than the front. I can see a long crystal based lariat necklace gracing a deep V backed evening gown. Can you?

Reference
IMD biography : Mischa Barton
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Pink is often considered a colour suitable for young girls. However, even big girls like them, too! The left pair of earrings were created by Elizabeth using opaque pink beads with pearlised seed beads. The pink beads here looked like rose quartz gemstone beads, don't they? The right pair of earrings were the work of Pat who used pale pink bicone beads with round shocking pink crackle beads.

The two earrings show you can use different types of beads and shades of pink to create jewelry to suit your own tastes. A different pink to consider is the salmonish pink of cherry quartz. Which type of pink will depend on which suits a person's skin tones.

Beader Designs #: 354-355
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"Friend or Foe of Mankind?" was the title of the chapter on Fritz Haber (1868-1934) in Max Perutz's book (reference below) and these few words sum up the ambiguousness of Haber's life's work. Everything he did spanned the extremes of human achievement.

Fritz Haber was a brilliant German chemist who invented the Haber Process, which converted industrial amounts of ammonia from nitrogen in air. By doing so, cheap and abundant supplies of artificial fertilisers could be made to help boost agricultural yields. For this he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918. But on the other hand, his discovery was also used to create explosives. Ironically, had Haber not discovered the process, Germany would have run out of explosives and the Great War would have come to an early end. Countless lives would have been saved.

His extreme and obsessive patriotism is difficult to comprehend today. During the Great War (1914-1918) he became the father of modern chemical warfare by creating huge quantities of poison gases which were unleashed on troops fighting in the trenches. He is pictured pointing in the above right photo. His first wife, also a chemist, who was already depressed, argued against this terrible misuse of science and killed herself soon after the first gassing. He was to blame himself for his wife's suicide for the rest of his life.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1918), Germany being the loser was forced to pay huge war reparations. The country could not afford to pay in pre-war gold marks. Many Germans suffered and some starved to death in the 1920's. So ever the patriot, Haber again tried to help his country.

He had heard that a ton of sea water contained 5/1000ths of a gram of gold or even more which meant the oceans could contain something like 8 million tons of it. So he tried to come up with a way of extracting gold from sea water. He and his 14 assistants disguised themselves as crew members of a German passenger liner bound for New York and another bound for Rio de Janeiro. Early sample tests were encouraging but not conclusive so they took about 5000 samples back to his Berlin laboratory. Alas the final result was that a ton of sea water only contained about 1/5000th of a gram. This was way too low to make it economically feasible to extract the gold. It was a crushing blow for Haber.

All the glory and the honours he earned were stripped away in 1933 by the Nazis simply because he was born a Jew. All Jewish scientists were also dismissed from their posts. When another prominient scientist, Max Planck, tried to explain to Hitler why Germany shouldn't lose their brilliant Jewish scientists, Hitler called them all Communists and worked himself up to such a frenzy that Planck had to leave the room.

Haber died a year later in exile. He did not live to see the greatest irony of all. One of his inventions, Zyklon B, was an agricultural pesticide. It contained hydrocyanic acid, a highly toxic substance. In the concentration camps of the Second World War, millions of Jews and "undesirables" were gassed to death using Zyklon B. Some of his own Jewish relations perished, perhaps gassed, in the Holocaust.

"The tragedy of war is that it uses man's best to do man's worst." Harry Emerson Fosdick, US minister and author (1878-1969)
Haber Portrait
War Photo Source

References
Wikipedia : Fritz Haber
Wikepedia : Gold
Wisegeek : Can gold be extracted from seawater
Nobel Prize.org
Max F Perutz (1998). I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips 

Sharon has grown to love designing jewelry. Before she started on this hobby, she never really paid much attention to the details of any jewelry piece. Now she does wherever she sees jewelry in stores.

She told her daughter who lives far away how much she enjoys beading now. So her daughter, who is far to too busy to indulge in this hobby, sent her beads and other findings from the US and asked her to design a bracelet. Sharon did and brought to a beading party so she could learn how to properly attach a double stranded bracelet to the clasp.

The one on the top left is the one that will be shipped back to her daughter. How is that for a well travelled bracelet? It will surely be a gift that will be treasured because Sharon made it. The bracelet on the right did not have double holed beads so it took her less time to do. Both her creations here are in turquoise blue which is such a happy colour!

Beader designs #:352-353
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I've made some nifty paper origami objects in my time. I can still remember how to make a paper shrimp - it looks quite complex but is actually quite easy to do. I once entertained a child on a train with this little trick much to the amusement of the mother.

However, I never thought it was possible to do origami jewelry until I came across Cindy Ng's sterling silver creations. These are made from metal clay silver or precious metal clay sheets and folded just the same way you do the paper variety except you go on to fire the piece in the kiln to remove the organic binder and water. Sure makes great conversation pieces doesn't it?

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FREE TUTORIALS

If you are intrigued or inspired to try working with metal clay silver paper, MSchindel has an excellent tutorial on metal clay weaving for some spectacular jewelry designs.

Origami -Instructions.com has some basic how-tos. If kids can do it, so can you!

Origami.org has the flapping bird instructions (animated) just like the one pictured above.

Dev.origami.org has hundreds of origami designs ranging from simple to complex.

Origami-resource center is an excellent site for all things origami.
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Courtney is only 13 but she knew exactly what she was doing when it came to jewelry designing. Firstly, she made sure the necklace matched and look good with the outfit she wore at a beading party.

She took a focal large black faceted glass bead and dressed it up with a little swirl dangle at the bottom and some crystal rondelle at the top. Her main necklace consisted mostly of black, clear crystal and silver metal beads. Her necklace did not look too dark because she limited the number of black beads.

Just two turquoise coloured beads were added to her design which succeeded in giving a colour punch to the whole necklace and provided it with balance.

Beader Design # : 351
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You might call it sexual stereotyping since boys and men do like cars of all types - from toys to racing cars. Have you ever noticed baby boys out for a walk in strollers often focus on wheels of buses and cars whilst baby girls will coo at birds and other animals?

Scientists think this preference for certain toys has a biological basis rather than a sociological one. They point to evidence through this video of rhesus monkeys playing with human toys. The male monkeys showed a marked preference for wheeled toys whereas female monkeys enjoyed cuddling soft toys. Unlike humans, the monkeys don't have any social pressures dictating their choices therefore the liking for wheels seems to be tied to the Y chromosome.

So the type of jewelry some men might like may be jewelry made from recycled car parts like those made by Hi Octane Jewelry. They are a husband and wife team of metal smiths who happen to be hot rod enthuasists as well . They make all kinds of jewelry including the above necklaces from recycled car parts. Who knew car ornaments could become trendy jewelry for men?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

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If you've never considered triangular beads before, perhaps these two pairs of earrings might encourage to get some in and play with them.

I made the left pair using large transparent purple beads. The right pair was made by Anne at a beading party. She liked my pair as well as the triangular mother of pearl shell beads she found in my collection. As you can see by placing just the right sort of metal bead with her design, Anne has given her creation an Art Deco feel or even a futuristic look.

If we had extended the earring by adding more beads to the top, we would definitely have gotten an arrow head design. Placing the triangle with the point up is another variation to try. Or even butting two triangles together on their bottom edges would result in a diamond shape.

Beader Designs # : 349 -350
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Pounamu is also called greenstone or New Zealand Jade (nephrite). Pounamu is the traditional Māori name for this lovely gemstone. The Māori actually recognise four different types of pounamu - three of which are nephrite but the fourth is bowenite not nephrite. Pounamu is found only in the South Island although the stone was extensively traded in the North Island.

This gemstone is treasured by all the Māori but by the South Island Ngāi Tahu people in particular since it is found in their tribal area. Valued for its strength, durability and beauty, the stone is used in carvings. They place great significance on this stone for it has a sacred (tapu) status and is linked to chiefs and peace-making.

My friend Nancy (see my past post Iridescent, Irresistible Paua!) also treasures her pounamu jewelry which were given to her. She is not into jewelry making but was pleased that I could help her change the fish hook ear wires to more secure leverbacks. She was concerned about losing her precious earrings. The dark green earrings on the top right have been attached to the new findings.

Alas, Nancy came to me too late with her other pair for she had already lost one. The other pair is also pounamu but has been heat-treated such that the stone shows a wonderful array of warm colours in addition to the natural green (above left).

She took a picture of the remaining one with a ruler beside it so she could send it to the part-Māori New Zealand artisan, Clem Mellish who made them her original pair. He is making up some more for her and the lone earring she now has will be converted into a pendant.

Nancy tells me the Māori believe pounamu is very unlucky to buy it for oneself. You have to be given it. Another belief is one about dunking the pounamu briefly in a nearby river to prevent it from getting lost. She obviously didn't follow that one! She generously gave me a pounamu nugget pendant as a gift. Now for the nearest river......

References
teara.govt.nz
Jade and Bone Co.
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There are a number of gemstones with striations in them, banded agates being among them. However the stone that often captures people's eye is tiger eye.

Kami used a long oval yellow tiger eye pendant on a simple bail and teemed it with amber chips. The latter certainly brightened up the creation. It is also the first time I am seeing this gemstone combination together. Great idea, Kami! She also used long stretches of black seed beads to make this creation suitable for those who like to wear black too.

See Related Post : In the Eye of the Tiger

Beader Design #: 348
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Feature Designer

People are now much more aware of environmental issues and are starting to buy clothes made out of sustainable products such as bamboo. This wood grows so fast - growth cycles are just 3-5 years - it is a super renewable product.

Well, now you can get bamboo jewelry to match. Molly M Designs makes laser cut bamboo jewelry. Her designs are inspired from her natural surroundings and her garden. What I like about her work is the bold cutouts which show the underlying recycled material underneath. She also uses recycled materials such as wool, felt and suede from old clothes and army surplus clothing. This is truly environmentally friendly jewelry twice over!



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This simple yet pretty bracelet was the work of an eight year old girl, Juliet. Although stringing does not require a whole lot of skill, finding the right beads and colours plus putting it all together does. You know what I mean - some jewelry designs can be technically competent but lack that hard-to-describe ingredient called style.

The colours Juliet chose were just lovely. Starting with the single mid-blue lamp work bead, she then added small, even paler blue beads as spacers. The shade of green she chose for the cigar shaped beads were just right for the focal bead. Simple but beautiful. Well done, Juliet!

Beader Design #: 347
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Some months ago, I wrote a post called In the Footsteps of A Pearl Dealer a.k.a "Dad". For many artisans, it was a fascinating insider look on where our favourite gemstones come from.

Well, Dad has recently written his long awaited eBAY guide "Pearl Emporium's Cold Damage report on Pearls" on what the future brings for pearl prices after the unexpectedly cold weather this past March wrecked havoc on the freshwater pearl farms in China. It was the coldest weather for that part of China in 60 years.

The bottom line is to "anticipate steadily higher prices for top end freshwater pearls for the foreseeable future." As pearls take so long to mature, the harvests two to three years in the future will be the ones affected for quality and volume.





Dad said in his recent newsletter, "The 2 inch to 2.5 inch oysters implanted just before the record cold seem to be greatly damaged. They were the ones hanging closest to the surface and frozen into the ice, as the weight was not yet sufficient to pull them deeper below the surface between the bottle floats."

The bottom left photo above shows six month old oysters which are about 2 inches and ready to be nucleated that is the implantation of small mantel tissue to create virtually 100% nacre pearls. No beads are used to start the coating process. The lower right photo above shows two opened 18 month old oysters. The one on the left is healthy with a normal range of tissue colour. However, the opened oyster on the right is an unhealthy yellow which indicates serious damage. You can see the deteriorated pearl colours too.



The above picture shows a typical small pearl farm - an old rice field simply dug deeper. The rice fields around the farm actually help supply free fertilizer to help grow the algae which the oysters eat. Dad has clearly developed a strong professional relationship with the small pearl farmers - the above picture on the right shows him in the living room of "some of the nicest folks you will ever meet". They are not wealthy people. Although they do have electricity in their homes, Dad points out there are candles ever ready in case. Such farms are fast disappearing as they are being replaced by mega or monster farms.

He also does not think that the extra volume from mega farms will take off the upward pressure on future prices as Japanese investors and the Chinese government investing heavily into this industry will favour higher prices.

And oh, one more note from Dad, " Just for the record, it was still very cold and I was wearing two borrowed heavy jackets. I am not really fat!"
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