The Beading Gem

Sarah Jane Connors is a British artist who paints with beads!  Thousands of them!  Her amazing bead animal portraits takes her one to two months to do. The process is incredibly time consuming because she meticulously attaches every bead with a hot glue gun onto wooden boards.  Any unwanted bead has to be removed with a hair dryer - the heat softens the glue enough for her to pick it out. She applies a layer of Mod Podge to seal her beaded canvases when she is done.

New York based Lirika Matoshi's bead and crystal embellished fishnet tights are the sort of bejeweled items sure to catch the eye of those who love bling and statement wear!  Her Etsy store has beautiful examples of hand stitched beads, crystals and fabric flowers of not just fishnet tights but socks, chokers, gloves, headbands and so on. The designs are all so pretty and feminine.

I find it very hard to believe how much money people can spend on a wedding, let alone a wedding cake. This jaw-dropping video from the Food Network shows a couple of seriously over the top blinged out wedding cakes. As if Swarovski crystals are not enough on any wedding dress!

I absolutely love this very easy Christmas beaded ornament tutorial. It is by Katy over on Katy Clouds.  No beading knowledge required.  Just lots of crystals, head pins and seed beads from your jewelry making stash. Styrofoam balls are also very inexpensive.

After a brutal winter - especially in Nova Scotia where I used to live, summer is most welcome indeed.  Out with heavy boots and in with sandals!  Want to make your sandals more memorable?Then bling them up!  This tutorial for how to add Swarvoski crystals to sandals is by Erica over on Honestly...WTF.

I could have sworn some of you were hyperventilating when you read my past post on the Dishwasher Safe Swarovski dinnerware!  Well, drool some more as we explore Swarovski crystals embellished tiles and fixtures.

I think Halloween is a lot of fun. But carving pumpkins?  Not so much, at least not for me.  So these no-carve blinged out  pumpkin inspirations are perfect for jewelry fans. Raid your stash for supplies!

There are many attempts at covering large objects with our favorite Swarovksi crystals but few are outstanding.  Stella McCartney's stunning Swarovski Horse Sculpture was one.  The Cloud Terrace is another.

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An extraordinary auction will soon take place. From December 13-15, Elizabeth Taylor's legendary collection will be sold at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

The sale of her bedazzling 270 pieces of jewelry alone will take two days. It's very rare to have such a large single owner jewelry collection to go on auction.

I have a soft spot for purses and handbags. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember the post about the beautiful seed bead purse my mother made for me (see last link below).

You could embellish purses with all sorts of beads too. Here is a fantastic Swarovski Woven Purse tutorial . Click on the link there for the full pdf instructions.

Underside

Not having to lug around a handbag is bliss when you can wear your essentials on your wrist.

Wallets2Wear has beaded wrist wallet jewelry that is a combination of a purse and a bracelet in one! The pouch underneath the beads has space for cash, credit cards and perhaps a key or two.

Swarvoski Inspirations
Part 2 of 2
Many of you were charmed with the Dishwasher Safe Swarovski Dinnerware I wrote about some time ago.Will you be equally charmed by Swarovski carpets? Apparently Swarovski thinks so. They sponsored Dutch designer, Jon van der Drift to produce this BIC Swarovkis carpet with several droolworthy 33,000 crystals.  B.I.C Carpets did the weaving from pure New Zealand wool.

It's no coincidence with today's date. I think the Diamond Ring mug would make a wonderful April Fool's Day present! Or even a joke mug for yourself because it showcases a supersized bling ring as you drink your favorite cuppa!

In the world of diamonds, size does matter, so why not mega-carat your diamond albeit on a mug?

New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in North America. It's such a unique place with a fascinating history. It's the birthplace of jazz and the cuisine? Fabulous. While I have never been during Mardi Gras (too wild for me!), I recall seeing tons of masks for sale, often with feathers.

Let's Party
Part 1 of 2
Talk about blinged out lips!  Drinking and eating would be a tad difficult but you'll be turning heads at your New Year's party!  I have no idea what glue the fashion photographer, Monica Barrenche used, but I'll bet the model lost a few epidermal layers in the aftermath.

Most women will agree that vacuum cleaners are pretty much at rock bottom on the list of potential gifts for Christmas. Covering them with Swarovski crystals isn't going to improve matters either. But hey, maybe there is someone out there who wants one for all I know.

Shown here is the Electrolux Crystal Ergoripado designed by Polish concept and fashion designer, Lukasz Jemiol blinged all over with 3730 crystals from Swarovski's CRYSTALLIZED™ Elements collection.

Times must be hard. This year's Victoria Secret's Bombshell Fantasy Bra is "only" $2 million, down from last year's $3 million affair I wrote about.

Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima trotted out the gemstone embellished bra at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show last week which also aired on CBS.

3,000 brilliant cut white diamonds - 60 carats worth - and 82 carats of sapphires and topazes were set in white gold. Every gem was hand set by a team of 6 craftsmen who labored a total of 1500 hours.

I have no trouble envisioning an $8 million mansion but to spend that much money on something that fits in the palm of your hand and will be outmoded anyway in a couple of years or so? The mind boggles.

Such is the cost of the world's most expensive iPhone4 courtesy of British jewelry, Stuart Hughes who likes embellishing popular gadgets. This one has a bezel filled some 500 flawless diamonds weighing more than 100 carats. Turn the device over, and there are 53 more forming the Apple logo. The navigation button is a platinum set 7.4 carat pink diamond.

Sometimes it pays to advertise your wares by wearing your own jewelry designs. How about making a gem tote bag too?  Even if you don't make jewelry to sell, this is a cool gift for a jewelry artisan friend who already knows how to make jewelry!


The gem tote bag tutorial is by Blumenthall Lansing.  It makes use of single hole embellishments called Ka-Jinker Jems which are applied using a special tool. It's a very quick attachment system which doesn't use glue or sewing.