MAGNIFICENT TWO-STRAND ROSE QUARTZ
COLLAR WITH PENDANT DROP:

Materials:
Beading wire
12 large faceted rose quartz nugget beads, graduated in size from ¾” to 1¼ inch
1 extra-large faceted rose quartz nugget bead, preferably in a different shape than the 12 other beads
1 2-inch x ½-inch x 5/8ths-inch handcrafted silver dichroic glass 2-hole spacer bar bead
52 4×5mm pale pink pressed glass flower cone beads with AB finish
24 3mm silver flat flower beads
2 6mm faceted Czech fire-polished beads with AB finish
2 6×4mm glass rondelle beads with silver centers
4 3mm round silver spacer beads
2 4mm silver rondelles
2 silver crimp beads
1 inch of sterling silver French wire
6 inches of 16-gauge sterling silver wire
12 inches of 20-gauge sterling silver wire
1 3-inch silver headpin
Jeweler’s glue
E6000 silicon craft cement

Tools:
1 pair of round-nose pliers
1 pair of chain-nose pliers
1 wire-cutter
1 large beading board or steady flat surface
Scotch tape

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Azure, created by Ralonda Patterson

This year, the contest is to create a Beaded Art Doll by manipulating beads and forms into an imaginative tactile and visual 3-dimensional representation of this year’s theme: Earthen Mother.   The grand prize this year will be a $1000 gift certificate for the Land of Odds.

All the rules can be found through links on this contest page.

Deadline: August 31, 2009

Post from: Jewelry and Beading

If you are interested in selling your work on consignment or wholesale through someone else’s store or gallery, Modish Biz Tips has two posts that are must reading: Consignment and Wholesale.  You should really read both parts, to help decide which, if either, is for you.

Jewelry Repair Jobs can provide another (perhaps unexpected) stream of income.  Read what JoAnne Green has to say about it on Home Jewelry Business Success.

Another aspect of selling your work involves getting people to visit your website.  If they don’t come, they can’t buy!    Anne Rush, The Savvy Designer, wrote about driving more traffic to your jewelry website.

If you don’t have your own website, and are thinking about showing your work in someone else’s online gallery, you’ll want to check out Alyson Stanfield’s podcast how to appraise an online gallery.

And finally, All Things Metal Clay has a post on upselling without upsetting your customers!

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Lorelei’s Blog: Inside the Studio Lorelei has busted out of the studio and into the Museum of Art for a trunk show.

Snap out of it, Jean! There’s beading to be done! Jean reviews a different, colorful, and inspiring book called Glass, by Marlene Blessing and Jamie Hogsett

Strands of Beads Melissa talks about where to find reliable information on copyrights - the U.S. Copyright Office, of course!

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton Challenging himself with a smaller scale, Andrew tackles doll jewelry. Check out five new designs with dolls in mind!

A Bead A Day Lisa’s “Swarovski Summer Picnic” project is progressing. The only thing missing are the crystally butterflies!!

About.com Jewelry Making School’s out for summer, but is it really? Nope, not when you can take one of these free jewelry making e-courses.

Art Bead Scene Art Bead Scene’s monthly challenge painting for July is the Lascaux Cave Paintings. Get your stash of beads out in ivory, red and brown to match the color palette of these ancient drawings.

Carmi’s Art/Life World Carmi attempts to create a necklace after a resin pouring disaster.

Cindy Gimbrone aka The Lampwork Diva Cindy shows off some new chain and realizes one should never shop for jeans on her lunch hour.

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Linda is a  certified crystal healer and she incorporates that along with reiki into each piece that she makes.   Her focus is on creating spiritual jewelry from precious metals and gemstones. Linda loves to find the meaning behind each stone and uses her GIA knowledge to educate her customers about their stones.  Her blog is all about information on stones.

Linda writes:
These first two pieces are Oms.  When I started practicing Yoga I learned about the sound OM and starting wearing one to help me calm myself as it is a holy sound in the universe and often used in meditation.  It means many things to many people which is why I love it.

Both pieces are made in 2 parts the background has a texture and a sapphire is inset.  I always work with real stones and like to inset them into the pieces.  This way they are closer to the skin and their energies work for the wearer.  The top piece is made as a separate piece and they are joined.  One has a patina to bring out a color. Both are strung with beads that represent all the chakras.

The next piece is a meditation bowl.  I definitely feel that meditation is helpful for people so I wanted to make something that represented this.  I set it with amethysts which are a stone for meditation.  I used several pieces to make the texture on the top ala Hadar and then used Liver of Sulfer to get the colors.  I work with liver of silver in layers most of the time using it cold and mixing all sorts of things to get colors.

The last piece is a forget-me-not.  This is the official flower of the Alzheimer’s Association.  My mother lost her battle with Alzheimer’s last year and I wanted to do something in her honor. I piece these flowers together petal by petal and set the middle with genuine sapphires in different colors.  I texture the back and set the stones in a very organic manner.  I also donate a percentage of these sales to the Alzheimer’s Association.

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1. In our online store, pick a Rings & Things product you’ve bought from us before.
2. Click on the ‘Write your own review’ link.
3. Rate the product, between 1 and 5 stars, and write an honest review.

All the details can be found on the R&T blog. Deadline for entry is July 31, 2009.

Image: Rings & Things

Post from: Jewelry and Beading

Many many thanks to Mary Lyon, who shared this delightful design and the instructions with us here at Jewelry&Beading.  Visit Mary’s site to learn much more about this busy lady!

LONG SINGLE-STRAND LAPIS NECKLACE:

Materials:
36 inches beading wire
2 strands graduated medium-to-large rough-hewn lapis chips
5 large (15mm diameter) round lapis-inlaid Afghani silver accent beads
1 extra-large (2 inch long) bi-cone lapis-inlaid Afghani silver bead
14 4mm small fluted silver rondelle spacer beads
2 3mm round silver beads
6 inches of 18-gauge sterling silver wire
1 inch of sterling silver French wire
2 silver crimp beads
1 tube of jeweler’s glue

Tools:
1 pair of round-nose pliers
1 pair of chain-nose pliers
1 wire-cutter
1 large beading board or flat, steady work surface
Scotch tape

Finished Length: 36 inches

Tip: Save your work! Secure the ends of the beading wire by folding a two-inch strip of scotch tape across each end and pressing firmly in place to prevent losing beads off the ends.

Instructions:
1: Lay out the beading wire on the beading tray and start experimenting with the arrangement of the lapis chips versus the large round inlaid silver beads and the extra-large inlaid silver bi-cone bead. Create seven segments of different lengths. The segments contain 17, 25, 14, 7, 23, 11, and 16 lapis chip beads, but feel free to arrange them as you prefer. Each segment will be separated by a large round accent bead and the extra-large bi-cone bead. There’s no right or wrong. NOTE: This is not a symmetrical necklace, so the extra-large bi-cone accent bead is not at the center. Position it, and the large round accent beads at random intervals.

2: Begin stringing lapis chips, spacers and accent beads according to the pattern you experimented with in step 1. Each accent bead, including the bi-cone, should be braced on either side by 1 small silver fluted rondelle spacer bead. Proceed until you have the exact length and arrangement of beads that you love!

3: To finish the necklace, make sure the last bead at each end is a small silver fluted rondelle spacer bead. Add 1 3mm round silver bead and one silver crimp bead to each end. Cut the coiled silver French wire into two half-inch pieces. Thread one segment of the French wire onto each end. Then tape the beading wire at each end to secure your work, and set aside.

4: Make the clasp – the “eye”! With the wire cutters, cut two lengths of silver wire – 2 inches and 3 inches. With the round-nose pliers, bend the 2-inch wire into a securely closed figure-8. Start by looping the wire about midway down one jaw of the pliers to encourage a smooth rounded base loop. Work the rest of the wire around the bottom, or largest part, of one jaw of the pliers, to make a larger loop. Make sure each end of the wire closes tightly into a figure-8.

5: Make the shepherd’s hook with the 3-inch wire. Start by looping one end of wire midway down one jaw of the round-nose pliers to make a base loop. Then work the rest of the wire as though you’re starting another figure-8, but don’t close the end. At the open end of the wire, bend it into a small, tight closing loop.

6: Connect and finish! Remove the scotch tape from one end only (the end you’ll be working on)! Thread the exposed beading wire through the small loop in the figure-8. Then thread the beading wire BACK through the crimp bead, 3mm round spacer and the fluted spacer bead, and through two or more of the lapis chips in the first bead segment. With the chain-nose pliers, crimp the crimp bead to secure your work. Then carefully trim off the excess beading wire where it protrudes out from between the lapis chips. Repeat this step at the other end of the necklace to attach the shepherd’s hook. Glue both ends, at the crimp beads, with jeweler’s glue.

Resources:
For lapis and lapis-inlaid Afghani silver beads - Silk Road Treasures – 28401 Ballard Drive, Unit F, - Lake Forest, IL 60045. (866) 775-7710.

For tools, spacer beads, crimp beads, silver wire, bead-stringing components, glue and bead-stringing tray – San Gabriel Bead Company – 325 East Live Oak - Arcadia, CA 91006. Phone: (626) 447-7753. www.beadcompany.com

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Hi Cyndi,

Here are my summer jewelry goals:

To complete the first 10 projects of the Metal Clay Master’s Registry

To submit images to ganoksin.com for my own gallery

To finally have my website up for my own jewelry

That’s all! Nothing big!

Well, I don’t know about you all, but that seems kind of big to me! Elaine is a whiz at metal clay techniques, and I’ve shared her work and her posts here before. What great goals, to be working towards both new work and a way to showcase your talents. Best wishes for success, Elaine!

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But Mary’s other love is designing what she calls faux jewelry, which are simulations of semi-precious stones such as turquoise, coral, jade and ivory from polymer clay and wire jewelry where the wire itself is bent around various kinds of furnace glass beads and turned into magnificent design elements that are both whimsical and totally unique. She works with dichroic glass that can be layered, blended and fused in many ways to create her own “jewels.” Mary’s jewelry designs have been exhibited around the country and her original “Gold Nugget” bead design is part of the permanent collection of the Bead Museum in Prescott, Arizona.

Tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, we’ll be sharing Mary’s directions for making a long single strand lapis necklace like this one:

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I have a list of metal bead suppliers that has links to many fine companies, but I notice that most of them specialize in silver and gold.  Vintaj is listed, a wholesaler of brass beads and findings, and also Green Girl Studios, which has pewter delights as well as silver.

Here are some additional sources of copper, pewter, and brass:

Rings & Things
Fire Mountain Gems
HHH Enterprises
Auntie’s Beads

And for metal clays, including the new BronzClay and CopprClay, don’t forget about Rio Grande!

Jean Campbell, at Beading Daily, has provided a wonderful chart which gives you the low down on copper, brass, and pewter, including how to care for them.

Post from: Jewelry and Beading