Chain Sta, cha cha cha

March 18th, 2010

Jewellery makers will understand the frustration involved when attaching beads and charms to chain. Are you trying to create a bracelet? The chain’s tangled. Making a necklace? Terrible. It’s interlocked, it’s interlaced, it’s a twisted mass of unworkable metal on your desk.

You just want to fling the @$#%&! thing in the bin.

Introducing Chain Sta. The name says it all. Well, except for the spelling – they left off the Y. Use it to hold that pesky chain taut while attaching your pretties.

Chain Sta has a wide stable base, and there are clamps on the columns to hold the chain securely while you attach your dangles along the finished length. Aaahh, that’s  better.

So make your chain stay with a Chain Sta. Even if the makers can’t spell.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

The top o’ the mornin’ to you!

March 15th, 2010

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Observed in the Emerald Isle and worldwide by those of Irish descent, the 17th of March is a celebration of Irish culture, to be sure.  All things Irish are lauded and green is the colour of the day.

This Christian festival is widely celebrated in Australia, though it’s not a national holiday. Both Christians and non-Christians commemorate the day by wearing green (with co-ordinating jewellery!), eating Irish (or green) food, quaffing Guinness, Irish Whiskey or Irish Cream, and attending street parades and family picnics.

Who was Saint Patrick?

Naomh Pádraig in the Irish tongue, was a Roman-Briton believed to have been born around 385AD, in what is now known as Birdoswald in Cumbria, England. He was a Christian missionary, and is recognised as the patron saint of Ireland.

It seems that he was kidnapped by Irish raiders at around the age of 14 and sold into slavery in Ireland where he tended sheep in the north east of Ireland. During six years of enslavement, Saint Patrick found God. After escaping back to his family in Britain he entered the Church, later returning to Ireland as a bishop in the north and west of the island.

Saint Patrick introduced Christianity to the Irish people, and used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant sacred to the Druids, to explain the Holy Trinity.

Saint Patrick is also credited with banishing snakes from Ireland, but the story is more likely a metaphor for  driving out pagan religions, of which snakes were common symbols.

It’s hard to imagine a country with no snakes … New Zealand is another if I’m not mistaken. Probably because they’re both islands. Or could it be the lush green country side? I mean, Australia is an island, but we have lots of snakes … maybe it has something to do with being two thirds desert….

Sydney’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade will be held this year on Sunday 21st March. We’ll be sipping our fifth annual traditional glass of Guinness with our Saint Patrick’s Day meal. It’s a taste I personally haven’t acquired – yet I persevere.

If you’d like to get in touch with your Irish heritage, see www.stpatricksday.org.au for  more info.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.


Cast it with Easycast Clear Casting Epoxy Resin

March 10th, 2010

You can fashion your own unique pieces with this handy two part product.

It’s low odour and solvent free. You can colour it, tint it, or combine it with fillers to create all kinds of wonderful things like paper weights and pendants. Ideal for embedding.

Pendants with nature themes such as flowers (preferably dried) and butterflies (preferably deceased) are popular at the moment. Don’t throw away the first little insect caught by your child. Embed it in resin for a lasting keepsake.

Add pretties, pour into a mould, cure, then finish by sanding. You can also drill or carve the cured piece.

Easycast Two Part Clear Casting Epoxy Resin – read the instructions for any DOs and DON’Ts.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

A Starring Role for the Cameo

March 5th, 2010

We’ve just received a lovely range of resin replica cameos. Now if that’s not a pretty feature for my latest blog, I don’t know what is!

First, a quick definition. Strictly speaking, a cameo is a small scene or figure carved on stone or shell and used as adornment.

The image is most commonly carved in relief, that is chiseled so that the image stands out from the base.

Less often it is carved intaglio, that is cut so that the image is recessed into the stone below the original surface level.

Of course these glorious jewels and the antiquity they infer are beyond the reach of most of us, unless Nonna has one she could lend. But thankfully there are lovely replicas in resin and acrylic these days.

They are charming in multi-strand pearl or simple ribbon chokers – very olde worlde. And they make lovely bracelets, necklaces, rings, brooches and earrings.

I’d like one in my treasure chest.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

Whimsical Lampwork

February 19th, 2010

Created by artisans past and present, these small objects arouse my imagination.

A tiny hidden realm.

A secret portal.

All I need do is uncover it and …

I’m in!

Roaming an exquisite domed garden

lampwork white

Gliding through a glassy rock pool

lampwork crab

Or chancing upon a glittering treasure trove.

treasure trove

Lampworking is a method of glasswork that uses a propane or natural gas fueled torch to melt coloured or clear  glass rods and tubes. These are then maipulated using a combination of tools, gravity and blown air.

Lampworking has been around since ancient times and became widely practiced in Italy in the 14th century particularly off the coast of Venice on the Isle of Murano. Lampworkers, who were afforded a high social status, used the flame of an oil lamp to create the beads, hence the name.

Modern lampworking is more appropriately called flameworking, or torchworking. Not to be confused with glassblowing, where the artisan uses a blowpipe to inflate a glass blob known as a gob or gather, thereby inflating it by blowing air into the blowpipe.

Lampwork beads – a magical blend of artful imagination and ancient technique.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

For the Romantics

February 12th, 2010

February 14th, this Sunday, is the feast of Saint Valentine, so it’s fitting to pay tribute to the day that celebrates love and affection.

Valentine’s day is named after a Christian martyr, Valentinus, and is traditionally a day on which expressions of love are made with greeting cards, flowers and chocolates.

In a peculiar mash of Christianity and ancient Roman mythology, Cupid, the son of Venus, is a symbol of Valentine’s day.

Hearts, flowers, and the colour red, are modern day symbols of this important day in the lives of hopeless romantics.

But that’s not me! I love romantic comedies, though.

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now

Sliders

January 29th, 2010

No, not the popular 90’s television series about a lad and his friends who slide through multiple parallel universes in an effort to get back home, but a specialized type of multi-holed bead that allows multiple parallel threads to slide through it.

Also known as slides, they are always very popular for jewellery designs and are most commonly used for watches and multi-strand bracelets.

Sliders are made from all the usual suspects -  cast metal, sterling, glass. They can be plain, intricately caved, or lavishly embedded with sparkly rhinestones.

Now that’s what I call bling. I think I’ll just go slide some on my wrist! Why don’t you?

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

It Ain’t Necessarily Natural

January 14th, 2010

Heigh ho, heigh ho. It’s back to work we go.

Happy New Year! and welcome to my first Blob for 2010.

Does the first line sound familiar? It’s from Disney’s Classic animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. You may have noticed I’ve taken a tiny liberty with the lyrics, the original phrase actually goes: Heigh ho, heigh ho. It’s off to work we go.

Remember the scene where the dwarfs took to the glittering walls of a mine with picks and shovels filling their barrows with precious gems? I really loved that bit when I was a kid – it’s a delightful depiction of the way natural gems are garnered from source rock.

But I have long since learned that most gemstone beads (make that possibly most gemstones!) aren’t natural, that is they don’t originate from natural sources. They are mostly either synthetic or imitation.

So what’s the difference between synthetic and imitation gemstones? They’re both copies of the natural gem … Or are they?

Synthetic gemstones, also called created or manmade gemstones, are in fact genuine gemstones, having essentially the same physical, chemical and visual properties as natural gems, yet the rough form of the stone is produced in a lab in its mineral or crystal state. They are not as rare as naturally mined gems, which makes them less expensive, and being produced in the contained environment of a laboratory, they don’t have the imperfections.

On the other hand, just about all natural gems have flaws, albeit minuscule, such as cracks and foreign bodies trapped inside the gem (called inclusions). These are caused by the uncontrollable conditions in which the gem mineral or crystals develop, for example variations in time, humidity, pressure, light, water etc.

Increasingly, as natural precious gems become rarer and more costly, conventional jewellery is being made using synthetic gemstones; they are cut and polished using the very same techniques. And who wouldn’t want a flawless gem?

Imitation gemstones, also called simulants, may look like genuine gems at first glance but that is where the difference ends. They can be produced from any substance such as glass, plastic or less costly stones and are (usually) easy to detect upon closer examination.

So it seems there’s not so much difference between synthetic and natural gemstones, but quite a lot between synthetic and imitation: synthetic is the real deal, imitation is, well, the copy. And it just wouldn’t do to confuse them.

Natural, synthetic or imitation. Can you tell the difference?

Natural, synthetic or imitation. Can you tell the difference?

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

The Cross and other Christian Symbols in Jewellery

December 11th, 2009

For my last blob of the year it seems appropriate, galloping as we are toward Christmas and the year’s end, to feature jewellery items which are symbolic of Christianity.

One very recognizable emblem of Christianity is the object on which Jesus died -  the cross, which has been widely used in decorative arts through the the ages.

red cross

The cross token became openly used in around the 3rd century A.D., when the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Before then early Christians met in secret, often underground, because they were persecuted for their faith. So although the cross has always been the most important symbol of Christianity, if any religious jewellery was worn it probably took other, less identifiably Christian forms.

One is the Ichthys, a symbol of Christ as “the fisher of men” made up of two intersecting arcs resembling the shape of a fish. Another is the Anchor, or mariners cross, which represents hope based on faith in Christ.

We often see the cross (a symbol of faith), the anchor (hope), and the heart (love) together on bracelets and necklaces given as gifts for baptisms. The dove (peace) is another significant Christian symbol.

A little creativity, a few beautiful beads, some glue or wire could turn this simple silver dove into a jewel.

dove

We have quite a large range of  crosses from Swarovski designs to tiny enameled charms, to acrylic pendants. And many metal styles including a huge silver plated cross ideal for wire wrapping and embellishing with beads from your bead room to make a unique pendant.

Until next year, merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2010,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.

The Humble Yet Essential Clasp, Part two

December 2nd, 2009

Here are more examples of these indispensable findings:

Fold over or snap lock clasps: A hinged clasp that folds shut, locking securely. Ideal for bracelets as they are easy to manipulate with one hand.

fold-over-clasp

Magnetic clasps: two-piece clasps with magnets that hold the two pieces of the clasp together, keeping the jewellery secure. Comes in many shapes – some popular ones are tube, ball, barrel and fold over.

Box slide clasps: have a tab that is inserted into a decorative frame or box. Often in filigree, an open metal lacework style. Come a legion of designs, shapes and sizes.

filigree-clasp

Fishhook claspssmall clasps with an interior hook that is inserted into an oval box. This hook latches onto a crossbar inside the clasp box, preventing the piece from falling off right away if the clasp is accidentally opened.

fish-hook-clasp

Bar and ring (or loop) toggle clasps: The loop is usually circular, but sometimes comes in a fancy shape such as star, heart or leaf. The bar is a ”T” shape. Closed by pulling the ”T”  through the loop. Simple to use and surprisingly secure.

toggle clasp

Until my next Blob,

Carmen

Carmen’s colourful counting book for children Where are Grandma’s Beads? is out now.