Month: August 2015

Clean up Time in the “Disco” Section! (that’s Discounted & Discontinued!) Ok – we’ve got some awesome dealios in here: Cubic Zirconia – 4 x 6 mm Emerald Cut Octagon – AAAAA White (1) – Discontinued – 70% off!  Use with Metal Clay – these are fireable, or make a hole and mount after. Nice enough to use in metal smithing projects too. Swarovski Crystal Yarn – Cotton Yarn with Crystals – Cream /Crystal Golden Shadow (Metre) – Discontinued – 60% off! Now only $2.98 / metre. If the price of this frightened you off before, try it now. Cotton …

Look out – its the low profile quad-copter beads! Well – no – it’s Quadra Tiles – another multi-hole shaped bead for your beading delight! This is a low profile (that part is true), fairly thin square bead that you can use to link and stabilize your multi-shape-bead-creations. 19 new colours, and, I’m sure, more on the way. More colours in Pips too – Pastel Pips and Matte Pips. More of the soft, pretty colours that we are seeing in the rest of the shaped beads, so you can work in the same colour palette all the way.   I’m …

A friend of mine always has a visceral reaction to every stone she picks up: it feels hot, cold, etc. I don’t have a reaction to stones through touch, so I don’t understand it, but I do believe it works for many people. Humans have adored and adorned themselves with stones through the ages and have assigned them various meanings, whether as healing stones or birthstones. I react to stones through my eyes, deciding on what they mean to me intellectually, so I am more interested in what they make me feel when included in a design – their shape, …

Sorry folks – I’ve been as sick as the proverbial dog for the last two weeks – and can barely conjure up the wherewithall to sit at my computer, much less write something witty and enchanting. Thank your lucky stars for online shopping and not having to be exposed to this! (I haven’t even been into the store – don’t want to risk making the gals in the store sick.) So let’s keep it short and sweet and I’ll try not to make too many cough-syrup-induced mistakes. First up – more Ripple Beads. Though you might think there is a …

Well, on one of the hottest days of the year, I think it’s appropriate to talk about cold connections! Cold connections join metal without the use of flame/heat. This includes such techniques as: tabs and hinges; grommets, eyelets and tube rivets; brads and nails; various glues and epoxies; and wire, including wirewrapping. Cold connections are used by jewellers for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the materials you are using won’t withstand heat because they are too fragile. For instance, you need to use cold connections when you re-purpose old tins into jewellery, or if you are using flammable materials like …