Month: March 2016

Pearls and Stones – what could be more key? Well, um, how about some keys? 😉 These vintagey-antiquey keys are a fair size – dare we say “lifesize” and would make a cool pendant on a chain, or paired with some stones or maybe a locket (we have just one of those left!) or something else from our page of Vintage Style. Segueing directly into stones … we got more of these lovely mounted stone pendants and links. Most of these are small enough to be used as earrings – albeit biggish ones, or as a rather dainty pendant. Lapis, …

I taught this class recently at Beadfx and West Toronto Beading Guild and it’s a super simple and fun way to custom make pendants that reflect your unique style and special photos.  You can use pre-made bezels of any size, shape, depth and metal. Or you can use bezel wire, a hole punch and some rivets and wire to make any shape to fill with clay.  Here’s a couple of examples I made while on my retreat in France this past fall. Thanks to Debbi Simon for sharing this technique! You can use Swarovski Ceralun, Crystal Clay or Apoxie Sculpt. …

Now that you’ve had a chance to get all stocked up with our big annual sale – you’re probably thinking that you don’t need any more beads. Well – let’s see about that. 😉 First up – I want to show you these pendants – I’m pretty excited about these. I was wandering through a tent at Tucson – in search of wonderful stuff to bring back for you – and I spotted these. At first – I thought they were embossed leather – but no – they are wood! Not just any wood, but cherry and walnut and maple …

By: Cindy Goldrick Earwires come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here’s a quick overview of the most common earwires. Kidney — these can be short or long but, as the name says, they are shaped like a kidney bean.    Shepherd’s hook — I often mix them up with fish hook earrings, and I think the main difference is that they look a little more rustic and don’t have embellishments like fish hooks earwires do. Fish hook — often they have a hammered flat section and a hollow metal ball embellishment. French hook — circular fish hook style. …