All about jewelry: January 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Gem Heaven

Heavenly Jewelry made with love
Jo at Gem Heaven uses lovely color combinations in her jewelry designs.

Like all modern women, Jo can't seem to find enough time to do everything she wants to do. This is what she says:

Sometimes I wonder where the days go - I spend half my week looking forward to the weekend - and then the weekend mysteriously disappears into Sunday evening and the cycle starts again!! Personally I think weekends should be 3 days long - now this isn't anything to do with having days off - you'll find me creating whatever the day of the week it is.

This bracelet is made from tiny (4 - 5 mm) rounds. There's lots of wire wrapping and dozens of gemstones in this design:

A Kiss of Spring Bracelet
Rose Quartz, Peridot, Amethyst, and Aquamarine

Artist Statement
My name is Jo and I live in Cornwall (United Kingdom), a beautiful inspirational place surrounded by sea, yet with wilds of moorland, so much to inspire me! I hope you enjoy my jewelry as much as I enjoy making it. I can truthfully say each piece has been "made with love." Using Sterling, Karen Hill Tribe, or Bali Silver, gemstones, lampwork (artisan beads) and sea glass - each component is chosen for not only its quality but its beauty. Every care is taken to create a piece of jewelry for you to treasure. My designs are unique, and should you see something that has already "gone to a new home" then contact me to see if I can recreate something similar but unique to you! Every woman (or man) should own a piece of Heavenly Jewelry!

Gifted Earrings
Petrol Tourmaline, exquisite colors from ambers to greensSee full article.

Related Entries:

More Jewelry Designers to Dream About - 27 November 2005

Attention Jewelry Designers - 27 February 2006

2007 Jewelry Show Dates - 05 November 2006

Call for Irish Jewelry Designers - 23 August 2007

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 11/16/07

Normally I do my jewelry and fashion blog round ups on Sundays, but next week being a holiday week for those of us in the States, I decided to double up this week.

Starting off with ring and lots more goodies. Be prepared for any party invite this season with StyleBakery.com's list of 10 holiday must-haves.

WELOVEBEAUTY.com discovers Celeb Makeup Artist Paul Starr's newest obsession.

Stylehive gives you a sneak peek of Marc Jacobs' Visionaire 52 Private - sultry, gritty, and edgy photographs of our favorite celebs.

Celebrity Makeup Artist - and new blogger - Sam Fine stops by 55 Secret Street with his makeup secrets - and red velvet cupcakes!

Stiletto Jungle found a Lush-ous way to do good while you shop: Lush Charity Pot Lotion.

Bag Bliss' newest obsession, the Knoxx Roan Weekend Handbag.

Bag Snob is obsessed with the Devi Kroell shopper bag!

Beauty Snob fulfills the ultimate beauty fantasy with Bobbi Brown!

Whether you're dressing up or dressing down, Coquette shares her favorite hats to wear this winter.

Get the "Gossip Girl" look at Fashiontribes...even if you don't have a GG sized bank account.

GlamChiczooms in on Victoria's Secret's Surrealist-inspired runway show.

KRiSTOPHER gives away a Gifts.com gift certificate. And she doesn't even want brain in exchange.

My Fashion Life takes a look at the most recent concept in eco-chic - "Chopstick bras".

Papierblog deconstructs the new season of Project Runway and plays Vegas bookmaker

Second City Style asks celebrities: Does middle age mean a fashion meltdown in "WTF Was She Thinking?": Grandma Jezebel edition.See full article.

Related Entries:

Fashion and Jewelry Blogosphere 08/21/06 - 21 August 2006

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 12/31/06 - 31 December 2006

Jewelry & Fashion Blogosphere 02/12/07 - 12 February 2007

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 06/24/07 - 24 June 2007

Pretty Platinum APlenty

Recently I read an article in The Seattle Times which claimed that diamond jewelry is "an investor's bad choice." Bah, I thought, so what! Diamonds set in platinum are for wear, not for shares, as in trading thereof. But truth is, although most jewelry is bought for emotional reasons, sometimes the expense makes one pause...especially when it's a trendy piece. When the love is gone, the trend dies out, then what? All that money...what do you do but sell it on 47th st. for a fraction of its worth? Or give it away.

Well, the first thing, methinks, is to try out any diamond and platinum in a less costly, but just as beautiful form. And my new favorite company for beautiful, trendy platinum jewelry is Karat Platinum. Karat Platinum is a ground-breaking alloy that offers all the beauty and benefits of pure platinum (950 Platinum) at a lower cost. I could launch into all the chemical formulations for how its created, but I'm not exactly known as a scientist. So think of it as I do: simple as 14K gold vs. 18K gold. Still gold, still beautiful, just a little more accessible. In many cases, you can't even tell the difference between KP and platinum. Really! (see pieces below for third-party proof).

And if the beauty of the rings above isn't enough to entice you, check out the super-sultry commercial Karat Platinum recently shot!

Pretty sexy, huh? A nice gift idea and, at about 1/2 the cost of "regular" platinum, not a bad investment, either.
See full article.

Related Entries:

Stars Shine in Platinum - 30 April 2007

We Heart the JewelryWeblog's Cuff Enough Presentation! - 15 October 2007

Baubles up for Bid - 08 December 2007

Crazy for Coomi

One of our readers wrote in asking for information about a wonderful designer named Coomi Bhasin whose work recently appeared in InStyle. So I just had to check her out. Wow! Rings are my thing, so when I caught a glimpse of the gold and mine-cut diamond dazzler above, I knew I had to find out more, too!

Coomi Bhasin, raised in India, describes herself as a "Renaissance woman," and I couldn't agree more. Before launching her eponymous gold and diamond line in 2002, she was a textile designer, architect and landscape designer. Influenced by such diverse things as architecture and organic forms, Coomi notes: "I fell in love with every aspect of gold, gemstones, texture and color - whose richness influenced and surrounded my life. I realized these ingredients were my brush, palette and canvas - to express emotion, convey spirit, and create tangible beauty". Her ring above fully captures this belief: it's aptly named "Sanctuary" from her Eternity line., and conveys a sense of serene, yet bold, style.

I was also drawn to these "Multi Paisley" earrings from her Vitality line:

In addition to her fantastic style and the beautiful workmanship of her jewelry, I just love the fact that Coomi is a mature designer who's truly "worn many hats" in her lifetime. As a fellow designer with an equally long and eclectic past, I find this inspiring and uplifting. It's a wonderful testament to the power of creative thinking and a vital outlook on life. Check out more about Coomi here.See full article.

Related Entries:

Sophia Loren Jewelry by Damiani - 21 June 2006

Marco Bicego Gold, Diamonds, & Beads - 27 December 2006

Manak Jewelry Mania - 16 January 2007

Red Gold Rules - 03 February 2007

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 11/22/07

Get ready to shop till you drop after you eat till you drop. Here are some tips on both counts to help you out from around the jewelry and fashion blogosphere.

Just in time for holiday shopping, Stiletto Jungle found 13 Junk Food vintage-look rocker tees on sale for 42% off.

Goyard caught the go-green bug with the new environmentally conscious Goyard St. Louis Shopper Tote. Bag Bliss has more..

Not sure what to wear this holiday? Grab a bit of Bottega Veneta from Bag Snob!

Beauty Snob explores the sexy scent of Elle from YSL.

You can DIY your wedding without skimping on style. Enter to win a free copy of The DIY Wedding by Kelly Bare at Coquette.

Stay gorgeous & skinny by shaving an extra 1,000 fattening calories off your holiday feast without giving up the good life...Fashiontribes shows how.

KRiSTOPHER likes boss black leather and lapin.KRiSTOPHER loves boss black leather and lapin D&G Dolce & Gabbana gloves for winter.

Now that there is finally a chill in the air Second City Style has your winter wardrobe essentials and even tells you where to buy them. How easy is that?

Over at StyleBakery.com, the editors share what they're loving now.

Celebrity Styleaholic Najwa Moses gets up close and personal with Jennifer Hudson.

Browse through Stylehive's slideshow of the ten hottest (well, warmest) resorts and hotels to visit this holiday season.

WE LOVE BEAUTY.com is intrigued by the new beauty collection from Coach - especially the three lipsticks. See full article.

Related Entries:

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 03/05/07 - 05 March 2007

Jewelry & Fashion Blogosphere 04/08/07 - 08 April 2007

Jewelry & Fashion Blogosphere 05/21/07 - 21 May 2007

Jewelry and Fashion Blogosphere 07/29/07 - 29 July 2007

Stone & Pottery Jewelry from James Olson

Now, this video needs a little zing, but it is interesting to listen to southwestern jewelry artists, James Olson, discuss his unique work. It's not your typical turquoise jewelry (not that there's anything wrong with that). But, I like how he isn't trying to make Native American jewelry but instead is using materials such as river stone and pottery pieces as part of his jewelry designs.

You can see more close-up style images of his work at TwinRocks.com such as a few of the pieces below.

See full article.

Related Entries:

Icewalk Jewelry - 17 September 2006

Simon Alcantara's Pearl Power - 21 October 2006

Ich darf den Zen Stone testen - 29 Juli 2007

Zen Stone im Praxistest - 24 September 2007

Swarovski Presents a New Jewelry Line

Swarovski is ready to present a new collection for the autumn/winter 2007 season called Soul of Time: The Epic of Light. It was showcased this past August in Malta, and is not available on the company's web site through a pretty cool slideshow. The collection has some asymmetrical angles and gives a feeling of sort a fairy gone goth a little to me. The creative director explains them as follows:

Nathalie Colin Roblique, Swarovski's Creative Director said, "A study in asymmetry, a search for slightly savage effects, and a desire for irregularity that satisfies a need for authenticity and truth... I wanted to create versatile and nomadic jewellery that never stops moving.

"Alive and sensual," she added, "these jewels can be rolled up or draped. Their fringes echo human gestures and move with the body. Some jewels appear to be abstract sculptures - somewhere between jewellery and art objects - but they are neither narrative nor realistic."

See full article.

Related Entries:

Jewelry for the Dinner Table? - 21 December 2005

Jewelry & T-Shirt in One - 19 December 2006

New Swarovski Bridal Jewelry - 10 April 2007

On the Dot with Bridal Jewelry - 03 July 2007

Are You a Jewelry Blogger?

You love jewelry and accessories. You're fascinated with personal ornaments that glitters and shimmers, pieces that turns drab to fab. You keep track of the latest in the jewelry and fashion industry and you've been blogging about it.

The Jewelry Weblog needs you! See more details of what this job entails and if you think you can polish this gem of a blog to a real stunner, drop us a line at recruiting AT creative-weblogging.com!See full article.

Related Entries:

New Fashion Blog Right Here - 15 August 2006

Introducing Hot New Fashion Accessories Blog - 15 September 2006

Jewelry & Fashion Blog Bash - 16 May 2007

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Schermo Beads

Ann Baldwin at Schermo Beads started out using seed beads in her teens, and has evolved into a full-blown glass bead artist. Her site is extremely interesting and informative, complete with pictures, especially the Art of Making Glass Beads page. She even teaches bead making in her area.

And believe me, the lady makes some gorgeous beads:

Iris Flower Bead

The art of bead making by winding molten glass around a steel mandrel is often referred to as Lampworking, because the early glass bead makers in Venice used oil lamps as their heat source for melting the glass. Today, it's more common to use torches that use a mix of propane and oxygen to get a precise flame that allows the bead artist to control the heat as the glass melts.

How long does it take to make a single bead ?
Ann says:

About seven hours from start to finish, including dipping the mandrels in bead release, preparing the glass rods, melting and forming the bead in the flame, annealing the bead in the kiln (that's about five + hours right there, but I can go watch TV during that stage of the process), and then cleaning out the beads when they're done.

In truth, most beads take from 20 to 60 minutes to actually make the bead in the flame, depending on how many layers of glass and sparkly bits like dichroic, goldstone, or foils I add. It also depends on how much sculptural work of melting, shaping, pushing, pulling, pinching, forming and cool down is involved.
I've tried to time it, but when I am staring at a the flame, I lose all track of time.

Chubby Stripes and Swirls Beads

Artist Statement

My interest in all things beady goes back well into my teen years when I made beaded cigar band rings and love beads like every other teenager in the late 60s. My bead obsession went into remission as I was making my way through raising children in the real world in my 20's and early 30's.

About ten years ago, my interest in beads was reawakened by two curiously unrelated events: I started noticing the beautiful seed bead work done by Native Americans, and bought a huge quantity of opaque primary colored, irregular seed beads, which I still haven't figured out what to do with. I also bought a book about making beads out of polymer clay.
That, I did know what to do with!

From there on, things kind of snowballed. I started making polymer clay beads like I was possessed, and then I realized that I needed other beads to go with my clay beads. I started buying glass beads to use in necklaces and earrings. The more I bought, the more I learned. The more I learned, the more I wanted. The more I wanted, the more jewelry I had to make and sell in order to afford the beads I now NEEDED. Bead Addiction: it's not a pretty sight.

And in the midst of my obsession, an idea took hold. I had heard about glass bead making. It looked fascinating, but I actually thought that the biggest problem was that I would probably cut myself on the sharp edges of the glass. Fantasies overcame fears, and in March 1999, I signed up for a class with one of the BEST lampworking teachers in the country, Kate Fowle, and took her two day beginning bead making class. I was hooked.

That class taught me not only the necessary basics, but also confirmed that I seemed to have a knack for it. I went home, ordered my equipment and my glass rods, and started cleaning out the garage. I was on a mission.

Now I have a bead making studio in the garage, and I spend several days a week making beads, or teaching bead making to others. I have upgraded my equipment, added additional ventilation and cooling, and bought a digital controller for the kiln which handles all the steps of adjusting the temperature, so I don't have to keep running out to the garage to mess with it while the beads are annealing. This past year I bought another torch; BIGGER, hotter and scary looking. It's gone from an expensive hobby to a satisfying business.

See full article.

Related Entries:

Beads for the Winter - 20 December 2005

Discovery of Ancient Beads - 07 November 2006

Valentine's Jewelry Finds on Etsy - 06 February 2007

Watch Out for Beads - 15 July 2007

Monday, January 28, 2008

My Lovely Beads

Zoya Gutina: Jewelry Designer
Zoya at My Lovely Beads works with seed beads, but she also creates designer gemstone jewelry, and much of her work is a combination of the two. She is well-known for her intricate designs using tiny seed beads. In 2007, she won first place in the Rings & Things Design Contest in the Glass category for her design, Aquamarine Morning and Amethyst Night Necklace.

This necklace perfectly illustrates the way she uses seed beads and gemstones in the same design:

Amber Lace Necklace
Seed beads and Amber gemstones

This is one of Zoya's gemstone creations. I love the big hunk of Agate in this design:

Lone Leaf Necklace
Agate, Tiger Eye, Mother of Pearl

Artist Statement

During my childhood in the USSR, my mother taught me to sew and knit, both with hooks and needles. I really took to needlework, and have continued its pursuit in all of its variants during all of my life. Very many different categories of objects have been produced for my children, my family, my good friends, and myself.

Also, during my childhood, I became familiar with bead work. At that time I was studying ballet, and needed a dress for practicing. A dress was sewn for me. However, I decided to decorate it, and sewed a gentle bead work flower onto my chest. The beads were a transparent yellow color, very pale, and the dress was of a cream-colored material. At that time I felt was an appropriate combination, and I was right. It looked very pretty.

When I came to the USA about 10 years ago, I decided to continue my bead work. I scurried around, trying to acquire everything about bead work, but it turned out that too few books were available. At that point, I started to experiment by myself, with beads of a whole range of various dimensions, and with gemstones.

The experimentation started to bear fruit, and were my first serious efforts. In a while I was invited to participate in selling my handicrafts at an art market in Manhattan. It gave me a good feeling of encouragement, that my artifacts are desired and appreciated.

Inspirations for my designs come to me night and day. At night, when I close my eyes, fantastic colors and forms of my future efforts appear before me. Often, I cannot even find beads of those colors. During the day, images appear when I see flowering trees outside, or just flowers in the spring; during the winter, geometric frozen shapes; and then during sunrise and sunset.

SOURCE
Potomac Craftsmen Gallery See full article.

Related Entries:

Paper Jewelry by Anna Sofia - 20 December 2006

Valentine's Jewelry Finds on Etsy - 06 February 2007

Call for Irish Jewelry Designers - 23 August 2007

Novice Jewelry Designer Stumbles Into Beads - 15 October 2007

Precious Metal Clay

Precious Metal Clay is truly precious because it gives the jewelry designer the freedom to create totally unique piece of jewelry. It looks and feels like modeling clay, but it contains tiny particles of pure fine silver or pure 24K gold. It can be rolled, pinched, molded, impressed, extruded and sculpted into any shape.

The basic clay material is called lump form. It comes in a sealed foil packet and is ready to use. Lump form can be used to roll slabs or snakes, and can be molded or sculpted. It can be thinned with water or used as a paste. A rubber stamp or any textured object can be used to impress beautiful designs into the PMC before it is fired.

Precious Metal Clay Circle Pendant
Fine silver, PMC copper, brass, and resin enamels

Slip form (or paste) comes in a jar or loaded in a syringe. The paste form is used to glue wet or dry PMC objects in place or for slip casting, for painting onto an object for a hollow form, and decoration. The syringe is used to extrude wire for decorating, setting stones, or filling cracks.

Paper form is a very thin sheet of clay that can be used to make bezels for objects to be set, used for ring shanks, or folded like origami. Shapes can be cut out with punches and applied as decoration. It can also be laminated with water to make it thicker.

This piece illustrates how PMC can be formed into any shape:

Abstract Precious Metal Clay Pendant

Man-made gemstones, like Cubic Zirconia, and many natural gemstones can be set into the clay either wet or dry, and safely fired in place. Porcelain, glass, Dichroic glass, and parts such as clasps, can be fired along with the clay. You can even bond metal clay directly to sterling silver.

Artisans and craftspeople will enjoy making pendants, rings, earrings, or pins that can be free-form and trendy or your own version of a vintage piece. Using the Low Fire clay, you can experiment by adding beads, gemstones, or glass cabochons to create a truly unique design.

After the PMC object is fired in a kiln or with a torch, the clay part burns away, leaving you with a piece of pure gold or fine silver. The metal object can then be filed, sanded, carved, drilled, engraved, riveted, enameled, or polished to embellish the surface.

If you would like to learn more, there is an Excellent Resource for Precious Metal Clay at Squidoo.

SOURCES
Cool Tools for PMC
Amazing Art Clay Silver See full article.

Related Entries:

Matisse Designs' New Jewelry Collections - 03 September 2006

Metal and Clay Equals Jewelry - 20 August 2007

Calling All Metal Clay Artists - 09 November 2007

Metal Clay Artists: Where Do You Work? - 26 November 2007

Thursday, January 24, 2008

More for Valentine's Day

I'm still trying to get my depleted website full once again, but it's not easy when you're a one-woman design team. Custom orders do keep me busy and away from the computer (that's why I'm always writing at night, at home, since my studio is downtown.). If I could make jewelry and work on my custom orders at home, I'd never get anything listed on the site. This week, sickness has also intervened , keeping me in bed for 3 days and away from the studio and the computer. My dear kitties , who are only a bit over a year old , totally exuberant, full of life and energy, spent most of those 3 days in bed with me, one sleeping beside me, one on my feet or legs. Of course, now they have energy to spare and all they want to do is play.

Some of the new bracelets that will be on the website soon (or at least by the end of this weekend) are on the post today. The first is a rose quartz bracelet with pretty lampwork beads by Riveroaks Acres; it is big and chunky thanks to the rose quartz nuggets and the sterling bead with the heart on it. The next bracelet is unusual - a heart bracelet - perfect for Valentine's - but instead of pink or blue or red, the beads and heart are a combination of amber, black and metallics, both gold and silver in an odd combination that I really like. I mixed some black agate with banding with it, but the beads (by Lynn Nurge) are really the bracelet. It is goldfilled from each small bead to the toggle clasp. It will be on the Lampwork Bracelets page.
The sapphire bracelet below is made of more of Lynn's beads, borosilicate this time, and faceted sapphire rondelles. Loads of sterling silver are on this one.

The amethyst earrings hang from some of my favorite posts with a cabochon amethyst bezel-set in them. The dangle part of the earring is made of carved amethyst lilies (love these lilies, love carved beads!). I like the posts myself because years of wearing heavy earrings have stretched my ear piercings. With the nice metal and plastic disk back, these posts hold the earrings in place without stretching your earlobes.

The Tuscon Gem Show is coming up in less than a month and I'm very excited about all the new gemstones I'll be getting. Every year there is something new and special to play with. I can't wait!
Note to my readers in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway - we here in Arkansas feel that we are suffering because the thermometer hit 20 Fahrenheit. No snow yet, but the wind is bitter. I wonder how we would fare in Lapland?