beads on a chain earring tutorial

Having read so much about beads in the last post by Keith, I was really tempted to make something beaded and also write a tutorial for it. Since I am really short on time these days, I settled on a simple earring that you can make in about 5 minutes and it costs almost nothing

So if you are a non necklace person like me (I only make necklaces, never wear them) then you will appreciate this design as it incorporates the biggest accessory trend of Chain links into it.....So grab some tools and have fun!!

Materials required

- 2 sets of beads (I chose a bicone and a crystal drop - they were a part of an old earrings(you can tell from the scratches) which I just reinvented)

- 4" chain - 2 pieces(I chose an antique brass for I wanted a gold bases earrings) The chain length depends on the length of the earrings and you can make it shorter or longer

- A length of wire to wrap the crystal drop into a brio

- 2 eye pins (small)

- earrings hooks

- nose pliers & flush cutter

Procedure

1) Making a briolette - A briolette is made with a bead or a crystal that has two side by side holes rather than on opposite ends - like crystal drops. To make a brio, first take the wire through both holes and cross them, so that they look like a X mark then proceed to curve the wire in such a way, that the formation looks like the number 8 as in the visual.

the shorter end of the wire will get tucked in or can be snipped off in the end. Using the longer end go around the bead wrapping it securely. Usually it is done one wrap after the other making it seamless. But here I have wrapped it criss cross for I wanted a very raw look. Repeat the process for the second bead.
Refer this link for the step by step process from internet resources.
Easy way: If you think this is complicated, then just add a jump ring through the holes.

2) loop the small bicones - The picture I clicked for this step is somehow missing so I'll add an internet visual here.

 Insert the bead in the eye pin and bend the extra at right angle to the bead. Then slowly in three strokes, curve it like a flipped 'C'. Cut an excess and bring the wire into the bead hole to form a loop.

3) Now  take one piece of the chain - add the brio to one end and add the bicone to another

 

4) When both pairs are done, the next step is to add the ear hooks. Before that you have to decide how you want your earrings to look.. Since it is only a chain you can simply add the ear hook anywhere. I tried three combinations. Longer bicone- shorter brio, Both equal and longer brio and shorter bicone. I modeled it for my mom to see and she picked the longer brio version, so I made that as final.

Thats it! Its done..now wasnt that really simple. I am sure you can add this to one of those - "Make it now - wear it right now" series.

I hope you found the post interesting

Cheers

Eyes of the world - Evil Eye beads

As  I was flipping the channels the other day, I saw a teleshopping ad for Suracksha kavach (or evil eye protection). Even I am familiar with the concept, I was wanted to learn more about it, especially its application in other cultures. So after a little bit of searching, I wrote this article for Sulekha....here is it

For centuries, the belief in evil-eye protection has been an important part of our culture. From applying kajal and tying a black thread around the wrist to the traditional “nazar utaarna” practices, we all believe that evil or negative vibrations around us can disrupt our health or success and so we need to be protected from it.

Many other cultures also believe in this concept, and hence the “Evil Eye” symbol or “Surakasha Kavch” has been worn (incorporated into mainstream jewelry) so that a person who is beautiful or well dressed will not attract any negative vibrations. The eye bead works under the philosophy of "an eye for an eye," canceling out negativity and evil with an ever-gazing eye bead staring right back, thus turning evil away providing comfort and assurance of positive thoughts to the wearer.

Here are some evil eye beads from around the world. 

DZi beads: In Tibet and Mesopotamia, agate gemstones etched eye symbols, zigzags and wave-patterns are referred to as DZi (pronounced Zee) beads. A bead with “nine eyes” is the most desired. In ancient Egypt, there is the eye of Horus known as the udjat (pronounced ut-chat).

Cowie shells & Meenakari: In Indian and Africa Cowie shells are believed to represent the human eye and are valued as protection against evil. It is also said that Rajasthani princess wore ornate meenakari pieces with a stone (eye in the center over concentric color circles) for the same reason.

Glass Evil Eye beads: Blue colored Moroccan, Turkish and Greek eye beads are still seen in modern-day homes as danglers at the entrance. The Warring States era of China brought the famous glass horned-eye beads with their horn-like bumps made of colorful concentric layers of bull's-eye dots.

Gemstones for protection: Even gemstone beads, such as tiger’s eye and red coral, have been valued for averting the evil eye. Because of the chatoyant quality of tiger’s eye beads, it is believed that these beads are capable of spotting evil from all directions at once. The most common protective jewelry for pregnant and nursing mothers is a branch of red coral worn as a pendant. This is why coral beads and black beads form a part of our Indian Mangal sutra.

Other symbols: The hand of Hamsa, also known as the hand of Kamsa, Fatima or Miriam is another symbol that is used. In Turkey it is called “Nazar Boncugu”. Native Americans believed in embedding the symbol called Ovoid eyes on carvings, brightly colored paintings on totems, masks and blankets portraying animals as they believed that living in closer harmony with nature would protect them from evil and mischief
Fascinating, isn’t it? These eye beads remind us that gemstone and jewelry have always been more than adornment, style or fashion. They could have a deeper meaning to protect and preserve life. Even though we might live on different continents and follow different traditions, our core thoughts that bind us together as people are always the same.

Evil eye beads can be used to make almost any kind of jewelry but bracelets and wristbands are the most common. Find here a tutorial to make a simple evil eye bracelet
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Please do not republish without prior permission from me and She.Sulekha.

Article Source:http://she.sulekha.com/eyes-of-the-world_09_2011_postedby_divya-n

Author: Divya N
Pic: firemountaingems

hope you enjoyed reading it!!

Cheers
 

Bridal Series – beaded brides of African Tribes

North African Bride with Metal Jewelry

The Beaded Bride -  Guest post by Keith Andrew

 There is history and tradition that connects beads and brides to each other around the globe and this is seen most dramatically through the tribal beadwork on the African continent. One of the most highly developed visual communications and languages of love is the beading of the Zulu tribes of Southern Africa, covering Swaziland and into southern Mozambique.   

Zulu beadwork has a close relationship with engagements and weddings where the bride and groom, are identified by the beaded finery they wear. The placement of the beads displays the responsibilities of the married couple… a contract. Beadwork is the exclusive domain of the Zulu women, and has become very much a “woman’s” communication (with shapes and patterns) often used in preparing brides on how to conduct themselves in relationships with young men.

A Zulu bride-to-be will make two sets of bead necklaces in matching colours, one for herself and one for her groom-to-be. Their matching colour coded necklaces and bracelets will let others know of their intentions to wed. Brides-to-be and young brides of the Zulu tribe often wear large flat topped beaded hats covering their hair. After marriage this is removed and the hair is shaped into a mud covered cone. They also wear a veil of seed beads and twisted fig leaves. It is said that a zulu bride will change her head dress (color) thrice during the ceremonies to show that she looks beautiful in a variety of colors.

Maasai Bride

 Maasai women of marriageable age wear stiff flat beaded collars of seed beads. The wedding necklace consists of three elements - A head piece with beads running across the forehead and eyes, a choker around the neck and a spectacular circular necklace that spans the width of the shoulders. This will often have cowrie shells attached at the bottom as a sign of fertility. Only a married Maasai woman may wear a string of long blue beads called Nborro. 

In Swaziland short beaded aprons with frilly fringes are traditionally worn by young girls. Red symbolizes fertility, white symbolizes a transition or puberty and black represents marriage and wealth.  They also wear vibrant coloured thread sashes with colour coded tassels. The tassels worn will indicate whether or not the girl is betrothed.

The girls of the Guedra tribe of Northern Africa wear beads and triangular glass talismans braided in their hair to bring protection and symbolize fertility. Blue beads represent the purity of the sky, white ones for health and violet to represent a dove - the symbol of gentleness and love.

Fulani Bride, Mali

Brides from the Ndebele tribe of Southern Africa wear a beaded apron called a “liobotu”, it has two side flaps which represent the marriage partners and a fringe of small beaded tassels which symbolize the expectation of children.

The tear drop beads from Czechoslovakia have become widely known as Mali wedding  beads as strings of theses multi coloured beads are worn by Malian brides.  However theses unusually shape beads have a traditional presence across all West Africa.

In the pic - A Fulani woman displays her bridal wealth in the form of large gold earrings and amber beads adorning her hair. She generally receives this jewelry on the death of her mother or at marriage as a dowry from her husband.

In the past seed beads weren’t just adornment for these people. To them it was the original currency or glass money which was bartered by the Africans for incense, ivory, tortoise shell, rhinoceros horn, palm and coconut oils, gold and sadly even people as slaves.

Still Bead work unites Africa… it artistically communicates cultural, religious, political and social values in a symbolic language. Bead work in various materials and designs also unites brides across continents for it is the symbol of art and love.

About the Author: Keith lives in Sri Lanka and works as a product design and development consultant for NGOs, governments and private companies.He creates amazing paper products and also conducts workshops (I met him at Abhushan, in Delhi, where he was one of the design mentors)

Special thanks to you Keith for the fascinating account of Bead work and Bridal Jewelry that is prevalent in African Tribes. It was great coordinating it with you.

I hope everybody found the post interesting 

Cheers

Shining silver

We love it or hate it, but cannot make do without it. Even when its costs are going through the roof, silver is a hot property in the jewelry industry.

As I was walking through ‘Dariba Kalan’ (known as the 'Street of the Incomparable Pearl'), at Chandni Chowk, I was mesmerized by all that antique silver jewelry set with precious and semi precious stones and was reassured that silver jewelry still works in India.

We as a nation have always preferred gold over silver, as Silver is prone to oxidation and hence is tarnished easily. While the west loves that worn in Patina look, we generally like our stuff bright and shiny. Silver, thus being pushed to second place, is more desired in the gifts- vessels market as being the mark of class and status. So if you are off to buying silver as coins, lamps, deities or even jewelry here are some things that you must know about metal along with the way to take care of it.

Pure silver is soft, too soft to create durable jewelry, so it's mixed with other metals to enhance performance.Popular alloys of Silver include Sterling Silver - 92.5% of Silver and 7.5% copper, Britannia Silver – 95.8% silver, Argentium® Sterling Silver (with germanium and is tarnish resistant)and Chinese Silver – 2% of silver with copper and zinc. German silver or Nickel silver has a color resembling silver, but is an alloy of primarily copper, nickel and zinc. Coin silver means that the piece is plated in a bath made by meting silver coins - found in gemstone pendants of Nepal & Tibet.

Sterling silver jewelry is often plated with a thin coat of 0.999 fine silver to give the items a shiny finish. This process is called "flashing". Silver jewelry can also be plated with rhodium (for a bright, shiny look) or gold. Silver plated with gold is very often found in South Indian Temple jewelry.

Interesting??  Click here to read more of the article>>>

Please do not republish without prior permission from me and She.Sulekha.

Article Source:http://she.sulekha.com/gorgeous-silver-articles-tips-and-more_08_2011_postedby_divya-n

Author: Divya N

hope you enjoyed reading it!!

Cheers

A spoonful of flowers necklace Tutorial

Its been quite some time since I made a tutorial. With my teaching and writing assignments tripling...I have been going a little crazy...but finally I have found some time to post this tutorial that I made long ago and completely forgot about...(Yah thats me !! ;) It is the Spoonful of flowers necklace, That I made for the creativity expo contest, conducted by whole port.

This is a basic upcycling project which you can make with very few things.

Materials:

- A spoon (I used a basic old stainless steel spoon)

- Paper - depending on the spoon size

- 6" white lace - width 1/4 t o1/2"

- A couple of rhine stones or half pearls

- Mod podge or glue n gloss

- Diamond glaze

- silver bead chain

- Pliers

Procedure: 

1) Pick up an old spoon and with pliers, go forward and backward around 3/4" from the joint. The spoon will break by itself. Now take a sturdy pliers (I recommend using a cheap bulky nose plier) to bend the extra to the back and create a small loop. If your spoon is very brittle, then it might crack here. Then I suggest annealing it. Just hold the spoon with the plier and show it in naked flame for about 5 minutes. This will soften the metal. Put it in water and then try bending it.

2) Trace the outline of the spoon on the chosen paper. I took a little extra because of the doom in my spoon.Seal the paper with mod podge and stick it to the spoon. Ease out any creases or bubbles. It should be a clean fit

3) If you want to add any rhinestones or half pearls do it at this stage for you wouldnt want to stick them on the glaze . Let it dry for sometime

4) Add the diamond glaze and keep it in a dust free environment to dry.

5) The next step is to add the bow. This is optional but I wanted to hide the loop part where the paper ends and this seemed like the perfect solution. I used a 1/2" wide ribbon and tied it into a bow. I glued it to the spoon at the front and back (behind the knots) as I was making the bow. This is what keeps the bow from coming off. I stitched the bow at the front, because my knot was looking too bulky and I didnt like the look. You can do it either way.

6) Finish it by gluing a rhinestone to the bow and dangle the pendant from a ball chain.Its done!! wear it around and have lotsa fun :) :)

I was inspired by some necklaces made by a Bangladeshi designer I met in Abhushan and by the the Rustic spoon pendant made by Dorian to make a spoon based necklace. However, the process and detailing are my own.

I hope you found it interesting

Cheers

Bridal Series - Philippines

After all the heavy gold and Stone jewelry of India, lets move to something light, fresh and breezy today. As we continue our Bridal journey in Asia, looking out for what Brides in different cultures wear on their wedding Day, we have come to Philippines, a tropical country with fascinating landscapes, active volcanoes, splendid beaches, coral waters, tropical forests and home to one wonderful and creative blogger - Janelle.
Yup!! shes the one who gave me my very first blog award and was really sweet to feature me (and my work) in the "Creating success around the world"  blog hop in her blog. She has her own little place in blog land called Of Pinks and Fairy Tales where she posts about her jewelry, sewing and other craft projects.

Welcome aboard Janelle:)

Hi all I am Janelle from Philippines and today I am here to talk about bridal jewelry worn by a Christian bride in the Philippines










As one wedding march goes...

 Here comes the bride,

All dressed in white...

For most women in the Philippines, this is the dream wedding... all eyes focused on her as she
walks down the aisle on her big day, wearing a big white dress. Bridal jewelry are selected to complement the wedding dress, and never to overcome it. More focus and effort is spent on the wedding dress. The most common choices for bridal jewelry are gold (white or yellow) with  pearls and/or diamonds.

( Pic : Me on my wedding day in 2006. Wearing pearl earrings and wire statement necklace with white stones. )

In affluent families, the bride might opt to wear heirloom pieces for her bridal jewelry. Something passed on from her grandmother to her mother and to her. Aside from the usual earrings, necklace, bracelet and sometimes, even a watch, a bride will also be wearing something on her hair: jewelled clips, pins, combs.

If she has one, the bride will also be wearing her engagement ring on her wedding day.

The engagement ring is presented to a woman when a man proposes marriage to her. Though a romantic notion, some couples here opt not to have one to save on cost since diamonds and gold here are very expensive. And before the wedding ceremony is over, the bride's engagement ring will be joined by another ring. The most iconic symbol of marriage here is the wedding ring.

Traditional wedding rings are usually made of yellow or white gold. Platinum is also gaining popularity as the metal of choice for wedding rings. The rings are also likely to be engraved with the spouse's name and wedding date inside. Wedding ring designs vary. Some couples prefer to wear the same design, where the groom's ring is similar to the bride's.

Photos from Suarez Wedding Rings

Some couples prefer complimenting designs, where the groom's ring looks different from the bride's ring.

Photos from Suarez Wedding Rings

As part of the wedding ceremony, both the bride and the groom will exchange wedding rings along with their marriage vows. The wedding ring symbolizes the couple's promise of never ending love for each other.

A Christian wedding is only one of the many traditional wedding practices in my country.But whatever the culture or belief, I think that her wedding must be one of the most important and memorable days in a woman's life. And the jewelry she chooses to wear for that day will always be special.

Thanks Janelle for all that wonderful Information and for being a part of this bridal series....

It sure was interesting and you look absolutely gorgeous in your Bridal attire. Isn't that what you think too folks?

Footnote: 
Indigenous Philippine jewelry is so diverse in design, hence beyond the scope of this post. The tribal and ethnic jewelry crafted by the indigenous people are often made from stones, animal bones, seeds from plants and seashells. They are colorful and exotic. The other classic jewelry is the Spanish inspired jewelry as Philippines was a Spanish colony for around 300 years.

Reliquary pendants with elaborate chains. Filigree and repoussé work on gold with Sulu pearl accents 19th Century.

A contemporary interpretation of indigenous shell jewelry  on a silk cord

Resource: Filipino Jewelry from the colonial period

Cheers