Kyanite Necklace & Earrings in Progress... The Gem Expo... & Roman Glass Beads Arriving in August!!!

Here's my dilemma. I have this beautiful and (for me) fairly expensive string of kyanite beads. My inclination, after looking at these beads for months was to KISS -- Keep It Super Simple -- so I strung them with one Bali silver bead in the centre. I like using larger clasps, if for the simple -- ah hah -- and logical reason that people, aka my customers, have told me they really, really like them. They're far easier to do up, not to mention they look cool.

But... in this case I used a pewter clasp which really helps to bring the cost down (and I think keeps the look "up" far better than a boring sterling clasp, at least the ones that are locally available to me at the moment). A sterling silver clasp of this size would whomp up the end price of the necklace considerably. Do I go ahead and offer the necklace with a sterling clasp for a high price, but offer the possibility of a pewter clasp at a lower price? Is this more futility in my battle to be all things to all people and will this possibly confuse them as to the "worth" of my offerings, i.e., does a judicious use of inexpensive but good-looking findings really cheapen the value of the beads they accompany or just make the item more attractively priced? Gaaaaaaaaah...

Well, so much for today's existential crisis. Meanwhile, pictures...

Earrings in a state of contemplation: do I go short, long...? The existentiality of this is one most of you will identify with because I only bought the one string of beads in this diameter and blew through all but four making the necklace. I shoulda/woulda/coulda taken the time to dig out my other smaller beads to put around the back. This is why it takes me so long to use my beads because theoretically -- and practically -- I have just one kick at the design can.

Ewww... I have to say I don't like how the colour turned out when I imported this picture into Blogger. The colour in the necklace photos is more or less accurate.

Let's try it again:

Onto another topic: my Gem Expo display table. Yes, in just seven days from this writing, Ruth and I will be open for business in the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency on King Street in Toronto! Since I primarily sell beads, but the necklaces and earrings I make with my beads have been selling well, I have to come up with interesting jewellery displays that take up very little table space, yet are up front and visible without detracting from the beads.

I bought this towel rack for two bucks at the Goodwill the other day and I'm quite pleased with it.

As always, I will be bringing lots of turquoise, lapis and other interesting semi-precious and powder glass beads in short strings and by the each, coin silver beads and connectors also by the each, as well as lots of pewter pendants and fetish beads. I take Visa and MasterCard, but unfortunately not debit. See you there!

PS: More and more of these items -- both strings of antique and collector beads as well as my necklaces and earrings -- are flying into and equally quickly out of Showcase 800 at the One of a Kind Antique Mall in Woodstock. As a heads-up, I have a shipment of drool-worthy Roman glass beads coming directly from Afghanistan. The beads will arrive some time in August -- alas, too late for the July Gem Expo. I'll post pictures and prices here as soon as I get them.

Thanks for looking!

Old Hand-Cut Malachite to Restring...

I was given a string of old hand-cut malachite to restring that my customer has had for decades. Here is the before picture. I've finished it off with a copper clasp and added six inches of length with 4mm rounds in a dark malachite. Once I've finished the pendant, I'll post the finished item.

The largest beads in the centre are about 10mm but most are in the 4mm to 6 or 7mm range, and, as you can see, rondellishly shaped. All are hand cut and drilled, very chewed up. The range of colours and the banding is truly beautiful. The chunk is really something, just over an inch tall. That's a lump of glue from a botched repair job that I couldn't quite finish sanding off. Tiny blue-green glass seed beads in between, smaller than 11/0, but not as small as 15/0. I've been questioned about not doing anything more with these beads but this is what the customer wanted -- i.e. for the beads to simply be restrung.  

Due to an aching back and knees from hauling heavy boxes, bins and metal grids up and down steep stairs to do the loading up and unloading for the show last weekend, I had to do a market lite version of my market table yesterday. I've been in bed pretty much for the past four days otherwise (and, yes, realised too late that I should NOT have attempted the market -- thanks to Jim and Jan for loading up my truck for me!), and as soon as I get back with a few groceries this morning and empty the truck of bins (into the garage only) I will be back in horizontal mode. Off to the doc on Wednesday. While living alone has its peace and warm, fuzzy pleasures -- I can eat cereal for dinner and go to bed with my book at 6 p.m. when and if I feel like it -- there are also the terrifying perils and pitfalls when the things we take for granted, like mobility, go bump in the night.

Interestingly, I sold a wrapped kyanite pendant yesterday. I only had 4mm kyanite rounds with me at the Gem Expo last weekend. Several people came looking for it but no one had any. Has anyone else been getting more requests than usual for anything kyanite? For what it's worth, I do have more sizes and shapes here for sale and will photograph and post pix this week.

Thanks for looking!

10 pairs of earrings almost complete & many short beaded chains later

I've been spending waaaaay too much time on Pinterest and obsessively, mindlessly, longingly (WHY???), clicking on pictures of pristine studios with beautiful storage and display features. Who can possibly create in these zen oases of calm and emptiness, let alone find anything once it's put away? Not meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...


The worst thing is I'm running out of the things to MAKE stuff with, like earwires and whatnot,
no time to make them and less time to order any.

Along the bottom, kyanite, lapis, Kingman turquoise & quartz chains; white jadeite, melon-cut quartz, hawk's eye, kyanite, black tourmaline, garnet, high cut amethyst, high cut citrine & amethyst earrings,
all with Bali silver spacers and awaiting sterling earwires to finish them off.

Every flat or near flat surface eventually will be piled high with something...

...eventually with Max

Et voila

This must get cleaned up SOON...

Lynn, my organising genius pal, is coming on Monday... But for now, back to work to finish off the earrings and putting some necklaces together with my new beaded chains. Right now -- at 1:56 p.m., eleven days and two Saturday markets before Christmas -- I am about where I wanted to be in September.

Thanks for looking!