Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Nov 5, 2009, 6:00 am
I'm all ears Part 2 of 2 Karla of Thyme2dream on Artfire takes ear cuffs and ear wraps to a whole new level.  Her gorgeous designs are beautifully embellished with beads and wire work. Each...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Nov 4, 2009, 6:00 am
I'm all ears Part 1 of 2 Looking for something different to wear with that special bare back evening gown? Then you can't beat the hip multi-chained Cold Hearted Snake Earpiece (available in...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Nov 3, 2009, 6:00 am
Making jewelry is not nearly as hard as taking good pictures of them. Agreed? Indeed jewelry photography is often the first major obstacle for many a budding artisan. It was also a big issue for me wh...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Nov 2, 2009, 6:00 am
Double holed Inspirations Part 2 of 2 Double holed crystal slider beads are usually used for bracelets. However many beginner beaders like them and have wanted them for earrings. We've always en...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Nov 1, 2009, 6:00 am
Double Holed Inspirations Part 1 of 2 Button rings are really fun to do - I can get carried away doing a whole bunch of them. There are so many lovely buttons to choose from and that includes your o...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 31, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 6 of 6 For those of you who aren't fond of Halloween, this is the last in the series! I am pretty sure many elementary school teachers are also grateful Halloween falls on a ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 30, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 5 of 6 If you like the look of resin jewelry but are turned off with having to work with toxic material, there is a solution! Digital artist, John Golden who produced a great set...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 29, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 4 of 6 There is plenty of skull and skeleton jewelry out there especially with Halloween coming up, making it hard to choose. But here are a couple of truly innovative designers ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 28, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 3 of 6 One of the best Victorian Gothic novels was Bram Stoker's Dracula, a fast paced, highly readable and downright scary tale published in 1897. Whilst not the first vampi...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 27, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 2 of 6 I've covered how to make witch earrings before. They are perfect for Halloween. How about spiders instead? The sort that don't send you running and screaming? Show...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 26, 2009, 6:00 am
Trick or Treat Part 1 of 6 Did you know that the novel Frankenstein was written by a woman? The authoress was Mary Shelley, wife of the tragic English poet, Percy Shelley.She wrote it in 1818 in a...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 25, 2009, 6:00 am
PVC stands for polyvinyl chloride. The material is extensively used in construction because it is cheap, easy to use and is very durable. Softer and more flexible types are produced by adding plastici...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 24, 2009, 6:00 am
I don't get underwear bling. Nobody else is going to see it unless you count the large male audience tuning into CBS's Victoria Secret's Fashion Show airing on December 1! This year&#...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 23, 2009, 6:00 am
We often hear this question at our workshops - "What color goes with these beads?". It's not hard to match a couple of colors together. What is trickier is working with more than two. There are so...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 22, 2009, 5:30 pm
This was Sabrina's first proper attempt at wire wrapping at a workshop. As you can see she did a fabulous job with the fine, tight and controlled wire wrapping around the main handmade copper pend...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 22, 2009, 6:00 am
Facebook Fun Part 2 of 2 Calling all Facebook fans! If you like to give virtual presents to your friends and family,and are tired of the usual birthday cakes and cutsey gifts, try out this latest ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 21, 2009, 6:00 am
Facebook fun Part 1 of 2 I finally caved and set up The Beading Gem's Facebook page! It's really difficult to dabble with too much social media as there is only so much time. However, Face...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 20, 2009, 5:30 pm
Time to reveal a couple of lucky winners. Papermode certainly garnered new admirers for the paper folded earrings were sweetness themselves. Random.org picked number 7 so counting in the extra entries...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 20, 2009, 6:00 am
Keeping clasps to the back Part 2 of 2 Neck wires are inexpensive. They make great gifts if you know several budding fashionistas or need something quick and easy to make for your craft table. Wha...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 19, 2009, 6:00 am
Keeping clasps at the back Part 1 of 2  Don't you just hate it when your necklace clasp moves to the front? Virtually all necklaces do that unless it is a claspless necklace. There i...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 18, 2009, 6:00 am
Ouch. Part 2 of 2 I adore arts and crafts and thoroughly enjoy browsing through the gorgeous handmade items offered for sale on Etsy. But as the new Regretsy website points out, buried in the tens o...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 17, 2009, 6:00 am
Ouch. Part 1 of 2 One thing's for sure. There is plenty of time to send in your entry to the 8th Annual Ugly Necklace Contest sponsored by Land of Odds.You're going to need until March 3, 2...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 16, 2009, 6:00 am
Weather and Climate Part 2 of 2 1.Rain and rainbows It made me feel a little chirpier when I came across this delightful rainbow necklace by Mixko on Etsy called Here comes the sun cleverly m...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 15, 2009, 6:30 am
Weather and Climate Part 1 of 2 Today is Blog Action Day. One day a year, thousands bloggers from around the world choose to blog about a single theme to millions of readers. Alone we can't make...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 14, 2009, 5:30 pm
The actual construction of these memory wire bracelet and the chandelier earrings designs is not unusual or difficult. However Carol's clever choice of the colors and shapes of the beads to compli...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 14, 2009, 6:00 am
Pen to Paper Part 3 of 3 For a long time, writing consisted of putting pen (or quills)to paper. Then typewriters were invented. Today many of us write on computers and indeed I would have difficul...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 13, 2009, 6:00 am
Pen to Paper Part 2 of 3 This is the second special giveaway for this week - check yesterday's post for the first. Comment - Like

Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 12, 2009, 6:00 am
Pen to paper Part 1 of 3 Woo-hoo! A double giveaway this...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 11, 2009, 5:00 pm
Sea Glass Part 3 of 3 If you are lucky enough to have sea glass or are willing to purchase them, you can easily make them into jewelry. I found a number of tutorials on the web to get your creative ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 11, 2009, 1:00 pm
Sea Glass Part 2 of 3 I'm easy to buy...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 11, 2009, 6:00 am
Sea Glass Part 1 of 3 Some artisans make really lovely ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 10, 2009, 6:00 am
A reader asked in a comment on my last jewelry photo shoot post if she could see some vintage pictures from the past. Ask and ye shall get! Some of the pictures include publicity shots of celebrities ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 9, 2009, 1:00 pm
I enjoy looking at old photos. Want to know how to age your pictures without Photoshop? Just check out this easy to use and free Japanese site which allows you to convert them almost instantly into 10...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 9, 2009, 6:00 am
... mother of pearl inlays. I am no expert on older jewelry so I can only guess which decade they are from - probably anywhere from the 1930's -1960&# ... Gardens site has really good i...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 8, 2009, 6:00 am
Vintage Inspirations Part 3 of 5 Plastic has been around since the 19th century. Arguably the most successful plastic for costume  jewelry was Bakelite. Like many inventions, it was accidentall...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 7, 2009, 6:00 am
Vintage Inspirations Part 2 of 5 If you love the look of vintage brass and copper from yesterday's post, you can easily make your own using pre-patinaed findings or those you have antiqued yours...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 6, 2009, 6:00 am
... border="0" src=" />Vintage Inspirations Part 1 of 5 Not everybody likes shiny silver ... pink fire opal glass above which she made into a ring. She also found old vintage drop dead gorgeous ...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 5, 2009, 5:30 pm
Some of the beaders who come to our workshops are already very accomplished. Johnette is a prime example. She loves making jewelry although her lessons in the past have been sporadic. One class she di...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 5, 2009, 6:00 am
It's bad enough to have a life threatening condition but it is just tragic when the person concerned is young and has a lifetime still ahead. I don't think anyone of us can truly imagine the a...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 4, 2009, 6:00 am
All knotted up Part 2 of 2 If you are really up to the chall...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 3, 2009, 7:20 pm
Synthetic diamonds can be made from many carbon sources ... even Michael Jackson's hair ! But did you know earlier this year some Mexican scientists published their method of creating diamonds fro...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 3, 2009, 6:00 am
Turk's head knots go back centuries. They were and still are useful for numerous applications especially on sailing vessels. The knot could be used as foot or hand holds on ropes, in lifelines and...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 2, 2009, 6:00 am
I came across these really clever jewelry related products and just had to share. Ring Sizer Coasters A couple of really innovative jewelry stores are using one of the cleverest marketing ideas...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 1, 2009, 5:30 pm
Hat tip to Stephanie (Crystal Allure Designs) for giving me the boot to get going with this update! Remember the post I wrote about Harry Winston and the 50th anniversary of the Hope Diamond at the Sm...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Oct 1, 2009, 6:00 am
Winning Comments Part 2 of 2 Not only did I have fun going round the booths at the recent online fall expo, I won a pendant too! Not just any pendant but one made from broken china. Tanya of Brok...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Sep 30, 2009, 7:30 pm
Winning comments Part 1 of 2 Well, well, well. I had a lot of fun last Sunday visiting virtually all the shops participating in the online expo, sprinkling comments as I went along to show my suppor...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Sep 30, 2009, 6:00 am
Wordcraft Part 3 of 3 Words are very powerful. They have the ability to make us think, let our imaginations soar, impart deep emotion and also make us laugh. String words together and you will get a...
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Pearl posted an article on The Beading Gem's Journal - Sep 29, 2009, 6:00 am
Wordcraft Part 2 of 3 I have loved books ever since I could read although I now don't devour them as fast as I used to when I was younger. They are still my primary source of information - the i...
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