The Joy of Jewelry Blog

A Show of Hands

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:11:35 GMT

Alexandria, Virginia

Locally Made Craft and Artwork
Winner 2010 Business  Philanthropist of the Year Award Owners Maria Wasowski and Pat Miller opened the doors at A Show of Hands on November 25, 2005. Their dream was to represent the diversity of local artists by providing them with a venue to showcase and sell their work. All items are unique and handcrafted and the shop has quickly become the place to get a one-of-a-kind gift or piece of jewelry. Check out their website:

New Designs

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:06:27 GMT

New Designs, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, gemstones

Handmade Beaded Jewelry,

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:53:02 GMT

Handmade Beaded Jewelry for Women and Girls. Unique design pieces made with semiprecious stones, freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals,

Gold-filled

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:45:23 GMT

Gold-filled and other jewelry terms explained

Rock Crystal and Sterling Silver Lariat

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:36:27 GMT

I love lariats, they are so versatile and interesting pieces, here's a picture of one that I made including the instructions on how to make it

2 strands of wire measuring 38 inches each
3 36 inches strand of rock crystal chips (not so small)
8 silver-plated or sterling silver beads with medium size holes approximately 15mm by 12mm (any large bead that you like can be a substitute)
6 silver-plated or sterling silver 8mm beads
12-15 silver plated or sterling silver 5mm beads
12-15 3mm silver-plated or sterling silver beads
Crimps and crimp covers as needed

How to assemble:
Take the two wires together and insert one large silver bead on both wires and place it in the middle of the 2 wires. You can secure the bead with a very small crimp and a crimp cover to hide the crimps. You will be working with four wires, two on each side. Start inserting the chips on the 4 wires until you reach approximately 3 inches of rock crystals on all wires. Bring the 2 wires together on both sides and place a crimp, crimp cover, and insert one large silver bead. (I like working on both sides simultaneously, to make sure they are both the same size). After inserting the large silver bead, crimp the wires and cover the crimp again; separate the wires, once again to insert the rock crystal chips until you only have left 1 large silver bead. At this point you start working on the dangles. I decided to make one side longer than the other. To do this you need to do one more series of 3 inches of chips and the large silver bead on the shorter dangles side. For the long dangles side, insert the 4mm silver beads every three or four chips and towards the end insert the 8mm silver beads as well. To finish, insert 3 small (3mm) spaces, 1 medium size (8mm) bead, 1 small (3mm) spacer; bring the wire back through the last bead, thread back up through the 8mm bead and crimp and cover the crimp with a crimp cover. This last part needs to be done with enough wire to allow the placing of the crimp. Follow the same procedure to finish on the other side that has the short dangles.

What's New in the Jewelry World

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:36:27 GMT

It is always interesting to find out what is going on in the world of jewelry. I will post the most current articles weekly.

Obsession With Golden Fleece Alive in Collection
Giovanni Corvaja, has followed an obsession with the myth of the Golden Fleece to spin gold wires fine as silk. The New York Times

Archaeologist Kathryn Bards Amazing Egyptian Digs
Shes the real deal.

BU Today in the World

The Exquisite Glory of the Preening Male Peacock
A collection of sporty male jewelry. The New York Times

MIKIMOTO 50th US Retail Anniversary
MIKIMOTO Celebrates 50 Years of Retail in United States with a Limited Edition Collection Mikimoto News

Louis Vuitton's 'Soul of a Journey'
The new jewelry collection, designed with multi-colored sapphires and yellow diamonds, features a new diamond cut.
The New York Times

Celebration of Cartier's 100th Anniversary in America
"Discover a century of stories and new limited edition Cartier pieces."
CARTIER

Learn about Man Made Diamonds
PBS Online- Nova Science Now

Instructions on Making a Colorful Purse charm

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:52:24 GMT

This was one of the very first pieces that I made. I had seen friends with all sorts of purse charms; some small other a bit bigger; so I started playing to see what I could come up with. I did about 5 different designs and this is the one I liked the most.
15 2 1/2 in. silver head pins
45 silver beads and spacers of different shapes and sizes
30 color beads of different colors and shapes (sometimes the beads that you have left over from your projects work great!)
15 toggle clasps (you are only going to use the round portion of the clasp)
15 jump rings
1 Key Ring
This charm can be done in different colors as well as all beads the same color and it looks great both ways. How to assemble: Take one head pin and start by inserting a small silver bead, then the insert the color bead and continue to insert beads alternating with a silver bead until you get to about 1/2 inch from the top. With your nose pliers do a loop with the 1/2 inch pin that is left and insert it in the small ring from the round toggle piece. Continue to do this with all your 15 head pins. When finished insert all 15 finished pieces in the key ring and ENJOY!

About me

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:48:31 GMT

About me, The Joy of Jewelry, Petra designs, On-line boutique

Earrings-II

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:10:15 GMT

Earrings-II handmade and one-of-a-kind, elegant andcreative Jewelry,

Famous Quotes about Jewelry

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:08:20 GMT

"Perhaps time's definition of coal is the diamond." Kahlil Gibran
"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography." Federico Fellini
"These gems have life in them: their colors speak, say what words fail of." George Eliot
The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Contact Us

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:08:20 GMT

Join in the conversation. Send us your comments and suggestions. All are welcome.

Making a Memory Wire Bracelet

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:17:14 GMT

Memory wire projects are fun and easy. Bracelets of many loops look really attractive when finished Materials

Choose the colors for the different beads you want to combine. (some of the ones you might have left over from other projects will work)
1 strand or a total of 15 beads of the dominating Bead. This is going to be your larger size bead. For this bracelet it is the brown square shell beads.
Seed beads
24 Different color beads size 4mm 6mm
2 colors of contrasting chip beads
Bracelet Memory wire (0.62mm diameter is a good size)
Memory wire shears (designed for cutting hard wire)
Needle nose pliers
2 jump rings
2 headpins

Steps

With the memory wire shears cut3 loops of Bracelet memory wire
Design your pattern for the beads by setting them on a jewelry design board or a table to see what it will look like when assembled.
Before adding the beads, bend a loop on one side of the wire with your needle nose pliers; bending the loop toward you and inserting a jump ring before you close it completely.
Add the beads in your designed order
Bend another loop on the other side of the memory wire inserting a jump ring before you close it.
To finish the bracelet add a headpin dangle on both sides attaching them with the same

Other versions of the same type of bracelet

Pearls

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:35:23 GMT

Pearls, handmade pearl necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Lariat Necklaces

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:02:14 GMT

Lariat Necklaces of all type and length, as well as very formal or informal.

Making Two Strand Necklaces

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:57:59 GMT

Materials
Professional quality beading wire
Wire cutter
Crimping pliers
Chain-nose pliers
4 crimps
4 crimp covers
4 4mm silver jump rings
1 7mm jumpring
38 Oval Beads 20mm x 16mm 5 Sterling silver oval beads 18mm x 15mm
Sterling Silver Spacers
Silver lobster clasp of your choice
Cut 2 strings of good quality beading wire. One string 25 inches- and the other 26-inch length. First Strand:
Using two pairs of chain-nose pliers, open a 4mm jump ring. Pass the open ring through the loop on the lobster clasp. Close the jump ring. String onto the 25 inch wire one crimp tube, a wire guardian or a 1/2 inch piece of French wire, and the 4mm jump rings added to the clasp. Using the crimping pliers, crimp the crimp tube. Cover the crimp with one crimp cover. Begin to string the beads into the wire in the following sequence: 1 String 3 spacers 2- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer. Repeat this 8 times 3- String 1 Silver oval bead, 1 silver spacer 4- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer. Repeat this 2 times 5- String 1 Silver oval bead, 1 silver spacer 6- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer. Repeat this 8 times 7- String 2 more spacer (total of 3 at each end) String onto the wire one crimp tube, a wire guardian or French wire, and one of 4mm jump rings added to the clasp. Using the crimping pliers, crimp the crimp tube. Cover the crimp with one crimp cover. Second strand
Repeat instruction for strand one following this sequence when you get to the beads: Begin to string the beads into the wire in the following sequence: 1 String three spacers 2- 1 green oval bead. 1 Sterling silver spacer, Repeat this 7 times 3- String 1 Silver oval bead, 1 silver spacer 4- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer, Repeat this 3 times 5- String 1 Silver oval bead, 1 silver spacer 6- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer, Repeat this 3 times 7- String 1 Silver oval bead, 1 silver spacer 8- 1 green oval bead, 1 Sterling silver spacer, Repeat this 7 times Follow ending instruction for First strand to finish this strand. With the chain nose pliers open a 7mm jumpring. Pass it through the 4mm jumpring on the end of both strands. Close the jumpring. The 7mm jumpring use it to connect the end of the necklace to the lobster claw clasp