Hello! My name is Antonio and I have been invited to work on this wonderful web site. I am from Mexico and I have worked, along with my wife, as an artisan for many years. We have worked with many different crafting materials and let me tell you, beading has just been the most fun. It’s more than a simple job and a way of living. It´s like a game and we enjoy playing with colors, shapes and styles a lot. (more…)
Spring Comes!
I have been doing far too much looking at pretty things and not enough making of pretty things lately so, over the past few nights (while waiting on video game buddies) I have been working on this charm-heavy bracelet. I love the little blue fiber optic stars; the pink flowers with their fossil bead centres, and the silver butterflies add a lovely touch of spring to my otherwise dull, chosen-purely-for-warmth, ensemble. Just looking at it sitting around my wrist is enough to remind me that the winter won’t last forever! Of course it will be a lot more comfortable once this long-sleeve weather is over but I can’t help but wear it anyway - there is something really nice about bracelets because you can see them as you wear them; the rest of my jewelry feels like it is for everyone else to look at and admire whereas this bracelet is for me.
Having spent all week doing the unfun stuff, counting, pricing, etc, I am happy and relieved to get to the fun part of new inventory – sharing it with others! The pictures below represent a small part of the new products we have just added and more is coming soon! In fact, we have so many new beads to add to the store that you’ll be seeing new stuff pop up every week for the next little while, as I get to it. I do hope you like them!
- Heather Cote of Azure Island Design
- Kelley of Kelley’s Bead Studio
Cindy Gimbrone of Lampwork Diva
Lorelei of Inside the Studio
After writing our photography series, I decided it would be fun to pick out some of my favorite jewelry photographs from the various blogs that I read regularly and thoroughly enjoy. So, I did!
It wasn’t easy narrowing it down to just these four but I didn’t want to have too many pictures all at once. There will certainly be a part 2. In fact, I might even make this into a bit of a series if I have the time and remember.
To take a look at any of these fine blogs, simply click on the picture – you’re sure to find
hours of entertainment, helpful jewelry tips and tutorials as well as lots more pretty pictures!
I love the use of beautiful props, interesting backgrounds, lighting, and focus demonstrated in these photos. They each demonstrate the ability of good photography to really make a beautiful pieces shine.
Heather’s starfish and column not only add some detail to the background, but they are also distinctive enough that, looking at her photos, one instantly recognizes the artist and thinks of the name of her blog!
The rich color of the background in Kelley’s picture really sets of the stunning combination of black and white, something which the dramatic shadow also helps to enhance.
Cindy’s use of the light slanting across these gorgeous orange beads is just beautiful! By placing the translucent beads in the suuny part, she really made them sparkle, while the rich color of the opaque beads is enhanced by the slight shade.
Lorelei’s distinctive style really shows in this lovely closeup of a
bee button. Her use of apeture makes clear the focus of the photo without detracting from the overall beauty of the piece.
Thanks go to these lovely ladies for allowing me to include these images here as well as for their creativity which is an inspiration to those of us aspiring to perfect our photography style!
I hope you enjoyed this brief look at awesome photography, if there is a photo you think deserves to be in the next post, let me know by email or in the comments and I will be sure to include it!
I grew up in Mexico; and doing research for this post definitely brings back lots of memories. In my home-town of Valle de Bravo there is a high rock formation called “La Peña” (The Peak)
which overlooked the entire town as well as the lake. I have fond memories of the entire family heading up for picnics and enjoying the view. These trips also sparked an interest in archaeology, as thousands of years ago La Peña was a site for many indigenous rituals. Almost every time we went there we would find an idol, the handle or piece of a clay pot, the obsidian tip of a spear, and more. Even in the late 90’s you could always find a little piece of history while walking up “La Peña’s” roads. Growing up with such tangible history really made me take a special interest in the development of cultures. A lucky find on my most recent trip inspired me to write this article – I had originally set out to cover Mexico, Central America and South America, but because it’s so much information I will break it down into 2 posts.
It’s always a happy day for me when I can say this! I love new products, they fill my head with ideas and make me forget all about the other things I need to do.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Also, since we are feeling super generous at the moment, our free shipping offer for the holidays is extended to January 4th, so order now to take advantage!
Happy New Year!
Just a quick note to say ‘hi’ and I hope everyone is well – its certainly been busy around here; crafting up some Christmas presents and baking our traditional sugar cookies! New products are coming soon tho, as well as a new blogger or two and an awesome little contest idea we have cooked up.
Don’t forget we still have free shipping for the holidays so order now before its too late!
Happy crafting!
Hello again!
Before we get started, I completely forgot to mention that we are offering FREE SHIPPING for the holidays so order now!
I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s Christmas Tree tutorial ’cause here we go again! Its time for part 2: Christmas Wreaths!
Don’t you just love the holidays? My mom sure does and her spirit is certainly infectious. This year she asked me to make some Christmas charms for her to give to our family on Christmas Eve. I really like what I eventually came up with and so I thought I would make a tutorial for any chainmaillers who celebrate Christmas (or want to give a small but handmade gift to someone who does.) These are also pretty fast so they make good last minute oops-I-forgot-someone gifts too!
