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I love seeing what all of you come up with when you get your creative juices flowing, so here's a tutorial explaining how I made my pearl phone cases! Deferring to the usual challenge organizers (pattye?), but this might make a fun challenge? DIY Pearl phone case Materials: - Hard-shelled...

Hey friends! I'm working on a few projects for myself, and am in need of gemstone beads. What are your favorite sources for them? There's so much stuff out there, but I'd love to find a reliable source of nice-quality beads. Rio and Firemountaingems have lots of stuff, but I find them a bit...

Apologies if there's already a post on these and I missed it. 'Fess up, who grabbed one? Please post pics when you get them!

After seeing a few of you post pretty nice pearls from Kong's Pearl on Etsy, I wanted to try them myself. I picked 3 large baroque bead-nucleated freshwater pearls with nice luster. I wanted a nice organic look that would work on a ring, so I could stack a few together. In retrospect I should...

This may be a dumb question. I seem to recall reading in multiple places, a few years ago, that pearls are measured along the drill hole. But recently I read somewhere that they're measured perpendicular to the drill hole. Depending on the shape of the pearl, that can be a pretty big...

Today is the first day this year that actually feels like fall (humidity, begone!!), which obviously got me thinking about fall outfits. I know a lot of you ladies prefer not to wear pearls when it's too hot, and in colder weather we may need to accommodate scarves etc. How does your pearl...

A friend recently asked me to restring a necklace for her. It appears to be akoya pearls that are showing a lot of signs of wear. I don't think she's had the necklace too long, maybe a couple of years, but she wears it a lot and really loves it. I don't really have any experience with akoyas...

Does anyone know if a source for undrilled akoya keshi? I've gotten them in strands before and everywhere I've seen them, they've been drilled. I need undrilled... Thanks!

I love this show for so many reasons, but in addition to brilliant writing and acting, Bebe Neuwirth's character is obviously styled by a pearl-lover. I've seen her wear Tahitian strands, what looked like a Gellner strand (tahitians with I think black spinel), and in the episode I'm watching...

Hello, friends! I've been MIA, definitely looking forward to catching up on all your lovely projects. A friend has asked me to string up some 6mm faceted onyx beads, and to make some tassels with bead caps that he made and 4mm faceted onyx beads. I'm having a bit of a hard time with the...

Hi, everyone! I've missed you all! Life has been nutty, but I had to pop in and share these wonderful little guys with you. Our own wonderful Sheri was kind enough to design these little guys for me. Turtles hold a special place in my heart, as one of my kids' favorite things to do is to go...

I'm having trouble finding this type of finding (excuse the awkward screen grab) - I need ends with loops, either glue-in ends or something that works with gimp and thread. I've found a few that come in clasp sets with smaller loops, but I just want the ends, preferably with larger loops. Has...

I talked about this in my Intergem summary, but long story short, I bought some undrilled pearls that now need to get them drilled. How would I go about doing that? Or can I convince one of you drill owners to let me pay you to do them for me? Help!

Is anyone going? I'm planning to pop in for a bit around noon on Friday...

Not sure if this is even possible, but my mother has been on the hunt for a great clasp for her four-strand rice krispie necklace for ages. She wants something pretty decorative and a bit on the large side that she can wear to the front, with diamonds and possibly gemstones. I tried the usual...

An antiques dealer I know a little bit has found a brooch for me with some natural pearls (I've been wanting some naturals). She says the pin is 14k art nouveau, with natural pearls and an OEC diamond. She says the pearls haven't been xrayed, but given that it's from the art nouveau period it...

I've seen a few of you styling pearl necklaces with brooches. I tried to fiddle with that combo a bit last night, but couldn't figure out how to attach the brooch without possibly scratching the pearls up a lot. How do you do it? Bonus points for pictures!

I couldn't think of a better alliteration. At any rate, I feel like I started too many threads here, so I'll just start posting my new stuff in one place, as I dig back into playing with pearls and gemstone beads. Black spinel braided long necklace (featuring Sheri's octobabies!) Braided...

Another wire wrapping question! My friend asked me to make a necklace for his wife and he's dead set on white gold (or plat, but I can't easily get platinum findings). Rio only has white gold wire in dead soft, do you think that would be too soft? I've only used half-hard to wrap, and since...

I tried something new this evening - kumihimo with freshwater pearls (I think they're around 7mm?) on four of the eight elements. I might try reworking it with a core to get it a bit fuller-looking, I feel like the braid is a little flat. But overall I like how it turned out, and it's an option...