Linda's Lowly Beading Adventures

[linda.wald]

I finished the second amethyst and citrine necklace. It is almost the same, so I will put a closeup of near the clasp, where I used 3mm gold filled beads to make it easier to do the doubling back:

Next up, I will string some of the marvelous malachite I got from Sarah at the Kojima studio!

 

[CortezPearls]

Very nice Linda!

 

[pattye]

Linda, this is a good way to finish the back-knotting and the gold beads flow with the rest of the strand, lovely!

 

[A Breaker]

Linda I come look thru this thread any time I want to see lovely beaded necklaces! Can't wait to see the new ones!

 

[linda.wald]

Here's some of the malachite I got from Sarah at PbtB. It reminds me of the resistors I used to make electronics projects way back in high school. These beads are lovely material! My apologies, I forgot the penny for scale; the clasp is about 16mm X 6mm.

 

[pattye]

Gorgeous, Linda! Love love love how the bead shape repeats in the clasp!

 

[CortezPearls]

Looks really nice Linda!
And they do remind me of transistors! Brought back memories of visiting Radio Shack for my electronic projects.

 

[linda.wald]

Thank you, Pattye and Douglas! And also thanks to Marianne and Jeremy. And oh, good old Radio Shack!

 

[CathyKeshi]

Oh so pretty Linda ... it was so fun sifting through those malachite beads with you I ended up with the other shape (elongated tapered beads) for the gift strand I needed but wish I'd bought some of these transistors for myself ... well done Linda, well done!

 

[A Breaker]

I love them!!! Quite Art Deco!

 

[linda.wald]

Thank you Cathy and A Breaker! And Cathy, have you strung yours yet? It's such lovely stuff.

 

[Xpearlnoob1]

Is the fine beading wire stiff enough to use without a needle? It sounds like I'll have to try it. I've been working on several things lately. Here's another, tourmaline beads. Now if I'd only looked at Ocean's Cove before I started, I would probably have put in some pearls.
View attachment 391972

Those tourmaline beads are super cool. Where did you get them?!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I'm not Linda, but some years ago -- the early 2000s--I bought several of these watermelon tourmaline slice bead strands at an Intergem show, and made jewelry for myself with them. They're about 10 mm. They are cross section slices of tourmaline crystals.

The pink center is caused by the crystal's forming in an iron-depleted environment, and the green outer part results from iron entering the environment as the crystal continues to grow. Sometimes one even sees reverse watermelon tourmaline-- the green on the inside, pink on the outside.

When my husband and I visit gem shows, we see a lot less watermelon tourmaline than we used to. I have been told by sellers that the Chinese buy a lot of the material.

I have seen these kinds of beads on eBay, of varying quality and varying price points. Likely you could find them from other sources. Search for "watermelon tourmaline", although some use the term to refer to faceted bicolor tourmaline that is not a slice.

 

[linda.wald]

Those tourmaline beads are super cool. Where did you get them?!

Hello! I probably got them at an Intergem show, or someplace similar. I haven't seen anything like them lately, but you never know... Have you tried online? Intrinsic Trading sometimes has some amazing things.

 

[Xpearlnoob1]

Hello! I probably got them at an Intergem show, or someplace similar. I haven't seen anything like them lately, but you never know... Have you tried online? Intrinsic Trading sometimes has some amazing things.

I have looked around online but never came across intrinsic trading. I use google to search for suppliers and TBH it seems like google is terrible for searching for anything relating to natural gemstones. Thanks for the tip, cheers.

 

[A Breaker]

I have looked around online but never came across intrinsic trading. I use google to search for suppliers and TBH it seems like google is terrible for searching for anything relating to natural gemstones. Thanks for the tip, cheers.

Gem shows really are so much better for getting exactly what you want. I have several places I order typical stuff...but if I want something that sings....better in person and often cheaper.