Top 4 Jewelry Picks For The Holidays

Top 4 Jewelry Picks For The Holidays

Here are my top 4 jewelry picks for holiday gifts - for love and romance.

-Lockets
-Cameos
-Hearts
-Roses

Each of these four categories are very sentimental and perfect for letting someone know that you really care about them. There is a timeless appeal in lockets, cameos, hearts and roses that no matter the design, convey feelings of specialness and love.

Whether you would like your locket, cameo, heart or rose as a necklace, earrings or bracelet there are many beautiful designs to pick from all over the internet. Lockets, cameos, hearts and roses are some of my favorites to work with.
To see more Jewelry by Vamp please visit our website

Necklace Length Guide

Necklace Length Guide

Here is a guide to finding the right size necklace to wear. Consider your outfit and neckline of the outfit to pick out the right style necklace to wear.

There are six traditional lengths of necklaces.

The shortest being the Collar Length which are any where from 12 to 13 inches long and fit snugly around the neck.

Choker length necklaces are 14 to 16 inches long and fall right at the lower neck area.

The Princess length is 17 to 19 inches long and is a very popular length for pendants.

The Matinee length is 20 to 24 inches long and falls around the bust area.

The Opera length is 28-34 inches long. It's versatile because you can double it up and will look like a two strand necklace.

The Rope length necklace is over 45 inches long, very long and can be worn multi ways & can also be worn as a multi wrapped bracelet.

Fashion Trend 2012

Fashion Trend 2012

No it's not to early to look ahead to what's on the horizon for fashion trends. This Fall seventies fashion still remains high on the list with wide leg pants, flares, bohemian inspired looks. Also biker and punk styles will be in.

Looking ahead to 2012

Hit the vintage stores & charity shops and start looking for fashion trend pieces before the trend hits the streets.

Trends and things to be on the look out for:

Oriental stuff: exotic silks, vintage kimonos, oriental inspired floral prints.

Roaring 20s/Flapper: Drop waist dresses & tops, anything with beading & fringe, wide leg pants, fur trims, masculine inspired suiting, sporty tunics. Think The Great Gatsby, Clara Bow, Coco Chanel, Jazz, flapper headbands, short bobs for hair styles.

Mod/60s: Mini dresses, skirts, dresses, sheath dresses in an a-line and babydoll style, lace dresses, peter pan collars, fur chubbys.

Lastly classic fashions that never go out of style are:

Diamond Stud Earrings
The Fabulous Pump Shoe
Cashmere Shawl
Cardigan Sweater
Boot Cut Jeans
The Little Black Dress
Sheath Dress
Turtleneck
Tote Bag
Trench Coat


If you see any bargains on these grab them quick!


Hot jewelry styles now - Steampunk, Vintage, Victorian, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco.

Flora & Fauna - flowers, roses, insects like dragonflies, butterflies, bees, lady bugs.

Oceanic & Nautical theme jewelry - octopus, starfish, seashells, fish.

Animals - felines, animal print other trends geometric, circles, bold pieces, colorful beads, mixed metals, copper, bronze, brass, silver/steel.

To see all of my jewelry designs please visit Vamps 

Turquoise By So Many Names

Turquoise By So Many Names

Do you ever wonder what the difference is between genuine Turquoise, Chalk Turquoise, Stabilized Turquoise, Turquoise Magnesite, Turquoise Dyed Howlite? It's really hard to tell with the naked eye these days. All I know is I love the color and it's my birthstone (December). So did a little reading on it. Here's a bit of info to get you in the know.


Turquoise
Turquoise is a blue-green mineral, a copper aluminum phosphate, valued for its rarity and unique hue, and widely used as an ornamental stone.
This stone is fragile, just slightly stronger than window glass, so special care must be taken during extraction and transport.

The bluer the stone is, the more expensive. Variations in color are due to the presence of metals, such as iron impurities in the case of green turquoise. Genuine turquoise is expensive there fore imitation and artificial turquoise is available

Chalk Turquoise
Chalk turquoise is a form of natural turquoise that has a white chalk-like consistency. It has the same chemical composition as turquoise, only without the copper (it's the copper that causes the turquoise color). The chalk is then dyed and stabilized to produce a material that's hard enough to use in jewelry with a pleasing turquoise color.
Chalk turquoise is a low-quality variety, found deeper in the soil. As a result, it is much softer and more brittle. On the Mohs hardness scale, chalk turquoise ranges between 2-4, lower than the 6 of higher grades. It lacks the blue shade that defines the mineral. Instead, chalk turquoise is pale blue or white. It may or may not have significant matrixing, the brown or black flecks often associated with Native jewelry of the southwest. "Simulated" turquoise is often touted as being chalk turquoise, when in fact it is just dyed Magnesite or another white stone that absorbs dye easily.

Stabilized Turquoise
Stabilized turquoise costs less than natural turquoise, but is still considered beautiful and desirable. Stabilized turquoise differs greatly from reconsituted turquoise. Reconstituted turquoise is the cheapest type of turquoise.

Stabilized turquoise is created by adding a clear resin to chalk, or soft, turquoise to help enhance the color and well as increase the hardness of the stone. Chalk, or soft, turquoise is usually a lower grade of turquoise as it is too soft to be used on its own for jewelry and must be stabilized with resin. Since turquoise is a very porous substance, the resin fills in the tiny holes and crevices to form a firm stabilized turquoise stone.


Imitations Magnesite Dyed Howlite
The most common imitation of turquoise encountered today is dyed howlite and magnesite, both white in their natural states, and the former also having natural (and convincing) black veining similar to that of turquoise. Dyed chalcedony, jasper, and marble is less common, and much less convincing. Other natural materials occasionally confused with or used in lieu of turquoise include: variscite and faustite;[10] chrysocolla (especially when impregnating quartz); lazulite; smithsonite; hemimorphite; wardite; and a fossil bone or tooth called odontolite or "bone turquoise", coloured blue naturally by the mineral vivianite. While rarely encountered today, odontolite was once mined in large quantities—specifically for its use as a substitute for turquoise—in southern France.


Source:
Wiki.com
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-stabilized-turquoise.htm

Art Shows How Much Inventory Needed

I got this from Firemountain Gems & Beads site. Useful advice when planning to do an Art Show or Craft Fair.

Art Shows How Much Inventory Needed

Q.
I am interested in selling jewelry at craft fairs and shows. I will need to have a pretty large inventory of necklaces, bracelets and earrings. What do you recommend as a good amount of inventory for a fair or show? Thank you!
- Vickie
A.
I wish I had a crystal ball. It's a common question, though, and a good one. There's no real way to predict what you'll need at any given event. And what seems like a ''large'' inventory to one jewelry maker may be small to another.

A little homework will help you decide how much to bring. First, contact the show or fair promoter in advance and ask for attendance figures from the last time the show took place. Also, ask for a flyer or vendor list from the last time it was held and contact three vendors to see what kind of volume they experienced.

If possible, visit and ''shop'' a show before renting booth space. You can walk the aisles and see how much jewelry vendors have on their tables and ask them if they mind telling you how much they brought with them for the event.

Bringing too much jewelry isn't as much of a problem as selling out is. I often advise that jewelry makers bring photos of each piece (this is good for insurance reasons, as well, in case of theft). If you sell out of a style, you can show the photos of those pieces and take orders to be delivered later.

Another tip is to bring extra material and tools with you so you can make up pieces on the spot! Making the jewelry right there can attract people to your booth (people love watching something being made).

- Dr. David Weiman
Dr. David Weiman, "the Jewelry Marketing Doctor," is a psychologist and internationally-known expert on marketing and selling handmade jewelry. He is also a jewelry selling expert for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Ask the Experts online Q and A series. You can sign up for his free "Jewelry Seller" e-newsletter at www.marketingjewelry.com.

Resources authored by Dr. Weiman

Number of Beads per 16 inch strand

Number of Beads per 16 inch strand

When planning a jewelry design it's always nice to know how many beads to use on your piece, so this little guide line chart will help in letting you know how many bead strands to buy for your creations.

**Please note that the number of beads listed below is an estimate only. Number of beads may vary.


Size Number of Beads

Rounds

2mm 203

3mm 136

4mm 100

6mm 67

8mm 50

10mm 41

12mm 34

To see the rest of the chart for different shape beads go here

Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

1 box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix

Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box

12 scoops ice cream, any flavor (3 cups)

Candy jimmies, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups, or spray muffin cups with baking spray with flour.
2. In medium bowl, mix brownie mix, water, oil and egg until well blended. Spoon into muffin cups.
3. Bake 26 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted near edges comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4. Remove paper baking cups. Cut brownies in half horizontally. Place 1 scoop (about 1/4 cup) ice cream between brownie halves. Sprinkle sides with jimmies. Freeze until ready to serve.

Makes 12 sandwiches

BettyCrocker.Com