Comments on: Featured bead: Coin pearls

By: Erin Prais-Hintz

Erin Prais-Hintz — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:07:03 +0000

I love pearls. They are the only gem that arrives to us completely ready to use. One of the finest gifts of nature.

I think coin pearls are a great shape. They have a great deal of surface area so a little goes a long way. I enjoy featuring one or three (always an odd number) in my designs paired with other shapes of pearls. It helps to have your eye rest on them, like a nacreous lily pad to jump onto!

I think ArdentTie’s comments are really cool! I never thought of embellishing them! Thanks for sharing!

Enjoy the day! Erin

P.S. Thanks for making it easier to comment!

By: Dawno

Dawno — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:01:55 +0000

Fascinating! I had never considered. Thank you ArdentTie!

I bought coin pearls some time ago and all 3 of the pieces I’ve made with them have sold. I need to make more!

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:35:16 +0000

Great ideas, ArdentTie, thanks so much for sharing these comments. They’re practically a whole blog post on their own!

By: ArdentTie

ArdentTie — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:01:14 +0000

Since the coin pearls lay relatively flat, they make an excellent surface to embellish with collage details or decorative papers. A couple of drops of resin will help protect the new mixed media touches.

Designs can be etched onto the surface of the coin pearls. Use a resist to create a pattern or design and glass etching cream to create matte surfaces. These matte surfaces can be rubbed with an acrylic paint to color the matte areas.

A bead reamer can be used to enlarge the holes, which is good to disguise crimp tubes.