My 5 favorite new things that’re great for the holidays:
1:
Penguin Santa brings beads & things...
2:
...like these, to customize the stockings...
3:
...and stuff...
4:
...while all through the house...
5:
...not a creature is stirring, except these stirring crystal fish!
Happy holiday bead shopping, everyone!
Rings & Things has added a bunch of Christmas lampwork beads this year…so that’s the featured bead this week.
For jolly happy souls!
Add goofy grins to the festivities with the snowman-head beads above — or with the fun snowmen, Xmas trees and Santa beads below!
Making spirits bright...and helping mittened fingers zip jackets!
(There’s also a really fun bubble wand in our Design Gallery, featuring these same three beads.)
Besides these designs, check out such festive baubles as lampwork Christmas stockings…
Stocking stuff!
…and many more!
Have holiday plans involing beads? Share the inspiration here!
Plan ahead for May birthstones!
There’s one main birthstone for May, emerald. This is also the seasonal birthstone for Spring, so it’s doubly appropriate. For an economical emerald look, think about glass beads. Anything from these metal-core Calypso™ (“Pandora”-style) lampwork beads…
…to the ever-popular, economical Cosmic Crystal™ bicone…
…can be an evocative way to play on the emerald theme. Just search our online store for “emerald”! Or for “sapphire”, which some consider a birthstone for Taurus. Now that’s multi-purposing your components!
Speaking of zodiac signs, Gemini’s birthstone is agate. We always seem to have dozens of varieties of it at Rings & Things’ BeadTour bead shows, and you can always find agate beads in our online store. A couple of favorites are Botswana agate, like these faceted rounds…
…and blue lace agate, like this bib:
Less well-known May gemstones, according to various traditions, are chrysolite, carbuncle, and chalcedony. For reliable, honest background information, you can look these and many more up in our popular Gemstone Beads Index!
What’s your favorite May birthstone, or birthday jewelry? Share it in a comment below. You can even link to pictures of your own creations!
Rings & Things has introduced a popular line of beadable-pen findings, perfect for displaying art beads!
These pens are the perfect partner for any bead artisan’s wares. (Lampwork? Clay? The possibilities go on…) They’re also a great way of showing customers that they can “multi-purpose” any beads they buy from you.
Artists can set off the charms of their glass, ceramic, metal or other bead creations to maximum advantage by pairing them with a choice of pen colors. A range of seven hues, from pearl white or matte silver to burgundy or copper, is on hand.
Made of genuine brass alloy, these blue-ink beadable ballpoints have an anodized finish. Each pen is 6″ long with a 2.5″ beadable section (adjustable by 0.125″). The pen nib retracts with a twist. The rod (mandrel) is 3/32″, perfect for showing off lampwork beads with 2.5mm holes or greater. The metal casing has good heft, unlike plastic varieties. The shorter threads of the rod screw into the base of the pen.
These pens become even more of a permanent treasure with the addition of optional ink refills. Refills are offered separately in either black or blue ink.
We carry an ever-growing line of ‘beadable’ specialty findings, from magnifying glasses to lighter covers to bookmarks. Keep an eye on our site for more new items that you can bead in various ways!
Have a favorite beadable finding? Looking for one but haven’t found just the right thing yet? Leave a comment below to talk about it!