Volcanic Lava Beads, Opal for October & Halloween Beads
Volcanic Lava Beads, Opal for October & Halloween Beads
This month is how lava beads can make great jewelry, opal for October and Halloween beads. Scroll down, or click one of the links below on the html version to go to a certain section. The cost of shipping is one of our largest expenses - but to help out in these hard times, we have lowered our base shipping charge.
For the HTML version with color pictures click http://www.mrbead.com/september11.htm
To go to the MrBead store click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk
See us in the UK during September and October - for dates click here. First bead show at Edinburgh, on Sunday 25th September. If you're in the East of England, come to see our own bead fair at Norwich on 16th October - details here.
Volcanic Lava Beads
Opal for October
Halloween Beads
$10 or £6 off
Volcanic Lava Beads
What are lava beads?
They are a new type of jewelry-making gemstone that is becoming increasingly popular. Everyone who makes and sells home-crafted jewelry should try some. The inexpensive stone is surprisingly light, making the present fashion for large chunky jewelry, comfortable to wear. The chic usually-black beads are also available in many different shapes and sizes allowing creative designs. Some are even dyed brown, and others brighter colors.
How they are born
Lava beads started life as molten rock over 1,000 degrees Celsius. It takes this high temperature and huge pressure to make rock melt beneath an active volcano. Most rock deep inside the Earth's interior is not molten. This molten rock is spewed out of the erupting volcano and flows in streams until cooler air freezes it solid. Sometimes the flow can travel as fast as 30 km/hour on steep slopes and reach tens of kilometers, destroying everything in its path. However, usually it moves less than 1 km/hour, giving people time to move out of the way.
Properties
Lava beads promote strength and fertility. Bringing stability in changing times, driving away anger - and helping one to understand a problem in order to spring back to a stronger position. A very grounding stone that strengthens our connection to Mother Earth.
Lava bead jewelry
Beads from these rocks make very unusual jewelry. Used as pendants or parts of a necklace, these unusual black beads ooze style and mystique, drawing attention whenever worn. When admiring lava bead jewelry, people will ask, "whatever is it made out of?" This ensures all the mystique and power of a volcano are in your design!
Designing lava bead jewelry
Take advantage of how light these beads weigh, and try making long earrings to match large lava bead pendants for necklaces and bracelets. Mix different sizes and shapes to make the design interesting. Because most are jet-black, they go well with any color or style of clothes, making them more appealing, and so easier to sell. By their nature, these beads create an earthy rustic style - ideal for "wild" outdoor jewellery, especially for late-in-the year or Halloween. And as most are large and powerful in a design, you need fewer beads to make your piece, saving you money
Lave & Pearl and Lava & Coral
Lava mixed with pearl or coral can produce striking jewelry!
Lava bead finish
Although looking coarse with tiny holes and cracks, most of these beads are polished to feel smooth, making your jewelry comfortable to wear.
To see our many lava beads click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk
Opal: October's Gemstone
What is Opal?
All of Natures fury can be seen in fine opal. Like a Rembrandt: fire, lightning, all the colors of the rainbow and the shine of far seas. Australia supplies about 95% of the worlds opal from the outback. Aborigines there believe their creator came down to Earth on a rainbow to bring the message of peace to all humans. And at the spot where his foot touched the ground, opal was born.
The name Opal could have came from many places. In Greek Opallios translates as color change, and to the ancient Romans Opalus was a stone from several elements. Pliny, a Roman author, wrote that opal combines the sparkle of Almandine, the shining purple of Amethyst, the golden yellow of Topaz, and the deep blue of Sapphire.
Types of Opal
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Fine opals shine and sparkle in a continually changing play of colors called Opalising. Depending on the rock and location they have names like Harlequin, Peacock, Mexican, and Fire Opal. Most opal has this play of colors except Common Opal, a name give to all others, like Pink Opal. Because demand outstrips supply, fine opalizing opal is very very expensive, so is sold in individual beads for hundreds of US dollars each. Therefore, the type of opal common in necklaces is non-opalizing opal - usually pink opal from Peru (more below).
Opals fantasy-like play of color is caused by small spheres of silica creating interference and refraction manifestations. The spheres, which are arranged in compact structures, dissect light through the gemstone, turning it into the rainbow effect, always new and different.
How to Value Opal
The most important criterion for determining the price of fine opal is the play of color, the colors themselves and their pattern. If red appears when looking through the stone, all the other colors will also. Value also depends on body color, transparency, and original location. Body color can be black, dark or light, or colored. Black Opal or a dark grey body has the most brilliant play of color. Black Opal from Lightning Ridge or Mexican Fire Opal is the best. Crystal opal, is the next best, and should be more transparent with a deep play of color. White or milky opals show more diffuse color and are the cheapest.
To best bring out the play of color in a fine opal, the stones are cut and polished to round or oval cabochons, or any other softly domed shape. Only the best qualities of Fire Opal are suited to faceting. The opal cutter removes any impurities using a diamond cutting wheel, before working out the rough basic shape, fine cutting, and finishing with sandpaper and polishing with a wet leather wheel.
How does Opal Effect You?
Opal is thought to solve depression and to help its wearer find true love. Opals are supposed to enhance the positive characteristics for people born under the sign of Cancer. With Black Opal recommended to Scorpios and Boulder Opal for Aries. The opalizing effect reflects changing emotions and moods of people. People prefer different opals for different moods. Opals are like human emotions: each type creates different feelings.
Peruvian Opal
Peruvian Opal comes in faint pink, light blue and light mint-green tones. From the Andes Mountains near San Patricio, Peru, just like the name implies. Although native South Americans have been using the stone for more than a thousand years, it only became widely available commercially within the last decade or so. It is usually translucent to opaque with no play of color and often has lots of black and tan dendrites. Most Peruvian Opal beads are semi-opaque to opaque.
Peruvian opals metaphysical properties are similar to other opals. Helping to intensify your traits and characteristics and deepening your personal understanding. Peruvian Opal in particular is used to activate the heart charka and to assist you during spiritual journeys.
Looking after Opal
Due to 2 to 6% water, opals easily become brittle and if stored too dry or exposed to heat over a longer period of time, they will show fissures and the play of color will fade. Therefore, Opal jewelry should be worn as often as possible, for then the gemstone will receive the needed humidity from the air and from the skin of its wearer. In earlier days opals sensitive surface was oiled, but today they are sealed with clear resin.
To buy our Peruvian Opal Nugget Beads click MrBead or MrBead.co.uk
Skull Beads
Skull beads are very popular right now - we sell loads!
They're ideal for Halloween and students have been hanging them on their rucksacks all year.
We stock ten different skull beads to see these key SKULL BEADS in our search box at MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk.
Orange & Black Beads
With Halloween just around the corner, we thought it fun to look at orange and black gemstone beads. You can't celebrate Halloween without using the colors black and orange. They are also great to wear during autumn since orange matches the beautiful fall leaves, and black is a classy tone that will compliment every color. The classic gemstones in these colors are orange carnelian and black onyx.
Carnelian gets the brilliant orange color from iron oxide, and black onyx is usually made by treating chalcedony or agate with a sugar solution and then carbonizing it with heated sulfuric acid. Color enhancements for these stones are so common that majority of carnelians and onyx sold today are enhanced agate. However, this makes the stones available in larger sizes and at more affordable prices.
Other stones in these colors are fire opals, pearls, and orange aventurines for sunset tones - and obsidian or jet for black beads. It may also be fun to combine copper findings with onyx beads if you want a classy jewelry that you can wear year- round but would still have a hint of Halloween.
Checkout some of our spooky gothic jewelry at our sister store, click: AwesomeRings
To see our Carnelian beads click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk
For our Onyx beads click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk
Many of these articles comes from the new book How to Make a Killing Selling Bead Jewelry - see below offer:
At the present time, everyone is looking for extra income. If you would like to sell more of your hand-crafted jewelry, or perhaps you haven't taken the plunge selling yet, this book is for you. Choose from British English version or US version.
MrBead newsletter readers can purchase our new just-published book at a 33% discount. NOTE: ignore the price on the sales page - click the Buy Now button and you will see your 33% discount at the Paypal checkout ($19.99 or £12.99). Paypal only for this offer. On Paypal's confirmation of payment page, click "IMPORTANT: click here to download your product". You will also be e-mailed your download URL.
This e-book is sold to you with 100% satisfaction - otherwise you get a full refund within 60 days! To order or for more details click US Version or UK Version.
To see What's New click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk
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