Beaded Jewelry: Glass Beads

Emerald Green Swarovski Crystal Bracelet

Glass beads come in a range of different colors, shapes and sizes. From faceted or foil lined to pearly or opaque. Glass beads have been popular among beaded jewelry designers for many years. Whats not to love about them? They can add sparkle to anything they are strung on and for that reason they not only make great accents but also dazzling focal beads. Lamp work beads are also very popular they can turn a dull bracelet into something unique and interesting. Another great thing about glass beads is unlike European crystal beads, they are typically very cheap. If your trying to make your beaded jewelry pieces pop try adding a few glass beads, I'm sure you will be very pleased with the end result. The bracelet above was made with round jade stone beads, green foil lined glass button beads,  green glass pearl beads, black glass pearl beads, round emerald green Swarovski crystal beads and opal Swarovski crystal bicone beads.

Vintage Style Handmade Beaded Jewelry

I started making handmade beaded jewelry 10 years ago and I really enjoy it. I love picking out new gemstones, crystal and pretty glass beads and the best part is when I get my package in the mail, it's almost like my own little treasure. The stones are the best mainly because every stone is different and unique and look beautiful on a necklace strand. Some of my favorite stones are citrine, amazonite, and Agate. I love citrine because it has a beautiful luster almost like tiny little specs of copper are shimmering throughout. amazonite is a very pretty stone the cool blue colored stone makes me feel like I'm on vacation on a white sandy beach gazing at crystal blue water, its a very relaxing stone. Agate is probably my favorite stone of all because it can range in a number of different colors tan, deep reds and oranges even different shades of blue. I have plenty pieces of beaded jewelry featuring these stones among others, if your looking for stunning pieces of beaded jewelry of all kinds you came to the right place! The earrings above were made with oval amazonite stones, blue glass barrel beads and light sapphire Swarovski bicone beads.

Purple Dangle Earrings

Purple is by far my favorite color any shade will do but the dark plum shades are the most beautiful to me. All tho I don't own very many articles of clothing in the purple spectrum I do try to accessorize with purple handmade jewelry. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets in the many hues of purple will surely dazzle up any plain white or black t-shirt or even a blouse. I always find bangles to be a fun way to make my boring clothes pop. Pair those with a perfect set of purple glass earrings and a little lip gloss and I'm out the door.


These handmade beaded earrings were made with purple Czech glass round glass beads, silver plated leaf spacer beads, purple glass pearls and Swarovski crystal round beads.

January Birthstone:Garnet Jewelry

Garnet style birthstone earrings

Garnet, a type of rock forming mineral known for its crystal texture, is traditionally the birthstone for the month of January. Garnet stones come in a range of colors however the deep reddish stones are the most popular while the stones with hues of blue tend to be the most rare. Garnet is said to be a stone of love, passion and romance, bringing the wearer both energy and positive thoughts.  This January I decided to focus on adding more garnet jewelry to my collection of gemstones and birthstones. Dark browns and reds are all the rave this year so look forward to seeing more of these colors on Candysjewelrybox.com!

Garnet style birthstone earrings

Coral Jewelry

Coral or Precious Coral as it's sometimes called is not an actual stone as some may think, it's actually the skeletal branches of a marine coral species. That means the beautiful polished "stone" that many of us have in our jewelry box was actually a living breathing organism at one time, thriving and multiplying in earths vast and beautiful oceans. In my mind this makes coral just as special and unique as a luminous pearl. The skeleton of marine coral is naturally a pink or red hue however it can also range in hues of orange, brown and white. Precious coral is usually sold in it's natural hue not dyed only cut and polished. Non precious coral beads are usually a less rare species of coral or dyed stones that are found more commonly around the world, like chalcedony and is usually the type of coral most people own. This season is the time to bring out those coral pieces especially if they are an orangery hue as orange is all the rave this season.

The above beaded necklace was made with coral barrel beads, Swarovski crystal bicone beads, clear seed beads, spacer beads, coral pendant,

Costume Jewelry: Rhinestone Rings

Rings have always been a staple in my collection, I love them big and flashy as well as small and conservative. I tend to buy more costume rings than precious metal rings because they are a lot cheaper which means you can add more to your collection. Flea markets are a great place to buy costume jewelry and rhinestone rings are always a popular selection, you can usually find nice size rhinestone rings of all colors and styles for under 5 dollars. I know many women think costume jewelry is cheaply made therefore it doesn't last long and not worth the money but that is not always the case. I've had costume jewelry pieces that have lasted for years and still as pretty as the day I bought them, its all about taking care of your jewelry no matter how cheap or expensive it is. Learning proper storing techniques will also increase the life of your jewelry and keep it looking sparkly. Also picking the best days for wearing your jewelry will help keep it like new. If its a very hot day silver tone jewelry especially rings are not your best bet, when you sweat it will cause the material to break down and eventually turn your finger green this is also true on rainy days or days when you want to go swimming. There are many ways to increase the life of your costume jewelry so you can keep them looking like new for years to come.

Glass and Crystal Beaded Bracelet

I love working with glass and crystal I would guess the majority of my pieces of jewelry feature glass, crystal or both. Summer in my opinion is the best time of year to wear crystal or glass because once the jewelry catches a ray of sunlight it will sparkle and be very dazzling grabbing the attention of those around you. I guess you can say I love "bling" and anything that has a little sparkle or glitter so most of my beaded jewelry will reflect that. If one were to raid my bead collection they would be amazed at how many glass beads I own, foil lined glass beads dominate my glass collection followed by faceted and bicone crystal beads.
A lot of cheap costume jewelry that I have bought over the years are made with cheap plastic feeling fake glass beads that look nice but feel horrible so when I started recreating vintage style costume jewelry I wanted to keep the same look but use real glass and crystal beads and the results turned out to be very popular. Above is a picture of a bracelet I made with blue foil lined glass beads, light sapphire Swarovski crystal beads clear glass beads and foil lined seed beads.