Jasper, Glass and Pearl....well....Fake Pearl

I've been keeping busy these past couple days. My table is covered in beads, findings, and stringing materials, but I'm hesitant to put it all away because every time I put my beads away, I just haul them out again and make the same mess. I've determined that we need a bigger house so that I can have a bead room with cable and a wine fridge. :)


Jasper is becoming one of my favorite beads to work with. There are so many different kinds and colors that it's really fun to see what you can come up with. For this necklace, I used Red and Green Spotted Jasper that I bought at www.firemountaingems.com (If you haven't checked out this bead site - YOU SHOULD!) I may still redo it, I'm not sold on the black czech glass beads that I used as spacers. We'll see.

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I also seem to be using quite a bit of glass beads. I saw a necklace very similar to this in a magazine, but it was made by using colorful quartz. I had a ton of extra glass beads and some clear glass chips, so I whipped this up. I think it's a fun piece that can go with many different outfits.

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I love the look of pearls, but can hardly afford to buy a ton of real pearl items. I used a lot of glass based pearls as well as acrylic based pained pearls. This smokey blue color looks amazing in person. I made it longer (28") because I see so many longer necklaces in stores these days - they're really becoming popular.

Gemstone of the Moment: Kambaba Jasper

Gemstones are said to have certain "powers". Whether I believe in these powers or not remains to be seen, but I do find it interesting to read about the stones I am using.

My new favorite gemstone to use is Kambaba Jasper (Africa). This black and green swirly stone sometimes reminds me of a Van Gogh painting.

It's said that Kambaba Jasper helps dietary stabilization, assimilation of minerals and vitamins, and cleanses the body of toxins. In addition, this type of jasper may help to soothe your nerves and helps to ease your state of mind.