Flashback Friday - A Bead So Beautiful!

Flashback Friday takes place on the last Friday of the month The idea is to republish an old post of yours that maybe didn't get enough attention, or that you really liked, or that you think others will really like..

As I started this blog in 2010, and then took a few years off to raise my little ones (only getting back into it this past November), I know there are a LOT of you out there that did not see some of my earlier posts.

You can see the original post HERE.

A Bead So Beautiful...You Could Just Eat It!

Original Picture

Current Picture

It was in Murano that lampwork beads first became widely produced in the 19th century. To this day, the most famous style of lampwork bead is the 'Venetian' or wedding cake bead. the secret of the glass making process was jealously guarded. Many countries tried to lure glass makers away from Italy. While some succeeded in producing lampwork beads, they did not typically put up a challenge to the Murano lampwork beads. In the mid 19th century, a few Bohemian (now Czech Republic) citizens traveled to Italy to work in the glass works and learn the secrets. They returned five years later, frustrated by the wall of secrecy they had encountered. However, they did learn something and glass bead making was started in the Czech Republic.

The Czech also became masters at making lampwork beads and rivaled Italy on the national market. In time, the Czech and Italians taught the Indians how to make lampwork beads. Today the majority of lampwork beads come from India. The Czech and the Italians still make beautiful lampwork beads in much more limited production.

Handmade Jewelry Haven's beautiful 'Swirl' necklace, and matching earrings are made with lovely amethyst colored Italian Wedding Cake beads, and is set off by a gorgeous blown glass pendant in soothing colors of purples golds and silvers.
Find them all at Handmade Jewelry Haven's Etsy Shop Here.

source; The Beading Times

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Wordless Wednesday - Pearls

Mermaid Shell Pearl Necklace

Shell Pearl Earrings

To see more of our nautically inspired jewelry, visit Handmade Jewelry Haven here!

To learn a little bit more about Shell Pearls, watch a 5 minute video we made here!

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Aqua Sea Glass - Where Does It Come From?

So I wanted to share with you a super cool find that we made while on our last seaglass trip back in March to the Jersey Shore.

We were wrapping up our beach foray for the day and my son looks over and finds what is left of a broken bottle. I was watching him from further down the beach as he tossed it down, and then seemed to reconsider and picked it back up and puts it in one of his cavernous pockets.

As you can see by the photo, you can clearly make out the 'S and possibly the letter before it is a 'R' or a 'B'. 

After doing some reading online and finding this really cool Historical Bottle Website, I found out that fonts that have those little 'appendages' on them are called 'Serif', the word being of uncertain origin, possibly from the Dutch word schreef meaning "line" or pen-stroke and were typical for bottles made between 1820 - 1910. 

Recently I had just gotten the 'Holy Grail' of Seaglassing books, 'Pure Seaglass', that was recommended to me almost unanimously from one of my seaglassing groups, and it had a wealth of information on bottles of that time frame, one being the medicinal bottle. 
I started searching for bottles that would end in a ---R'S and after some time, found AYER'S SARSAPARILLA. The picture matched my fragment! 

James Cook Ayer was a fascinating character! Born in 1818, his dad passed away when he was 7 and he was sent to live with his uncle and by 19 he was working in an apothecary (drug store). At 22 he went into business for himself making all types of concoctions that supposedly cured everything from the ague to baldness! He eventually wanted to follow in his uncles footsteps and go into politics, winning the nomination for the Republican seat for Congress, for Lowell Mass. He lost his bid however and the rejection was apparently too much for him to handle as his obituary stated that opposition to his candidacy was so strong he became unhinged. He was so violent he was confined to an insane asylum in New Jersey for months.
James Cook Ayer died at the age of 60 on July 3, 1878 in Winchendon, Mass.

The town of Ayer, Mass., was named after him.

So my bottle fragment is circa 1852 -1870 

So this was an excellent opportunity to show you how this: 

gets broken and tossed (or broken while being tossed) and looks like this: 

and finely after tossing around in the ocean for approximately 50 -100 years it can look like this: 

Then I find it and make it into something beautiful like this:

Light Blue Seaglass Necklace

Want to see something totally cool that I found too? I have a free download of the original 1860 NY Times Ayer's Sarsaparilla Ad!
Just tell me where to email it!

Get your free download here!

We thought that this was such a cool post that we made a short YouTube Video of it!
Come check it out here to hear my weird voice! 
Aqua Sea Glass Video

Want to see more pretty Seaglass Jewelry? Visit Handmade Jewelry Haven here!

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June's Birthstone - The Pearl

Actually June is one of two months that has three birthstones! The Pearl, Alexandrite and Moonstone.

For the sake of simplicity, we will stick with the Pearl for this post.

Pearls have been used as adornment for centuries —at least as far back as ancient Greece, where they believed pearls were tears of the gods. The oldest known pearl jewelry was discovered in the sarcophagus of a Persian Princess who died in 520 B.C.

Ancient Japanese folktales told that pearls were created from the tears of mythical creatures like mermaids and nymphs. Early Chinese civilizations believed that dragons carried pearls between their teeth, and the dragon must be slain to claim the pearls—which symbolized wisdom.

Other cultures associated pearls with the moon, calling them “teardrops of the moon.” Hindu folklore explained that dewdrops fell from the moon into the sea, and Krishna picked one for his daughter on her wedding day.

Because natural pearls were so rare throughout history, only the richest echelon could afford them. During the Byzantine Empire, rules dictated that only the emperor was allowed to wear these treasured gemstones. Ancient Egyptians were often buried with their prized pearls.

In fact, there is a famous fable that Cleopatra had a wager with Marc Antony, betting that she could host the most expensive feast! At the end of the party, Marc Antony conceded that, although the food and drink were by far superb, it was by no means the most expensive that he had seen. At this, Cleopatra pulled one of her pearl earrings off and dropped it in her goblet of wine. This pearl was perportedly so expensive, to be worth the price of TEN kingdoms!

Byzantine Necklace

When the pearl dissolved, she drank the last of the wine, thereby making it, truly, the most expensive feast ever!

Tudor England was known as the Pearl Age because of the stone’s popularity with the upper class during the sixteenth century. Portraits showed royals wearing pearl jewelry and clothing adorned with pearls.

Pearls became more accessible in the early 1900s when the first commercial culturing of saltwater pearls began in Asia. Since the 1920s, cultured pearls have almost completely replaced natural pearls in the market—making this classic gemstone affordable for nearly any budget.


Come check out our beautiful Byzantine Necklace that is adorned with beautiful circle freshwater pearls here at Handmade Jewelry Haven!

We love giving away freebies! Want to know some more fun facts about Pearls?
Just let us know where to send it!

Tell us where you want us to email your download

I love to read comments so please, leave one here! To have your comment published, please leave your name so we know where to find you and read and comment on your blog too!

source: American Gem Society


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