Hello e-Readers!
Although I promised a report on what I saw in Tucson, it was too much to describe. What you see while walking through a show is predetermined by what you are looking for. I saw beautiful handmade glass beads, copper-clad leaves with psychedelic patinas, hand-dyed silk ribbon -- and my favorite things -- semi-precious stone beads. Each bead show unveils a stone I've never seen before, and Tucson was no exception. Rainbow calcite, cobalto calcite, Chinese writing stone and spectrolite were a few never-before-seen stones that caught my attention.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Want it delivered to your in-box every three weeks? Sign up here

The best part about Tucson is meeting the countless designers, creators, vendors and craftspeople I've only known electronically. Now I have a much better sense of the creative personalities who fill the pages of Simply Beads with their designs. Bead people are generous, happy, dynamic individuals -- by far, the best treasures I found in the desert.

Back to top

Bead On!

Celebrating Beads
The Bead Museum D.C. hopes to inspire interest and promote beads and beading as a great collectible art form. They are sponsoring "Celebrating Beads the journey of...", a contest open to hobbyists, students and professionals. There are 12 different categories, and the top 3 pieces from each category will be exhibited at the Museum from September 28 -- December 31, 2008. Winners will be announced on September 20 at the Bead Society of Greater Washington's Bead Gala, held at the Navy Memorial Naval Heritage Center.

Their Web site has all of the information you'll need to enter the contest: BSGW.org or e-mail: CelebratingBeads@gmail.com

The Bead Museum D.C. is known for its exhibits on bead history. They hope the show Celebrating Beads will further interest in and inspire passion for beads and continue their enduring journey across time and culture. Included in their permanent collection is a library of more than 1, 400 books and a 35-foot "Bead Timeline of History" that includes more than 5000 beads. Their current exhibit Treasures of the Earth explores the transformation of raw materials into finished jewelry.

Make your own bead history: enter "Celebrating Beads the journey of..."

Back to top

Pop Art Mobile Necklace
Margot Potter expresses her unique style in this modern and fun wire necklace.

Pop Art Mobile Necklace Designs by Margot Potter Materials: Resin beads: pink slice, yellow diamond, orange diamond 4 sterling silver open-center top and bottom hole rectangle components 4 (10mm) sterling silver heavy-duty jump rings 10 (4mm) sterling silver jump rings Silver lobster-claw clasp 3 (3-inch) lengths 20-gauge sterling silver wire 15 1/2 inches sterling silver large-link chain Round-nose pliers Chain-nose pliers Wire cutters Finished Size 16 inches (including clasp) Instructions 1 Open a 10mm jump ring and slide it onto end link of chain; slide on lobster-claw clasp. Close jump ring. 2 Form a small loop at one end of a 3-inch length of wire; string a pink slice resin bead onto wire. Carefully take wire and wrap it around the bead as desired in a free-form shape; wrap wire tail around base of small loop. Trim excess wire. Note: Take care when using pliers as pliers may scratch the beads. 3 Open a 10mm jump ring and attach it to center link of chain; slide on a 4mm jump ring and close jump ring. Continue attaching the following sequence, forming the center droplet: 4mm jump ring, rectangle component, 4mm jump ring, rectangle component, 4mm jump ring and wire-wrapped pink slice bead. 4 Repeat step 2 with orange diamond bead. In the same manner as in step 3, connect the following and attach top jump ring to chain four links away from center: 10mm jump ring, two 4mm jump rings, rectangle component, 4mm jump ring and wire-wrapped orange diamond bead. 5 Repeat step 2 with yellow diamond bead. In the same manner as in step 3, connect the following and attach top jump ring to chain four links away from center: 10mm jump ring, two 4mm jump rings, rectangle component, 4mm jump ring and wire-wrapped yellow diamond bead. Source: Chain, clasp and jump rings from Marvin Schwab/The Bead Warehouse; rectangle components from Auntie's Beads Inc.; resin beads from Natural Touch Beads. Copyright © 2006. Simply Beads magazine. All rights reserved. Back to top. Click here for printer friendly page.

You Are What You Bead
Do you read labels? I don't eat any prepared food product without checking the ingredients and nutritional information first. I have to know exactly what is in my food. I've often wished for a list of ingredients of my jewelry-making supplies, questioning the actual silver content in a clasp or what sort of dye was used to create a fabulous color.

Last year, several manufacturers in California recalled jewelry components and jewelry-making supplies. Due to California regulations, I receive a lead content warning notice with each sparkling order of crystals. Since I don't eat my crystals, I'm not too concerned about their lead content, but after I read about how much lead has been found in commercially produced components, it made me want to know more.

In California, there is an acceptable range for lead content in jewelry components, 0.06 percent for children's jewelry extending to 10 percent for electroplated jewelry components. Several large retailers have been sued for selling jewelry with a very high lead content, which led to voluntary manufacturing standards in California. Lead content for children's products and jewelry in California has been limited to 0.02 percent or 200 parts per million. Levels as high as 50 percent have been found in children's products tested in 2005.

Even though you probably aren't going to find an ingredients label on your beads, what can you do? Look at the jewelry manufacturer TierraCast's Web site TierraCast.com for information and links to state and federal web sites. This link contains lists of retailers and jewelry items (including pictures) that have been found to contain high levels of lead. The amount of information available on TierraCast's site is amazing.

TierraCast's products are also amazing, inside and out. They use a type of pewter called Britannia. This alloy is super-pure and is often termed "lead-free pewter." All pewter contains at least a trace amount of lead. FDA standards classify Britannia as safe enough for eating utensils.

A special thank you goes to Sarah Wright of TierraCast for encouraging me to look at the information about lead and making me understand the importance of the ingredients used to make my favorite beads and findings.

Back to top.

Beading for Good
Bead to Feed is a fundraising activity of Nyame Adom Foundation of America (NAFofA). NAFofA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphans in Ghana, West Africa. NAFofA runs an orphanage housing eight children, a vocational school and a farm.

Bead to Feed imports powder and recycled glass beads handmade in Ghana, West Africa. All of the proceeds from Bead to Feed's sales go towards supporting the orphanage. The only paid staff is the artisans in Ghana; volunteers perform the sales, shipping and handling of the glass beads.

The beads are handcrafted and individually hand-painted and come in many sizes and colors. Check The Beadcage for a great selection of these unique representatives of the past and the future of Ghana.

Back to top.

Congratulations!
Designer Caito Amorose was awarded second place, amateur category in Swarovski Crystal's Create Your Style 2007 Design contest for her entry "Flutters." To see all of the remarkable entries, go to Create-Your-Style.com and watch the slideshow. To see how to make some of Caito's designs, see the June issue of Simply Beads, on sale May 6.

Back to top.