Jewelry artist Kieu Pham Gray began making jewelry to complement her outfits when she was working in a corporate job more than two decades ago. Since then, she has taken up metalsmithing and become a sought-after instructor and co-owner of TheUrbanBeader.com. Above: Kieu Pham Gray and a pendant from Fragments, one her Bead Fest workshops.… […]

Handmade jewellery, or handcrafted jewellery, represents a blend of artistry and tradition. Each piece is meticulously crafted by skilled artisans. Unlike mass-produced items, handmade jewellery carries the signature […]

There is a Pokemon character which is based on a real life creature, the axolotl. It’s a strange salamander which never grows up. Instead of going through metamorphosis and becoming a land based salamander, the axolotl retains its larval characteristics including its distinctive frilly gills and remains an aquatic creature. It can reproduce in this […]

I love colorful banded necklaces. Most of the time, I see them made with colored thread wrapped around a thick cord interior (see links below). However, we can achieve this look in other ways.  First up is the tubular herringbone necklace tutorial using 11/0 beads by Bahşen, a talented beader from Türkiye (formerly known as Turkey).  […]

March’s birthstone is the lovely and transcendent aquamarine. This beautiful blue hue is distinctive in its light blue vibrance, sometimes possessing a touch of green. Like many other gemstones, aquamarine is thought to have metaphysical properties. It is said to promote happiness, hope, clarity, and courage among other things. It is also said to represent […]

Did you know that there are actually going to be 4 solar eclipses this decade? But the one that is making the news now is the one which will be seen in Mexico, US and Canada on April 8 (see map below). That’s because there is an unusual wide path of totality (where the moon […]

Remember Aims of Big Blue Barn Designs? She is a great friend of mine who lives in Alberta, Canada, who wowed many of us with her unique mobile jewelry design shop a while ago. You can read my post on how she single-handedly repaired and repainted an old fibreglass trailer of hers to use for […]

UK bead artist, Monika Soltesz’s gorgeous Egyptian collar necklace tutorials were the first to grab my attention when I stumbled upon her store, BeadingbyMonika. They were certainly gorgeous statement designs – something to wow with a simple plain dress for a fancy occasion.   But there is more to her work than large pieces. Her […]

We use earring hooks all the time! They are one of the main staples to jewelry making. What’s nice about earring hooks, is that you have so many different choices and can really make the earring hook disappear into the design or become the focal of the design. With almost 300 in-stock earring hook styles […]

It’s not always possible or desirable to change a keepsake ring into one which you can wear yourself. The easy solution is to wear a keepsake ring necklace. You can quickly add or remove the ring without undoing the necklace chain. Such necklaces typically sport open frames which stops the gemstone portion of rings from […]