About The Beads & Silver
African Trade Beads - Most of the African trade beads that I use are from the idyllic Krobo region in southern Ghana and are created by Krobo glass artisans. These beads are commonly used in rituals such as weddings and coming-of-age ceremonies. The artisans make use of recycled glass, which is ground into fine powder as it has been for centuries. The glass powder is then carefully formed into patterns and placed into hand-made clay molds covered in kaolin. The beads are fired, decorated, washed, and strung. These beautiful beads are one of a kind and represent a long tradition of bead artistry and is also an important part of the economy.
Chinese crystal – These beautiful glass beads are machine cut with precise facets. This process creates a sparkle similar to diamonds when light bounces off the beads.
Czech Glass - The Czech Republic makes great glass beads. These beads are sometimes called "pressed glass" because the molten glass is poured into molds and fired in a kiln. Another kind of pressed glass is "fire polished" which has a crystal-like, sparkling finish.
Fresh Water Pearls - are cultured pearls grown in freshwater rather than saltwater. Natural freshwater pearls are rarely perfectly round. Freshwater pearls are noted for their wide range of colors. They can be found in white, pink, salmon, copper, bronze, brown, lavender, green, blue, cream and yellow. As a rule, freshwater pearls are the color of the shell in which they are formed.
Furnace Art Glass Beads - Handcrafted furnace glass cane beads are high quality beads made by glass-smiths in the United States. These beads are handcrafted with cane glass rods. They can be found in a wide variety of different colors and patterns.
Indian Bali Silver Beads - These intricate sterling silver findings are handmade from strips and dots of silver wire to create, beads, caps, clasps and ear wires. They are all handcrafted by Indian silver artisans.
Lampwork Beads - Each lampwork bead is a unique work of art handcrafted by a glass artist, one at a time. Glass becomes molten when heated to a certain temperature; glass artisans can then create unique shapes as well as layers while holding the glass over a flame (or lamp). Lampwork beads usually have raised decorations, bumps, dots, swirls of various colors and inlayed designs.
