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You know that wonderful color known as vitrail? It’s also called “rainbow” and I just got some lovely little round jewels to go with the vitrail rhinestones in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop.  They’re “rivoli” jewels – that means the faceting comes to a gentle point rather than a flat “table” on the top. And no two are exactly alike – they shimmer with blue, green, tans, purples, and a bit of pink – every time you move. They’re just gorgeous! I love peridot green – so these vintage rhinestone two-jewel charms are high on my favorites list. It’s such a happy color!  Sometimes I’m just in the mood for vivid – pale and pretty sometimes doesn’t cut it. On those days? Deep ruby. Vivid orange. Peridot green. Love it 🙂 P.S. And yes, genuine peridot gemstones are lovely. But clear, beautiful, well faceted gemstones, not even talking anywhere near this size? Add a lot of zeroes. Say $500. And this pair, even in the settings, costs $3.99 in my shop. Yeah. I don’t love the “natural” gemstones all THAT much more. I don’t suppose Cartier ande Tiffany’s are terribly threatened by Do It Yourself jewelry goodness but – come on. The planet I live on? These glass gems are just fine 🙂 This is a simple one – I just got in a new packet of vintage style rhinestone jewels. They’re new, not vintage – I think of them as “classic” style but new out of the box. And this is probably not a “classic” color. These are ORANGE. I mean, vivid, bright, happy, and did I mention bright? Hyacinth tangerine orange. Love, love, love!  You just can’t be indifferent to these jewels. Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re right THERE. And yes they’re available in my Etsy shop 🙂 I’ve found some wonderful new settings for my vintage rhinestone jewels – in golden brass, vintage patina brass, and silver. They make gorgeous multi-stone jewels for your DIY jewelry! Here are just a few sample colors:  They measure just a smidge over 1″ high, so they’re a great size for earrings and pendants too – not too heavy to wear but plenty big enough to be noticed 🙂 And I’ve got lots of colors yet to photograph – vintage glass jewels in emerald green, rose pink, sparkling crystal and more. And the sparkly little rhinestones can be varied too – there are some wonderful combos possible! Make your own earrings to match that perfect dress – or for your bridesmaids – or your mum for Mother’s Day. Do it – you’ll love the earrings (and she will too!) P.S. Just an added bonus: the settings are all made in America and they’re brass, which is nickel and lead free – these are gentle and easy on the skin. Just a peek at some new vintage glass jewels, beads, and rhinestones that are available in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop. I’ve just been able to resupply some of my favorites… and a few new ones 🙂 And… just for the record: if there’s ever a stone, or setting, or jewel, that you’re trying to find – and can’t? Come over there and send me a note – I’ll try my hardest to help you find one! The fashion biz – or maybe the entire retail biz – can be funny. Here’s another example of how color names are a little tricky. All these jewels are called “aqua”:  And there are even more color variations in the “aqua” jewels in my Etsy shop – I just picked a few examples that I’d photographed on a white background. From aqua green – to deep turquoise – to light blue – in the jewelry biz, they can all be called “aqua”. Confusing? Sometimes! P.S. And you’ll notice my title says “Vintage glass beads or jewels”. It’s funny how we get used to certain phrases…. jewels or stones have no holes, so they’re not “beads”. But we’re used to using “beads” in our jewelry – it’s funny how many people just prefer that term. So sometimes I’m just going to go with the flow – vintage glass beads. Or jewels 🙂 There’s the question 🙂 Some people call these lovely old rhinestones “jewels”. Or “stones”. Or “beads”. The terms are almost but not quite interchangeable. Technically – if I’m informed correctly! – beads have holes in them, or rather through them, so that a wire or pin may be inserted in order to attach the bead to your jewelry piece. You can see the holes easily in these clear glass heart beads:  However, vintage glass “jewels” or “stones” have no holes. They’re placed in a metal setting which has a loop or ring so the jewel may be attached to your jewelry item:  See, there’s a loop or ring on the metal setting – not a hole through the “bead”. That shows you the technical differences. But in reality? They’re all treated as “beads” – the general term that applies to pretty charms, dangles or beads, that you use to create jewelry. People ask for beads all the time when they might mean cabochons, jewels, stones, or, well, beads. It’s all good 🙂 And of course, I’ve usually got some lovely heart beads – or jewels – in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop. Go peek – and if you don’t see what you need, just ask! I’ve got a few new colors of these pretty rhinestone connectors in my Etsy shop. If you make jewelry, they’re super useful. Use them as links for bracelets or leading to the focal on a necklace. And when you use them for earring dangles, you can combine them with other jewels to make smashing color combos.  Add a peridot teardrop jewel to the rose pink rhinestone connector. Or a shimmering Swarovski pearl to the crystal connectors. Or – well, you see what I mean. These are fun to work with! I’m sneaking this in when I meant to get back to my sapphire pear earrings – but I just got these sapphire heart jewels in, and it’s been so long since I had any sapphire hearts. I’m not sure why, but it’s really hard to find vintage heart jewels lately. Maybe because they really are in demand? And so pretty!  Yes, they’re available in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop 🙂 I was looking for a vintage ruby rhinestone necklace recently – a customer request made me curious. She was looking for a Miriam Haskell (or knockoff). Anyway it got me to looking, and I found to my surprise that there were very few to be found! I’m not sure why red, or ruby, is a hard color to find. I had just made a classic style, ruby rhinestone necklace for another customer – obviously this one isn’t vintage (though the ovals are true vintage, made in West Germany about 50 years ago). I thought it turned out well:  It’ll be a wonderful Valentine’s present – and yes, it’ll be available through Weekend Jewelry. It’s not even onsite yet – but will be pronto! |
Jewelry and Accessories
Vintage, Recycled, Upcycled!
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