Barrettes are part of the official uniform for childhood for just about every girl with long hair. Many girls take great pride in coordinating their barrettes with their outfits. Help them out by customizing prefab barrettes to wear and share. Buy plain barrettes at your local drug or discount store and decorate them with your [...]
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Many people jump into the process of making jewelry and take shortcuts that only hurt them in the long run. Maybe they buy tools and supplies that don’t give them the results they’re looking for. Or they don’t treat their new tools right. Or perhaps they’re worried that their great new “original” design will make [...]
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The most sophisticated and chic Art Deco jewelry of the period was made in France, using combinations of materials such as coral and jade, and Japanese-inspired black enamel and marcasite. The most outstanding of the French artist-jewelers included Georges Fouquet, Raymond Templier, Gerard Sandoz, Jean Despres and Jean Dunand. There were also a number of [...]
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Jewelry in Britain at the turn of the century differed from the French because it was more backward-looking and still owed much to the Arts and Crafts. The British decorative motifs featured primeval figures and floral tributes combined with interlace patterns of Celtic origin. These pieces were made in finely crafted silver enriched with polished [...]
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Art Nouveau jewelry had its origins in the work of French goldsmiths, whose creations were the inspiration for other European craftsmen and women. Most influential among the French artist-jewelers was the glass-maker Rene Lalique. He had a profound impact throughout Europe and America, starting when he opened a shop in Paris in 1885. He showed [...]
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Whereas some costume jewellers of the late 20th century are happy to exploit artificial materials to create a contrived and sophisticated look, the dawn of a growing awareness of the value of natural products — like wood, paper and leather – means that strong references to all that is natural are now influential too.
Inseparable from [...]
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Flowers make ideal subjects for clay jewelry. Their delicate and fragile structure can, with a little practice, be fashioned into delicate pieces to be fitted onto brooch mounts or on a smaller scale onto ear-ring or ring mounts. Make them to match fashion’s romantic mood of the moment and to complement your prettiest clothes.
The rose [...]
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Fillers and strengtheners
Fillers are normally used to improve colour, to produce metallic effects or to strengthen the resin and make it scratch-resistant. Fillers start off dry and are mixed in with the resin before the addition of the catalyst. Inert filler is specifically for use with polyester resin, making it durable and water-resistant. Metal fillers [...]
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Silver has almost as distinguished a history as gold. It was highly regarded in Ancient Egypt. In Ancient Greece it wasthe silver mines at Laurium that made Athens rich and paid for the Athenians’ long and eventually successful campaign against the Persians. To the Spanish conquistadores in South and Central America in the sixteenth century [...]
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