Working With Natural Beads

Nature gave us some of the most gorgeous beading stock to work with, but too often we overlook it for manufactured creations. All beads are beautiful, but natural beads have a special beauty and mystery.

Perhaps one surmise more of us don't use natural beads is that we usually think of natural pearls, diamonds, rubies or emeralds. These, while they are gorgeous, can also be a minuscule pricey. So, we stay away. Certainly, most of us can't afford precious stones for our jewelry projects.

Snowflake Ornament

But there is a whole world of semi-precious stones out there! While they are gorgeous and often very elegant, they are much less high-priced than their precious cousins. The key is to study the color options available and chose stones to match and improve your piece.

Let's take a look at some of the options. Some of the more coarse semi-precious stones consist of the following: Amethyst, agate, carnelian, turquoise, alexandrite, lapis lazuli, lemon jade and serpentine, obsidian, quartz, amazonite, moonstone, tigereye, garnets, amber, citrine, topaz, aquamarine, jasper, aventurine, azurite, fluorite, hematite, labradorite, tourmaline, onyx, malachite, sardonyx, morgonite, aragonite, coral, goldstone and howlite. Whew! What a list. I won't drag you through all of them, but some are more coarse or more fun.

One of my favorites is the quartz family, which includes clear quartz crystals (may have some shades of brown or other colors, depending upon possible impurities), rose quartz (a nice pink color) and amethyst, which is purple or lavender depending on the number of impurity). Small crystals and chips can be obtained at most bead stores. They are a gorgeous increasing to earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

Garnets are other favorite. Garnets are usually thought of as a deep red stone, but in addition, garnets come in yellow, browns and green. The green range is best known as peridot.

There are also some forms of agates. A plain agate is usually clear, but you may also find it in blues and purples. Just know that agate can be died and these blue and purple varieties are coarse died colors. There's nothing wrong with these (some are very pretty); just know that they are not colors natural to agate. In addition, jasper is a close relative which is usually a brown color. "Moss agate," other variety, contains mineral inclusions which generate a "moss" pattern inside the stone. Finally, carnelian is a deep red form and is usually more considerable than some of the other agate forms.

Azurite and malachite are copper minerals and usually provide vivid greens (malachite) and blues (azurite). While both are gorgeous, they deserve a bit more care as they are not quite as hard as the quartz and agate groups, for example. Hematite, on the other hand, polishes to a black with a silver sheen. It can be astonishing in the right setting.

I promised not to drag this out, so let me address other of my favorites: alexandrite. My husband has an alexandrite set in a ring, and it is a real conversation piece because it changes color depending on the intensity of the light that reaches it. At any given time, it may be red, purple, lavender, green and occasionally yellow. It's like Nature's own mood ring.

As you can see, natural semi-precious stones offer a spectacular, array or color and form. Feel free to study the others on the list that we didn't discuss. Depending upon the colors needed in your project, semi-precious stones can deliver both the color and the luster to make any piece stand out and sparkle.

Obsidian and amber are two other intriguing semi-precious stones. Obsidian is absolutely volcanic glass developed when a high-silica molten lava cools quickly. It comes in basic black, reddish-brown, and snowflake. The latter derives its name from the inclusions of white material in the otherwise black rock. Typically, obsidian must be ground and polished. Otherwise, it has very sharp edges (Native Americans used obsidian for arrow heads when they could get it because it forms and holds sharp edges comparatively easily). Amber is fossilized tree sap or resin. It is usually a honey-brown color, and often contains other fossil forms such as insects and plant materials.

Working With Natural Beads

Thanks To : Naot Shoes Top sale