New This Week!

It's TWINS!!!

"Congratulations - it's TWINS!" - there's a phrase to strike fear into the hearts of many a brave parent.

However - these twins aren't terrifying - they are a new oval seed bead from Czech that have two - count 'em - two holes. They look sort of like those little oval domino masks for masquerades and carnivals. They also look like little pig snouts - but I'm thinking "snout beads" is probably not a winning name - so we'll just stick with "twins" - shall we?

There will be about 80 colours - so far we have about half of them - the rest to come.

These are from Preciosa-Ornela - and they have quite a few pictures and suggestions on their site for using them - so check them out!

Thread - you are going to need some thread to go with those seedbeads! We've just added the C-LON line of coloured threads to our line up! Available in two sizes - AA is a fine thread - suitable for complex weaves with multiple passes - D is a standard size, suitable for most bead weaving uses.

Flower Jade - we decided that this was pretty enough to warrant being a Stone of the Month. From New Zealand, Flower Jade gets it's rich and varied colours from "weathering" - when a boulder of jade is exposed to the elements - a "rind" or skin develops from the exposed side downward through the stone and makes colour changes that are more dramatic the closer to the edge of the boulder that the beads are cut. It ranges from translucent to opaque and colours are include white, cream, lemonade, caramel, ginger, ochre, sage, greys, and blacks

It has a hardness of about 6 on the Mohs scale.
Metaphysically - Flower Jade is said to enhance self-confidence, and help you hear your "spiritual side" better - especially through gaining knowledge from dreams.

And in case you missed it - or are new to the site! - we are at our new location - more info on our About Us page.

Wonderful stuff all over the site, as always, so go ahead, click on a link or a picture above, or start with the Main Page, if you are feeling intrepid, (there is a LOT of stuff there), or chunk it down into bite-size portions by checking out the categories: Click on a link and go crazy! Firepolish, Pressed Glass, Swarovski Crystal, Seedbeads, Stone and Pearls, Preciosa Crystal, Metal Beads, Other Cool Beads, Findings, Metal Clay & Supplies or Books, Kits, Tools. Look for the "new" tags!

Or maybe check out all our free, yes, free projects. A new one every week.