Rings & Things holds a cash-and-carry sale in Milwaukee twice a year, and their gemstone prices are rock bottom (bad pun intended). I loved these cool, minty emeralds but found out later that Rings & Things couldn't source any more — that's the downside of C&C. Nor could I find similar stones from another vendor.BeadStyle readers often want the exact same supplies we've used, so it wasn't an option to design a project without a source for the beads.
So I made this bracelet for Cathy's birthday, combining the 23–27 mm emeralds with 4 mm bicone crystals in Indian sapphire, erinite AB, and chrysolite silver-lined.
I had strung a similar bracelet as a design alternative to the briolette necklace that appeared on the cover of the January 2009 issue of BeadStyle. The amethyst briolettes were drilled very close to the top point of each bead, so every now and then I find a broken bead. I should probably let Cathy know not to wear this when she goes shopping or when she flings her wrist around a lot. (Just kidding. She doesn't do that.)
Anyway, it has been a busy day and week, and I'm ready to leave work now. Happy birthday, Cathy, and happy weekend to all of us!
2 comments:
Those emerald beads are a find...I hope we bring something like them to the rest of our shows! Thanks for mentioning us :)
--Dave
You're welcome, Dave. I do love those C&C sales — you always bring really nice gemstones. And I'm always on the lookout for unusual gemstones. Unusual *and* sourcable, of course! :)
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