Tutorial on my Jewel Stones beads, an organic type and fun to make!

[Lisi]

Here is a tutorial on a set of organic stone-like beads. My "Jewel Stones", and I used to make a LOT of these a long time ago. May have to do these again. They were fun to make at the time!




Not really hard to make, and here's how:

1) Make a base round bead of Effetre dark ivory (about 11-12mm)

2) Roll in a strip of silver leaf (piece is a strip, cut is 1/8th of a 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" sheet of fine silver leaf)

** To cut your leaf to fit (burnish) these 11-12mm beads full all the way around, take a sheet of leaf, cut in half, then cut both of those in half, and then cut each of those in half one last time. This gives you 8 strips. **

3) Burnish the leaf in well, then hit the flame gently to melt this silver into the glass. You will now have a grey stone looking bead. If the silver is still shiny around the holes, don't worry about that at this point.

4) While keeping your bead warm, melt the tip of a rod of transparent aqua (or any transparent color, really) and then apply random dots all over. Don't apply small dots, more like large ones, like the size of the melted tip of the rod. If memory serves me well, I think there are 9 dots on each of these beads, except that focal in the first picture, which has evenly applied large dots, not random applied. Melt these in well, round up your shape, and flash around the holes to melt in any bits of shiny silver.

Done!

If you prefer, you can place evenly spaced dots, or even a stringer pattern if you want. Keep in mind, the dark ivory has a tendency to "swallow" transparent colors. Although not so much when silver leaf is applied first. But the "swallowed" pools of color are what you want, because this looks like jewels embedded in stone. I prefer to place the random dots so there is less stress on me and they are more fun to make that way!

[glasslass2]

OMG Lisi those beads are gorgeous! How sweet of you to share your technique. Thanks so much for posting this.

[Gail Joseph]

Gorgeous!!

[Reenie]

Very pretty. I've made beads like this before but how come my aqua turns green instead of staying blue like yours??? I think I've used Dark Aqua so I'm not sure if there's a difference in reaction between light and dark but everytime they are placed over ivory or sis they turn green in color....

[Kalera]

Lovely tut! I adore this style of bead.

[beauxartz]

Thanks, Lisi. So kind of you to share. The beads are stunning, can't wait to try this.

[Lisi]

Originally Posted by Reenie

Very pretty. I've made beads like this before but how come my aqua turns green instead of staying blue like yours??? I think I've used Dark Aqua so I'm not sure if there's a difference in reaction between light and dark but everytime they are placed over ivory or sis they turn green in color....

This is the dark aqua Effetre, and I think the silver leaf applied in a layer over the whole bead and melted in gently shields it somehow from too much contact with the dark ivory to change to green. I've made beads like this before and more than likely overheated too much and the green showed up in places.

Here is another set when I use a regular ivory base bead, then swizzles of silvered ivory stringer, and the dark aqua swizzles over that. Here it turns a jade green. More direct contact with ivory so the color change.

[Reenie]

That makes sense. I like both of those sets. The blue really stands out but that green is awesome! I'll have to play around some more..thanks for answering.

[blong2001]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

[midniteburner]

Lisi: What a sweet thing to share!!! You explain every single step in such great detail that it is foolproof!

Sara

[squeek-a-mouse]

Thanks for sharing! These are very pretty. I don't have any silver leaf but if I ever get some I will definitely have to try this

[Gayetha]

Thanks for sharing your interesting technique! I love the awesome green of the aqua on ivory. The tutorial set looks like deep water pools between rocks - gorgeous effect.

[Lisi]

Thank you for the nice feedback!

Oh Lord, I had to go back and edit a bad word....change it from "pric" to "picture". I think I was trying to type "pic". oooops

[sixbabygirls]

thank yo u will try that tonight !

[fattirebiker]

Thanks Lisi, very kind

[sierracatzlampwork]

Thanks for sharing - those are lovely beads..have you tried with dark amber?

[cakelady]

Lovely beads.Thanks for the tutorial, can't wait to try them.

[dymond_mom]

Beautiful beads! Thanks for sharing your techniques with us.

One question....do you have to use silver LEAF or will silver FOIL do the same thing?

[fusionillusionartglass]

Thanks so much for the tutorial, very sweet of you. I will give these a try today.

[Lisi]

Originally Posted by sierracatzlampwork

Thanks for sharing - those are lovely beads..have you tried with dark amber?

Oh yes, dark amber, all of the shades of amber, plus greens, amethyst, cobalt, and even opaque colors. You could even use one of the striking reds. I've used the Effetre striking red.

Originally Posted by dymond_mom

Beautiful beads! Thanks for sharing your techniques with us.

One question....do you have to use silver LEAF or will silver FOIL do the same thing?

I use leaf but I'm sure it could be done with foil. Maybe since that would be a heavier layer of silver, it would be better to use foil on a larger bead, like a 15-16mm size due to compatability. I've read somewhere on these forums several times that too much silver can cause cracking.

You would have to cut the foil to a different size to ensure a full wrap-around of the silver. Make a bead in the larger size and leave it the mandrel for a reference to check the size of your strip of foil for coverage.

Another idea - If you made a large tab bead, you could use a strip of foil in places on this bead, and put your "jewels" in the silvered area.

[Donna T.]

Thanks for the tutorial Lisi, I haven't made this type bead in a long time but I do remember they were fun to do. I may add this to my to do list today. Thanks!

[jewlie beads]

Great Tutorial Lisi! Thank you for sharing and your beads are beautiful!

[SunDoorBeads]

Great Tutorial!!! I am def going to give it a try asap!!! imagine how it will look with some of the new colors that have come out since you started this!!!

[BabetteC]

Thank you for what looks like a fun bead. I'll give it a try tomorrow. How very nice of you to share with us - FOR FREE!! Free is definitely good!

[lonerp]

Great technique. Thank you.

[Birdy]

Beautiful beads, and the tutorial is a beautiful gift to us. Thank-you so much!

Birdy

[Vicki B.]

Thanks for the tut - makes me want to try it tomorrow!

[midniteburner]

Originally Posted by Lisi

Oh Lord, I had to go back and edit a bad word....change it from "pric" to "picture". I think I was trying to type "pic". oooops

buwawawa!!!!

Sara

[SilverRiverJewelry]

You all are going to laugh at me but I was so relieved to see that the silver was supposed to turn this color lol. I though I was doing something wrong. I actually tried this on my own the other day just playing around ( I am still pretty new at this) and thought I was doing something horribly wrong to have the silver turn this way lol. Thank you for setting my mind at ease! And of course yours are much prettier than my first attempt. I did do one over a base of black that turned out pretty neat but will try the ivory the next time around. I am really drawn to the organic beads.

[GiGiC]

Thanks for sharing. I will have to give this a try tonight!