BeadStyle : jewellery

Great recessionista idea

Cathy Jakicic — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Word of mouth is a fabulous thing for finding life's hidden treasures. My sister just told me about a jewelry line (that a friend told her about) that has hit on a great idea in financially challenging times for artists. The line is called "Circle of Friends." The necklaces feature a simple circle-centric pendant that is customized with a few gemstones. Each piece is only $10, and the many different styles offered make them really nice, personalized gifts for a range of different personalities and styles. It goes to show that with a really simple, adaptable idea, it's possible to keep material costs down enough to be able to offer a reasonably priced, but not cheap-looking creation.

June 8 Jewelry Gems of the web

Linda Augsburg — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:55:00 GMT

Sorry for the delay in posting my jewelry gems of the web. With the Bead&Button Show just wrapped up and some crazy wet-and-windy weather this weekend (a gal doesn't want to sacrifice her laptop to a lightning strike, after all), I'm just now getting these posted. So forgive the delay and do a little web surfing with me, will you? (As opposed to the street surfing that some of my fellow Milwaukeeans are experiencing with all this rain.)

About.com Jewelry Making
My New Metal Clay Jewelry Making Book is Out!

Jewelry & Beading
Fabulous bead artist Margie Deeb has an artist profile on Jewelry & Beading!

Naughty Secretary Club
Learn how to make a resin bracelet using an ice cube tray watching Jen’s latest how-to video! The Secretary’s Delight Bracelet is a sneak peak at some of the projects inside Jen’s new book The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.

Savvy Crafter
Candie crafts up a simple necklace, perfect for making round' the picnic table in the back yard with the kids.

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Tammy Powley's super new book! Read her interview with me, here!

And to all my beading friends, may your basement be dry and your trees be well rooted. After all, as Jean says, there's beading to be done! And with all the beads that added to each beader's stash at the Bead&Button show, there's obviously a LOT of beading to be done.

Jewelry vs. Jewellery

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:50:00 GMT

I published this post on the Bead&Button blog, but I had so much fun researching it that I wanted to share it here as well:

In the course of my work at Bead&Button (and BeadStyle, too!), I occasionally come across a spelling variation that never fails to make me do a double take – jewelry vs. jewellery. My computer doesn’t recognize the second spelling, yet I’ve seen it used in the names of established bead-related businesses. I decided to track down the meaning of this variation with a little help from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), a premier source for all things etymological.

You may be interested to know that, according to the OED, the first recorded written use of the English word for jewelry (or jewellery) was in the 1300s, though its spelling is unrecognizable to modern-day readers: “iuelrye.” By 1470, the word was “jowalre,” and come 1786 we were wearing “jewellery.” Then, in 1814, poet Robert Southey (the author of the original Goldilocks and the Three Bears story) published the epic poem Roderick, the Last of the Goths in which he spelled “jewellery” as “jewelry.” Fourteen years later, “jewelry” appeared in Webster’s dictionary. But throughout the rest of the 19th century, and even to this day, the older spelling is sometimes retained. Why?

The OED says that “jewellery” is a common commercial spelling (hence it’s used in the names of bead-related businesses), while “jewelry” has poetic and figurative connotations (perhaps because it first showed up in an epic poem?). In fact, originally, jewelry wasn’t even associated with the jeweler (then spelled “jeweller” with two Ls and consequently only associated with “jewellery” with two Ls). Today, the accepted American spelling is “jewelry” (and “jeweler” with one L), while other countries, notably the UK, still retain the traditional spellings. Regardless of how you write it, it’s nice to know that the history of the word “jewel(le)ry” is as rich as the art form itself!