July 2010 shopping list. This is stock that is on its way from the suppliers and it will arrive sometime in September.
Glassbeads
The chinese roundel beads from 4-10 mm in size in the most exquisite range. I bought a lot. These are proving to be some of our best sellers. I also brought round beads in glass.
Gemstone beads.
There is a host of new agate beads from Madagascar. Banded beads in soft colours up to 18 mm in size. You will love these. Stacks of great coloured lapis lazuli at a steal. Blue howlite in chunks and buttons. Quartz in facet rounds. Tumbled citrines in a very yellow crystal. Garnets in 5 and 6 mm and facceted strings.
Green garnet in good clean greens. I struggle to get good clean greens. I do not like to much black in the green garnet.
Hematite in 3, 6 and 8 mm. These will be selling for a steal. They are so inexpensive.
Howlites in different sizes.
Mookaite in soft browns
Great large moonstone rounds in larger sizes. Prices are coming down now. There is a fair amount of blues in the moonstone.
Black onyx in all sizes. 4,6, 8 10, 12. Roundels. I bought a lot of black onyx. Black onyx is so versatile. You can use them anywhere. I even got some banded onyx. You will make some designers jewellery with this.
I got some seraphinte again. I love the shiny silver bits in the beads. This is what makes gemstones so special.
Snowflake obsidian in superb round beads
Sodalite in good blues.
Zebra stone beads proved to be very difficult to find but I hunted down some fine beads in this designers stone.
Tourmaline and tourmaline coloured quartz. This last is so well done. The colours are vibrant. The larger sizes gets to be a bit garish so I stuck to the smaller sizes.
Kyanite
Amazonite
Pietersite beads in 10 mm. This is going to be great.
Sugilite cabachons in silver.
Blue lace in large round beads
Morganite
Amethyst in 8 and 10 mm
Apatite
Aventurine
Carnelian
Shell strings
I have a great surprise. I managed to hunt down the inexpensive round shell beads. This will not be in the shop long. We bought about 6-7 boxes of these in all the colours.
Coral
Coral chunks, coral chips and coral beads. All sizes at a very good price. This supplier ticked me off because he was trying to cheat me at first but I believe I got the better of him. I managed to negotiate the best price. I have about 4 boxes of coral coming. It will be a feat of coral. There are a lot of chunky coral that you can use to make great focus jewellery.
Pearls
I bought more pearls than I usually do. There are pearls in all shapes and sizes. I got small sead pearls and small ovals, thee are roundels in the best quality you will get anywhere. I got bigger round whites. Some are circled. I also bought some coloured pearls. I invested in some funky coloured pearls. This is brand new and I do not think there is anybody else in South Africa who will have this in their inventory. I also bought black pearls with half drilled holes for earrrings. I hope to increase this range in the future.
925 Jewellery
Pendants, earrings and rings in 925 silver with delicate marcasite designs.
Gemstone bullet points
You will love these new points, they are chunky with a great silver cap on the side. I have 14 different stones. There must be over 700 pieces. Then we have cabbed the bullets as well. I then have new keyrings with a new design at an absolute steal. These will be very popular for resale.
Clasps
I then stocked up on the clasps with gemstone cabachones and shell flowers. They are always very popular and I managed to negotiate an even better price on these.
Shellbearls
Shellpearls in all colous and sizes. We concentrated on the oval shapes in many new colour combinations. They will be well received.
Tigerstail
I bought 14 colours in a thickness of 0.5 and 0.38. I think I also bought some thicker tigerstail in silver for chunky beads. Let me tell you something about the tigerstail. I discovered that none of the rolls have 100 meters on them as the tags say. So to be safe we say that there is only 50 meters on a roll. But the rolls themsevels are labelled as 100 meters. Each roll have around 70 meters.
Birthstone earrings
925 earrings in all the different birtstone months.
Hotfix.
Swarovski hotfix. The swarovski hotfix is more expensive but then they are swarovski precision cut with superior glue. These will be listed soon. What are hotfix. They are glassbeads in round brilliant cut that are ironned on clothing. They make designers pieces from ordinary clothing.
Findings
I stocked up on most findings such as
Roundels in all sizes and colours
Earring hoops
Headpins
Bails
Bowtie links in metal net
Jumprings
Chain
Chain with clasp
Crimps
End cap for strings
Angel wings
Butterfly beads
Daisy roundels
Silver S clasps
Rose clasps
Key chain clasps
Barrel screw in clasp
Signoretti clasps
Bar and toggle clasps
Great new charms in cloisonne
Celtic tribal charms
Celphone slings
Bead caps in different sizes.
Horse shoe protectors
Headpin with rhinestones
As you can see there is a lot to look forward to. The new stock will be here in September.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Making Memory Wire Jewelry
Making Memory Wire Jewelry
Making jewelry is a fun hobby and for some can become a full time business. At the very least, you will be able to make gorgeous and unique jewelry to wear and give as gifts. As with any hobby, you need to start with the basics and using memory wire to make jewelry is a method that requires a bit less skill than some of the others. Memory wire jewelry does not need a clasp or fancy crimping and one size fits all.
Memory wire is flexible wire that springs back to it's original form when not stretched - kind of like a slinky. It comes in necklace, bracelet and ring sizes. You simply cut off a section to the size you want and string on beads!
Of course, the first step (and the most fun) is to decide on the beads! Some people are inspired by artisan made lampwork beads, others by gemstones beads and still others by the vast array of crystal beads. Some like to use all of the above in their beaded jewelry designs! You are only limited by your own imagination and there is no "wrong" combination of beads so choose the beads that "speak" to you and incorporate them into your design.
To make beaded jewelry using memory wire, you will need:
1. A tool that cuts the memory wire (can be found in any bead supply store - don't use regular wire cutters as you will soon ruin them!)
2. The memory wire (sold in packages where you can get 2 or 3 pieces of jewelry out of each package)
3. Needle nose pliers
4. The beads!
Step 1 - Cut the memory wire to size. For a bracelet or ring, decide how many times you want it to wrap around your wrist or finger - wrap the wire right around your own wrist and cut to size. A necklace can only go around your neck once (well, you could probably make it to wrap around a couple times but I think it would be hard to get on and off). You want to size it so that the ends overlap a bit.
Step 2 - Now you need to close up one end so that the beads don't slide off. Take the tip of your needle nose pliers and place them right at the very end of the wire. Now take the wire in your other hand and bend it around the pliers. The wire is pretty hard, so this might be difficult and yoy may have a hard time with this at first. Try practicing on some smaller pieces first until you can make a perfect little loop. Make sure the loop is closed off so no beads can escape. Don't worry - if you screw up you can just cut off the end and try again! You want the loop to be as small as possible so it doesn't detract from our design
Some people also glue on little silver end cap beads. While this looks a bit better, you run the risk of the glue not holding and all your beads sliding off. This happened to me once and is why I use the loop method. To make the loops look a bit snazzier, I just dangle a bead from them!
Step 3 - String the beads! If you are making a necklace that has a certain design or focal piece in the middle, you will have to be careful to space the beads exactly so that they are symmetrical and the focal piece is in the exact middle.
Step 4 - Close the other end. Using the method in step 2, close up the other end and you are done!
At Silver Hills Gems we always try and stock a good supply of memory wire. You can just punch in the word 'memory' in the quick search block. I have 2 sizes of memory wire in the new lot of stock that will be here in about 30 days. Bracelet size 60 mm and necklace size. The price is really inexpensive.
Making jewelry is a fun hobby and for some can become a full time business. At the very least, you will be able to make gorgeous and unique jewelry to wear and give as gifts. As with any hobby, you need to start with the basics and using memory wire to make jewelry is a method that requires a bit less skill than some of the others. Memory wire jewelry does not need a clasp or fancy crimping and one size fits all.
Memory wire is flexible wire that springs back to it's original form when not stretched - kind of like a slinky. It comes in necklace, bracelet and ring sizes. You simply cut off a section to the size you want and string on beads!
Of course, the first step (and the most fun) is to decide on the beads! Some people are inspired by artisan made lampwork beads, others by gemstones beads and still others by the vast array of crystal beads. Some like to use all of the above in their beaded jewelry designs! You are only limited by your own imagination and there is no "wrong" combination of beads so choose the beads that "speak" to you and incorporate them into your design.
To make beaded jewelry using memory wire, you will need:
1. A tool that cuts the memory wire (can be found in any bead supply store - don't use regular wire cutters as you will soon ruin them!)
2. The memory wire (sold in packages where you can get 2 or 3 pieces of jewelry out of each package)
3. Needle nose pliers
4. The beads!
Step 1 - Cut the memory wire to size. For a bracelet or ring, decide how many times you want it to wrap around your wrist or finger - wrap the wire right around your own wrist and cut to size. A necklace can only go around your neck once (well, you could probably make it to wrap around a couple times but I think it would be hard to get on and off). You want to size it so that the ends overlap a bit.
Step 2 - Now you need to close up one end so that the beads don't slide off. Take the tip of your needle nose pliers and place them right at the very end of the wire. Now take the wire in your other hand and bend it around the pliers. The wire is pretty hard, so this might be difficult and yoy may have a hard time with this at first. Try practicing on some smaller pieces first until you can make a perfect little loop. Make sure the loop is closed off so no beads can escape. Don't worry - if you screw up you can just cut off the end and try again! You want the loop to be as small as possible so it doesn't detract from our design
Some people also glue on little silver end cap beads. While this looks a bit better, you run the risk of the glue not holding and all your beads sliding off. This happened to me once and is why I use the loop method. To make the loops look a bit snazzier, I just dangle a bead from them!
Step 3 - String the beads! If you are making a necklace that has a certain design or focal piece in the middle, you will have to be careful to space the beads exactly so that they are symmetrical and the focal piece is in the exact middle.
Step 4 - Close the other end. Using the method in step 2, close up the other end and you are done!
At Silver Hills Gems we always try and stock a good supply of memory wire. You can just punch in the word 'memory' in the quick search block. I have 2 sizes of memory wire in the new lot of stock that will be here in about 30 days. Bracelet size 60 mm and necklace size. The price is really inexpensive.
Some features of the website
Some features of the website
When you get to the page www.bronnrocks.com/catalog you will notice the following words
Quality beads and findings that you can afford!
Welcome all beaders and DIY jewellery artist! Please log yourself in Please join our exciting group by creating an account?
When you register you will receive a gift voucher that you can spend on any item or items in our online shop. So go ahead and register right away, an email will be send to you with the voucher number.
Scott str 74, Hartbeespoortdam, South Africa. Our physical shop is open seven days a week from 8h30 to 16h30. Sundays we open at 10h00. Tel 012 2531396 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 012 2531396 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
A low order fee of R150.00 will be added to the subtotal for all orders that are less than R300. To get our low listed price on the final invoice at checkout you must buy for an amount of R300 or more.
On this page you can log in or create an account. Why should I create an account. You will receive a R100 voucher that you can spend at your will. You will only be able to use this voucher once. You will also get on our mailing list and receive notice of our offers and updates.
Once you are logged in you will see all the items that you have previously entered into your shopping cart. Here is how this works. You can browze our new items and if you see something that you like you can add it to your shopping cart. When an item is added to your cart it will stay there until you remove it. We can not remove items from a shopping cart. This way you can create your own wishlist. You might receive an email from us once that offers to give you a 10% discount voucher if you finish up your order but this will only happen occasionally.
But there seems to be no products on your website. Our site is organized under 6 main headings
Finding -DIY items
Freshwater pearl strings
Swarovski components
Finished jewellery
Hartbeespoort shop
Bead strings
Everyone of these headings have subheadings up to 3 layers deep. It might take some time to get used to where all our items are listed under but once you know where they are you will find that our website is very user friendly. We have over 3000 items listed in these 6 categories.
You can choose items and add them to your cart. Once you have added your items to the cart you must open your shopping cart to adjust the quantities and remove any items that you no longer need. On the right hand side you will see a box with the totals of your cart.
There is a quick find window on the right hand side. Here you can enter key words to search for items. Once the search has been done you can add the items to your cart. You can always try different keywords. to find what you are looking for.
We enter at least ten new items everyday. Some days we do 30 to 40 items a day. This makes Silver Hills an exciting place to visit because there are always new items to look at.
Thank you for taking the time to do read this, I will add more info in a next newsletter.
When you get to the page www.bronnrocks.com/catalog you will notice the following words
Quality beads and findings that you can afford!
Welcome all beaders and DIY jewellery artist! Please log yourself in Please join our exciting group by creating an account?
When you register you will receive a gift voucher that you can spend on any item or items in our online shop. So go ahead and register right away, an email will be send to you with the voucher number.
Scott str 74, Hartbeespoortdam, South Africa. Our physical shop is open seven days a week from 8h30 to 16h30. Sundays we open at 10h00. Tel 012 2531396 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 012 2531396 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
A low order fee of R150.00 will be added to the subtotal for all orders that are less than R300. To get our low listed price on the final invoice at checkout you must buy for an amount of R300 or more.
On this page you can log in or create an account. Why should I create an account. You will receive a R100 voucher that you can spend at your will. You will only be able to use this voucher once. You will also get on our mailing list and receive notice of our offers and updates.
Once you are logged in you will see all the items that you have previously entered into your shopping cart. Here is how this works. You can browze our new items and if you see something that you like you can add it to your shopping cart. When an item is added to your cart it will stay there until you remove it. We can not remove items from a shopping cart. This way you can create your own wishlist. You might receive an email from us once that offers to give you a 10% discount voucher if you finish up your order but this will only happen occasionally.
But there seems to be no products on your website. Our site is organized under 6 main headings
Finding -DIY items
Freshwater pearl strings
Swarovski components
Finished jewellery
Hartbeespoort shop
Bead strings
Everyone of these headings have subheadings up to 3 layers deep. It might take some time to get used to where all our items are listed under but once you know where they are you will find that our website is very user friendly. We have over 3000 items listed in these 6 categories.
You can choose items and add them to your cart. Once you have added your items to the cart you must open your shopping cart to adjust the quantities and remove any items that you no longer need. On the right hand side you will see a box with the totals of your cart.
There is a quick find window on the right hand side. Here you can enter key words to search for items. Once the search has been done you can add the items to your cart. You can always try different keywords. to find what you are looking for.
We enter at least ten new items everyday. Some days we do 30 to 40 items a day. This makes Silver Hills an exciting place to visit because there are always new items to look at.
Thank you for taking the time to do read this, I will add more info in a next newsletter.
Building a solid business
Building a solid business.
Customers go through 5 different phases when they are looking to buy any product. Ons of the most important phases are the information gathering phase. People will buy from your because they think that you will meet their needs. A buying urge is usually born out of a need. Sometimes the need might be emotional. Some people need to shop to feel wanted. How can you meet a need like that. You can listen to your clients. You can make them feel wanted. Just a friendly smile. A connection is sometimes all that is needed to turn a sceptic into a loyal customer.
I have learned one thing. If you really want to succeed you must stock deeper. You need to stock more of a specific item. I have many people who buy from me who purchase one or two of a kind and I just think of how difficult they make it for themselves. You should rather buy many of one kind and instil in your customers the feeling that you can truly supply their need. My experience is that sales go down when the item is almost sold out. On the internet it is not always the case but in a physical store it is.
Service, service, service. I can not stress this enough. A business stand or fall on their service. Go out of your way to meet your customers needs. Surprise them by your service. If you can not supply them it is best to send them to someone that can supply them. These people will always remember that you have helped them and will be back to support you again and again. Stand behind your product and be always willing to take returns on your products. Be willing even to loose money to keep your name in high standing. One satisfied customer sometimes might spread your good name but an unsatisfied customer will tell 10 others.
Incentives are no replacement for poor service. Use an incentive scheme only as part of your already good serv ice.
Be willing to negotiate. In South Africa we struggle with this. I have traveled abroad often and find that in most commercial centres it is expected to bargain. Once you get the hang of it it becomes a habit. Most visitors from other places have these strange habits and it can irritate us tremendously and we often get insulting. It is a lifestyle in many places and no deal feel complete without some bargaining for people from the orient or South Europe. Let me give you a hint here. Rather than loosing cash you should give them something to make them feel good about the sale. We are always willing to give around 10% off when pushed, it always clinches the sale.
Customers go through 5 different phases when they are looking to buy any product. Ons of the most important phases are the information gathering phase. People will buy from your because they think that you will meet their needs. A buying urge is usually born out of a need. Sometimes the need might be emotional. Some people need to shop to feel wanted. How can you meet a need like that. You can listen to your clients. You can make them feel wanted. Just a friendly smile. A connection is sometimes all that is needed to turn a sceptic into a loyal customer.
I have learned one thing. If you really want to succeed you must stock deeper. You need to stock more of a specific item. I have many people who buy from me who purchase one or two of a kind and I just think of how difficult they make it for themselves. You should rather buy many of one kind and instil in your customers the feeling that you can truly supply their need. My experience is that sales go down when the item is almost sold out. On the internet it is not always the case but in a physical store it is.
Service, service, service. I can not stress this enough. A business stand or fall on their service. Go out of your way to meet your customers needs. Surprise them by your service. If you can not supply them it is best to send them to someone that can supply them. These people will always remember that you have helped them and will be back to support you again and again. Stand behind your product and be always willing to take returns on your products. Be willing even to loose money to keep your name in high standing. One satisfied customer sometimes might spread your good name but an unsatisfied customer will tell 10 others.
Incentives are no replacement for poor service. Use an incentive scheme only as part of your already good serv ice.
Be willing to negotiate. In South Africa we struggle with this. I have traveled abroad often and find that in most commercial centres it is expected to bargain. Once you get the hang of it it becomes a habit. Most visitors from other places have these strange habits and it can irritate us tremendously and we often get insulting. It is a lifestyle in many places and no deal feel complete without some bargaining for people from the orient or South Europe. Let me give you a hint here. Rather than loosing cash you should give them something to make them feel good about the sale. We are always willing to give around 10% off when pushed, it always clinches the sale.
Rewards
Silver Hills does it again. We have come up with ways to reward our loyal customers who buys from us regularly. You can now deduct 10% from the price to see what you will spend on each item when you get your reward voucher. This means that we are even more competitive than before.
We have decided to change the way that we reward the frequent shoppers amongst our clients. Our previous policy only rewarded people that spend more than R2500 before VAT in a single purchase. Many of our loyal customers do not have such a large purse to spend at any given time. It felt unfair towards them if they do not get recognition for the frequent purchases at Silver Hills Gems. One of our clients have bought from us 122 times already. That calls for reward or do you not agree.
We will now give a 10% discount to all our clients in the form of a voucher to all clients that reaches the R2500 mark and then the R5000 mark and then the R7500 mark and so on.
Installing the discount system turned out to be much harder than I thought. I tried 3 different systems and the 3rd one worked the best but it has some quirks. See the letter below.
Please read your birthday wish email because I also have a birthday voucher hidden in the birthday wish email.
How does the new system work. Every 1st or 2nd of the month we draw a report that gives us the totals spend by all our clients. We then send out vouchers to all those that have qualified for a voucher. If you qualify in the first week of the month we will only send you the reward voucher in the beginning of the next month.
The best way to use the voucher to avoid any complications is to make all your changes to your order in the shopping cart. You must then proceed to the checkout page. Here you must enter your shopping voucher number and then press the redeem voucher button. Your voucher will now show as deducted in the totals. Please pick your postage option and then your payment option. Go directly to the vonfirm order button and confirm your order. If the voucher kicks out any funny figures we will correct it on our end and send you the correct figures. We are still figuring out how the voucher is suppose to be working. Please bear with us.
Vouchers can only be redeemed once. If you ever get a 10% discount voucher from us it would be best to use it on a larger amount for your will be only able to use it once.
We are also sending out a questionair from time to time with a 10% voucher and this letter is aimed at improving our services to you.
You can send us a quick email at any time to enquire on the total you must spend to get to the reward voucher total. Do it today and you might be surprised.
Many of you have received a letter like this below
Silver Hills Gems just want to say thank you for your continued support.
As a sign of our thanks we will be issuing a voucher to you shortly after your next purchase.
If you spend another R? before VAT and postage, (subtotal) you will receive an email from us with a voucher for R250
All previous discount systems will no longer be honoured at Silver Hills. We now work on the new Voucher system exclusively. Reward vouchers will only be issued at the beginning of every month.
Vouchers that had not been redeemed during a given month will be forfeited.
The new reward came into being on the 10th of June 2010.
We hope to be your preferred supplier for years to come.
Gerdus and team.
How do I redeem this awaited voucher.
1.Place your items in the shopping basket and proceed to checkout.
2.You will see a window where you must ente r the voucher code.
3.Press the redeem voucher button.
4. Pick your preferred method of postage and payment
5.Then press Confirm order and Viola your discount will be applied to that order.
Known bugs on the system.
1.The amount must be higher than R300 after the voucher has been deducted. So please make your order for an amount of at least R550.00 otherwise the R150.00 low order fee will be applied.
2.Sometimes the voucher is deducted double from the checkout page but not so on the final invoice. Please check your figures before you submit the voucher and if the voucher gets deducted double, do not get too excited because it will only show as being deducted once on our side.
3.If you submit alternative shipping method after having made your selection it might mess up the totals as well. It is best to exit the website by logging off and logging on again and starting over. If you do not log off, it will remember the voucher in the cache file.
4.If the voucher struggles to load you must submit it a second time.
5.If you get an error message your voucher might have expired. Remember it is just for that given month.
6.You might also get an error message if that voucher has already been used for that email address.
7.Please do not change quantities on the checkout page but rather go back to the shopping cart and change your quantities there and then proceed to checkout and apply your voucher as stipulated above.
We have decided to change the way that we reward the frequent shoppers amongst our clients. Our previous policy only rewarded people that spend more than R2500 before VAT in a single purchase. Many of our loyal customers do not have such a large purse to spend at any given time. It felt unfair towards them if they do not get recognition for the frequent purchases at Silver Hills Gems. One of our clients have bought from us 122 times already. That calls for reward or do you not agree.
We will now give a 10% discount to all our clients in the form of a voucher to all clients that reaches the R2500 mark and then the R5000 mark and then the R7500 mark and so on.
Installing the discount system turned out to be much harder than I thought. I tried 3 different systems and the 3rd one worked the best but it has some quirks. See the letter below.
Please read your birthday wish email because I also have a birthday voucher hidden in the birthday wish email.
How does the new system work. Every 1st or 2nd of the month we draw a report that gives us the totals spend by all our clients. We then send out vouchers to all those that have qualified for a voucher. If you qualify in the first week of the month we will only send you the reward voucher in the beginning of the next month.
The best way to use the voucher to avoid any complications is to make all your changes to your order in the shopping cart. You must then proceed to the checkout page. Here you must enter your shopping voucher number and then press the redeem voucher button. Your voucher will now show as deducted in the totals. Please pick your postage option and then your payment option. Go directly to the vonfirm order button and confirm your order. If the voucher kicks out any funny figures we will correct it on our end and send you the correct figures. We are still figuring out how the voucher is suppose to be working. Please bear with us.
Vouchers can only be redeemed once. If you ever get a 10% discount voucher from us it would be best to use it on a larger amount for your will be only able to use it once.
We are also sending out a questionair from time to time with a 10% voucher and this letter is aimed at improving our services to you.
You can send us a quick email at any time to enquire on the total you must spend to get to the reward voucher total. Do it today and you might be surprised.
Many of you have received a letter like this below
Silver Hills Gems just want to say thank you for your continued support.
As a sign of our thanks we will be issuing a voucher to you shortly after your next purchase.
If you spend another R? before VAT and postage, (subtotal) you will receive an email from us with a voucher for R250
All previous discount systems will no longer be honoured at Silver Hills. We now work on the new Voucher system exclusively. Reward vouchers will only be issued at the beginning of every month.
Vouchers that had not been redeemed during a given month will be forfeited.
The new reward came into being on the 10th of June 2010.
We hope to be your preferred supplier for years to come.
Gerdus and team.
How do I redeem this awaited voucher.
1.Place your items in the shopping basket and proceed to checkout.
2.You will see a window where you must ente r the voucher code.
3.Press the redeem voucher button.
4. Pick your preferred method of postage and payment
5.Then press Confirm order and Viola your discount will be applied to that order.
Known bugs on the system.
1.The amount must be higher than R300 after the voucher has been deducted. So please make your order for an amount of at least R550.00 otherwise the R150.00 low order fee will be applied.
2.Sometimes the voucher is deducted double from the checkout page but not so on the final invoice. Please check your figures before you submit the voucher and if the voucher gets deducted double, do not get too excited because it will only show as being deducted once on our side.
3.If you submit alternative shipping method after having made your selection it might mess up the totals as well. It is best to exit the website by logging off and logging on again and starting over. If you do not log off, it will remember the voucher in the cache file.
4.If the voucher struggles to load you must submit it a second time.
5.If you get an error message your voucher might have expired. Remember it is just for that given month.
6.You might also get an error message if that voucher has already been used for that email address.
7.Please do not change quantities on the checkout page but rather go back to the shopping cart and change your quantities there and then proceed to checkout and apply your voucher as stipulated above.
Glass Beadmaking
Glass Beadmaking
The technology for glass beadmaking is among the oldest human arts, dating back 3,000 years (Dubin, 1987). Glass beads have been dated back to at least Roman times. Perhaps the earliest glass-like beads were Egyptian faience beads, a form of clay bead with a self-forming vitreous coating.
Common types of glass bead manufacture
Glass beads are usually categorized by the method used to manipulate the glass - wound beads, drawn beads, and molded beads. There are composites, such as millefiori beads, where cross-sections of a drawn glass cane are applied to a wound glass core. A very minor industry in blown glass beads also existed in 19th century Venice and France.
Wound glass beads
Probably the earliest beads of true glass were made by the winding method. Glass at a temperature high enough to make it workable, or "ductile", is laid down or wound around a steel wire or mandrel coated in a clay slip called "bead release." The wound bead, while still hot, may be further shaped by manipulating with graphite, wood, stainless steel or marble tools and paddles. This process is called marvering, originating from the French word "marver" which translates to "marble". It can also be pressed into a mold in its molten state. While still hot, or after re-heating, the surface of the bead may be decorated with fine rods called stringers of colored glass. These are a type of lampwork beads.
Drawn glass beads
The drawing of glass is also very ancient. Evidence of large-scale drawn-glass beadmaking has been found by archeologists in India, at sites like Arekamedu dating to the 2nd century CE. The small drawn beads made by that industry have been called Indo-Pacific beads, because they may have been the single most widely traded item in history—found from the islands of the Pacific to Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa.[citation needed]
There are several methods for making drawn beads, but they all involve pulling a strand out of a gather of glass in such a way as to incorporate a bubble in the center of the strand to serve as the hole in the bead. In Arekamedu this was accomplished by inserting a hollow metal tube into the ball of hot glass and pulling the glass strand out around it, to form a continuous glass tube. In the Venetian bead industry, molten glass was gathered on the end of a tool called a puntile ("puntying up"), a bubble was incorporated into the center of a gather of molten glass, and a second puntile was attached before stretching the gather with its internal bubble into a long cane. The pulling was a skilled process, and canes were reportedly drawn to lengths up to 200 feet (61 m) long. The drawn tube was then chopped, producing individual drawn beads from its slices. The resulting beads were cooked or rolled in hot sand to round the edges without melting the holes closed; were sieved into sizes; and, usually, strung onto hanks for sale.
The most common type of modern glass bead is the seed bead, a small type of bead typically less than 6 mm, traditionally monochrome, and manufactured in very large quantities.They are a modern example of mechanically-drawn glass beads. The micro-bead or "seed bead", are so called due to their tiny, regular size. Modern seed beads are extruded by machine and some, such as Miyuki delicas, look like small tubes.
Molded beads
Pressed or molded beads are associated with higher labour costs. These are made in the Czech republic. Thick rods are heated to molten and fed into a complex apparatus that stamps the glass, including a needle that pierces a hole. The beads again are rolled in hot sand to remove flashing and soften seam lines. By making canes (the glass rods fed into the machine) striped or otherwise patterned, the resulting beads can be more elaborately colored than seed beads. One `feed' of a hot rod might result in 10–20 beads, and a single operator can make thousands in a day.
The Bohemian glass industry was known for its ability to copy more expensive beads, and produced molded glass "lion's teeth", "coral", and "shells", which were popular in the 19th and early 20th century Africa trade.
Lampwork beads
A variant of the wound glass beadmaking technique, and a labor intensive one, is what is traditionally called lampworking. In the Venetian industry, where very large quantities of beads were produced in the 19th century for the African trade, the core of a decorated bead was produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures, a large-scale industrial process dominated by men. The delicate multicolored decoration was then added by people, mostly women, working at home using an oil lamp or spirit lamp to re-heat the cores and the fine wisps of colored glass used to decorate them. These workers were paid on a piecework basis for the resulting lampwork beads. Modern lampwork beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.
Modern beadmakers use single or dual fuel torches, so `flameworked' is replacing the older term. Unlike a metalworking torch, or burner as some people in the trade prefer to call them, a flameworking torch is usually "surface mix"; that is, the oxygen and fuel (typically propane, though natural gas is also common) is mixed after it comes out of the torch, resulting in a quieter tool and less dirty flame. Also unlike metalworking, the torch is fixed, and the bead and glass move in the flame. American torches are usually mounted at about a 45 degree angle, a result of scientific glassblowing heritage; Japanese torches are recessed, and have flames coming straight up, like a large bunsen burner; Czech production torches tend to be positioned nearly horizontally.
Dichroic glass beads
Increasingly, dichroic glass is being used to produce high-end art beads. Dichroic glass has a thin film of metal fused to the surface of the glass, resulting in a surface that has a metallic sheen that changes between two colors when viewed at different angles. Beads can be pressed, or made with traditional lampworking techniques. If the glass is kept in the flame too long, the metallic coating will turn silver and burn off.
Furnace glass
Italian glass blowing techniques such as latticinio and zanfirico are adapted here to make beads. Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with linear and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture.
Lead crystal
Lead crystal beads are machine cut and polished. Their high lead content makes them sparkle more than other glass, but also makes them inherently fragile.
Other methods for making glass beads
Lead glass (for neon signs) and, especially borosilicate is available in tubing, making true blown beads possible. (Soda-lime glass can be blown at the end of a metal tube, or, more commonly wound on the mandrel to make a hollow bead, but the former is unusual and the latter not a true mouth-blown technique.) In addition, beads can be fused from sheet glass or using ground glass.
Modern Ghana has an industry in beads molded from powdered glass. Also in Africa, Kiffa beads are made in Mauritania, historically by women, using powdered glass that the beadmaker usually grinds herself from commercially available glass seed beads and recycled glass.
Molded ground glass, if painted into the mold, is called pate de verre, and the technique can be used to make beads, though pendants and cabochons are more typical. Lampwork (and other) beads can be painted with glass paints.
The technology for glass beadmaking is among the oldest human arts, dating back 3,000 years (Dubin, 1987). Glass beads have been dated back to at least Roman times. Perhaps the earliest glass-like beads were Egyptian faience beads, a form of clay bead with a self-forming vitreous coating.
Common types of glass bead manufacture
Glass beads are usually categorized by the method used to manipulate the glass - wound beads, drawn beads, and molded beads. There are composites, such as millefiori beads, where cross-sections of a drawn glass cane are applied to a wound glass core. A very minor industry in blown glass beads also existed in 19th century Venice and France.
Wound glass beads
Probably the earliest beads of true glass were made by the winding method. Glass at a temperature high enough to make it workable, or "ductile", is laid down or wound around a steel wire or mandrel coated in a clay slip called "bead release." The wound bead, while still hot, may be further shaped by manipulating with graphite, wood, stainless steel or marble tools and paddles. This process is called marvering, originating from the French word "marver" which translates to "marble". It can also be pressed into a mold in its molten state. While still hot, or after re-heating, the surface of the bead may be decorated with fine rods called stringers of colored glass. These are a type of lampwork beads.
Drawn glass beads
The drawing of glass is also very ancient. Evidence of large-scale drawn-glass beadmaking has been found by archeologists in India, at sites like Arekamedu dating to the 2nd century CE. The small drawn beads made by that industry have been called Indo-Pacific beads, because they may have been the single most widely traded item in history—found from the islands of the Pacific to Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa.[citation needed]
There are several methods for making drawn beads, but they all involve pulling a strand out of a gather of glass in such a way as to incorporate a bubble in the center of the strand to serve as the hole in the bead. In Arekamedu this was accomplished by inserting a hollow metal tube into the ball of hot glass and pulling the glass strand out around it, to form a continuous glass tube. In the Venetian bead industry, molten glass was gathered on the end of a tool called a puntile ("puntying up"), a bubble was incorporated into the center of a gather of molten glass, and a second puntile was attached before stretching the gather with its internal bubble into a long cane. The pulling was a skilled process, and canes were reportedly drawn to lengths up to 200 feet (61 m) long. The drawn tube was then chopped, producing individual drawn beads from its slices. The resulting beads were cooked or rolled in hot sand to round the edges without melting the holes closed; were sieved into sizes; and, usually, strung onto hanks for sale.
The most common type of modern glass bead is the seed bead, a small type of bead typically less than 6 mm, traditionally monochrome, and manufactured in very large quantities.They are a modern example of mechanically-drawn glass beads. The micro-bead or "seed bead", are so called due to their tiny, regular size. Modern seed beads are extruded by machine and some, such as Miyuki delicas, look like small tubes.
Molded beads
Pressed or molded beads are associated with higher labour costs. These are made in the Czech republic. Thick rods are heated to molten and fed into a complex apparatus that stamps the glass, including a needle that pierces a hole. The beads again are rolled in hot sand to remove flashing and soften seam lines. By making canes (the glass rods fed into the machine) striped or otherwise patterned, the resulting beads can be more elaborately colored than seed beads. One `feed' of a hot rod might result in 10–20 beads, and a single operator can make thousands in a day.
The Bohemian glass industry was known for its ability to copy more expensive beads, and produced molded glass "lion's teeth", "coral", and "shells", which were popular in the 19th and early 20th century Africa trade.
Lampwork beads
A variant of the wound glass beadmaking technique, and a labor intensive one, is what is traditionally called lampworking. In the Venetian industry, where very large quantities of beads were produced in the 19th century for the African trade, the core of a decorated bead was produced from molten glass at furnace temperatures, a large-scale industrial process dominated by men. The delicate multicolored decoration was then added by people, mostly women, working at home using an oil lamp or spirit lamp to re-heat the cores and the fine wisps of colored glass used to decorate them. These workers were paid on a piecework basis for the resulting lampwork beads. Modern lampwork beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.
Modern beadmakers use single or dual fuel torches, so `flameworked' is replacing the older term. Unlike a metalworking torch, or burner as some people in the trade prefer to call them, a flameworking torch is usually "surface mix"; that is, the oxygen and fuel (typically propane, though natural gas is also common) is mixed after it comes out of the torch, resulting in a quieter tool and less dirty flame. Also unlike metalworking, the torch is fixed, and the bead and glass move in the flame. American torches are usually mounted at about a 45 degree angle, a result of scientific glassblowing heritage; Japanese torches are recessed, and have flames coming straight up, like a large bunsen burner; Czech production torches tend to be positioned nearly horizontally.
Dichroic glass beads
Increasingly, dichroic glass is being used to produce high-end art beads. Dichroic glass has a thin film of metal fused to the surface of the glass, resulting in a surface that has a metallic sheen that changes between two colors when viewed at different angles. Beads can be pressed, or made with traditional lampworking techniques. If the glass is kept in the flame too long, the metallic coating will turn silver and burn off.
Furnace glass
Italian glass blowing techniques such as latticinio and zanfirico are adapted here to make beads. Furnace glass uses large decorated canes built up out of smaller canes, encased in clear glass and then extruded to form the beads with linear and twisting stripe patterns. No air is blown into the glass. These beads require a large scale glass furnace and annealing kiln for manufacture.
Lead crystal
Lead crystal beads are machine cut and polished. Their high lead content makes them sparkle more than other glass, but also makes them inherently fragile.
Other methods for making glass beads
Lead glass (for neon signs) and, especially borosilicate is available in tubing, making true blown beads possible. (Soda-lime glass can be blown at the end of a metal tube, or, more commonly wound on the mandrel to make a hollow bead, but the former is unusual and the latter not a true mouth-blown technique.) In addition, beads can be fused from sheet glass or using ground glass.
Modern Ghana has an industry in beads molded from powdered glass. Also in Africa, Kiffa beads are made in Mauritania, historically by women, using powdered glass that the beadmaker usually grinds herself from commercially available glass seed beads and recycled glass.
Molded ground glass, if painted into the mold, is called pate de verre, and the technique can be used to make beads, though pendants and cabochons are more typical. Lampwork (and other) beads can be painted with glass paints.
FIFA 2010 World Cup. How do I experience it?
FIFA 2010 World Cup. How do I experience it?
Last night we went to Sandton Square in Johannesburg to really experience the world cup. What an amazing experience. The square was packed with soccer madness. People were blowing vuvuzelas and waving flags. They were all singing in different languages. The Paraguay people had their funny hats on and everywhere there were Dutch people adorned in their orange colors. One guy had a suite on that was a size or two too small in orange with an aorange hat. It was so festive! We decided to have a bite to eat at one of the steakhouses. The prices were hiked up by around 40-60%. We ended up paying just over R400 for 2 plates of food. Ouch! This did not really bother me. I could have moved away from there and eat anywhere else. But I chose to eat there to drink in this atmosphere. We looked like the only Bafana Bafana supporters. There were people from every corner of the globe.
While we waited for our table we spoke to USA people who came here for the World Cup and people from England. They all love it here. When seated we had Brazilians to the one side and Argentineans on the other side. Everybody was animated and load and most were just talking soccer. I never knew the extent of this game. The table next to us stood up for a photo and posed with a guy who just walked in. He was immaculately groomed. He then went and sat at his own table. We were bursting with curiosity and asked them who he was. He turned out to be a famous ex-goalkeeper of Italy who just came for the soccer.
So what does this World Cup mean to us. It gives me pride in my nation. We belong to Africa. My forebears came here in the early 1800 and settled this land. I love South Africa. I want to add value to people that live here. The tourist will come and go but we will still be here. Did we hike up our prices? No we did not. Did I gear myself to sell stuff to the tourist? Not really. We are just off the major tourist route. Hartbeespoort does not host any team and we are more than 50 km away from the nearest stadium. Have I seen an increase in business? Not yet. Should I have marketed myself to the tourist more aggressively? Maybe
My ideas went like this. People come here to watch soccer and these people will do their shopping around the areas where they live and where they go to watch their soccer. My neighbor who runs a guest house do not have any bookings for the World Cup yet. The people who got it right and who has their shops in the right places will surely make money.
However I can tell you that my new stock has arrived and we are working in overdrive to list new items everyday. I unpacked 32 new amethyst geodes in the shop and can say that one is going to Italy. Well there is a world cup sale.
It is going to depend on you how you experience this World Cup. Go to Sandton or any other soccer centre, experience the vibe. It is here!
In life, all experiences will either make you bitter or make you better. Let us become a better nation through participation.
Last night we went to Sandton Square in Johannesburg to really experience the world cup. What an amazing experience. The square was packed with soccer madness. People were blowing vuvuzelas and waving flags. They were all singing in different languages. The Paraguay people had their funny hats on and everywhere there were Dutch people adorned in their orange colors. One guy had a suite on that was a size or two too small in orange with an aorange hat. It was so festive! We decided to have a bite to eat at one of the steakhouses. The prices were hiked up by around 40-60%. We ended up paying just over R400 for 2 plates of food. Ouch! This did not really bother me. I could have moved away from there and eat anywhere else. But I chose to eat there to drink in this atmosphere. We looked like the only Bafana Bafana supporters. There were people from every corner of the globe.
While we waited for our table we spoke to USA people who came here for the World Cup and people from England. They all love it here. When seated we had Brazilians to the one side and Argentineans on the other side. Everybody was animated and load and most were just talking soccer. I never knew the extent of this game. The table next to us stood up for a photo and posed with a guy who just walked in. He was immaculately groomed. He then went and sat at his own table. We were bursting with curiosity and asked them who he was. He turned out to be a famous ex-goalkeeper of Italy who just came for the soccer.
So what does this World Cup mean to us. It gives me pride in my nation. We belong to Africa. My forebears came here in the early 1800 and settled this land. I love South Africa. I want to add value to people that live here. The tourist will come and go but we will still be here. Did we hike up our prices? No we did not. Did I gear myself to sell stuff to the tourist? Not really. We are just off the major tourist route. Hartbeespoort does not host any team and we are more than 50 km away from the nearest stadium. Have I seen an increase in business? Not yet. Should I have marketed myself to the tourist more aggressively? Maybe
My ideas went like this. People come here to watch soccer and these people will do their shopping around the areas where they live and where they go to watch their soccer. My neighbor who runs a guest house do not have any bookings for the World Cup yet. The people who got it right and who has their shops in the right places will surely make money.
However I can tell you that my new stock has arrived and we are working in overdrive to list new items everyday. I unpacked 32 new amethyst geodes in the shop and can say that one is going to Italy. Well there is a world cup sale.
It is going to depend on you how you experience this World Cup. Go to Sandton or any other soccer centre, experience the vibe. It is here!
In life, all experiences will either make you bitter or make you better. Let us become a better nation through participation.
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