vintage lucite | Bead Happily Ever After

Giveaway – Gift of the Nile Earrings

Posted on November 9, 2009 by crystal

As always, thank you so much for your warm and witty comments last week! You had me pretty hungry as I read some of those menus you’d request from a personal chef! I guess most of us will never have that luxury, but it sure is fun to imagine, don’t you think? 🙂

For this week’s giveaway, I have a flirty pair of dangle earrings! I am simply crazy about the vintage lucite beads that I used in this design! They’re a mouth-watering shade of bright blue – somewhere between lapis and cobalt. It’s that deep, rich blue that you might see in an ancient exhibit at the art museum. Cleopatra and King Tut loved cobalt blue, you know! 😉

Gift of the Nile Earrings

These earrings feature vintage coin shaped beads that have flecks of glittery gold under their surface. Then there are cone shapes – which have a lustrous iridescence that shimmers when they catch the light! For accents, I’ve added tiny gold-colored Czech glass faceted rounds and gold-plated bead caps. The artisan crafted, petal-shaped earwires are 14k gold filled.

Overall measurement is a very showy 2-3/4″ in length.

Contest Rules and How To Enter

This week, you will have up to three (3) chances to enter the weekly giveaway.

You can choose any or all of the following 3 ways to enter:

1st Chance:

Leave a comment answering the first weekly question:

How has your life most benefited from the Internet?

2nd Chance:

Leave a comment answering the second weekly question:

What do you do to relax and unwind after a tough day? 😉

3rd Chance:

Leave a comment on any other post except this one. You can do it today or another day this week. You do not have to tell me that you left a “comment” on another post. The blog program shows me all of the “comments” as they come in – so I do not miss any of them! 😀

The Boring Stuff . . .
You must be 18 yrs. old. After the completion of the contest, the name of the winner will be listed here. The winner will also be notified by email. If no valid email address is given at time of entry, or if winner fails to respond to email within 3 days from the time notification email has been sent, the win will be null and void and a new winner will be chosen. The prize will be mailed by USPS First Class Mail.

All entries must be received by 9:00 p.m. EST on 11/15/09, and the winner will be selected on or about 11/16/09.

The Allure of the Vintage Bead

Posted on June 17, 2009 by crystal

When it comes to vintage beads, I’m often asked two questions:

1. Why are vintage beads so special?

2. Where do you find them?

I’ll answer the first question today, and then answer the second in a future post.

So, why are vintage beads special?

It may sound corny, but they don’t make things like they used to! This is definitely true with beads.

Sure, mass-produced contemporary beads are pretty, but they can’t compete with vintage beads in terms of color, cut, reflective flash, and the sheer artistry of the vintage designs.

There are several reasons for this, but to put it simply – the world has changed so much. It’s no longer cost-effective for beads to be produced with the painstaking care and time-consuming methods of the past. Just ask any lampwork glass artist in today’s world if it’s easy – in the current market – to be paid a truly fair price for the time and imaginative skill that she puts into her work.

As has been the case in the manufacture of many different products over the years, there often comes a time when certain processes of production become too expensive to maintain or are found to be environmentally unfriendly. Early bead makers often used finishes and coating formulas that had to be modified for these reasons. As a result, today’s crystal beads with an aurora borealis finish, for example, simply do not have the full spectrum of color and brilliance of a vintage aurora borealis crystal, and so that adds to the value and desirability of the vintage crystal.

Vintage plastics and Lucite are cherished for the same reasons – the old methods yielded beads that are often superior to the versions created today. Sometimes it’s a minor difference, but often it’s very obvious that the vintage beads were more finely crafted and are more beautiful.

If you haven’t used vintage beads in your designs before, why not consider using some in your next project?

You might just fall in love! 🙂

Giveaway – Rose Petals Earrings

Posted on February 23, 2009 by crystal

This week’s giveaway is a fun and flirty pair of dangle earrings in shimmering rose pink. The long linear style is both feminine and flattering to the face!

The vintage lucite beads have a gorgeous matte metallic sheen and a subtle texture on their surface!

Swarovski crystals in “girly-girl” rose pink serve as sparkling accents, and all findings are sterling silver, including the earwires.

The earrings measure approximately 2-1/4” from top to bottom.

Contest Rules and How To Enter

You have up to 3 chances to win . . .

1. Leave a comment that answers the question: What is your favorite magazine? That will give you one chance to win.

2. For a second chance to win, leave a second comment that suggests a topic you’d like me to write about in a future post here on the blog.

3. For a third chance to win, leave a comment that answers the question: How long do you keep cards given to you on birthdays or holidays before throwing them away? If you don’t throw them out, what do you do with them?

You can choose any one, two, or all of the above chances to enter.

A valid email address must be given at time of entry. You must be 18 yrs. old.

The name of the winner will be listed here after the completion of the contest.

The winner will be notified by email, and the prize will be mailed by USPS First Class Mail. If no valid email address is given at time of entry, or if winner fails to respond to email within 3 days from the time notification email has been sent, the win will be null and void and a new winner will be chosen. All entries must be received by 9:00 p.m. EST on 03/01/09, and the winner will be selected on or about 03/02/09.

Thanks for participating and Good Luck to all! 🙂

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