Wrappings

'Tis the season to think about wrappings. I've noted people in stores picking out wrapping paper and ribbons for holiday packages and see that celophane tape is in big demand. I wish I could say I was close enough with my shopping to think about that kind of wrapping. Unfortunately, I'm still thinking about wrapping gemstones in preparation for their later wrapping as gifts.

I was pleased to find that Magpie Gemstones could save me some time if I purchased Moldavite stones. These come already wrapped in sterling silver - what could be simpler than to put these on a chain, leather or neckwire? The moldavite comes in an array of intriguing shapes that make these pendants even more interesting.

If you would prefer to wrap your own cabs, I suggest you step into the fire and try a Mexican Fire Agate. These beauties are a favorite of many and you'll want to grab them quickly for wrapping with copper or silver wire. I like to peruse the various online jewelry venues such as Etsy and Artfire to garner new ideas for wrapping cabs.

If you would rather try your hand with biolettes, Szarka shows us how to wrap one in a video at the following link:

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/how_to_wire_wrap_a_brio.html. When I grow up, I want my wrappings to look just like hers. Magpie Gemstones has even offered us some slightly scratched briolettes to try. They are at 50% off!

It seemed as though the phone company was trying to wrap up or perhaps hold up our business this week when our phones and thus our internet went down. I guess it was a black Friday special, but we really didn't want this time off. We're happily working again after several days without service and apologize if this caused any problems in our ability to serve you.

Let us know what you are wrapping up in holiday gifts by showing us your pretties made with stones from us. We definitely enjoy showing these off for you in our Client's Blog at http://www.turquoisemagpie.blogspot.com/

. . . wrapping and mailing gemstones to you, we are Magpie Gemstones

Karen Meador, writer

www.dreamcatcherranch.net/designs

Thankful

Have you been to the grocery store in the past few days and tried to get down the turkey isle? I don't know when I've seen so many people digging in the frozen foods before. I'm really glad I purchased my turkey a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't, I suggest you eat ham on Thanksgiving Day.

My grocery trip made me very glad that I don't have to fight other jewelry designers to get my beads from Magpie Gemstones like you have to fight for a turkey at the grocery store. I like going online and picking the gemstones out at my leisure. I'm wondering if next year the company could offer turkeys that way.

As I did that leisurely online shoppping with Magpie this week, I became focused on greens.

I hope you, too, noticed the gorgeous and rare gaspeite cabs that are available. The colors are just right and I'm thankful they're not too bright. The mottled tones can be complemented by a number of other beads. Now the question remains as to whether the gaspeite cabs should be wire wrapped in sterling silver or copper. Hmmm . . .

The other green that I especially like in the online store is aventurine. Look at the carving of an owl and a leaf below and think about the various ways they can be used in designs. "Whooooo" wouldn't want an owl in such a great color? I'm thankful to have all these green choices.

Speaking of choices, if you have an online store or try to guide customers to your products through the internet, I'll bet you would enjoy the articles Magpie has available about this topic. The following link will get you started with the first part of an article written by Szarka. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/secretsintro.html I'm thankful that this type of great information is readily available at Magpie Gemstones in the "Just for You" section.

As we think back over the year since last Thanksgiving, we realize that it really IS a time to be thankful for a great business supported by customers like you.

. . . thankful for our many blessings, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Karen Meador, Magpie writer, www.dreamcatcherranch.net/designs

Findings

Today, I wanted to mention one of the "findings" that I discovered when I first started shopping with Magpie Gemstones. One of my favorite things about the companies' available products are the copper findings that I can always order. A few of these are pictured here and the website shows you so many more. I don't know about you, but I find it really nice to have so many different choices in copper.

You could discover a finding of your own if you ventured out to visit with Kateri at the Dallas Gem and Mineral Show in Mesquite, Texas, November 19-10. You can find more information about this at the following: http://www.dallasgemandmineral.org/gem_and_mineral_show.dwt She will have plenty of beads and I'll bet it will be more fun at this show than shopping at the mall.

Another great finding on the website is the video owner Szarka created for us showing how to do border wraps on cabachons. She makes it look pretty easy and I find that her method works great. Why don't you give it a try. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/roundborder.html

By the way, did you find time last week to look at the information we posted regarding creating business policies for wholesale customers? http://www.magpiegemstones.com/contract__consignment.html I hope that it was helpful and provided you with food for thought. I find that I need to have some policies in place to be consistent with all my wholesale customers.

. . . hoping to "find" you enjoying your beads from us, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Coming Together

This is the time of the year when friends, family and groups we work with are planning how they will come together to rejoice in the season. It's a fairly peaceful time at Magpie Gemstones when the shows and visits to Canada are over for the year and everyone is at home. Coming together means time to reflect, drink lots of coffee and appreciate our companies' super customers.

It's also a great time to dig into the beads and see what beauties we've yet to offer you. Although we continually add beads each day, there are always more that immerge. Where do they all come from? Oh yes, I do remember those hundreds of pounds of beads in boxes that arrived a few months back. I'm particularly enamored with the three colors of Kiwi that went into the store this week. Look at the rich colors on all of these! I just ordered a number of new beads strands for myself on Friday, but (note to self) I must go back and order Kiwi.

I hope that your designs for the holiday are all coming together. Whether you string, work with wire or hammer metal, it's a great time to share your talents. Your talents and our beads should come together nicely in those designs.

Some of you have queried about soldering and we have a new article on that subject. It can be found at

http://www.magpiegemstones.com/soldering_jewelry_101.html. Soldering, of course, is a way to help sheet metal or wire "come together". This little article doesn't tell you how to solder, but rather suggests the materials and tools you need for doing so. I wrote Soldering 101 as an introduction to the technique and hope you find it useful.

. . . coming together to serve you, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Disguises

This is the time of the year for disguises. I don't know if you will receive this blog entry before or after Halloween, but either way I'm wondering. Are you reading this while you eat Halloween candy? Whether it's leftover candy or you find yourself eating the good stuff before the date, Halloween candy is hard to resist. Unfortunately, for some of us, extra pounds are disguised as seemingly harmless goodies.

Of course there are other disguises this time of the year. Some children dress in costumes while parents pretend they are just disguised because the kids wanted them to be. Do you really believe that? I think the parents just disguise the fun they are having.

Magpie Gemstones even got into the spirit this year and offered specials on certain orange and black gemstones. I wasn't fooled at all by this. They can call it a Halloween special, but it's simply a good deal disguised as something else.

If you don't need orange or black, perhaps you would enjoy grabbing something in green. Some unikite beads just went into the online store and I'm really pleased to see the enticing shapes. Not only are there some gorgeous faceted stones, you can also find several types of large hole beads for your designs. I don't know about you, but I really like a bead that I don't have to struggle with to put on wire. These unikite beads look like winners to me.

This week finds Magpie owner, Szarka, and the littlest Magpie back home from their trip to visit family in Canada. There's no disguising the fact that we are all glad to have them back. It's fun to get away, but even better to get back home.

I hope that this Fall season rich with beautiful colors finds you making beautiful jewelry. We can't disguise the sense of accomplishment you likely get from this or the joy you can give others when they receive one of your gems.

. . . never disguising the quality of our stones, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Gem or Pearl?

Would you rather be a gem or a pearl? I know of people who use both of these terms to describe others and I've wondered if there is any difference in what they mean. I've been called a gem before, but never a pearl. Does that mean I'm not pure enough to be a pearl? Perhaps we shouldn't even think about that. Moving on . . .

I can tell you that Magpie Gemstones does have pearls as well as gems. Have you looked in the pearl section of the online offering lately? If not, I think you would be amazed by the plethora of offerings from which you can choose.  Here's the problem. I can't decide which ones I need. Do I want the copper baroque rondells or the pink baroque rice pearls. Perhaps I should go with the cream baroque round pearls. I know! At these prices, I'll just get them all! Since I'm a gem, don't you think I deserve pearls?

Speaking of gems . . . have you noticed the wide use of Magpie Gemstones' beads shown by innovative designers on the Client's Blog? I wish I could show you all of these, but today I'm letting Jill White's piece represent the others. You can see the full showing of client's pieces at this address http://turquoisemagpie.blogspot.com/

Whether I'm using gems or pearls, I often have trouble deciding on the appropriate length for necklaces. This week, I wrote a little tutorial for you on how to make necklace extenders. These have saved my day several times and provide options for changing the length of a piece without having to restring it. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/how_to_make_extenders.html

By the way, a Magpie Gem (Kateri) will be in Austin at the gem and mineral show next weekend, October 21-23 at the Palmer Events Auditorium. For more information about this show, you can check the following address: http://www.austingemandmineral.org/. Kateri promises to bring both gems and pearls.

We hope you are currently enjoying this Fall season and weather you are a gem or a pearl, you are appreciate your products from Magpie Gemstones.

. . . providing you the best in both gems and pearls, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Time to Bead

I always enjoy the beginning of Fall and the changing of the leaves is a big reminder that I should be planning ahead for Christmas shows and gifts. I've got to carve out even more time to bead. Luckily, Magpie Gemstones allows me to get the beads I need quite quickly so I can keep my momentum going.

New pendants went into the online store this week and I'm thinking just how quickly I can make these into beautiful necklaces. The two shown here are abalone and shell inlaid pendants all set to hang on a chain, leather or bead strand. People seem to love these year round and they come to us at a good price from Magpie.

I'm seeing a strong leather bracelet trend this year and was pleased to find these flourite big hole beads in stock at Magpie. I don't know about you, but I used to find it difficult to gather beads to go on leather. The holes tended to be too small, but these are great and the colors are nice also. I can use the larger gauge wire with these and I'm also thinking about stringing them on leather with knots between each bead. There are so many possibilities.. . how can I decide?

Do you enjoy taking jewelry design classes? Perhaps you already do some teaching. I asked readers what they look for in a good teacher and put the results of their answers (and a few thoughts of my own) into this week's featured article. You can find my writing titled "Teaching Jewelry Making Classes" at the following address: http://www.magpiegemstones.com/teaching_jewelry_making.html There's nothing like an inspiring class to provide ideas and encourage you to find time to bead.

Don't forget to look for Kateri in Victoria, Texas October 14-16 at the Victoria Gem and Mineral Show. This is being held at the Victoria Community Center. We've found this to be a great show and hope that if you are in the area, you'll drop by and say hello. Just think of all those beads she will have at the show that you can touch, take home and then work up for yourself.

By the way, if you find thing getting in your way when it's time to bead just wear that facial expression that alerts others that you really NEED to bead. Beading makes me a nicer person!

. . . providing gems for your time to bead, we are Magpie Gemstones.

On the Road Again

Did you ever feel like you just couldn't quite keep up? I reminds me of an old joke about a baseball game that asks "who's on first?" It's been that kind of week at Magpie Gemstones where you wondered why someone was packing the car, where the show van was headed and I hoped I knew where I was supposed to be. Luckily, everyone knew just what they should be doing and it seems to have all worked out fine. Here's the scoop: Szarka and daughter are driving to Canada to visit family, Kateria just finished a bead show for the Hill Country Bead Society retreat, I just taught two classes at the same retreat and in between we took and filled your orders. Why, we looked like a well-oiled machine! Magpie Gemstones took care of all the tasks.

One of the joys of having an online business comes from the ability to continue functions as long as you can access the internet. Magpie Gemstones makes sure there is someone available to package and mail orders that come through no matter what other tasks others are undertaking away from the bead stock.

Speaking of the beads, did you see the new saphires that went in the store this week? If you have been reading this blog very long, I'll bet you have figured out that blue is one of my favorite colors and these blues are exceptional. I'm also excited about the Amber cabs that are now available. Take a peek at the ones shown here and know there are several more sizes and colors available.

While we've been on the road and working, we've also been thinking about you and the questions you send our way. Some of you are concerned about how to sell your jewelry and we have a new free article available to help you alleviate that concern. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/how_to_sell_your_jewelry.html

If you would like to be "on the road again", join Kateria in Temple, Texas at the Tri-City Gem and Mineral Show, October 8-9. This will be at the Mayborn Center. Be sure to tell her you read about the show on this blog. Maybe I'll get a pat on the back for that!

. . . on the road again and at the computer for you, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Meetups

Do you "meetup"? When I first encountered Magpie Gemstones, owner Szarka talked about meetups and I thought that was just her Canadian adaptation of some other word. Then I learned that meetups are a good thing.

Sometimes people bring new beads to a meetup and query how others think they might use them in designs. It's a great way to get ideas and gather enthusiasm for a project. For example, have you seen the fetish necklaces at Magpie Gemstones? I've gathered all manner of ideas for how to use the fetishes from the necklaces for new designs. One year a meetup buddy suggested I use them for key fob embellishments. I shudder to think how many of those I made and sold. Now I'm repeatedly taking them apart to make multistrand necklaces like the one shown below. Just think of all you can do with these. You can, of course, just leave the necklace alone and wear it! You'll get many comments about it! They are temporarily strung on string so one day they will probably come aprt but that's ok since then you get to make something new!

How about showing your meetup friends what you can do with beads from the multistones strand? These are rather inexpensive and can stand alone in a piece or be divied up into multiple designs. They are especially nice in earrings because the variety of stones makes the earrings quite versatile. I like to dangle several different stones from a jump ring and simply attach that to an earwire. Why not put several on a piece of chain and hang that from an earwire?

Unplanned learning also often occurs at a meetup. Perhaps one person brings a "show and tell" piece and people wonder how in the world it was created. This may lead to an impromptu explanation/demonstration of a particular weaving or other technique followed by attempts by others to recreate it. If you want, you can "meetup" with Magpie Gemstones right there at your computer and watch an online tutorial or read and view photos in one of our "how to" articles." http://www.magpiegemstones.com/tutorials_1.html Don't forget to send us a note if there's something you would like to see added to our collection of tutorials and information. We'd prefer to write about your interests rather than our own.

Meetups can be at a person's home, a craft store classroom, the corner coffee shop or most anywhere. You just need to set a date and time and invite folks. From two to 20, a meetup is a purposeful way to socialize and share ideas. Don't forget to take along some Magpie Gemstones to your next gathering! (and Szarka always brings her big cup of coffee!)

I'm still wondering if "meetup" is Canadian. What do you think?

. . . meeting up to support your bead needs, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Sale-abration

Woo Whoo! We're having a BIG SALE. I don't know what we're celebrating, but who am I to question this great phenomenon? If you're a regular Magpie Gemstones customer, you already know that ordering $200 in merchandise warrants a 20% discount. This week, however, placing an order of $100 or more gives you a 20% discount. That, of course, means we can buy $100 worth of beads for only $80! (I secretely believe that the owners of Magpie have just been working too hard and didn't realize what a great deal they're giving us. SHHH - don't tell them!)

If you want to sale-abrate with us, you might consider some of the beautiful new coral beads that just went in the online store. The colors are super!

OR . . . If you aren't in to red right now, think about these blue lapis beauties. The chips will work nicely by themselves or mixed with other beads and who wouldn't want a lapis briolette?

It doesn't even have to be a sale-abration to reap the rewards of watching Szarka's new video on how to make wire clasps and jumprings. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/wire_clasps.html

It's free! Creating your own findings is another way to save money and Szarka makes it look easy. At the very least, you should watch the video just to see just how long her finger nails have gotten!

If you happen to be around Enid, Oklahoma next weekend, please go by a say hello to Kateri. She will have Magpie Gemstones at the Enid Gem and Mineral Society show September 16-18. This is at the Oakwood Mall.

Also, she will have the beads in place at the Hill Country Bead Society Retreat, September 23-24, in Wimberley, Texas. This retreat offers multiple classes as well as excellent bead shopping at the Magpie Trunk Show. Let us know if you want further information about this event.

This Sale-abration won't last long; so it would be a good idea to hustle over to the Magpie Gemstones website before it's too late to save all this money.

. . . Sale-abrating for you, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Leaves

Writing beside my office window, I can't help noticing the strong wind pushing through the trees. The leaves are still hanging on, but it won't be long before the winds of Fall will push them off the branches. In a few weeks it will be time to get outside and notice the Fall colors that are abundantly displayed in the leaves. I think those colors provide great inspiration for creating beautiful jewelry for the upcoming season.

Magpie Gemstones just happens to have leaves available for us in clay. These are made by Clay Genie and if you don't know about her work, you can read about her at the following link: http://www.magpiegemstones.com/clay_genie.html It's always a treat to use some of the art created by this woman. Don't leave these behind too long or they'll be gone!

Speaking of leaf colors, you can see some of them in one of the photos in this week's article. It is the second part of creating multistrand jewelry and focuses on using connectors and separators. I hope you'll take a chance to try some of these necklaces. They have certainly been doing well with my customers. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/muiltstrand_part2.html

I'd like to suggest you "leaf" through the jasper section of Magpie Gemstones on line. Many of the colors in the jasper stones are reminders of the vibrant Fall spectrum coming our way. I think you could find some great stones that would work well alone or with the leaves from Clay Genie.

Although there are many other ways to talk about leaves, I wouldn't want to be corny and ask you to "turn over a new leaf" by trying a stone from Magpie Gemstones that you have never used before. It would also be pretty silly to stretch this and say you don't want to be left "leafless" without any beads at the great prices Magpie offers. So, I'll just leaf on out of here.

. . . "leaving" the best for you, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Heating Up

You probably know that Magpie Gemstones is in the heart of Texas, but you may not know that we are breaking record temperatures right now. The weather person predicts 109 degrees for today and we've had over 70 days of 100 plus degrees this summer. This heat and the drought along with the small fish pond near the door of Magpie land attracts interesting critters. One discussion this week pertained to whether the long snake in the little pond was a good snake or a water moccassin. We're still trying to figure that one out. I think you're supposed to examine the snakes eyes to determine the answer, but we have not decided which one of us is going to get close enough to do that! Any volunteers?

We did much better getting close to and personal with the new beads that went into the store this week. We're pleased to have Gibby back from his trip and available to take pictures for you. I think he might be partial to the turquoise and this week quite a few new strands of it are available for you. Below you see Turquoise Hubei Heishis and Turquoise Ma"an Shan Nuggets. These would heat up most any of your designs.

I also wanted you to see the Baltic Amber that's available. These are really nice colors. While I'm stuck in the house away from the heat outside, I'm contemplating the interesting ways I might use this amber.

If you're inside too, why not take a peek at some of the designs shown in Magpie's Client's blog?http://turquoisemagpie.blogspot.com/ I always find inspiration there and call it my "marketing research". Magpie Gemstones certainly has a plethora of talented clients.

You may live in a part of the world where it's also been heating up and that makes it hard to think about Fall designs. If you are lucky and the weather is more temporate where you live, you have probably got a jump on Fall. It's time! If you are preparing for the Fall and holiday shows where you sell your jewelry, you might want to heat up that process before much longer and we've got the beads you need in lucious colors for the upcoming season. By the way, the shows around here start in ernest around October first and (Yikes) it's almost September. I'd better quit reminding you and start heating up my own workbench.

. . . heating things up for your jewelry designs, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Leather Anyone?

I wanted to use this venue to let you know about Magpie Owner Szarka's video on YouTube where she shows us how to incorporate leather into our jewelry designs. For some time I avoided using leather in my designs because I didn't know what to do with it. This video shows just how easy it is to use leather and acquaints viewers with the many options for using it in designs. I now use leather often, but watched the video and it sparked several new ideas I want to try. Did you know you can even use leather in earrings? I'll be trying that one today. If you need any leather for your next jewelry project, we do carry it at the following link: http://www.magpiegemstones.com/leathercord.html The photos show a couple of necklaces Szarka has made using leather as a design element.

Here's my question about the video Szarka made on using leather. Why would a woman who makes her living selling beads show us a way that can save us money on our designs by using leather? Wouldn't you think she would want us to need as many beads as possible? I'm priviledged to have been acquainted with the Magpie Gemstones company long enough to realize that they truly want to help us as artists. Leather is a viable design element that can add interest and change the look of our pieces. Yes, it's true that means we may need less beads for a piece, but Magpie Gemstones simply wants to help us get better at what we do. I, for one, appreciate this attitude and look forward to whatever artistic help the company can share with us.

The next gem show date for Magpie Gemstones is the Enid Gem and Mineral Society show in Enid, Oklahoma. It will be held September 16-18.

On a sad note, two Magpies have been out of town this week attending an out of state funeral for a young family member. As usual, Szarka and Kateri have manned the fort well, but look forward to returning to normalcy by next Wednesday. If you've not seen quite as many informative posts this week you will now understand this reason for this.

Next week there will be a new newsletter out and new beads will go into the store so watch for updates and don't forget to consider leather in your designs.

. . . encouraging your artistic endeavors, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Beads, Beads and More Beads

The beads are here!!! I mentioned in the last blog entry that Szarka had been on a buying trip. It's always exciting to receive the results of her trip and this year, the boxes of beads came on a big truck. You can see the large number of boxes in the photo below and get a bit of an idea of just how many beads have arrived. I can truly appreciate the effort it takes to get the beads inventoried, photographed, described, priced and finally into the online store. This process will obviously take a while, but I hope you will watch for the new beauties.

One of the Magpie customers (Dora) volunteered to help Kateri with the show in Mississippi and we were able to get a photo of them setting up. Do they look like they know what they are doing? Of course they do! Kateria always does a good job for us. She loads, unloads, sets up the booth and is even friendly to the customers. The latter is really the most important thing.

I hope you had a chance to look at the new article/tutorial we published this week about multistrand necklaces. I certainly learned a great deal putting it together for you and hope it will be helpful. Part II of this topic should be published later this week. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/mutlistrand1.html Multistrand necklaces are especially nice for the upcoming season and they make it easy to mix pretty Fall colors. Why not give it a try?

The new opal green beads that went into the store this week would work well in your new Fall deisngs. You know, it is just about time to get going on those pieces! Here is a piece Szarka made using the beautiful opals.

Kateri will be in Schertz, Texas this coming weekend (August 19-21) at the Schertz Convention Center for the AKS Gem, Jewelry and Bead Show. Schertz is between San Marcos and San Antonio, Texas and we hope some of you folks can make it out to say hello. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/shows.html

. . . procuring beautify beads for you, we are Magpie Gemstones.

Things That Fly

The title of this blog entry might suggest a contest. OK. How many things that fly can you list in two minutes? But, who wants to do that? I'd rather think about things that flew at Magpie Gemstones this week.

The most important things that flew this week were Magpie owner Szarka and the littlest Magpie. They flew away on a buying trip and I can hardly wait to learn what they found for us. We'll have to wait for the delivery truck to actually see the beads. Time after time, I am amazed at the variety of excellent quality beads that Szarka procures for the online store. After working with beads for so many years, you'd think I'd seen it all, but she always manages to surprise me. From some stones that I've never heard of to familiar ones in new shapes and sizes, the beads continue to bring life and add to the myriad of possibilities for our designs.

While the beads shown here didn't come from the trip this week, they do represent the description above - good quality, unusual type and interesting shapes. I continue to marvel at the beauty of green amber shown here in a single bead. The unikite has also been popular with my customers and these shapes come together very nicely. Don't wait to long to get the beads you want from the website. They fly right out of here and are seldom seen again when they're gone.

By the way, are you planning on flying into the Gem and Mineral Society Show this weekend in Mississippi? It's August 12-14 and you can get more information from this link. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/shows.html Kateri and Szarka will be there to help you with your bead selections. Don't miss out!

Did you have a chance to read the second part of the information we provided about The Healthy Bead Artist, Excellence Versus Perfectionism? In the second part, I included information about overcoming the type of perfectionism that is troublesome. http://www.magpiegemstones.com/perfectionism2.html It's good food for thought whether you have perfectionistic tendencies or not.

Here in Texas, we would really like for this hot dry weather to fly away. Much of the wildlife in the area clusters near whatever water they can locate and I would be remiss to talk about things that fly without showing you the "flying" birds I've seen here lately. I hope you can see the five turkey gobblers that are spending time here on our property. The photo is pretty dark, but I promise - they are there and "NO" they are not for Thanksgiving.

Since we gave up on making that list of things that fly, why don't we just make a list of beads we want to fly from Magpie Gemstones to our mailboxes. That sounds like more fun to me. Let's see now . . . amber, amythest, carnelian, turquoise . . .

. . . flying off to work for you, we are Magpie Gemstones.