April-2020

Surviving Isolation, Easter, Diamond & Crystal 

29th March 2020

We are hoping bead fairs will resume early summer. I’m sure it will be fine for Norwich Bead Fair 14th June, & our Cornish Show on 5th July. Bookings so far, click 2020 Bead Fairs

Content:
Surviving Self Isolation
Bead Fairs Cancelled
Easter Beading
New MrBead Shop
Diamonds For April
Crystal – April’s Alternate Gemstone
Early 2020 Bead Fairs
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15%  Off Anything From MrBead

To get the discount off anything in our online stores, Key EASTER at checkout now, as offer ends Monday 6th April 2020. Use at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com, but can’t be used with any other discount.

Surviving Self Isolation

Make the most shut inside: it’s not all bad. It’s a time of opportunity.

Now the treadwheel has stopped we all have a chance to catch up on ‘I’ll get around to it’ – like new projects and book keeping. Now you have your ‘Round Tuit’!

Think Beading!Set up a website to sell your jewellery – GoDaddy is very cheap and easy to use. Our new MrBead shop should be ready just after Easter.

Then for those not ‘technically minded’: you should be making new jewellery ready for the rush once things get back to normal. Whatever you do, don’t watch too much television!

Can’t get to a bead show? Order online. We’re still mailing bead orders, fast – no empty shelves at MrBead! If you can’t work our online shop, email me with your phone number, and I’ll call you back for the order. Credit cards are safe, with secure payment by World Pay.

Bead Fairs Cancelled

It’s such a shame, but most bead fairs are cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions, especially as many visitors (and exhibitors) are over 70.

However, all should be back to normal in a few months, so start planning the bead fairs you would like to attend now!

Brighton Gem n Bead Fair

Brighton Gem n Bead FairWe were a little worried about Brighton, because it was the beginning of the coronavirus fear. However, despite visitors and takings down around 25%, it went very well – especially the Saturday.

To all those who couldn’t (or dare not) attend: we’ll be back at Brighton on 12th-15th November, or see us in London at Kempton Park 25th-26th July.

EASTER BEADING

Easter BeadsBunny, egg designs and flower beads are great for the Easter and spring jewellery.

We have a whole category of flower beads made from all stones and material. Some millefiori, some agate, some jade and some metal.

Easter BeadsChoose pastel colours and mix them to make a bright, light, design. Pearls are also popular this time of year, along with all types of crystal and jade.

Easter BeadsThese all produce a bright, high-key look. White, yellows, greens and pinks look good, giving a spring-like feel. Colourful seed beads can be used to cover eggs and other objects to give an Easter look.

Easter BeadsEaster BeadsGive a loved one a pearl necklace for an Easter present – she will look so good wearing it on Easter Day. Plus, flower bead bracelets and earrings are so easy to make too. Happy Easter!

Happy Easter BeadingFor ideas, see what others are making this Easter on Elsy

See Our Flower Beads at MrBead.co.ukor MrBead.

New MrBead Shop Coming Soon!

We’ve been working on a new shop for 6-weeks now, and with self isolation, I hope it have it open soon after Easter. The old store’s around 18-years old, originally build on a tiny laptop in a tiny Hong Kong room.

The new store will be super-slick, hosted by Shopify with the latest template. It will be a pleasure to use, making it easier to find what your looking for.

Customer features are a much-better search, a wish list, order by colour, shape and stone, and a compare different beads together facility. Plus a quicker checkout, especially using your phone. More latter….

DIAMOND APRIL’S GEMSTONE

Diamond NecklaceApril’s birthstone is diamond – a wonder of nature. Their cold sparkling fire has held us spell-bound for centuries with myths of romance, power, greed, and magic.

Ancient Hindus, finding diamonds after thunderstorms, believed they were from lightning bolts. Today, the diamond is a symbol of enduring love.

DiamondDiamonds are the rich cousins of graphite, both crystalline forms of pure carbon. The difference in their properties is because of how the carbon atoms are bonded together.

In graphite, carbon atoms are arranged in sheets that easily slide past each other, ideal as lubricants. Diamond crystals, are a tight-fisted network of carbon atoms securely held in four directions, making it the hardest naturally-occurring substance.

Man-made Diamonds
Diamond MachineUp until a few years ago De Beers controlled all the worlds diamonds. By stockpiling tons at a time, they greatly increased the value of a relatively-common crystallized rock.

However, it’s now possible to artificially grow diamonds, the same way they are formed over millions of years. Using high pressure and temperature in crystal growth chambers, the size of a washing machine.

Within each chamber, a tiny sliver of natural diamond is bathed in a molten solution of graphite and a metal-based catalyst at 1,500 C. Slowly, carbon precipitates onto the diamond seed. A gem-quality, 2.8-carat rough yellow diamond grows in just under three-and-a-half days. This can then be cut and polished to give over 1.5 carats.

Chemically these cultured stones are identical to mined diamonds – but they have different growth patterns and a lack of inclusions that would draw suspicions to a jeweller. However, those bits of minerals that are enclosed in a natural diamond as its forms are regarded as flaws; a lack of inclusions is actually a good thing. De Beers has designed a machine for just £10,000.

CUBIC ZICONIA

Cubic Zirconia A much cheaper way of making a stone that looks like diamond was created by Russian scientists. Cubic Zirconia is a dense clear material through which laser light can be reflected.

When melted at high-temperature and an incredibly-high electrical current sent through it, the compound crystallizes, forming chunks similar to rough diamonds, which are then be cut and polished to exact specifications.

Using the naked eye, even a trained jeweller can’t detect the difference between good cubic zirconia, genuine or cultured diamonds.  All are fully faceted, cut and polished the same.

To see our cubic zirconia rings click MrBead.com or MrBead.co.uk

QUARTZ CRYSTAL – APRIL’S ALTERNATE GEMSTONE

Quartz BeadsDiamonds are too expensive for most to make jewellery, but a gemstone with similar characteristics for April is quartz crystal.

The Mayans, Druid priests, and Tibetan monks all knew the spiritual power of crystal. The ancients used it to strengthen the sun’s rays to bring heat, and the Chinese science of feng-shui teaches that arranging crystals around the home retains positive energy.

Quartz BeadsCrystals became important to these people because of the belief in their capacity to store and amplify any power source fed into them – physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual.

crystal beadsToday’s crystal therapists say that the stones’ ability to work as a conductor allows energy to be focused via a person’s thoughts to stimulate healing.

Many people use crystal to focus attention on what they want. With a little imagination, you too can use crystal’s energy to access a higher level of consciousness and turn a desire into reality.

Quartz BeadsAll types of crystal have this magical power, but individual colour crystal is believed to have other uses too. Rose quartz, the stone of unconditional love, is great for emotional healing. Red, yellow, and orange stones are said to produce energy; clear and aquamarine stones are healers; and lavender and blue-violet are calming stones.
Quartz BeadsPure rock crystal is clear, but usually quart comes in a variety of opacity.

Milky quartz is cloudy because of microscopic inclusions of fluid embodied in the crystal at the start of its life – creating an attractive effect of a crystal within a crystal, giving the interior a ghostly appearance. Smoky Quartz is caused by natural radiation from nearby granite rocks.

See our crystal beads at  MrBead.com or  MrBead.co.uk
Our quartz beads at MrBead.co.uk

15%  Off Anything From MrBead

To get the discount off anything in our online stores, Key EASTER at checkout now, as offer ends Monday 6th April 2020. Use at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com, but can’t be used with any other discount.

Early 2020 Bead Fairs

All shows cancelled until June!

For shows booked so far next year, click 2020 Bead Fairs.

See our beads at MrBead.co.uk or MrBead.com

15-Years of MrBead Newsletters
2005 to 2020

April 2020 is the 15th full year of the MrBead newsletters, and I thank you all for such enthusiastic comments and appreciation. To see the past newsletters click here.

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