FREE GIFT WINNER - OCTOBER 2010

Filed under: Handmade Jewelry, Holiday Jewelry, Uncategorized

It has been a while since I’ve actually taken the time to post the names of the free gift winners. Believe it or not, there is one every month. It’s my way of doing some inexpensive advertising while making people happy at the same time

This month’s free gift winner is Natalia Korobeinikova. She is the recipient of a beautiful Criss Cross jeweled hair accessory. The Criss Cross jeweled hair clip is decorated with rhinestones in shades of green and AB coated clear stones. A lovely accessory for any up-do or long hair.

If you are already a member of Isabella’s Beads then you are automatically registered to win. Others who choose not to create an account can register to win HERE.

I’ve made a few halloween pieces, but chose to sell them privately since I got started so late. I have been busy trying to organize the newly added 6000 products on my website. It’ll be an ongoing process, but since I am doing it myself it’ll take a little while longer than I expected. I do have many items already listed for Fall though, including these simple yet stunning Baltic Amber and Sterling Silver earrings.

Sterling Silver with Baltic Amber disc

I will have time to make plenty of items in time for the Christmas Holiday and winter season, and you’ll be able to find all that and more in our Holiday Items section of the site. There are many items there now including this adorable seasonal bracelet that is on sale now. Order yours today just in time for the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays!

Tags: Bracelet, Glass Beads, Holiday gifts, Holiday jewelry, pumpkin, sterling silver, SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL

Hill Tribes Silver

Filed under: Handmade Jewelry

Hill Tribes Silver and Swarovski Crystal Ring

My local PBS station recently aired a travelogue about Thailand’s Golden Triangle. As Rudy Maxa visited various Hill Tribes villages, I waited for him to show them making the silver beads I love so much.

If he showed it, I missed it.

But, I was inspired to learn more about the people who make Hill Tribes silver beads. There are seven main tribes and over a dozen smaller ones. They each have their own language, religion, culture, dances and costumes. Some come from Tibet, some from southern China, and some from as far away as Micronesia in the Pacific. They live in southern China, Burma, Laos and Vietnam, in mountainous regions.

The Hill Tribe people best known in the United States are the Hmong, who helped our fighting men during the war in Vietnam. Many of them have settled in the United States.

In Thailand, Hill Tribes such as the Karen have been able to maintain their lifestyle of subsistence agriculture and their animist religions. Most Hill Tribes silver beads imported to the United States are made by Karen craftsmen. Like all Thai silver, their beads have a higher silver content (95-99%)┬а than sterling (92.5%). The higher silver content means the metal is softer, easier to shape using their centuries-old traditional methods.

The Yao are among the best silversmiths. Raising opium poppies was their main source of income, but, because the Thai government has a program of destroying the poppy fields, they are now turning to other crops and other sources of income. The women do exquisite cross-stitch embroidery. I want a pair of their loose-fitting black trousers covered in brilliant stitchery. But I want Yao beads even more!

By far the most exotic-looking are the long-necked Paduang women, who add silver neck rings that gradually stretch their necks.

In Thailand, the government fears new migration of tribal people from neighboring countries, and does not grant citizenship to Hill Tribes people, though at least one tribe has lived there longer than the Thai themselves.

The Hill Tribes have been supplementing their traditional slash and burn agriculture with opium production. With the government crackdown, the lack of educational opportunities and without the benefit of citizenship, many Hill Tribes people live in dire poverty.

The sale of silver beads, pendants and findings is a source of much-needed income that enables them to continue their traditional lifestyle.

These are some of the ways I have used Hill Tribes beads recently…

Hill Tribes rope tube bracelet with Tanzanite Swarovski crystals

Hill Tribes decorative tube bead necklace with Swarovski Crystal

Tags: Bracelet, Handmade Beaded Jewelry, Hill Tribes Silver, Necklace, Ring, Swarovski Crystals, Tanzanite