Friday, May 7, 2010

Bead & Button June 2010(Part IV)


COVER STORY: Framed!
Work a right-angle weave frame around an art bead and suspend it from a herringbone necklace
By Maggie Roschyk

Featuring Turquoise Picasso Seed Beads Imported by York Novelty Import, Est. 1924

Laura McCabe's Dagger Bracelet (Part III)

NUDIBRANCH
BRACELET
featured on Page 83 of her new book EMBELLISHED BEADWEAVING WITH OF COURSE DAGGERS FROM US. THANKS LAURA!!!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Exposure Exposure Exposure!!!! (Part 2)


Well whats a small company to do??? The communist agency that protected you for years is now gone(JABLONEX). I am not gonna create yet another brand name of Chinese Crystal. Lets see, there is Celestial, Cosmic, Celebrity and Chinarovski(I think the latter was a result of too many herbs). It appears its about the little bead niches in life and all you amazing bead artists and embellishers. Here are two examples:

1-

Laura McCabe's Embellished Beadweaving: Jewelry Lavished with Fringe, Fronds, Lacework & More (Lark Books Beadweaving Master Class) [Hardcover]

Amazon.com link

http://www.amazon.com/Laura-McCabes-Embellished-Beadweaving-Lavished/dp/1600595146/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273200526&sr=8-1

Here Laura, whom is the sweetest and most talented person one could meet takes a departure from her glitzy past and dives back into beadweaving using less crystal and more earthy materials such as: japanese and Czech Seed beads, freshwater pearl and frosted glass beads(peacock to be specific). Before I talk about Laura's amazing new book, this is someone who almost single handedly brought back rivolis from the dead and created the opportunity for Yorkbeads to be a main supplier of 15/0 metallic plated Czech charlottes. Btw, as laura points out in her new book , only 15/0 Czech Charlottes are small enough to embezzle as Japanesse 15/0 runs much larger due to their bigger holes. Don't worry Laura finds many other uses for the japanese seed beads.

Here is my Amazon book review:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glitz is Over Rated this Book is not!!!, May 6, 2010
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Laura McCabe's Embellished Beadweaving: Jewelry Lavished with Fringe, Fronds, Lacework & More (Lark Books Beadweaving Master Class) (Hardcover)
First, I am in the bead business so I am biased. Most of us do not get to walk down the red carpet. Crystals are way too over rated!!! In this book, Laura uses Japanese and Czech seed beads to accent natural materials and frosted(matte) glass, as in her "Nudibranch Bracelet"(page 83). Laura states, "embellish means to decorate, to enhance, to add beauty through ornamentation or fanciful details". The components are not the star, but the artist is. Laura's jewelry can be worn at your local coffee shop or at your most cherished event. Either way, they make you feel unique, not one of the crowd. Thanks Laura.

the "nudibranch Bracelet" is featured on the back cover and uses a plentiful amount of peacock Matte black AB daggers. Laura also uses our tutti frutti peacock dagger as well as a 10mm pressed black ab peacock coin(will post a picture later, Laura gave me permission)

2-Bead N Button June 2010
Issue #97
http://www.beadandbutton.com/BNB/Default.aspx?c=i&issue=116&current=true&id=149

i never met Maggie Roschyk, but through a customer using our Czech Picasso turquoise seed beads Maggie is
the COVER STORY: Framed!
Work a right-angle weave frame around an art bead and suspend it from a herringbone necklace. CONGRATULATIONS MAGGIE

These are two examples of small niche products with "bigger potential" thanks to bead enthusiasts like you!

Exposure Exposure Exposure!!!! (Part I)

Sort of like Chain Chain Chain!!!!! Yes, too much Chain and metal these days seems to hurting the bead Industry Bottom line if you have not heard, the famous JABLONEX has been liquidated, out of here, finito!! with Preciosa buying up the prime pieces. Namely, Ornela, the seed bead manufacturer, Zasada the glass rod maker and more. The so called JABLONEX brand will be phased out slowly with new advertising by Preciosa/Ornela starting up soon in Bead N Button. The funny thing here that nobody knew is that Swarovski owned 25% of Jablonex. People use to tell me when Swarovski huffed Preciosa would shiver. Well, those days are over.How did this happen????

JABLONEX, nobody ever knew what they were: A factory, a government agency, a brand or an agent. An insider told me, by the time they tried to brand themselves it was too late. Exposure is key. Preciosa never had that problem. They seemed to ride the coat tails of the Swarovski renaissance of the nineties just fine. Another Insider had said to me, Swarovski needs Preciosa the same was Microsoft needs Apple. Competition keeps the monopoly regulators happy. Except, with crystal, you can throw that out the window: China!!!! Apple and Microsoft can manufacture in China and can control their brand, quality w/o much(relatively) infringement.
I guess you really can't patent a crystal or a bead, its been around for centuries.

I just think Swarovski had to let go of their Czech/JABLONEX presence. China was and is causing so much havoc that did they really care about Preciosa anymore. The fire polish business is too limited and seed beads were just a hassle. Actually, two weeks ago somebody actually told me they saw Chinese crystal that were nicer than Swarovski: metallic colors to be specific. Swarovski is diverse and a marketing machine even if glitz is dead, they will throw their sparkles in your face regardless!!!