Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

juneperu — Wed, 26 May 2010 08:13:34 GMT

hi,

I came across your article totally by accident and I've now joined because I had to tell you that I live in the coast of western australia and last winter our beach was awash with beautiful and tiny sea urchin shells, which as a jeweller/beader I proceeded to collect. They are still sat in a box full stinking in my garage. No harm was done to them in the process of collection, they were already dead when they washed away on the beach because of the weather.

If anyone knows how to make jewellery with them I would love to know because they are rather delicate.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

turpin13 — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:49:30 GMT

Does anybody know WHERE to buy three-holed beads? I have found a couple of places where you can get the original guru beads (and I have ordered some) but I am also trying to find some ordinary three-holed beads for other projects...???

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

Cath@17 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:14:33 GMT

Wow. This thread becomes really ethical! Funny to read how people feel concerned about - quite common- animal(s). I can't resist adding my personal worries: what about the devastation and pollution generated by mining (stones - gems), glass-manufacturing procedures (chemicals, dyes, energy consumption, waste of water), etc. Let me dare to ask: are Miyuki / Toho / Czech Beads "innocent"??? What about the jasper I bought a few weeks ago? Has it somehow destroyed a wild animal's habitat? Oh and by the way, what about (the very high percentage of) lead in crystal? Is it inert or will it make me (or someone else) sick one day? I am a beader using all kinds of materials and also the ones mentioned above (avoiding crystals generally) - feeling somethimes quite guilty in fact. It would be nice to have the answer to the previous questions - because nature - our earth and sole habitat - is a serious matter. Couldn't we ask for some kind of "No harm" logo? No threatened species, no child labour, no miserable working conditions, no polution. To me it would be even happier beading. I don't buy coral. It is alive when harvested and it is the shelter of numerous species. Many thanks for this article, Michelle, and appologies for the long reaction-but I had this on my heart since quiet a long while...Initially I wanted to tell you that the most unusal beads I've ever beaded with are true seeds, and this is what I came up with: http://www.parure.ch/index.php?showimage=14.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

RPKK — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:53:47 GMT

I have seen a lot of ads recently for "Crystallized" crystals. Is this a new finish? Is it applied on the bead like AB finish? I've looked on several web sites that sell Swarovski beads and can't find an explanation. Thanks, Ruth

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

cmb@2 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:37:02 GMT

One day I discovered drilled dog teeth in a bead store. I never went in there again!!

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

LindaW@149 — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:41:38 GMT

You are ruling out pearls, coral, shell and for that mater all other natural beads including wood with this attitude...It seems to me that if the sea urchin is already going to be used for other reasons, and is already "on the table", it would be wasteful and disrespectful of the animal not to use it's shell as well. This is a beautiful and unique bead.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

CryssT — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:06:31 GMT

i prefer the glass sea urchin but would have no problems using items such as pearls or leather in an item. my dining preferences are my own. The Bead Dictionary sounds like a very interesting book, i'll have to check it out. i have an item similar to the bead holder and it is great for when i begin peyote stitch. thanks for the information.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

Estella@2 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:19:11 GMT

I love these beads. I'm always looking for new beads and ideas on how to use them. I especially love the 3 hole agate. I will definitely be purchasing some of those for my bracelets and necklaces, especially for the "Y" in a necklace. As for the "Magatama's", I found those in the "Seed Bead" section of my bead store and love to use them for spiral bracelets or necklaces. If used alone, they tend to look like clusters of little grapes, but used in combintaion with 11-O seed beads, then they don't look so much like grape clusters, but do add a little extra touch to the spiral stitch. I love these little beads. The smaller the better. I love small intricate work. Right now I'm looking for a pattern to make a "V" stitch necklace if anyone has one to share I would really love that pattern. I'm new to seed beading and still learning the stitches, but am willing to try any and all stitches. Thank you so much in advance and thank you for all the new ideas you share with all of us.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

nankpax — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:17:44 GMT

I am not a vegetarian. But still, I can't buy pearls, shells or beads made of shells or mother of pearl. I like the swarovski glass pearls!

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

Sue@276 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:06:46 GMT

I just wanted to say that I also am glad the Sea Urchin bead is made from glass not the actual little sea creature. Our sea otters are the only ones that are supposed to hunt and eat these, not humans, but I have also heard that they have a very interesting flavour. I myself could not eat one. I am now going to read that article that Stormy wrote tomorrow (today the 30th here) Cheers

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

stormy1967 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:58:18 GMT

This was QUITE interesting. I'm glad to know that sea urchin beads can be made of glass. But just so you don't feel too bad, Michelle, the urchins have been harvested. IF you eat beef, pork, bass, catfish, oysters or anything other than vegetables and soy (like Susan M), those animals are also harvested. I'm not saying it's right but I'm an Okie raised in cattle country and while I don't eat rare meat, I do eat meat and fish. Just a little interesting info is that sea urchins still have to be harvested by hand by a diver in very adverse conditions. I think the sea urchins have a much better chance at beating us humans for instance than the deer do! Here's a link for a very interesting article, a one up for the poor defenseless sea urchin! http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00026070.htm And before someone gets upset with me, I'm NOT saying deaths due to sea urchin harvesting are a good thing. Of course not. Loss of life is always a horrible thing whether it be a sea animal or a land animal including man. But perhaps you'll feel a little better about the poor defenseless sea urchin after reading the above article.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

SusanM@216 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:08:55 GMT

Michelle, I appreciate that you are conscientious of the source of your beads - specifically the sea urchin bead. As a fellow beader, who also happens to be a vegetarian and an animal rights advocate, it is heartening to know there are others who are mindful of the cost to the animal in making some on the beads out on the market today. That said, I never use any material that comes from an animal - fur, leather, pearls, shell and a whole host of other things. There is no jewelry design so important to me that I need to use animal parts to make it! Thank you for being a mindful beader.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

MarcyL2 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:16:04 GMT

Hi Michelle, You don't need to worry about sea urchins or any other creature. I'm a lampworker who both sells and teaches them. Here's my flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/mambobeads/ that has coral, starfish, seahorse, sea urchin, sea anemone and other fun underwater/beach items. Marcy Lamberson aka Studio Marcy

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

Ruhammie — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:15:42 GMT

That sea urchin one is quite interesting, not sure how they make them. I don't want to sound like a snobby beader, but I always walk right past the massed produced glass beads. It seems like they are EVERYWHERE! I have become very picky about where I get my glass beads, I really like lampwork beads, but they are hard to find without turning to the internet, and I always inspect stones to see if they've been dyed. Those are the two off the top of my head that I would never buy.

re: Miracles, Sea Urchins, and Other Unusual Beads

DeborahM@33 — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:59:44 GMT

Dear Michelle, I'm afraid you really threw down the gauntlet to lampworkers with that sea urchin bead! I'm sure I'm not the only one who will find myself at the torch trying to recreate it in glass now. It's beautiful. Deborah