Jewelry Making Resources | Fire Mountain Gems and Beads

Lampworked Glass

A type of glasswork, commonly seen in beads or focals, that uses a gas-fueled torch to melt glass rods and tubes of glass to create patterns and designs.

Single-Strand Necklace

The seed bead colors in Betty Neve's Rainbow Connection seem to blend into one another like a watercolor painting, framed by jaw-dropping wirework.

Design Idea E339

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Alloy

A blend of elements to create a new metal, usually in order to add strength and durability. Argentium™ silver is an alloy of silver, copper and germanium.

Christmas Tree Earrings

Make the season merry and bright with these festive Christmas tree earrings. Customize the design with different colors to suit everyone on your list.

Design Idea D930

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Christmas Tree Earrings

Whether you make these classic Christmas tree earrings for yourself, your customers or people on your gift list, they're sure to spread good cheer all season long.

Design Idea D8A5

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Single-Strand Necklace

Karen Suarez's metal clay necklace, with its graceful lines and adjustable chain, is the stuff that Taxco Dreams are made of!

Design Idea D42N

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Earrings

Let your style take flight with these fanciful earrings. Silver-plated wings flutter among fiery Celestial Crystal® beads, soaring to new heights of fashion.

Design Idea D130

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Polishing

The process in the last stage of metal finishing in which a rotating instrument is dipped in a polishing substance. Increases shine and eliminates flaws.

Pliers

A precision hand tool used for a variety of purposes in jewelry-making: to hold objects firmly, to cut or bend wire, to crimp or flatten components and others.

Pickle

A liquid applied to a metal surface that removes surface impurities (such as stains, scale, rust and more).

Palladium

Palladium is a dense and lustrous, precious white-silver metal. A cousin of the platinum metal group, this rare metal is popular for fine metal jewelry.

Nymo

Nylon beading thread produced by the Belding Corticelli Company. Extremely fine thread popularly used in seed bead on-loom and off-loom bead weaving projects.

Nylon Jaw Pliers

A pair of pliers with attached nylon contact surfaces. Ideal for gripping round, square, twisted, coated, plated and precious metal wires during wireworking.

Antiqued

Metal beads and components which have a human-created patina which alters the surface colors and gives the appearance of age.

Electroplating

Coating a metal surface by means of electrolysis. The amount of electroplate on an object is measured in microns (one micron = 0.001mm).

Antique Finish

(see also Antiqued) A patina created on metal beads and components that alters the surface colors and gives the appearance of age.

How to Create a Half Persian 3-in-1 Chainmaille Weave

Looking for a new style of chainmaille to add to your jewelry-making repertoire? Learn to create a half Persian 3-in-1 weave with these instructions.

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Antique

An item, regardless of quality, which was manufactured 100 or more years ago.

Lobster Claw Clasp

A self-closing clasp in the general shape of a lobster's claw. However, this spring-loaded clasp is available in a range of shapes, sizes and styles.

Intaglio

Decoration made by carving or engraving a design into a gem or other hard material. Intaglio is the opposite of cameo.

Annealing

Heating metal in order to activate, increase or change its strength, hardness, ductibility and other traits.

Enamel

Colored, opaque glassy material fused onto metal, pottery or glass.

Forming Wire Coils

Create wire coils with tools, gadgets and forming devices designed to make consistent coils for limitless jewelry-making. Have fun choosing from all the different wires to then make different coils.

Video Length 5:13

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Inlay

To set pieces of wood or ivory, for example, into a surface, usually at the same level, to form a design.

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