Huge Rainbow Fluorite

“HUGE” seems to be the theme of the gemstones Ali has chosen to add this week. There are quite a few large rondelles and rounds. There’s also some good focal material like new jade carved pendants, lapis off-center donuts, and a yellow turquoise carved oval pendant. If you’re looking for an inexpensive accent bead, we’ve also added a couple of rounds in the $3 range that should do the trick!

16mm etched jump rings

If you’re lucky enough to have been on vacation for the past two weeks, you’ve missed the biggest expansion in Lima Beads history. For the first time ever, we added chain, findings, and a huge selection of metal beads to our site. This week, we’ve continued the expansion with new styles of chain, crimp beads, and some cool jump rings (check out the 16mm etched ones!).

We’ve got more to come! Between now and the end of 2009, you’ll be seeing new gemstone beads almost every week, lots of new chain (especially sterling), more metal beads, more findings, and…. wire!   Stay tuned

As far back as I, Ali, or Steve can remember, we’ve always spent the majority of our time focusing on our line of gemstone beads. We wanted to build a line of stones we could be proud of and we all feel really good about what we’ve done so far, but it is time to expand. We wanted to expand much sooner, but as many of you know we just moved into a new building and our old office space made it impossible to add new products lines.

Lima Beads has chain!

We’ve spent over a year researching and quality testing chain, wire, findings, and metal bead lines. We’ve chosen a lineup that we know we can be proud of and that we feel will be a great addition to the Lima Beads family.

In the coming weeks, you’ll be seeing thousands of new items, including:

• Over 100 styles of chain in 5 different metals
• 1000’s of metal beads
• Findings, such as: earwires, headpins, eyepins, leverbacks, clasps, links/connectors, bails, lobster clasps, etc. in sterling, copper, and gold-filled.
• A full line of TierraCast beads and findings
• Wire
• A wide variety of metal beads and charms

But, is Lima Beads still going to be focused on gemstone beads and its other product lines?

Yes! Have no fear, we have big plans for our other lines as well. A huge load of new gemstone beads is on the way here as I’m writing this. Ali tells me that we also have some crazy cool new designs on the way from Green Girl Studios.

With that, we all take a big, deep breath (ahhhhhhhh) now that we’ve gotten the ball rolling on these lines.

Let us know what you think as we continue to add items!

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We’ve recently received the most delicious looking product sample ever — Murano glass beads. If you’ve ever shopped for a glass anything, you’ve surely heard of Murano.

The island of Murano is located just off the coast of Venice. Since the 13th century, some of the most beautiful glass in the world has been produced there. Most of the beads are still manufactured using the lampworking technique, which was invented by a Murano glass master in the 1700s.

As you probably know, Lima Beads has never carried glass beads. We’ve received a ton of samples over the years and we have a big stack of boxes in the corner to prove it. We’ve just never had anything strike our fancy, until earlier this week. The clarity of these Murano glass beads and the way they feel in your hand is truly remarkable. The styles are great too. These aren’t just colored glass beads, each one is like a little work of art. You can tell that they weren’t mass produced on some huge machine — someone put some TLC into these beads and it shows.

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What do you think? Have you used Murano glass beads? Should we carry them? What styles and/or colors would you like to see? Share photos if you like…

To update you on the status of the other product additions: sterling is on the way! We’ll be starting with the basics (ear wires, head pins, clasps, wire, etc.)  We’re also going to carry these items in gold-filled! Shortly after we add these items, we’ll be adding a full selection of chain. It’s going to be a very busy summer. I hope we’re able to secure a new office space soon, because I don’t know where we’re going to put it all…

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The Gemstones

multi-color moonstone

India factories cut many gemstones, but the ones you see most often are the “premium stones” — stones like: labradorite, peridot, ruby, garnet, emerald, moonstone, fluorite, opal, iolite, and tanzanite. These factories cut these stones to give them an awesome, unique look that you just can’t get anywhere else.

labradorite faceted rondelle

The Cuts

Many of the premium stones above are now being cut in China as well, but you can always tell when a strand has come from India. The factories there have a distinctive cutting style. Many of the stones are hand-cut rather than machine cut. This results in varying shapes and sizes rather than a perfectly uniform strand of beads. If you ask us, it adds a little character to the beads

Dead Giveaways

Here are some telltale signs that a strand was cut in India:

Inconsistent strand lengths – This is a constant headache for us bead suppliers. You’ll notice that the strand lengths on our new India-cut stones are not like most of the beads on our site. Normally, strands are 16″ or 8″ and that’s it. These new strands come in lengths of 15″, 14″, 10″, and even 14.5″. When we get strands from India, there’s no telling what length they’ll be!

Varying bead sizes – Another thing you’ll notice about these strands is that many of the names include a size range. This is because, as discussed above, the sizes of the beads on each strand will vary slightly.

Tassle-thingies - We’re not sure why, but factories in India love to end strands with these decorative stringy tassles. They do look cool, but they also cause all of the strands in our warehouse to stick together in a tangled mess, so we’re not sure how we feel about tassle-thingies.

It’s true, all of these dead giveaways do cause us a little extra work, especially with reordering, but it’s worth it! Not only are these premium stones (the most beautiful stones) but their cut gives them a very natural, unique look. They have tons of character, not to mention sparkle!

Check out all of the new India-cut stones on the New Beads Page! Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you have photos of any finished pieces with India-cut stones, please upload them!

Thanks everyone!

Kevin

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I’m happy to say that we have added gemstone cabochons to our shop today! We’re starting off with shapes in some of our most popular stones and we’ll be growing the line from there.

We have standard cabochon sizes to wire-wrap or set:

Oval Cabochons

We have these standard sizes in:

• African green jasper
• Blue pearl
• Bronzite
• Lapis
• Larimar blue crazy lace agate
• Porcelain jasper
• Rhyolite
• Ruby crazy lace agate

We also have freeform sizes to wire-wrap:

Rutilated Quartz

Rainbow Impression Jasper

I love the freeform cabochons! They have so much character and each piece is truly unique. That’s actually a good thing to keep in mind when you order a freeform gemstone cabochon — each piece is different. While what you receive will be similar to the photo on our web site, it is unlikely that it will be exactly the same.

Check out the Gemstone Cabochons now.

Enjoy everyone. Let us know what you think! There will be many more gemstone cabs to come as we expand the line.

-Kevin

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Amethyst with Calcite

When we initially added it to our shop, it wasn’t as popular as I thought it would be. I think the fact that we only had 2 shapes to offer made it more difficult for all of you to use. I think it’s going to turn into one of our most popular stones. It’s a natural purple stone that isn’t very expensive and that’s not an easy combination to find. It has the same gorgeous purple tones of amethyst that we all love, but also introduces white banding. This white banding is caused by a growth of calcite on the amethyst. This is commonly referred to as “dogtooth calcite” — which is where the name for this stone comes from.

You can check it out on the Dogtooth Amethyst page. For those of you that pay attention to the mystical properties of these stones — they say this one is supposed to help with shopping addiction. We always hear from people that they’re addicted to the Big Green Bead Machine, so maybe dogtooth amethyst can help!

Dogtooth Amethyst

Let me know what you think of this stone, I’m very curious

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Staying stocked!

Hi beaders! I just wanted to make sure you had your fingers on our pulse at Lima Beads for the Fall season… Here’s a quick list of the autumn happenings here at Lima.

New Fall Beads

We’ve been busy adding new beads during our Fall Bead Harvest (see the stack of boxes on the right!):

• Week 1: Variscite, Vintaj, and more…
• Week 2: Fluorite, fluorite, and more fluorite!
• Week 3: Copper Green Opal, Mystic Blue Feldspath & more
• Week 4: Brandy Opal, Impression Jasper, Labradorite…

Looking for a deal?

Every Tuesday we send out Lima Lunch Specials, which are email-only specials delivered to your Inbox over your lunch hour. If you haven’t tried the Big Green Bead Machine, you might not want to–it’s too addicting! Finally, a new Fresh Pick is on sale every day until the end of 2008. Just look for the  at the top of the home page for the daily deal.

Fall Fresh Picks

Our customers are creating brand new Fresh Picks every day! We’re so excited to see their inspiration come to life right in front of our eyes on our web site. Some recent Fall-themed picks are Fanning into Fall, Autumn Leaves are Falling, Fall on Sunshine, and Autumnal Inspirations. There are probably 100 I didn’t mention, and you can check out all the snapshots here. Or, just remind me below and I’ll link them up in the comments!

Autumn is in full effect here in Michigan. One thing we’re always curious about, though, is if it feels like Fall in other parts of the country. Even if the leaves don’t change color, do you still sense the changing of the season? Let us know below!

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Labradorite facets = sparkly

First, we’re adding 8 (!!!) new labradorite shapes, including freeform drops, a horse eye, rondelles, and some ultra-sparkly faceted shapes. It’s hard to capture the wonderful blue “flash” with a camera–but these cuts really show it when you’re holding them (or wearing them!). The faceted labradorite shapes have more facets than normal, which means more sparkle!

Brandy Opal Rounds

Brandy opal… this is fall at its finest. Red, orange, yellow, beige, it’s like a big pile of colorful leaves waiting to be jumped in. Until now, we could only get brandy opal nuggets, so we’re super excited to be able to offer these classic shapes: puff coin 10mm, puff square 10mm, round 4mm, and round 6mm. Check it out for your fall designs!

Next, let’s talk turritella agate. It’s always a top seller here at Lima Beads, and we don’t expect it to be any different this time around with 2 new shapes. It has a killer pattern–there is really no other stone like it! We’re adding a flat oval and a horse eye today… but don’t expect them to stick around for too long!

Check out the pattern on Turritella Agate!

On the softer side this week, we’re adding three variscite flat ovals. The soothing greens are refreshing, especially the China variscite flat oval 20×15mm. Speaking of greens, we have some new impression jasper, including some BIG shapes! Impression has been a huge favorite of the staff around here because of its unique pattern. You won’t be disappointed!

See all the new beads here. We’ve also got a couple Mexican fire agate shapes and a new blue impression jasper bead… all very cool. 

Is it just me, or is everyone finally getting excited for fall!?

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What kind of silver would you like to see at Lima Beads?  We’re thinking of carrying the following:

• Head pins
• Wire
• Chain
• Clasps
• Ear wires

What are we missing? We would like to start of with a full line of standard items in standard sizes and branch out from there. Our goal is to allow our customers to get as much as they can in one place to save on shipping and time!

We’re especially excited about the wire — it will go nicely with our upcoming line of Cabochons.

Please let me know what you think.  If you’d like to see a certain item in sterling or even a specific brand of silver, tell me in the comments.

We want to do this soon!

Mystic Blue Feldspath

We’re adding 20 new gemstone beads to the Lima Beads shop today. These beads are great for fall – they range from bold reds to earthy browns and greens. You can find them all on the new beads page. 

The first addition is to mystic blue feldspath. We’ve added a standard 20×15mm thin pillow and 3 funky shapes: a cool little pendant, large 18×13mm rice and an awesome little 10×8mm barrel.

Copper Green Opal

Next, we’ve added 10 new beads to copper green opal. There couldn’t be a more perfect stone for fall. It’s extremely popular and we’ve been waiting forever to get more shapes in stock. Today, we’ve added a teardrop, puff coins, rice, rondelles, rounds and one very cool tumbled nugget.

My favorite addition this week is the red jasper. The boldness of its red coloring is absolutely gorgeous! There is just enough pattern to keep it interesting without taking away from the color. We’ve added an oval, a rice, a thin pillow and a large puff square (30mm!).

Red Jasper

You can also find a small apatite tumbled nugget and a citrine freeform slab in the new beads. The apatite tumbled nugget is a great little accent bead.

Let us know what you think!

Kevin