Under the Sea Earrings

Today I want to tell you about a pair of Venetian glass beads and sterling silver links that I chose from Artbeads.com's extensive glass and silver beads collection.

The Venetian glass beads were  Gold Foil Round - Aquamarine and the sterling silver beads were the Hammered Diamond Link . I obtained these beads from Artbeads.com with the idea of making a pair of earrings from them.

Ahh! Venice, the city of canals and gondolas! Venice is the earliest and most renowned glass bead making center in Europe. Venice dominated the world market of glass beads in quantity and quality until the 20th century (The History of Beads by Dubin).

Back in the 1990s I had the opportunity to visit Venice with my husband and what a wonderful trip it was! We spent five days there, taking in the sights, walking the narrow streets, in and out of churches and art galleries,   among people and pigeons, and also touring a Murano glass bead factory/workshop and I even got myself a pair of Murano glass earrings. Have you ever seen the Remax commercial where a guy and a gal kick themselves in the behind for not buying the wonderful home that was for sale? Well, sometimes I find myself doing just that and let me tell you why. When I was in Venice I had no interest in beads whatsoever. Yes, I know! I saw the city just like any other tourist and totally oblivious to the wonderful and addictive world of beads! Hence the kicking in the behind! Here are some of the pictures from our visit to Venice. But enough of that... back to the task at hand.

Here are the pair of earrings I made. I have used the hammered diamond link to connect the vibrant Aquamarine Venetian glass bead to a Swarovski Aquamarine Starfish. I think the trio of beads go very well together. I have used sterling silver wire and sterling silver jump ring to connect the three. To bring out the gold foil in the glass bead, I used the Sterling Silver Ear Wires with Gold-Filled Ball. These ear wires are a favorite of mine, they were great with many of the holiday earrings that I made. The combination of the gold and silver metals always make the jewelry special.

I received the Venetian glass bead and the hammered diamond link free of charge from Artbeads.com, while the rest of the beads and findings in this pair of earrings were previously purchased by me from them and were part of my inventory. I would certainly recommend these versatile beads to all. Make sure you watch the Handy Tip Video that explains how to smooth out the rough edges on the handmade Venetian beauties. Artbeads.com carries an extensive collection of colorful Venetian glass beads, check them out!

Disclosure: I received the beads described above above free of charge from Artbeads.com. I have been asked to review these beads/supplies and give my honest opinion of them.  I am not being paid by Artbeads.com for my endorsement of any of the products received and reviewed in my blog postings.