Colour Matching Jewelry Design

How to Create Colourful Jewellery

Coming up with colour combinations for some people is quite a difficult task. While others come by it quite naturally; they can just throw a bunch of colours together without much thought and they manage to all blend together with just the right amount of vibrancy, hue and saturation. When it comes to jewelry design learning how to successfully combine colours can help speed up the jewelry design process, and help you get your jewelry out there faster. That is why, we at Stones and Findings have created the Colour Search Option to make it easier for you.

If you fall into the category of the first group of people there are some things to think about that should give you just as good combinations as the second group of people. To start with there are three properties of colours to think about while making your combinations hue, value, and saturation. Hue is defined as the type of colour, blue, red, yellow and so on. Value is how light or dark a colour is- how much black, grey or white has been added to the colour. Saturation is also known as the intensity of a colour, how bright or dull it is.

While matching colours, think about what you want the final product to look like, and who you are making it for. If you are making it for someone else, think about what colour the person likes, what colours they often wear, and finally what colours look good on them. Next, do you want to have multiple colours that are all contrasting in saturation, or a combination of colours that just blend together with similar values? Think about the colour properties and how you can make them work for you.

A good way to start if you are completely lost and have only a vague idea of what colours you would like to use is to take a trip to your local hardware store and pull a bunch of paint chips. This will give you the ability to play with colour pallets and give you a sense of direction before you even go to buy your beads or design your piece of jewellery.

Another way to create your colour palettes if you have already picked out a starting colour is to use a colour wheel. From here you can move it around the wheel and see what colours it could work with, this will also give you an idea of what colours to stay away from. Some colour wheels have a window cut into the wheel so that you can place it on top of your item, and then proceed to move the wheel around until you find a pleasing combination.

If you take into account the various colour properties and you can justify why you are using each colour that you have selected then there is no reason why you can’t create amazing colour combinations that turn into striking jewellery pieces.

Stones and Findings is putting Agate on SALE! Starting March 16, we are offering an additional 20% off all Stone beads under the category of Agate products in our showroom and online! That includes popular stones such as Black Onyx, Botswana Agate, Flower Agate and many many more. For more information, please visit our Specials page at

http://www.stonesandfindings.com/specials

Take advantage of this great opportunity to stock up on great Agate stones, and start off your Fall collection early!
Shop online or visit us in our showroom Mon-Fri 10:00am - 6:00pm, Sat. 11:00 am - 4:00 pm.

Our sale is on from March 16th through March 29th.

Please remember a $150.00 minimum order st ill applies to all orders for the wholesale price. Sale prices are already reduced and are as marked.

Purple Sale - Save 20% on all Purple Items!

This March, we are celebrating the colour Purple by offering 20% off all Purple Stones, Crystals and Freshwater Pearls. We feel it’s the perfect time to party it up with purple! Pamper yourself with purple precious stones like amethyst, purple fluorite, lavender freshwater pearls, dyed purple jade and tanzanite and purple crystals, we have plenty!

For more information, please visit our Specials page at http://www.stonesandfindings.com/specials

You can also visit our showroom at 55 Queen Street East, suite 705A, Toronto, Ontario to take a look at our gorgeous merchandise Mon-Fri 10:00am-6:00pm & Sat. 11:00am-4:00pm.

Don’t procrastinate our offer is only valid from Tuesday, March. 2, 2009 to Sunday, March. 15, 2009!

St. Patrick's Day Sale at Stones and Findings - Save 30% on all Green Stones, Crystals, Pearls and Shells

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Stones and Findings!

For a limited time only you can save 30% on ALL GREEN Semi-precious stones, Freshwater Pearls, Crystals and Shells. Use this wonderful opportunity to stock up on Green Products such as Prehnite , Turquoise African , Jade African & get inspired to design for Spring/Summer.
For a full list of items on sale please visit Stones and Findings Sale Specials

You can also visit our showroom to take a look at our gorgeous merchandise Mon-Fri 10:00am-6:00pm & Sat. 11:00am-4:00pm.

Remember, the sale is only valid from Feb.16 - March 1st, so don't delay! Order Today!

Using Semi-precious Beads in Clothing

How use semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, and crystals in your garments

Beads are often used in everyday life items that aren’t considered to be pieces of jewelry. When I think of beads that are used outside of jewelry I think of either home décor or clothing.
Most notably beads can be found on evening wear or wedding dresses. Adding beads to a special occasion dress or outfit like crystal just add some sparkle to the outfit and work to highlight certain areas by catching and reflecting the light, giving the outfit, and the person a sense of glamour. Pearls are often also found on wedding dresses as they give the dress some visual texture, and they just look so good with lace!

Beads can also be found on everyday items of clothing like tops, dresses, and even pants. They work to dress up a piece of clothing a little more, and give the consumer yet one more reason to buy that special item of clothing.

Adding beads to clothing is not all that difficult. It is often quite fun to do, and the sense of accomplishment once you are done and the piece looks amazing is well worth it. My suggestion when adding beads to an item of clothing that are going to be permanently attached to the garment is to work with a smaller sized bead. Three millimeter crystals , or size ten seed beads work well, as a rule I would not go much above four millimeters, but ultimately it is going to come down to the type of garment you are working on, and the bead that you want to use and if it will be a good fit. Three millimeter crystals , are a favorite as they are a perfect size and they give both a fun sparkle and some colour to the piece.

When sewing the beads on, work with embroidery floss, preferably the colour of the clothing item so that your stitches will disappear. Embroidery floss comes with six strands so I suggest pulling the strands apart, and sewing the beads on with either two or thee strands of the floss. Embroidery floss will be stronger then regular sewing thread, but you could also use something like nylon if you prefer.

If you want to add something to a dress, top, skirt or jacket with out making it permanent there are a few things that you can do. Not making your changes permanent will have a few benefits, the first being that it will make the item much easier to wash- with no fear of looking any of the beads in the bottom of your washing machine, and the second being that it will give you the ability to give a garment multiple looks. First you can embellish a separate piece of fabric with stones, pearls or crystals , and then using snaps or hooks you can attach the fabric to the item of clothing that you are wanting to add it on to. Another thing to do is securely attach clasps to your item of clothing, at the shoulders for a top or dress, or main seam lines for other garments, and then create strands or 'faux necklaces'. Once you are done, finish them off with soldered rings on both ends, and then you can mix and match them onto your garment.

With all of these many different techniques to try out, there are endless possibilities for the person that just simply can’t get enough of beading.

It's our Mardi Gras Sale!

For our annual Mardi Gras sale we thought we’d go Big & Colourful and offer you 50% off All Shells, All Coral and Fire Agate products. This includes popular and favourite products such as Abalone, Fossil Coral, Red Coral and much, much more.

To view the complete list of sale items, please visit: Stones and Findings SPECIALS

Our offer is only valid from Tuesday February 2nd, 2010 to Monday February 15th, 2010!
*Minimum order of $150.00 still applies.

Please Note: Our showroom will be closed on Monday, February 15th for Family Day. However you can still place an order online at www.stonesandfindings.com to qualify for the sale. Happy Shopping!

Valentine's Day Sale

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Stones and Findings is putting all of our Pink Semi-Precious Stones, Freshwater Pearls, Crystals and Shells on Sale!

From January 19th until February 1st, 2010, you can save 20% on all Pink products such as Pink Moonstone, Rose Cubic Zirconia, Pink Opal, Sunstone, Pink Coral, Freshwater Pink Tulle Pearls and much, much more!

Take advantage of this great opportunity to save - stock up on the prettiest pinks, and start designing rosy creations today!

To view the complete list of sale items, please visit: Stones and Findings - Specials

Our offer is only valid from Tuesday January 19th, 2010 to Monday February 1st, 2010!

We are OPEN to the public. Shop Online or in our showroom - Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat. 11am-4pm, and located at 55 Queen Street East, Suite 705A (7th floor) right across from St. Michael's Hospital.