coolheadclan

© Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer

Designer jewelry always provides consumers with the current trends in the fashion industry. You would often find that a number of celebrities will use their stardom to release a range of fashion collections that many individuals all over the world consider to be high class and very popular. This has been reflected in Kim Kardashian, a reality TV show who has made her mark in the industry and is now branching into her own jewelry line.

Kim Kardashian was sporting some serious bling on her wedding day. Lorraine Schwartz provided all the innovative jewelry design for the big day, including the sparkling 12 carat diamond and platinum eternity band which cost over $60,000 alone. One advantage of the platinum setting is that it won't tarnish or fade, symbolizing the enduring power of true love.

The eternity band looks stunning when paired with Kim's 20.5 carat engagement ring as well. When you tally the cost of all the wedding day jewelry worn by Kim, it totaled over $10 million. Signature pieces included a diamond headpiece and matching drop earrings from Lorraine Schwartz. The world will get to see the entire wedding on October 8 and 9 when it will air as a 2 part special on E News.

© Svadilfari

The Innovative Beads Expo was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, in Marlborough from January 13 to January 15, 2012. This Expo is similar to any retail exhibition where the general public is free to purchase products. Apart from the retail trade, designers, bead shops and other organizations could also purchase beads in wholesale quantity. However, to purchase beads on a wholesale basis, one needs to have an applicable Re-sale Tax ID Certificate from one's state. The Expo also hosts eminent experts of the industry who provide courses on beading for the masses. The Exhibition has been correctly promoted as "The favorite Bead Show in the Northeast".

The Beads Expo provides a platform to 29 vendors to showcase their products. Debra Huber from the Clever Treasures, an online bead store, has been displaying her products in the Beads Expo since many years. As per Debra, the Exhibition is a perfect ground since it has been serving as a great market for their ceramic beads, large-hole beads, and leather-and-magnet clasps. Another vendor – Meg Fillmore and her mother, of another online store called Bead My Love, also echoed the voice of Debra. According to Fillmore, Marlborough has been a great place with great audience, and that the Exhibition has helped them to realize their hobby into a dream.

© Urban Woodswalker

Portrait beads, also called face beads, are beads made with an image of a human face on them. These type of beads have ancient origins going back over 1600 years, and have been used to make beaded bracelets and other jewelry in locations including Scandinavia, Poland, northern Hungary, and southern Germany.

Their origin is traced back to the late Roman period, A.D. 400-600, when skilled craftsmen of the Roman Empire used glass canes to detail facial features on the beads. Modern versions of portrait beads use photographs as a guide, and are constructed with a process known as millefiori can technique with polymer clay. The facial features on the beads are sculpted individually from thin sheet of polymer clay, made into tubes, and the successive layers are built up from the center to the outside to render the face or hair.