Welcome to Irresistible Beadworks!
Original One of a Kind jewelry pieces designed and created by Mary Beth Blake
About the materials I use
Pearls – I use primarily freshwater pearls. I also use Swarovski glass pearls. Pearl shapes – Coin, potato, nugget, rice, button, keishi, stick and teardrop.
About Pearls: Natural freshwater pearls are rarely perfectly round or even nearly round. Many pearls, both natural and cultured, have beautiful color and luster. Freshwater pearls are noted for their wide range of color, they can be found in white, silvery white, pink, salmon, red, copper, bronze, brown, lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, and yellow. White is the most common color. Other popular colors are the pastel pinks, roses, lavenders, and purples. The different colors are created by species, genetics, water quality, and the position of the pearl in the shell. You can also find many pearls which are also dyed.
Crystals – I use only Austrian Swarovski registered trademark crystals.Sizes are 3mm, 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm. Traditional shapes are round and bicone. (The holiday snowman is made with Celestial Crystal)
Glass – Most if not all the glass beads I use are from the Czech Republic. Types are Fire Polished, Pressed Glass, Table Cut and Lamp Work.
Gemstones and Semi Precious Stones – Includes such stones as Agate, Carnelian, Coral, Flourite, Jade, Jasper, Lapis, Moonstone, Turquoise, Rhodonite and many more.
Shells – Includes Mother of Pearl, Paua, Lip and Heishe shells.
Wood and Natural Beads – Includes coconut shell, wood, Tagua nuts, seeds and clay.
Cloisonne’ – Cloisonne is a unique art form (enamelware) that originated in Beijing, China. Cloisonne, whose history can date back to over 500 years ago, is well-known traditional enamelware. It is actually called the "Blue of Jingtai" as blue is the dominant color adopted for enameling and cloisonne became prevalent during the reign of Jingtai (1450--1456) in the Ming dynasty. Regarding the making of cloisonne, it involves quite elaborate and complicated processes: base-hammering, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel firing, polishing and gilding.
Lamp Work Beads – These beads are made by using a gas torch to heat a rod of glass and spinning the resulting thread around a metal rod covered in bead release. When the base bead has been formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface to create many designs. After this initial stage of the beadmaking process, the bead can be further fired in a kiln to make it more durable.
Dichroic Glass Beads - Dichroic glass has a thin film of metal fused to the surface of the glass, resulting in a surface that has a metallic sheen that changes between two colors when viewed at different angles. Beads can be pressed, or made with traditional lampworking techniques.
I also like to use beads from local artists as well as recycling vintage beads
Wire - I use Accu-Flex beading wire and SoftFlex Company wire
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