Top 7 relationship rules you should follow

 

Here are the seven regulations we've chalked out for you which one ought to abide by when in a relationship

While there is no rule book that Cupid donates to you after he has struck the arrow, there still are some (read: silent) hard and fasts that you should keep in mind lest you travel through choppy waters in your relationship. Be aware you don't lose balance when sitting on one plank of the love seesaw. Here's making things wee-simpler, we give you a rundown on major relationship rules you just shouldn't mess with. 

Avoid anything you'd not want him to do :

You've made things clear to him; he shouldn't talk with his ex, shouldn't go for those Friday night basketball games with the boys, no late night talks for him with his girl friends... with all this and more, just remember one thing. Rules are meant to be the same for both of you. Don't think you'll set all the rules out for him and, side-by-side, happily keep in touch with that ex of yours or chat with your guy pals without letting him know.

Forget them not

Friends are the most crucial part of anyone's life. But the moment people enter into a relationship, they tend to forget their friends, ignoring them to the fullest. That is a complete no-no! Don't loosen ties with your pals just because you're hooked.

Say it when you mean it

We say communicate your heart out, but only when the time is right. Don't use that 'L' word for the sake of it, just because you have mistaken like for love. Contemplate on it clearly before expressing it to the other person.

Tattle to each other

Remember, it's just you and your partner who're in this relationship, so better keep any third person aside. If there's a problem that's irking you or your partner, try and sort it out among yourself rather than involve more people. Most problems don't need a third party involvement. So, keep the others out of this one.

Don't ever cheat

Bored? Well, try to spunk up that relationship, or else walk out of it. But don't you cheat! Cheating is no answer to boredom, and it is totally unacceptable. Make sure you tell your partner clearly that you're not happy with the way things are shaping up between the two of you, and sort it out, or else, walk out of it.

Compare not

Yes your ex must have been a darling! A gem-of-a-person none can match up to. But get the point, you ain't with that ex of yours. So, don't compare your current with your past. Instead, just be happy with what you've got at hand.

Take care if you don't want someone else to

He cares for you, but you can't invest time for them? Or you're unable to tell the person how much you love them? If you're not there for someone, chances are, someone else will be there for them. So, either care for your partner, or don't crib later if someone replaces you in their life.

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French Bead Flower Making A Vintage Craft Is New Again

 How do people use Bead Flowers?
 

Bead flowers can be used in every way you use silk or fresh flowers. The only difference is that it will be many, many years before bead flowers deteriorate. Therefore, they make ideal inserts in bridal bouquets, bridal headdresses, hair barrettes, pins, napkin rings, corsages, "potted" plants, 3D pictures and wall hangings.

A few notable people who owned and treasured examples of this fine art were Marie Antoinette, Madame Pompadour, Napoleon's Josephine, Princess Grace, Princess Caroline, Patricia Nixon and William Randolph Hearst.

Bead flowers can be made out of many kinds and styles of beads, and beads can have a wide variety of finishes. The most common type of bead used is a seed bead, gauge 10 or 11, and used on wire of 24 or 26 gauge. I have seen very tiny flowers made with gauge 15 seed beads. The edges of the beads can be squared off or rounded, depending on the artist's taste. Japanese beads are of very high quality and are very uniform. If you make bead jewelry, you may have used Toho or Miyuki beads in your jewelry and other projects. One-, two- or three-cut beads add sparkle, and trumpet beads and rhinestone centers can be used as an accent. Beads can be matte or pearly, colorlined or unlined, opaque or transparent, and the list goes on. Beads can be bought on hanks, or loose in bags and tubes.

As strange as it may seem, weather can have an effect on the availability of beads. Because of weather conditions in many parts of the world, certain colors of beads can be made only at certain times of the year. About six years ago, the fashion industry bought up all the available pink beads, and jewelrymakers and flower beaders had to use other colors until the climatic conditions changed again, production of pink beads could resume, and the supply could catch up with the demand.

History of Bead Flowers

The art of making flowers out of beads is many centuries old. Although there is very little documentation on the development of this art, research has shown that the first primitive bead flowers may have been made as early as the 1300's in Germany, when steel needles and wire were developed.

In the ensuing years as the craft spread across Europe, different methods were developed: the Victorian method, also known as the English or Russian method, and the French method. The main difference is that in the Victorian method, which is similar to modern bead jewelry-making techniques, the thread or wire passes through each bead twice or more, and the wire passes from row to row on the sides of the piece; in the French method, the wire passes through each bead only once, and passes from row to row in the center or on the bottom of the individual piece.

One of the reasons that flowers are associated with churches has to do with beads. In the thirteenth century a form of prayer using a string of beads was instituted by St. Dominic. The string, called a rosary, consisted at that time of 15 units of beads. Each unit contained 10 small beads, preceded by one larger one. A prayer was recited at every bead. The word "bede" (sp) is Middle English for "prayer." Because of the length of the original rosary, it became customary to pay someone, usually a resident of an almshouse, to recite the prayers. These people were referred to as bede women or men, and it was they who made the first bead flowers. The craft was handed down through the centuries and came to be associated with the church and its decorations.

The French used bead flowers as funeral wreaths. These wreaths were called "Immortelles," and ranged from 3 feet to 4 feet in height. They would be left at the grave of the deceased. Since they were made on metal wire and were exposed to the weather, most of these items were destroyed within a year, but a few examples remain today. Occasionally you will see one on Ebay. Once an Immortelle disintegrated, leaving only a pile of beads, the beads would often be recycled into other projects. Not only are there bead flowers mounted on the frame of the Immortelle, but the frame wires are wrapped in beaded wire as well. Wires strung with beads might have been coiled or braided as well before wrapping onto the piece. The whole surface of the Immortelle would be wrapped over with wire strung with thousands and thousands of beads.

In Venice in the 16th century, middle class and poor women made bead flowers for churches, banquet tables and parade floats. At that time, someone could walk down the streets of Venice and see women sitting outside every door, making ornaments out of wire and tiny glass beads. At one time Venice was a center for the actual production of beads. According to one source, at one point all the beadmaking activity in Venice was moved onto the island of Murano. Murano glass vases and other items are still treasured today.

Around the Napoleonic era (1768-1821), Italian and French peasants who tended the vineyards in the summer were recruited to work with beads in the winter. They would be assigned to embroider the ball gowns and jackets of the court nobility with beads. Imperfect beads or beads that would not fit over the needle were saved and made into flowers. These imperfect beads may have been strung onto wire for the flowers with horsehair or human hair. These flowers were used to decorate church altars, and were carried by altar boys for Easter and Christmas.

In Victorian times, royal European brides often wore wreaths or circlets of bead flowers and carried bead bouquets on their wedding day. The custom was for the bride to abandon the fancy hair styles of the time, and wear her hair simply, straight down her back, and adorn her head with a floral wreath. If she were getting married at a time of the year when fresh flowers were unavailable, bead flowers were an excellent solution.

Wreaths

In response to the 9/11 tragedy, many flower beaders from around the world collaborated to make a modern-style funeral wreath for each of the three crash sites. These wreaths are now in the Pentagon, the Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, and the New York Wreath was temporarily placed in the Wheaton Museum of American Glass in Morganville, New Jersey. Recently the New York Wreath was moved to a permanent display case in a board room at the World Trade Center Museum Foundation Headquarters. The Pentagon wreath is in a large, glass wall-mounted case in a new hallway in the Pentagon. This hallway leads to a chapel commemorating those who died on 9/11.

Swarovski Project

Several years ago, when the Swarovski Crystal company was first making their line of crystal beads, they commissioned several bead flower artists to design and create the first Swarovski crystal bead flowers. The beaders adapted existing patterns and wrote new patterns to accommodate these new, larger beads. A sparkling garden of flowers was the result. This collection of flowers toured the world, and is now back at the main offices of the Swarovski company in Austria.

History of Bead Flowers in America

In 1865, Godey's Ladies Book published a flower pattern that suggests the flowers could be used as decorations for hair and clothing.

The Dritz Traum Company released the earliest U.S. pattern, in 1928. It was titled "Hiawatha New Imported Crystal Bead Models." You may recognize the Dritz name, since they still produce needles and other items.

By 1957, Samuel Wallach of the Walbead company was packaging and selling kits, "Bead a Bouquet," which included a wide variety of beaded flower instructions.

In 1965, Aleene, of Temple City, California, released what was possibly the first U.S. book of patterns, simply titled "Bead Flowers."

The art of bead flower making was popular in the U.S. in the late 1960's to early 1970's. Years 1966 through 1983 brought us a flurry of publications. These books are now considered the "bibles" of the French beader. The noted authors of these books include the highly respected Virginia Nathanson, Bobbe Anderson, Samuel Wallach, Helen Leibman, Ruth Wasley/Edith Harris and Virginia Osterland. Although these books sometimes appear in garage sales, collectors are willing to pay well in excess of $100.00 each, when they can be found.

Virginia Nathanson was a Vaudeville performer in her youth. Later on, she saw a bead flower arrangement in a department store in New York City. She wanted to discover the secret of these everlasting flowers, so she bought the arrangement, took it home, and took each flower completely apart. By this rather drastic forensic method, she learned the four basic techniques of French bead flower making.

Mrs. Nathanson's first book, "The Art of Making Bead Flowers and Bouquets," is now in reprint in softcover. The instructions in this book are very clear, and this is an excellent book for the beginner.

In the late 60's and early 70's, most of the seed beads sold in America were imported from Czechoslovakia. With the last phase of the Cold War, around the late 1980's, Czech beads were difficult to find, and popularity for the craft diminished.

In 1991 Helen McCall produced a book dedicated entirely to miniatures, and in 1995, Leisure Arts produced a few patterns, in an ornament book. Still, the art seemed to be fading away, in the United States.

Then, the late 1990's saw a dramatic interest in beaded flowers around the world. Books were published in Japanese, French, Italian, Russian, German, and Dutch. Although some of the styles "cross over," most of these books use the Victorian technique.

In the last several years, Mario Rivoli bought up many vintage bead flowers and spray-painted them to create astonishing effects on the flowers. These beads are often seen in shops in New York City, and in magazines and on the Internet.

With the start of the new millennium, the United States has shown a renewed interest in French beaded flowers. Magazines are describing the art as "what's hot" and French-style pattern books are once again appearing.



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Why Go for Jewellery Making Classes When You Can Do It Online?

The internet has been a great boon for people around the world. It has brought information on our fingertips, made the world a global workplace, urged people to unite for a cause and so much more. However, when it comes to making jewellery, jewellery making classes still make a lot more sense than learning the art online.
If you are doubtful about the above claim, here are a few reasons why I say so:

You get to interact with people

With online courses on how to make jewellery, you are on your own, in front of a computer screen, listening and watching to an expert who is sitting miles away from you. There is nothing wrong with that. But when compared to face to face classes, there is something definitely missing. With real classes, you get to interact with people from all walks of life. That gives you an opportunity to share the knowledge and experience of other people, and pick up helpful tips in making ornaments along the way. Picking up tips, ideas and advice from people with different cultures and traditions definitely is a very big advantage.

You get real time guidance of a teacher

With most online courses on how to make jewellery, you are given per-recorded lessons to learn the art. However, making ornaments is as intricate a process as any. With jewellery making classes, you get the advantage of real time support by a teacher who is there to guide you at every step. You can practice the techniques learnt there and then and the teacher is always there to correct you if you are doing something wrong. With online courses, it is very seldom so.

You get to learn to work safely

When you are handling metals such as silver and gold, you will be working with drills and hammers in order to give the metals the desired shape. Working with drills and hammers can be dangerous. However, with jewellery making classes, you are taught safe ways to handle all the tools and equipment. With online courses though, the safety aspect of things is hardly stressed upon.

Given all those advantages of jewellery making classes in the real world, it makes sense to learn how to make jewellery in a real time, classroom environment rather than do it online. At least that's what I would suggest to people serious about learning the art of making their ornaments.

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Home Fashion: The Fashion Of Modern Occupants

Home furnishing or soft furnishing is the latest trend in the business of fashion today. The desire to redecorate everything around us has lead people to become fashion centric with reference to the interiors of their work place or their home or perhaps it is the compensation for our hectic life that we generally seek relaxation through the colours and designs in our furnishings. Generally, we try to please our visual and tactile senses by the soft and beautiful fabrics around us.

In the last 3-4 years, people have begun changing their home furniture like they change their wardrobe according to the changing fashions. Lifestyle furnishing has become a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. For instance, brown sofas have become outdated and people now prefer lively colours like blue and red. Though brand awareness in this segment is low but at present the scenario is changing, a few years ago consumers never stressed on purchasing branded home furnishing products, but now they are aware about new products and brands.

The list of furnishings includes bed linen like bed sheets, pillow slips (pillow shams), bed skirts, duvet covers, quilts and cushions; for giving the complete look to the bedroom matching curtains, tie-backs and also mats can be included in this list. This bedroom could be with an attached bathroom making the list even bigger. Towels and floor mats, shower curtains, same soap cases, toothbrush holders, soap dispensers, mugs and rugs can offer the attractiveness of a bathroom. Water in this room, evokes memories of sea and ocean, shells and fish, and hence these are major patterns in the design making of bathroom accessories. Bed-and-bath themes are also combined together by designers.

The bedroom that we are talking about could be that of an adult, or a child, or two adults, or two children and hence the look of every bedroom in a house is unique. The appearance of any room has to be in relevance to the psychological and physical requirements of its occupants.

Bed sheets aren't just utilitarian things; they make style statements while reflecting your personality and moods. As people are becoming more aware about fibres, fabrics, feel, colour and size of bed sheets, pillow slips, quilts, etc, it gives added responsibilities to the designers and manufacturers to ensure quality supply of the same.

Cotton is the most favored fabric for bed sheets, particularly those with a greater thread count. Exporters have an increasing demand for cotton bed sheets, though some also demand silk made-ups. Generally, many export houses are given the designs to work on, or they make their own varieties from which the buyers put up orders. They emphasizes on colour and design. For new born babies soft basic colours are used, where as for grown up children complimentary colour schemes with cartoon like motifs are mostly used. There are a variety of prints to select from. The prints for curtains vary from animals, to soft toys, cartoons and candies; the same is applicable for rugs, bed sheets, duvet covers and cushions.

Teenagers have different preferences like pink which is mostly preferred by girls, whereas blue is a preferred colour for boys. Adults chose from a wide range of colours and motifs including traditional Indian motifs to modern compositions. In fact, the selection of colour and design depends on the fashion trend of today.

One step out of the bedroom and you reach the most happening room of the house - the living room. A combination of huge variety of colours and its relevant coordinates are particularly made to cater to people's physical and psychological desires. Sheer curtains to bring in sunlight, heavy lined curtains to prevent it, embroidered curtains and valences with lace trimmings flaunting luxury and a taste for design, make the room look more appealing and beautiful. Curtains can surely make the room look more attractive. Generally fabrics for sewing curtains are 54 inches wide or extra wide at 110 inches or 118 inches. Extra¬ wide fabrics are normally made for unlined sheer curtains, and are intended to be railroaded or run sideways with the selvage at the top and bottom of the curtains, permitting the curtains to be made without seams.

Curtains with well-designed features like noise and light reduction are being particularly produced for exports. The dyes used for these need to be sunlight resistant as curtains receive direct sunlight and might start looking dull and faded very soon. They are made in combination with the cushions and other furniture in the room.

The options are many; curtains are available in every size, colour, fabric and designs like stripes, checks, floral, woven, printed, etc. One can chose the fabric from the cottons to linens, velvets, tapestries etc. There are many alternatives in decorative accessories: rods with decorative finials, ornamental brackets, and pleats at the top, holdbacks and tiebacks. The alternatives selected depend on whether one needs to camouflage the windows or show them off, as they are architecturally special, whether one needs privacy or needs to visually enlarge a small room will ascertain the type of curtain one opts for.

In case you want extra light without spoiling your privacy, you can get transom window curtains. This two-part curtain possesses a sheer fabric at the top and privacy panels below. Tab-top curtains have fabric loops on the top to which a rod is fixed. Tie-top curtains possess fabric on the top of the panel that is fixed to the rod. And, grommet-top panels have metal eyelets on the top which is fixed with curtain rings. Tap-top curtains are a latest trend that is common in modern homes.

Many traditional Indian weaves and embroideries are being done all over India on the home furnishings products. Traditional Indian embroideries like 'kasida' from Kashmir, 'kantha' from Bengal and 'chikankari' from Uttar Pradesh are in demand for bed covers and curtains. The tie-and-dye methods of Rajasthan and Gujarat are also widely used for making colourful bed sheets and quilt covers. Many of these are available in cheaper rates in print.

Many home furnishing companies are making these products with handlooms. Normally, high quality silk and cotton are used for these products. While traditionally curtains were either produced with heavy jacquards or luxurious prints, at present a wide range of fabrics covering embroidered fabrics are being used. The attractive display of colours can also be seen in plain sofas with striped and spotted cushions or plush heavy pile carpets with designs varying from geometricals to florals and abstracts.

Occasionally it is appealing themes instead of sorting by room that the designers go for with areas designed by mood like femme fatale, eclectic, delicate, timeless and wild. In fact it includes the accessories like rugs, throws, frames, cushions, etc. Unique linen for the kitchen and other soft furnishings for lawn chairs have also gained remarkable popularity. Tapestries, chenille, cotton and linen prints, stripes and checks, toile, crewel work, plains of all types covering linens, silks, suede, voiles and muslins, and towels, be it for bath or the kitchen, all are included in this segment. The showrooms for soft furnishings provide the customers with a collection of designs to select from.

The Indian home furnishings market is around Rs 15,000 crore, of which the organised market is about Rs 1,000 crore. Earlier, Bombay Dyeing was the only leader in this segment. The major carpet manufacturing areas (including all types of floor coverings and durries) are Agra-Bhadoi belt in Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Bikaner-Udaipur belt in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. In India, there are 1215 carpet production units recorded and of that 190 are in the organized sector and the rest are in small scale industry sector.

The Mirzapur-Bhadohi belt in Uttar Pradesh stands as the major contributor for the carpet weaving industry in the India with nearly 90 per cent of the total production of carpets in India.

Panipat has witnessed high growth in handlooms during the last two decades with the number of looms holding 50,000 are well known for producing acrylic blankets, bed sheets, bed covers, tapestry, upholstery, table mats and table covers. There are above 310 shoddy spinning units in Panipat having a production of 4 lakh kg per day and a turnover of more than Rs 600 crore. Panipat also possess a woolen carpet industry, which is now almost thirty years old, with around 150 units. There are about 60 carpet woolen spinning units in Panipat with an annual turnover of Rs 175 crore making a variety of handloom products such as durries, mats, table covers, bed sheets, curtains and carpets exported to various countries, including Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.

Benefiting from this booming market and the increasing new and young homemakers, department stores make their home furnishings space by creating well organized living spaces that sell the products very effectively. Many popular companies working with soft furnishings products in India are Welspun, Gujarat (which started first 'Spaces Home & Beyond' store in Mumbai); Handfab, Panipat; Highness Exports; In Vogue Buying, New Delhi; Indian Exporters, Kolkata; Shabari International, Kerala; Cannanore; Amber Textile; and Reliance Industries, and there are brands like the decades-old Bombay Dyeing and just stated like Spaces, Portico, Season's, Yamini etc.

Raymond provides the widest range of colours to satisfy the various colour requirements of interiors in Home furnishings. Home Solutions Retail (India), a 100% holding of retail leader Pantaloon Retail, intends to close its third year of function with about of Rs 1,000 crore. Home Solutions is establishing chain of home stores, committed to all things that would be required for setting up, decorating and furnishing a home. In the first step, the company will be establishing six Home Towns, the company's umbrella store, in Noida, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Pune, Thane and Bangalore, which will start by June 2007. Each store, covering an expense about Rs 14 crore, will be allotted about 120,000 square feet.

To achieve its brand recognized in the big commoditised home furnishings market, Welspun is investing in retail stores and increasing its capacity to serve the domestic market. Besides its own brand the company recently received the marketing rights of Tommy Hilfiger home furnishing products.

Welspun is also coming up with the concepts to educate and guide customers about issues like hygiene, because most of us are comfortable with replacing our bed sheets once in two weeks. Likewise many families utilize only one towel between themselves. None of us have ever understood that if the same towel is utilized the entire family, each member of the family may get infected. All these maters will be undertaken through various media for which the company has allocated about Rs 10 crore. At present it is searching for an agency to handle its communication activities.

As per the company's retail strategy, which is setting the core of its brand-building practice, in the next three years they are coming with 125 stores across the country with an investment of Rs 50 crore. Amongst the 125, 100 would be standalone Spaces stores. Extended with an area of nearly 2,000 sq ft, the Spaces showrooms would provide furnishings for each room of the house. Besides furnishing items, the showrooms will also provide home décor products such as candles, curios and so on.

Recently, Portico, a premium Home Decor & furnishings brand introduced its premium and 'Sparkly' range.

Besides this, various small players in the market cater to every taste and pocket of the population. For those who do not need to spend in professionally decorating their rooms, many options are available by India's department chain stores like Ebony, Shoppers' Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Westside and even Big Bazaar.

Because of huge demands, many fashion designers have also forayed in this segment. At present the home furnishings segment is considered a flourishing sector in the textile industry. Domestic and export markets are both booming for home furnishings.

According to experts, to make brand awareness home furnishing companies have to put more emphasis on the overall shopping experience. Retail ambience, coordinated product ranges; in-store display; point-of-purchase promotional literature on the product features as well as the company's lineage and superior in-store service are some of the primary actions that home furnishing companies must take. In fact this has to be made in connection with innovative product and brand advertising and new promotional efforts.

While some experts believe that as the sector is largely commoditised, the main target would be to set the category to constantly develop, which can only be done through customer education.

However, some feel that it is a slight too early to introduce new collections each season. While it could support in making fashion consciousness in India about home furnishings, as well as the designs, colours and prints are contemporary, and the packaging and labeling are as per the good quality standards, home furnishing companies need not be bothered about making more complication in their business by creating repeated changes in their product offering at this stage. In fact, in the next few years, with more competition and more demand, it would be essential to introduce at least two major collections per year.

We require building up more colour and design sensitive people to work in this segment. For those who intend to begin a home furnishing venture, whether for exports or for the domestic market, it is appropriate to begin with just one or two products and then add on to it slowly. Cushion covers and curtains are the more demandable products. If proper plans are made using appropriate color combinations as expected in the colour forecast, and ever new designs are made, then definitely one will get success in this segment. The key point to note here is that trends change fast, so the process of designing and creation should keep on preventing stagnation and making guaranteed success.

Conclusion

In the last few years, people have started spending on furniture and furnishings like they perform with their clothing. For them lifestyle furnishing is turning out as a mix of aesthetics, comfort, colours and designs. Brown sofas are outdated; people need lively colours like blue and red. A few years ago consumers never demanded highly branded home furnishing products, but now they are very well aware about new products and brands in the market, though brand awareness in this segment is still low. Many companies are adding two to three products in their product lines every year and many are comings with innovative concepts in this segment. But, for this segment's growth still it requires a proper planning or strategy, more efforts and educate to customer as well.

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Types of Jewelry Chains

Since jewelry making has become a recent passion of so many people worldwide, the chains that are on offer to enhance our creativity has also increased in beauty and variety. And it is not always possible to identify these various chains as easily as one would hope.

Here is a brief list of chains with names and descriptions that might increase our knowledge and enhance our jewelry making adventures.

Types and Styles of Jewelry Chains

    Anchor - rings on this chain normally has a bisected loop (i.e. 2 holes per ring). These rings inter-link together to form the very classic and popular chain. It derives its name from the history of shipping vessels which had much larger but similarly looking chains, which attached to their anchors.

    Basketweave - less common but decidedly beautiful. The name comes from the fact that the chain has a construction that results in the appearance of woven basket plaits.

    Ball - also known as Bead Chain is thus named as it has little round beads affixed all along the chain. These little round beads could be right next to each other, or separated by usually short spaces between them.

    Box - also known as either the Square Link Chain or Venetian Chain is made up of square links that are normally quite tightly inter-linked. It has a square cross section. And while one might not think so, this kind of chaining produces a very fluid and shinny chain.

    Byzantine - very popular in chain mail technique. This chain has an air of old world romance about it. Its construction produces a very complex and intriguing look. Highly decorative and strong.

    Link - also less commonly known as Cable chain. This is the most common of the chains, constructed with rings looped into each other in a single row. This is the chain that first comes to mind when people think of jewelry chains.

    Curb - is very similar to the link chain except that the rings on the curb chain have areas with flat surfaces, giving it an additional air of elegance.

    Figaro - is very similar to the Curb chain except that instead of having uniformly sized rings, it normally comprises of two or three shorter rings alternating with one longer ring in-between. Like the Curb chain, the rings have flattened polished segments.

    Infinity Link - less common but very beautiful. It features an "8" (or infinity symbol) all along the chain. These "8" shaped rings are normally joined together via a smaller round ring.

    Rolo - also known as Belcher chain has been around for a long time and is as popular today as it ever was. It is the chain that is most used for hanging charms and dangles.

    Snake - or as it is more commonly known these days as Pandora chain. It has had a revival in popularity due to the phenomenal success of the Pandora charms.

There are infinitely more variety of chains than I have covered here. Knowing the names of chains (even if the names are not always universally adopted) ensures that you can find supplies for them easier when conducting a search. And with jewelry making, one never tires of trying new varieties to spur another phase of creative exploration!

I hope you have enjoyed this little sojourn into chains and a bit of their history and origins.

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