Dyed Beads: A No-No in the Tumbler!

So last night during an anal retentive phase, I decided to throw my "Paint it Cherry Red" brooches into the tumbler. The one that is now available for sale as of this evening made it through OK (see pic); however, the one that was supposed to go out the door this week is history. Yap. Gone and redone. I used red coral beads in these, and totally forgot that they were dyed. The one that was to be mailed out...the custom order for my friend, had a few marks on the wire from my pliers, so I figured I'd just throw it back in there and the tumbler would polish them out. When I took out the brooch, the poor little red coral beads were a very dull pink color. Ugh.

So anyway, I got up this morning early and wound, wound, wound another one. Here's a photo of it...all nice 'n shiny 'n new looking. The good thing is I'm starting to become proficient at the technique. Another good thing is that my friend will get a better product, as hers was the very first one I made and as I mentioned it had some slight scratches. I thought everything was a goner last night though. But...after asking for some help in the Etsy Forums, I got the encouragement to at least salvage some of it, and I did. I was able to keep the frame, as well as all of the beads that weren't red coral. So...chalk it up to a lesson learned.

I also took some additional pics tonight of my new products, but they turned out crappy due to the colors of the beads. I'll need to mess around with my settings...and there might be a lot of Photoshop going on this week! Expect some labradorite, some moonstone, some smoky quartz, some pearls, and some garnets. Most are earrings, but I have a new necklace/earring set on its way, too.

Peace out.