Beads for a Milwaukee Brewers Rosary

Navy strands for Rosary Guy. Photo credit: Michelle at JSM Bead Coop.

I am considering making a rosary in the colors of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. I have discovered that it is not going to be as easy as I first thought, because navy colored beads are hard to come by and navy colored beads in simple rounds or oval shapes are even harder to find.

My local bead store, JSM Bead Coop had a few suggestions for me, as seen above. The strands from top to bottom are:

1. Night Blue Swarovski (glass) pearls 6 mm. These are a little darker than the Brewers' navy color, and have just a hint of red in them, making them look slightly purple. They have a slight pearlescent shimmer to them, but not as much as other Swarovski pearls because these are so dark. These are available in both strands and loose, so it will be possible to buy only the number of pearls I need.
2. Opaque navy "twists" rhombus (diamond) shapes twisted along their axis. they are about 8 mm in length. They have a high gloss. They are the Navy color used by the Brewers. There are 16 of them in a strand. I would need 4 strands to make a rosary.
3. Matte navy "pillows". These have a non-glossy finish and each bead is about 8mm x 10mm x 2mm. They are close to the Brewers' navy color. There are 26 to a strand. I would have to buy 3 strands to make a rosary.
4. I am not sure what to call the shape of this bead, they are rectangular prisms with all eight corners cut off to give them a faceted look. Let's call them "faceted rectangles".  They are made with 2 colors of glass fused together (crystal clear and navy, the navy is slightly darker than brewer navy). I am guessing they are about 9mm x 5 mm x 3mm. 22 to a strand. I would need to buy 3 strands to make a rosary.
5. Larger rhombus twists like the ones in strand #2 , about half-again as large in each direction. To use them just as the HM beads, I would need 5 strands. If I wanted to use them for both the OF beads and the HM beads, I would need 6 strands.
6. The same glossy opaque navy glass as in strands 2 and 5, these are somewhat cube shaped with the edges and corners so well rounded as to make them resemble globes as much as cubes. they are drilled from vertex to opposite vertex and they are about 12 or 13 mm long. (half an inch). There are 17 to a strand. I would need 4 strands to make a rosary.
7. The bottom 3 strands are made of cobalt glass. #7 looks brighter in color than the next two because it is a little thinner and so more light passes through in this picture. These are a rich (slightly purple) blue color. #7 is a 6mm round (that is, a sphere). There are 50 on a strand. I would need 2 strands to make a rosary.
8. these are irregular cobalt cubes about 10 mm. they are drilled from center of a face to the center of the opposite face. There are 25 per strand. I would need 3 strands to make a rosary.
9. These are 8mm rounds (spheres). There are 25 per strand. I would need 3 strands to make a rosary.

What do you think? which would you choose for a Brewers rosary?

business card 3

Here is the third design. The background color looks aged and distressed. It has a drawing of a rosary. Here I used the slogan, "Hold on to things that last." I described my wares as "durable rosaries: custom designs, handcrafted."  I used my initials rather than my full first and middle names. (Most folks know me by my initials).  Which card has the best slogan? Which product description best describes my rosaries? Which fonts work best for the text? What do you think about the backgrounds and graphics? 

Give me some feedback, people.

business card 2

okay, here is the second card. I used the slogan: "custom prayer beads." Is that better than, "custom rosaries, handcrafted?" What impression does this card give, compared to the previous card? Are there circumstances where this card is more appropriate than the previous card? Are there any circumstances where it is less appropriate?

I am back!

I apologize for not posting for over a year. I want this blog to be mostly photographs with commentary, but for a year I have not had a digital camera nor a scanner to get photographs in digital form. I finally have a scanner, but I need to set it up, and since it seems complicated, I want to get some help with that.

In the meantime I had my first craft show, and for the show I got some business cards from Vistaprint. They offer three background graphics featuring rosaries and I got a small number of each, just to test things out.

So while I am waiting to set up my scanner, I thought I would post on my business cards to get some feedback. Please comment, not only on the graphics from Vistaprint, but also on the text. Above is one of the designs, and in the next few days I will post the other two, and talk some about the text and fonts I chose.

Priest's rosary 3: as seen from the back.

     Ordinarily such a large crucifix would provide a lot of space on the back for an engraved message, but that is not the case here because of the slump in the center of the cross. The slump is formed as the molten metal hardens and contracts as it cools in the mold.

     The back of the centerpiece shows a descending dove and a sunburst of seven rays, showing the descent of the Holy Spirit and his seven-fold gifts (Isaiah 11:2-3). The Latin words around the top of the medallion are "Veni Creator Spiritus" (Come Creator Spirit). Together with the image on the front of the Father reconciling His prodigal son to Himself, this image of the Holy Spirit recalls Christ's words to the apostles, "When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:22-23).

Priest's rosary 2: with Paters and links aligned

All the beads are strung on lengths of heavy (18 gauge) craft wire, and the loops which link each bead to the next are closed with wire wraps. On either side of each howlite bead is a wrapped wire bow which links it to the rest of the rosary and helps define it as an Our-Father bead. The way the howlite Our-Fathers contrast with the black onyx Hail-Marys reminds me of how the white Roman collar contrasting with the black clerical suit identifies priests. On either side of each howlite bead, is a wrapped wire bow which links it, but also provides distance and definition. All the wire is 18 gauge, all links use wrapped wire loops, and wrapped wire bows connect the crucifix and centerpiece and separate the Our-Fathers from the decades of Hail-Marys, providing for a very sturdy and durable rosary.

a rosary for the Year of the Priest

This rosary started with a large crucifix SCX330 from Catholic Prayer Cards showing Christ our High Priest offering Himself on the Cross to His Father for our sakes (Hebrews 3:1). The cross is 2.75 inches tall. The centerpiece, from Our Lady's Rosary Makers (OLRM #595) is seven eighths of an inch (0.875") long and half an inch wide. The centerpiece is based on a detail from "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt showing the Father welcoming back His wayward son (Luke 15:11-42). The crucifix and centerpiece are made of white base metal, probably nickel-silver, and heavy (18 gauge) nickel-silver craft wire is used throughout. The Hail-Mary beads are 8mm rounds of black onyx and the Our Father beads are 10mm howlite rounds. I got the craft wire, onyx and howlite at JSM Bead Coop.

This is a large rosary. The circlet is 42 inches around; the drop is about 9.5 inches from the top of the centerpiece to the bottom of the crucifix. From the middle of the third decade to the bottom of the crucifix, the rosary is 30.5 inches long. It has a heavy and substantial feel.