WELCOME to Sunshinemusebead's Silver Treasure Chest! Shimmering Treasures to Enjoy, Inspire and Create! Hello and welcome to my Ebay store-Silver Treasure Chest also known as SunshinemuseBeads.com! I love sparkling beautiful beads and to create beautiful jewelry! My little treasure of a store was born over 6 years ago and I have enjoyed experiencing it grow! It has grown to over a thousand unique listings so, if you're a beader I'm sure you'll find something you love. Unlike other ebay sellers I do not create multiple listings of the same store item (except for a limited quantity of on-sale auction items) because as a buyer I always found it annoying to look at page after page of repeats. The same item in my store may be listed more than once, but in different quantities or sizes. I have lots of unusual and hard to find beads in here along with a lot of basics. It is my goal to bring you a wide selection of beautiful, affordable little treasures! I search the world over to find beautiful, quality, genuine beads and findings. I only carry genuine gemstone, silver, gold filled or high quality Swarovski® crystal, cubic zirconia and Lab grown/lab created beads and findings! The only man made beads I carry are the Swarovski® crystal, cubic zirconia and lab grown/created beads and these are clearly marked as such. I list all of my offerings by the bead, pack or strand to offer you the widest selection possible. All of my listing are in stock and I usually ship quickly (see below for more info on shipping)unless I'm on vacation(I note at the very top of this page). There is a lot of useful information on this page along with information on gemstones and other entertaining topics~so have a look, you may find something interesting or at least the bottom of this page. =) ~SunshinemuseBeads NEWS! August 31, 2009 Welcome to Silver Treasure Chest! SPECIAL NOTICE: All of my finished Jewelry items I have designed and listed in my store now have free Shipping and Handling. If the lisitng says otherwise, don't worry, just ask for a revised bill and I will take off the S&H fees. Great news! I have been listing lots of new beads in my store this month to add to my extensive collection of unique gemstone and lab created beads. More Precious beads in Emerald, Ruby, Tanzanite and Umba, Songea and Blue Sapphire ~ primarily in faceted rondelles and briolettes but check out the step cut faceted barrel Emerald beads (while supplies last), the Smooth ruby ovals (while supplies last) and the brightly colored multi-gem strand with ruby, emerald and multi colored sapphires all in one~not much white sapphire on this strand like many I have seen before-vibrant colors only. More Semi Precious beads and briolettes in Abalone, Amazonite, Amethyst, Apatite, Aquamarine, Aventurine, Citrine, Garnet, Iolite, Jade, Kyanite, Labradorite, Moonstone (Rainbow and Multi-colored), Pearls, Rhodochrosite, Spectrolite, Sunstone and Turquoise. My hands down favorite are the stunning labradorite faceted nuggets-so much color play coming off these stones. I have them listed by the strand and in smaller packs. Second place is a tie between the multi colored carnelian faceted heart briolettes-they are so colorful they are like candy and the tranquil green kyanite faceted marquise briolettes-so nice. More beautiful lab created briolettes in a bunch of styles in beautiful color changing Alexandrite, fabulous Ruby, bright blue Sapphire, delicious pink Sapphire and golden yellow Sapphire. At a fraction of the cost of mined precious stones these perfect lab grown briolettes are absolutely breath taking! Most of the lab briolettes come in matched sets of 3 but I do have some pink sapphire lab brios individually (larger pear) or in packs of 5 (smaller drops)! Important Information that used to be on this page has moved to seperate pages accessed from the store on the left bottom navigation bar or you can cut and paste to the pages by their direct page address as follows: S&H/Insurance/Returns&Exchanges Information can be found at: http://stores.ebay.com/Silver-Treasure-Chest-BEADS-JEWELRY/Information-S-H-Payments-Returns.html Gemstone Information & Lore can be found at: http://stores.ebay.com/Silver-Treasure-Chest-BEADS-JEWELRY/Gemstone-Information-and-Lore.html S&H INFORMATION: I generally ship within 24 hours of payment Monday-Friday. I usually notify you within 48 hours that your item has shipped.For updates on shipping days and times please see the top of this page and/or http://stores.ebay.com/Silver-Treasure-Chest-BEADS-JEWELRY/Information-S-H-Payments-Returns.html or at the top of this page for any vacation non-shipping black outs. Please note I am not responsible for items lost in transit. Insurance is available and optional. Insurance to foreign destinations is only available when you pay to ship it international priority mail. Insurance prices for USA(regular first class mail or priority mail) customers or for Canadian customers shipping by International Priority mail is as follows: US(all shipping types) and Canada(Priority Mail International) ONLY If your total package value is: = your insurance cost is: below $50.00 = $1.75. between $50.01- $100 = $2.25. between $100.01- $200 = $2.75. between $200.01-$300 = $4.70 For all other International buyers shipping via Priority Mail International(when available) Insurance prices are as follows: If your total package value is: your insurance cost is: below $50.00 = $3.00. between $50.01- $100 = $4.00. between $100.01- $200 = $5.00. between $200.01-$300 = $6.00 Please remember that for all International shipments that insurance is ONLY available when you ship Priority Mail International. First Class International does not allow for items to be insured. All Insurance fees are in addition to S&H fees. U.S.A Shipping: Regular First Class Mail is $2.00 or USPS Priority Mail is $5.50 on this item; combining items saves you money on S&H. Each additional strand, pack or 1-50 individual "buy by the bead" from my auctions or buy it now store items is $0.25. Combined items must be paid for in one single payment. When you are finished shopping please request a total and I will send one to you within 0-24 hours. See my store policies page for more info! CANADIAN Shipping: USPS First Class International is $2.50 or USPS International Priority Mail is $11.00 on this item; combining items saves you money on S&H. Each additional strand, pack or 1-50 individual "buy by the bead" from my auctions or buy it now store items is $0.25. Combined items must be paid for in one single payment. When you are finished shopping please request a total and I will send one to you within 0-24 hours. See my store policies page for more info! OTHER INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS IMPORTANT:Not all countries allow for gemstones, silver or gold to be imported, it is best to email me prior to bidding to find out IF your country allows this item and the correct S&H rate as the following prices are a guideline only and may be higher depending on your destination country and/or the actual weight. You may be charged a duty on your beads by your government upon their arrival. Some countries I have successfully shipped to in the past are listed on my "ME" page for your review. Shipping to International Countries: USPS First Class International is $4.00; When available Priority Mail International is $14.00 on this item; combining items saves you money on S&H. Each additional strand, pack or 1-50 individual "buy by the bead" from my auctions or buy it now store items starts at $0.25 + (weight dependent if exceptionally heavy/bulky-usually this only applies to strands of nuggets or chip beads). Combined items must be paid for in one single payment. When you are finished shopping please request a total and I will send one to you within 0-24 hours. If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Happy Beading!!! SunshineMuseBeads =) PAGE INDEX Whats on this page and where to find it: Sorry, you will need to scroll down to find the information below. Questions Email Communication Policy Feedback Location Information Gemstone History & Characteristics Gemstone Color Chart Bead mm to inches Conversion Chart WIRE GAUGE AND DIAMETER INFORMATION Gem Trivia Chakra Information Birthstone Information QUESTIONS I do try to be as specific as possible in describing an item. I have attempted to correctly demonstrate actual color etc of the item, but please keep in mind that computer monitor settings/age etc can affect the color you see on your computer monitor. If you have QUESTIONS ~Please ask before bidding. EMAIL I generally respond to emails within 1 to 48 hours, if you have emailed me or won an auction and have not received a bill or email from me, please check the following things: 1. Check your email SPAM folder; 2. Check that your ebay email address is correct; and 3. Check that your email address accepts email from my address; as I have probably attempted to contact you. COMMUNICATION A POSITIVE ATTITUDE WILL TAKE YOU A LONG WAY! =) I ALWAYS TREAT EACH PERSON NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCE WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY - I EXPECT THE SAME TREATMENT IN RETURN. ALTHOUGH I FIND DISRESPECTFUL OR HOSTILE COMMUNICATION TO BE EXTREMELY RARE, I THINK IT IS IMPORANT TO NOTE THIS POLICY: PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT IF YOU SEND DISRESPECTFUL, MEAN SPIRITED, AGGRESSIVE OR HOSTILE EMAIL YOU WILL BE BLOCKED FROM ANY FUTURE PURCHASES FROM MY STORE AND AUCTIONS! SHIPPING DAYS Items being shipped using USPS regular ground/priority mail will generally ship Monday through Friday, except holidays. I generally ship very quickly, some times the same day payment is received and usually no more than 2-3 business days after payment is received. FEEDBACK Upon receipt of your item, if satisfied, please leave positive feedback for SUNSHINEMUSEBEADS. If any problem occurs, please do not leave negative feedback, but email me within 7 days to discuss/problem solve-please see see refund, return, exchange policy below. Positive feedback will be posted for you once you have received your item(s) and have posted satisfactory feedback indicating the sale is complete. LOCATION INFORMATION The Silver Treasure Chest is (virtually) located in the Pacific Northwest in Beautiful Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham is located on the coast of the Puget Sound about 90 miles North of Seattle and 20 miles South of the Canadian boarder! It is a beautiful place to live full of vivid greenery, vistas of the San Juan Islands and the snow capped Cascade Mountains! Washington state residents please note that 8.4% sales tax will be added to your total. Silver Treasure Chest Bellingham, WA 98228 Email: To reduce the amount of unwanted SPAM I receive, please log into your Ebay account to send me an email with your questions. IF THERE IS ANY PART OF THIS PAGE THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO READ DUE TO THE VARIATION OF COLOR IN TEXT, PLEASE EMAIL ME VIA EBAY TO GET CLARIFICATION. Ebay Member Since:Friday, Jul 07, 2000 Current Ebay Time:Nov-29-09 03:08:53 PST Thanks for stopping by and have a great biding adventure! SUNSHINEMUSEBEADS =) GEMSTONE QUALITY All of my gemstones are purchased as natural, but may have been treated according to globally accepted standards. This is the information provided to me by my reputable suppliers and I have done no testing to determine the validity of this statement. Globally accepted gemstone treatments may include heating, dying, waxing etc. The majority of my gemstone bead items are of high quality and craftsmanship and so the treatments (if any)should be permanent. A few of my items are of a medium quality and craftsmanship, but this is usually noted by the rating of clarity, transparency, luster(see below) and also by the color (if it appears to be dyed etc). I rarely, if ever sell beads of low or poor quality. However, from time to time, my suppliers send me items that I do not think are up to par to my normal items. These rare items usually end up in my clearance section with an explanation as to why they are there. For example-they look dyed, scratched facets, poor craftsmanship of stone cutting etc. However, not all items in my Clearance section are substandard-others maybe overstock and you should be able to tell the difference from the item description. If you are wondering about a particular item-just ask! =) CARAT WEIGHT ~ A carat is a weight that equals approximately 1/5th(.20) of a gram. One ounce equals 28.35 grams. One ounce equals approximately 141 carats. If an approximate carat weight is given in an auction/store listing this is the weight that was given to me by my supplier and it has not been confirmed by me and thus is not guaranteed to be accurate, but a close approximation. GEMSTONE JEWELRY set in sterling .925 genuine silver is EYE CLEAN ~(no eye visible flaws in the gemstone) and has either FACETED STONE(S) ~(cut and polished surfaces on the gemstone to increase refraction of light and increase its beauty and sparkle), or CABOCHON STONE(S) ~(a smooth polished rounded dome shaped top with a flat or rounded bottom). GEMSTONE BEAD(S) may have some natural INCLUSIONS ~ (flaws inside the stone-cracks, crystal, tiny bits of rock etc), or some BLEMISHES ~(flaws on the stone?s surface- abrasions, scratches, pits). WHAT DOES IT MEAN? CLARITY, TRANSPARENCY AND LUSTER? I attempt to describe these elements in all of my gemstone bead listings... These are some basic explanations and how I use them. Please keep in mind I am not a gemologist and these definitions are for interpretation of my listings only. I try to keep it simple and grade items as either "Excellent" "Good" or "Fair" in each of the following categories. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLARITY: Clarity basically describes the degree to which the gemstone is free from flaws, such as inclusions and blemishes. Excellent clarity generally refers to a stone being eye clean with no eye visible flaws. Good clarity refers to a stone having some eye visible flaws, but without the flaws causing tremendous impact on the stones. TRANSPARENCY: Transparency indicates the ability/degree of light to travel through the stone. Gemstones that are cloudy have inclusions that interrupt the passage of light. Large inclusions can greatly affect the color of the gemstone, making the gemstone look clouded or opaque. Whereas a few tiny inclusions in a gemstone bead can add texture and sometimes enhance the beauty of the stone. Gemstones with high transparency have few, if any noticeable inclusions to interrupt the passage of light. LUSTER: Luster refers to the gemstones ability to reflect light. The higher the luster the better the sparkle or shimmer from the stone. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT VALUE ONLY GEMSTONE COLOR CHART RED: Garnet(raspberry red, purple-pink red), Ruby, Spinel, Tourmaline ORANGE: Carnelian, Orange Aventurine, Toumaline YELLOW: Citrine, Yellow Aventurine, Yellow Turquoise GREEN: Peridot, Aventurine, Emerald, Tourmaline GREEN-BLUE/BLUE-GREEN: Apatite BLUE: Blue Aquamarine, Blue Topaz, Apatite, Blue Aventurine, Tourmaline, Blue Sapphire, Blue Chalcedony, Deep Blue Kyanite, Lapis Lazuli, Turqouise BLUE-PURPLE, PURPLE-BLUE: Tanzanite, Blue Chalcedony , Iolite PURPLE: Amethyst PINK: Tourmaline, Rose Quartz CLEAR/WHITE: Crystal Quartz , Moonstone, Pearls MULTI COLOR: Rutilite (Quartz with green needles of rutile inclusions), Flourite(clear with bands of color or whole colored-yellow, purple, green) Tourmaline (red, orange, green, blue, black, teal, yellow, chrome, white etc), Amitrine(purple, yellow, white), Sapphire(blue, white, yellow), Tigers Eye(golden yellow with brown, black), Pearls (white, cream, orange, orange-pink, black with rainbow luster, pink-purple, purple-orange, violet, silver, pink-orange, golden orange, silver purple) GRAY: Labrodorite (with blue-green flashes) BROWN: Smoky Quartz (AKA Smoky Topaz) DARK GRAY ?BLACK: Hematite, Pearls COLORFUL LUSTER: Rainbow Moonstone, Pearls, Labradorite BEAD CONVERSION CHART Be Advised that all totals are approximate and strand lengths vary by auction. THIS IS ONLY A GUIDE! Bead Size in MM Approximate # of beads per inch 2MM = approximately 12.5 beads per inch or 175 beads in a 14inch strand 3MM = approximately 8.33 beads per inch or 116 beads in a 14inch strand 4MM = approximately 6.25 beads per inch or 87 beads in a 14inch strand 5MM = approximately 5 beads per inch or 70 beads in a 14inch strand 6MM = approximately 4.166 beads per inch or 58 beads in a 14inch strand 7MM = approximately 3.57 beads per inch or 50 beads in a 14inch strand 8MM = approximately 3.12 beads per inch or 43 beads in a 14inch strand 9MM = approximately 2.77 beads per inch or 38 beads in a 14inch strand 10MM = approximately 2.5 beads per inch or 35 beads in a 14inch strand WIRE GAUGE AND DIAMETER INFORMATION Wire gauge numbers get higher as the wire gets smaller. Most of the head pins and eye pins I sell are noted by the gauge size. If your stringing pearls or smaller(2-4mm) beads you will be safe with a 26 gauge wire-you may also be able to use a 24 gauge wire but it may not fit every bead or even most of your beads. The standard sizes of wire guages used by most beading enthusiasts are 26 gauge (very lite/very flexible), 24 gauge (lite/flexible) and 22 gauge (heavier/not as flexible). In contrast some wires are measured in diameter and as the wires diameter increases the wire size also increases. The standard sizes of wire diameter used by most beading enthusiasts are .014 diameter (lite), .019 diameter (medium) and .024 diameter (heavier). I usually string my beads using flexible wire of a .014 diameter. If I am stringing a heavy strand with big nugget beads or other heavy beads I use a .019 diameter wire. INTERESTING GEM TRIVIA Did you know?? ?African Jade? is really a green Garnet. ?Amazon Jade? is Amazonite. ?Water Sapphire? is Iolite. ?Smoky Topaz? is Smoky Quartz. "Goldstone" is a mixture of copper crystals in glass~ but it still is very pretty naturally. "African Turquoise" is Dyed Agate. ?Tanzanite" was discovered in Tanzania, near Mount Kilimanjaro in the sixty?s (1960) and was named by someone at Tiffany Jewelers. All Topaz when mined is usually a brownish color, but once it is exposed to light or heat the color changes and it can become any of the colors of the rainbow (RARE~ Red, pink, orange, yellow and the more well known blue and green). CHAKRA INFORMATION What's a Chakra? Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel, or vortex, and it refers to each of the seven energy centers of which our consciousness, our energy system, is composed. These chakras, or energy centers, function as pumps or valves, regulating the flow of energy through our energy system. The functioning of the chakras reflects decisions we make concerning how we choose to respond to conditions in our life. We open and close these valves when we decide what to think, and what to feel, and through which perceptual filter we choose to experience the world around us. For more information check out : http://www.healer.ch/Chakras-e.html First/Base - red, black Second/Sacral - orange Third/Solar Plexus - yellow Fourth/Heart - green, pink Fifth/Throat - light blue Sixth/Third Eye - indigo, dark blue Seventh/Crown - white, violet A few Gemstones relating to Chakra qualities. This list is not comprehensive, nor is it guaranteed to be accurate. Garnet(red): Employed for prosperity, physical strength, love, passion, imagination, flow of ideas, friendship and creativity. Carnelian (orange): Accessing fire energy, building power, motivation, activating energy and creativity. Citrine (yellow): Enhances mindfulness, intellectual reasoning, mental quickness, clarity. Peridot (green): Used for balancing energy, emotional tranquility, healing, insight, clairvoyance, personal empowerment, vision, clarity of purpose and enlightenment. Rose Quartz(pink): Excellent for emotional balancing in relationships, friendships and higher love. Blue Topaz(light blue): Insight, knowledge, intention, loyalty, higher love and creativity. Sodalite (dark blue): Helpful for lymph circulation, mental clarity, and boosting the immune system. Amethyst(violet): Spiritual development, divine connection, mental clarity, healing, balancing and controlling temperament, love, divination, wisdom, courage, psychic growth, dreaming, protection, and invulnerability. Tanzanite (purple blue) : Excellent for insight and helpful for discerning the truth. BIRTHSTONE INFORMATION MODERN BIRTHSTONE CHART January Garnet February Amethyst March Aquamarine April Diamond May Emerald June Alexandrite July Ruby August Peridot September Blue Sapphire October Rose Zircon November Golden Topaz December Blue Zircon TRADITIONAL BIRTHSTONE CHART January Garnet February Amethyst March Aquamarine or Blood stone April Diamond May Emerald June Pearl or Moonstone July Ruby August Peridot or Sardonyx September Blue Sapphire October Opal or Tourmaline November Topaz December Turquoise or Lapis Lazuli LAST UPDATED 11/9/09 4:05 pm PST BY SUNSHINEMUSEBEADS =) Free counters provided by Andale.

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