Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the beautiful goddess of love, desire, and pleasure in ancient Greek mythology. In the various stories about her, she has various gods as lovers. She is often depicted as wearing gold jewelry. The bead crochet necklace with gold strands depicted here is named for Aphrodite and can be seen along with other bead crochet necklaces at Beadshaper Crochet

Amazons in Greek Mythology

The Amazons of Greek Mythology were a kingdom ruled by women in which the women were the warriors. The mythology was told in various ways. In one version, the men stayed home and did the household chores. In another version all the male children were killed. In that version, the women kept male slaves captured in battle with whom they would have relations periodically in order to reproduce new female warriors. Their kingdom was supposed to have been located in Asia Minor or somewhere around the Black Sea. It is not known if any part of their story was true or whether they were completely mythological.
The bracelet pictured here was recently created by the Beadshaper and named Amorous Amazon

Guy de Maupassant

Guy de Mauassant was a French author who lived from 1850 to 1893. His parents separated when he was young, and he was very much influenced by his mother with whom he lived after the separation. He knew many of the great French literary people of his time. He wrote novels but is best known for his short stories. "The Necklace" is one of his best known short stories, which is why I named this necklace after him. Although the necklace in the story is an imitation diamond necklace, the one pictured here has pearls, onyx, and moonstones but no diamonds (real or imitation). You can see more of this necklace and others at Necklaces and Bead Crochet . The poem can be found at Poem .

Glass in Venice

During the early Middle Ages, there were glass makers in the Venetian area who made glass for church windows. Later as Venice grew as a major port for trade, the Venetian glass makers were influenced by the art of the East, particularly Islamic art. By the 13th Century, glass making had reached such importance in the Venetian economy that the Venetian government began taking measures to protect their glass industry and its secret methods for making the uniquely beautiful Venetian glass. The glass production was concentrated on the island of Murano. Foreign glass makers were not allowed in, and Venetian glass makers were not allowed to emigrate. However, by the 17th Century, some of the secret methods gradually filtered out to Venice's competitors in the outside world. The glass artists of Venice were then forced to become innovative in their art in order to stay a step ahead of their competitiors. After the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th Century, most of the innovation ended for a period of time. Venice continued to produce glass, particularly glass beads, in the same style that had been developed earlier. However, innovation in Venetian glass making was revived in the 19th Century along with the unification of Italy. Venice continues to be the most famous glass making city in the world even today.
The glass bead pictured here was made by the Beadshaper in California, but the glass she uses is imported from Italy. You can see more of her glass beads at Beadshaper

History of Wine Stoppers

It has been known since ancient times that wine that is stored over time has to be protected from ths air to prevent spoilage by oxygenation. The ancient Egyptians used clay to seal their wine bottles. The ancient Greeks and later Romans stored wine in vase shaped vessels called amphora. We don't have examples of the stoppers which were used to seal them because the stoppers were made of perishable materials. A French monk named Dom Perignon started the widespread use of cork as a stopper for wine bottles in 1698 which is still commonly used today.
Bottles made of various materials known as decanters have been used for serving wine since ancient times. The ancient Romans began making decanters out of glass, and the Venetians reintroduced the concept of making decanters of glass during the Renaissance. The English in the 1700s began using glass stoppers. Once the cork is removed from a bottle it is difficult to put it back in. Today, wine stoppers used after the cork is removed are often made of glass or metal. Elaborate wine stoppers are often decorated with glass beads or other adornments.
The beaded wine stopper pictured above can be found at Beaded Wine Stoppers