Oriental Direct Craft Supplies Blog

As a seller of beautiful gemstone beads, we often get asked if our beads come with authenticity certificates. It's a great question, and it shows you care about the quality and genuine nature of the gemstones you purchase. However, the answer for semi-precious gemstone beads is almost always "no," and for very good reason! Let's explain why. What is a Gemstone Certificate? A gemstone authenticity certificate is an official document issued by a reputable gemological laboratory (like GIA, IGI, or …

We launched our sister company Calder Crystals's website www.caldercrystals.com and Etsy shop in 2021, specialising in collectible and healing Crystals, Minerals and Fossils sourced around the world.  Since then, the new business has been growing steadily. How did this idea start and develop then ? Sometimes life is hard. At times, we all feel anxious and stressed and during the early period of the COVID pandemic in 2020, when we were asked to stay at home, our family experienced a crisis …

If you have ever thought about Origami and decided it wasn’t for you then think again!With our range of Origami papers in all colours and sizes you can learn to create the most spectacular things. If my 14 year son can learn from online tutorials then anyone can. :-)If you have ever made a paper aeroplane or a boat, then you are already halfway there to creating an even bigger project. As Sales Manager for Oriental Direct Craft Supplies I get some weird and wacky questions about paper so ha …

As the country’s leading gemstone beads supplier – with one of the largest selection of gemstones, colours, shapes and styles in the UK – we believe Oriental Direct Craft Supplies online shop is the best (and best value) place to buy real gemstones. Browse our gemstone range online The Oriental Direct gemstones collection grew from our craft passion. Because we’ve always loved making beautiful pieces of art, costumes, accessories and jewellery as much as our customers do, we’ve …

As a member of the Oriental Direct Craft Supplies team, with limited sewing experience, I thought I would give myself a challenge. This was to try to make Luna Lapin rabbit using materials that were available at work and items that were in my mother’s sewing box which I inherited almost 20 years ago, the contents of which had not seen daylight since. If I could make a rabbit that was anywhere recognisable as one then I would be really pleased. After I had dusted it down I also spent time tr …