Monthly Archives: July 2013

The Perfect August Birthday Gift: Peridot Kaleidoscope Necklace!

Those born in August are said to be honest, generous, self-motivated, warm-hearted and enthusiastic! If you or someone you love is an August baby, it’s important to give them a gift that they can enjoy for years to come, and something just as unique them! The August’s birthstone is the peridot, a stunning olive green mineral that is crystal like in appearance, and is an extremely precious and rare mineral. If you’re looking for the best gift ideas for an August birthday, look no further than KaleidoscopesToYou.com!

The Saturn Peridot Kaleidoscope Necklace by the Healys is the perfect birthday choice for anyone you who has an August birthday. This beautiful kaleidoscope necklace features a shimmering peridot stone, and features stunning and magnificent color and magnification. Deborah and Kevin Healy have been creating kaleidoscopes and kaleidoscope jewelry since the early 1990’s, and their talent at the craft and attention to detail makes for a beautiful one-of-a-kind gift that is sure to bring years of endless enjoyment and admiration.

Sometimes, finding the perfect birthday gift can seem like an impossible and daunting task, but with the selection of amazing and whimsical products found at KaleidoscopesToYou.com, you’ll find gifts that are unique, beautiful and perfect for any birthday!

Kaleidoscopes To You – More Than Just Kaleidoscopes

When you think of Kaleidoscopes To You, kaleidoscopes naturally come to mind, but we’re much more than that. In addition to our large selection of kaleidoscopes, we also have a variety of other products. Of course, kaleidoscopes have always been our main passion, but when you browse KaleidoscopesToYou.com you’ll see that there’s more than meets the eye.

Handmade Marbles: If you enjoyed playing marbles as a child then you’ll love our selection of stunning art glass marbles! Created by Fritz Lauenstein, lauded glass artist, these mesmerizing marbles will enchant you with their beautiful colors and patterns.

Wine Accessories: Designed by Vino Strumenti, all of our wooden wine accessories are handmade from high quality hardwoods. KaleidoscopesToYou.com has all of your wine accessories, including wine stoppers, corkscrews, foil cutters, drip catchers, wine savers and even wine bottle holders!

Kinetic Art Mobiles: Decorate any room in your home with one of a kind Hotchkiss Mobiles. Designed by Joel Hotchkiss, these creative mobiles are made in the USA. They are pre-balanced, and are shipped ready to hang with easy directions.

Jewelry: Choose from a variety of jewelry by a number of popular designers, including fused art glass jewelry by Sue Roiux, dichroic glass jewelry pendants, and more!

You can see everything we have to offer at KaleidoscopesToYou.com. Don’t forget to follow Kaleidoscopes To You on Pinterest for one of a kind kaleidoscopes, artwork and more!

Into the Looking Glass – A Kaleidoscope Artist Spotlight: Bob & Grace Ade

This month, we shine our KaleidoscopesToYou.com Kaleidoscope Artist Spotlight on Bob and Grace Ade, whose modern kaleidoscope art creations are among the favorites at our store. Their stained glass and modern art kaleidoscopes are masterworks of visual art.

For the Ade’s, it all began with candle making in New Jersey, but the discovery of a stained glass kaleidoscope in a gift shop drew the pair to scope-making. An interest in art and glass prompted Grace and Bob to learn glass fusing and glass blowing techniques, which they could use for their kaleidoscope designs. Bob’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University has helped him design and build his visual spectacles.

Years have passed since their kaleidoscope discovery, and Grace and Bob now call Seattle, Washington home. Kaleidoscope creation has overtaken much of their house on Puget Sound. They’ve raised six children, five of whom help them when kaleidoscope orders are too numerous for the couple to handle. The Ade’s have designed 40 different kaleidoscope models, with a focus on generating beautiful, interesting images within their scopes.

While Bob and Grace enjoy traveling throughout the United States, visiting and trading with other kaleidoscope artists, their future plans include the creation of more kaleidoscopes.
At KaleidoscopesToYou.com, we carry a large selection of stained glass and modern art kaleidoscopes from Grace and Bob Ade. Check out their wonderful creations yourself today.

The Wonders of How Kaleidoscopes Work

We all love looking into a kaleidoscope and seeing a variety of different colors and shapes. We never get exactly the same experience each time, and it’s likely that no two people have ever seen the same kaleidoscopic images. So how do kaleidoscopes work, and what makes them so interesting?

Kaleidoscopes, at their simplest, are two or more mirrors placed inside a long telescope-like body. These mirrors are angled to highlight and reflect a number of objects, which are also placed in the scope. An eye hole is added to one of the ends of the scope for the user to look through. Shaking or rotating the kaleidoscope’s body changes the position of the items inside. The kaleidoscope image you see is a fraction of the entire reflection of these items, so that their mutual symmetry is reflected in the mirrors. This produces the endless diversity of geometric patterns that give kaleidoscopes their intrigue.

The objects in a kaleidoscope could be ordinary items. Colored glass is the most common, but beads, buttons, glitter, ribbon, and confetti can be used inside a kaleidoscope. Some kaleidoscopes also utilize objects from nature like feathers and flowers, or colored backgrounds which add to the existing shapes. These can sometimes be interchangeable, allowing for different viewing experiences in the same kaleidoscope. If you’re using a teleidoscope, the reflections of the items around you take the place of the objects that would normally reside inside the body of the scope.

Even if you know how a kaleidoscope works, the viewing experience inside it is always interesting and fun. You can impress your friends with knowledge about how kaleidoscopes work, but they’ll probably still find a bit of magic inside.