This link was buried in one of the comments included in one of the links posted by Jamey -

http://ethnicjewels.ning.com/video/moroccan-bead-maker

In case you missed it, it is a demonstration of a bead maker in Morocco making a yellow-colored bead from pieces of old cassette tape boxes and some colorant obtained from China. The apparatus consists of an outdoor brazier, heated with a propane cylinder. The use of pieces of broken cassette boxes, or some similar item, could explain the sharp, rectangular inclusions seen in some of the beads.

I'm sure this process could be improved in many ways, and result in a variety of "hand-made" amber-looking beads. And I don't doubt that an additive could be found to make the concoction have a piney odor as well.