I should be (and am!) working on building inventory for my next festival. But I needed a breather and so I sat down to fill out an online application for a metalsmithing group associated with Etsy, w...
I havent posted anything (or any new designs) for a little while...mostly because I havent designed anything new. Why? Because I am still working on my own style, my own voice, for the designs I crea...
I previously posted about some of my charoite cabs, here. I recently set one of them, and wanted to show you the result, and share the process that led to this design:Hard-angled stones tend to pose ...
Ive been living in the Southeast for nearly a decade. Being here in the heart of the Bible Belt, where family and history is second only to God, is an eye opening experience for someone who did not g...
Ive posted before about my jewelry fabrication journey, especially as it relates to stone setting. While recently I havent had as much time as Id like to hone my skills, I did create a few more piece...
Heading to Arizona tomorrw, but heres a quick glimpse of whats currently on the work table...waiting for settings. Sorry again for the quick snap - but left to right: dendrite opal, boulder tur...
...more bezels.Note: I *dont like* to make bezels. Its one of my least favorite parts of the fabrication process. I find the fine silver to be too flimsy, floppy, and delicate-feeling for my hands (a...
In late February, I went to Arizona for the Fountain Hills Great Fair. And I had a moment that really made me stop and appreciate where I am and what Im doing. Ive had many moments to cherish in my c...
...to paraphrase Marvin Gaye...a lots been goin on. I wish I could be more on top of the blog, but it seems that life never gets back to a slow speed anymore. My father has been ill and Ive been spen...
A little eye candy to get you started this year. This is a beautiful piece of mookaite (for more info, go here) that I set recently. Setting stones, for me, is proving as difficult as I expected...ma...
My love for turquoise is well known. And today Im going to introduce you to a new kind of turquoise: boulder, or ribbon, turquoise.Boulder or ribbon turquoise is simply turquoise that still rem...
Remember this turquoise?It has a little secret: its a doublet.A what, you say? Never heard of it?A doublet is a combination of a precious or semi-precious stone and another, lesser m...
The term "picture jasper" encompasses a wide range of stones. Jasper in general is found all over the world, but American picture jaspers are a broad part of this spectrum.Most picture jasper...
You know I am always happy to share fascinating facts about gems. And this one is rather grand.Let me get right to the photo for once, of a little something called Swedish Blue.The dark blue blob on ...
No stone posts this week - I worked an art show on Monday and then the week has been messily chaotic since. But I didnt want to leave you without a shoe post today. Back to regularly scheduled jewelr...
The lavender hues of charoite are like nothing Ive ever seen. Found only in Siberia (Russia), the stone is named for the Charo river. It is a stone so clearly unlike any other known in the market tha...
I usually try to keep the shoe posts to Fridays, but this week is a little messed up for me and I thought Id throw one in today. :)So...I have a fondness for animal-themed items. And in my fant...
I recently posted about one of my first stone-setting experineces, with the Biggs Jasper Cab. My next class project was to step things up a bit with an irregularly shaped stone. These are a little ha...
When is an agate not an agate? When its dendritic agate. These beautiful landscape-like stones are technically a form of chalcedony. Like a carnelian, but translucent. Most agates have some sort of b...
I recently made a purchase that got me very excited. Partly because I am from the Southwest (I grew up in Arizona) and have an enduring love affair with turquoise, and partly because I am a crazy gir...
Sometimes a shoe comes along (or came along, I should say, as these are vintage) thats so fabulous that it almost breaks your heart not to be able to wear them. These are a stellar example. 198...
Say hello to Pietersite. Found in two places in the world, Africa and China, its a fairly plentiful material, but the colors can vary greatly from stone to stone. At its rarest, it is a lovely deep s...
How do you know what a gem cabochon is worth? Theres no real grading scale, like there is for diamonds, but when I source cabs I look for several things.* - Color is first and foremost. I like satura...
I think Im going to keep the shoe posts to Friday...a little lighthearted fun before the weekend. Even a girl who loves to make jewelry cant be blogging about jewelry all the time. So Im going to pos...
In my previous post I mentioned setting stones that are not a consistent height from bottom to top. The second or third stone I ever set was one of these. Its a piece of turquoise my father foun...
This is one of my first bezel-set stones. Its a piece of Biggs Jasper, from Oregon. Biggs is pretty rare (and pricey!) these days, as it is no longer being mined. A highway is being built over the mi...
Since I am still recovering from jaw surgery, I am not making as much new jewelry right now. So I thought I would focus a little on my second -- I mean, third love (after Mr B and the jewelry): shoes...
Somehow "between a rock and a hard place" was not nearly as evocative as the synonym Wikipedia gave me, "to have the wolf by the ear". I definitely prefer the more colorful phrase.&nb...
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