quartztrail

Sedona haul

Oooh ... ahhh. This is petrified sequioa from Washington State. Pretty darn rare, and I love those little tree rings. I went to a gem show in Sedona and had a pretty good haul. Snagged this next beauty from the same gem cutter:

This has a ridiculous scientific name, but it's really hunks of junk peeled from the floor of a Mexican paint factory. It's then cut and polished as cabochons. They do something similar with the paint from car factories and it's called Fordite. Click to get the full effect of all those rich colors.

More sequioa:

Then I tried hauling one of these red rocks home but it wouldn't fit in my luggage:

Something Special

Sometimes I buy cabochons because they call to me, even if I don't know what on earth I'll do with them. I also know when I don't have the skills to set something, but I find myself reaching for the "Buy Now" button on eBay anyway. Such was the case with this lovely dendritic quartz. Dendrites are the wavy bits of minerals that look like tree branches or kelp or something.

I hung onto this, wondering if I'd ever figure out who deserved such a pretty, other-worldly gem. I didn't want to risk creating an expensive piece and then failing to sell it on Etsy or eBay. Those costs add up, and so does the aggravation and time lost. So it waited in my little box for just the right person. Then I realized my wonderful Aunt Sandie was turning 80. She and I have grown much closer over the years, particularly when I lived in California and she'd come to visit my cousin Mitch in LA.

My skills also finally caught up with this stone. I sawed away the back to the setting to let the light shine through. The effect is translucent and ethereal. But it's also still very elegant, and a little Art Deco flower at the top makes it a perfect piece for a lifelong New Yorker. She got it in time for her birthday party, which for me is nothing short of a minor miracle.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Aunt Sandie!

 

Another Tucson haul

I once again went to Tucson this year to their massive gem and mineral shows. Tucson isn't a big city and you have to imagine pretty much every motel of any size completely taken over by gem, fossil and mineral dealers, or by artsy craftsy jewelry types. And not just every ballroom or conference room -- you walk into suites to see the beds pushed into the bathrooms to make room for display cases.

These are my Alaskan lovelies. The two faces (carved from antler) came from a guy at one of the suites I just mentioned -- a big, surly fellow who lectured me on the intensive labor involved when I dared to ask the price. I wasn't deterred and bought the two faces, then found some fossilized walrus tusk at the convention center. A whole pack of the walrus was $15 -- after surly carver guy told me it was $400 a pound, or some such thing. Whatever! I'm not going to part with the smaller lady, but I can be convinced to do a pendant with the longer one.

As luck would have it, I ran into a Chinese vendor with stones galore on the first day. The Chinese don't have a very good reputation in this business, but that's mostly for faceted gems that turn out to be glass, or "sterling" silver that turns out to be plate. But these folks were selling cabs, and I know many of my cabs, so I went to town. I had a huge haul, but these were the best-est-est ever! The above are two types of rhodochrosite, by the way, which will look stunning set in silver.

I was with my MIL again this year and a close friend of hers from Chicago. The three of us ladies swung past a few tents pitched by the side of the road and were lured by the "free parking" sign. It turned out to be a bunch of fossil dealers. Some amazing carved stuff -- lots of dishes, bowls, serving platters, candle holders, etc. Wow. At a smaller table, I found these heat-treated turquoise sets, and the other ladies found lovely mineral specimens elsewhere. I also found my nephew's birthday present and then promptly forgot to send it to him, thereby missing his birthday. D'oh.

I've posted these photos and more at this link here. I'll add more in coming days.

eBay auction begins!

Hey all, I'm auctioning some of my nicest pieces to benefit the Young Survival Coalition, a breast-cancer support group for women under 40.  The group was co-founded by the amazing Lisa Frank, who just completed the Tour de Pink to raise money and awareness for the group.

Here's the first piece ( http://bit.ly/a5CbI8 ) and the close-up is above.

I'll try and feature a different piece every day, but get thee to eBay and bid! The auctions end in a week.

Purple McPurple

This is a set that's also going up for auction at eBay in a few weeks for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's to benefit a support group for survivors founded by a friend of mine. In this set, the pendant's a little-known stone called fluorite. No, it's not the stuff you find in toothpaste or tap water. It's a soft stone, and this one has a soft purple cast to it. The earrings are purple jade, and it's a pretty rich purple that coordinates with the pendant.  They're set in sterling silver that's been hammered to look like sunshine.

Even the ear-wires are hand-made. The chain is the only thing I didn't make by hand, and that's sterling.

It hangs about 18 or 19 inches, so you can wear it over a turtle neck in winter. Purple's my favorite color, but I decided to part with it for a good cause.

The auction won't happen until mid-October, and I'll certainly post more info on it when it's closer to the event. Oh, and I'll have better photos by then too.

Medusa

I dubbed this Medusa because it was something of a monster to make. It'll be up for sale in mid-October on eBay, so watch for it in a few weeks (I'll post a reminder). The center stone is a fossilized agate, and the triangular stone is aquamarine. The two smaller stones are topaz -- the real thing, not crystals. The silver has been partly melted, fused and then quenched in water to give it a rippling effect.

Since my photography skills suck, you can't really see how pretty this is. The eBay listing will have much better photos, promise. Half the proceeds will go to benefit the Young Survival Coalition. That's a breast cancer survivor's group.

The other half of the money will go toward my expenses. I don't expect to make any profit but I do need to cover the rising cost of silver, plus maybe a little extra to subsidize my tool fetish.

I hope to see some of you bidding in October!

Dysfunctions, Part II

Last week, I told you about my friend caught between her Mom and Grandma. Here's Part II, where I show you what Mom ended up getting.

Mom was pretty happy, I hear. The stone is called pietersite. I can't remember the country of origin, though the vendor was Chinese (off of eBay). That means nothing -- the stone was likely from Africa somewhere. What you can't see from the photo is how the stone shimmers. It's an effect called chatoyancy, and it's similar to the inner sparkle of cat's eye. Only this is flecked, rather than having a straight, eye-like slit.

Rarer pietersite's are in shades of blue, but those are out of my price range. The fancy wire used as a bail (the thingee you stick the necklace through) came that way. I hammered the edges of the pendant with the tiniest ball-peen hammer you ever saw.

I earned 100 bucks from the pair of pendants, which kept me in Starbucks for quiet a while.

Incorporating other people's dysfunctions into my work

My first paying commission. A friend at work had a dilemma. She needed a birthday gift for her Grandma, who helped raise her. But if she got Grandma something and not her Mom, there'd be trouble. Her mother would say, "See, you love your Grandma more."

Yeesh. Hard to believe there are grown-ups who say stuff like that, but I vowed I'd work within my friend's budgetary and emotional limits. Grandma's had to be a little nicer, but not so much nicer that Mom would be offended.

Here's is Grandma's piece: 

The black-and-white stone is a crinoid fossil, the twin to this one. The white stone is fossilized corral. Both are from ancient seas. It's all set in hammered sterling silver on a silver chain. If I were doing this over, I'd support the lower pendant better by soldering another piece of silver between the top and bottom pieces. It felt a little flimsy to me when I finished it.

Next up, I'll show you what the Mom got. She loved it and thought she got the better deal, just so you know.

Gift for my surrogate mom

Carol was my mother's best friend and quite possibly misses her more than I do. Of course, Carol's also taken it upon herself to noodge me out of conviction that no one should be without a Jewish mother, ever. This is a lot of work for Carol, since I never exactly listened to my biological Jewish mother. But if I ever get guilt withdrawal symptoms, I know who to call. 

Birthdays are tough for Carol, as my mother used to call her first thing and warble an off-key Happy Birthday. My mother was tone deaf, and I'm very glad I didn't know about this little tradition while I lived within hearing range. But when Carol turned 29 for the 41st time this year, I thought I'd do something to cheer her up. Singing was out of the question, because I was born with perfect pitch and therefore am acutely aware of how bad I sound.

So I did this instead:

I hire only the most stunning models, as you can see. Here's a close-up

The stone is a one-of-a-kind Multi-color Spiderweb agate set in sterling silver. The wire is twisted by hand. Yes, by me. I screwed up the setting and had to redo the whole thing a couple times, but it all came out okay in the end. And Carol likes it, which is what counts. Though it did arrive several months late. Sorry, Carol. Mom never got anywhere on time, either.

Carol's daughter, Lisa, is a lifelong friend and helped start a non-profit called Young Survival Coalition. I'll be auctioning off a few pieces on eBay in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month with half the proceeds going to YSC. Details to come.

Stacking rings

Okay, so it's not really a stacking ring if there's only one ring. Funny how that works. I made another ring that doesn't quite stack with this one, which means I must make another to go in between them, right?  Meantime, I've been wearing this solo. That's a topaz in the middle. I liked the color (London Blue, if you care) and I have a bunch gems more just like it. I think they're about 3 or 4mm in diameter.

I won't have a chance to make more until after October. I have a big auction coming up and I hope you'll all bid. I'm selling some of my best work EVER on eBay and half the proceeds will go to a good cause.

More next time!