02.29.16 Forward March

Photo credit: Tx Rockhound

Yikes!  How did it get to be (almost – if it weren’t a leap year) March!? 

Despite having lots of birthstone jewelry for my children, I don’t own any from this month – in which my husband was born – so I’m in process of resolving that situation…

I’m signed up to take the next installment of metalsmithing classes at Creative Side – Fabrication 201 – which includes setting a stone with corners.  So, in anticipation of that project, I’ve purchased a lovely triangular cabochon with an eye to making a pendant.

As with previous projects, I've done a little sketching.  With a nod to my husband, I'm going to call this one "lucky charm" and put a small heart on the reverse.  I'm still thinking about the bail...I've become very taken with them lately, as another way to take a necessary component and turn it into something a little more special and unique.

But I digress...aquamarine is a member of the beryl family (like emerald) and gets its name from its watery-blue color.  My stone - which was relatively inexpensive - shows inclusions and a fair amount of green color.  Stones used in fine jewelry are graded - like other precious gems - on color and clarity,  so must be bluer and inclusion free. An interesting aspect of aquamarine is that the blue color becomes more intense as the stone increases in size - which also results in much higher prices in large stones.

Photo credit: Cecile Raley Designs

A couple of my favorite jewelers - Yvonne Raley and Stephanie Maslow-Blackman have some lovely aquamarine pieces - and as always, if you are shopping for gifts for that March baby, I have a Pinterest board full of ideas.

Photo credit: Metalicious Jewelry

For now, watch this space for updates - photos of my aquamarine project, and other pieces from my upcoming classes will follow.

Until next time.

08.17.15 Tiny bubbles...

When your father is a theoretical physicist, even something as seemingly simple as a soap bubble becomes a science lesson.  To this day - one of my earliest memories of learning from my dad was blowing bubbles, and his explanation of surface tension.

I still love bubbles - their ephemeral, iridescent beauty - like little floating jewels, always makes me smile.
When my husband and I got married, rather than having our guests toss rice or birdseed, we had them blow bubbles as we left the synagogue.  This picture, with the bubbles in the foreground as we got into our limousine, is probably my favorite out of the hundreds taken than evening.









When my kids were little, we spent countless hours outside blowing bubbles and watching the dog chase them, trying in vain to catch them.

So, you ask - why bubbles this week?  Well, it's summer - so why not - and it turns out bubbles have cropped up in my jewelry lately.

When I took Lorena Angulo's precious metal clay class at Creative Side a few weeks ago, one of the pieces I made was for my daughter; an Erlenmeyer flask pendant.  

Just plain, it wasn't quite right, so I added bubbles...and suddenly it had movement and personality!

Photo credit: Metalicious

I've also had my eye on a fabulous pair of bubble earrings in Stephanie Maslow's etsy shop - metalicious.  As good fortune would have it, Stephanie had a birthday sale, and I snapped up these fabulous earrings at 20% off!  I love them - and I find myself wearing them - a lot - because just putting them on makes me smile.

Sometimes, life moves so fast, we need to be reminded to step back and take a little time...to smell the daisies...or blow some soap bubbles.

Until next time.

06.08.15 More June jewels

June has two other birthstones, alexandrite and moonstone.

Alexandrite - a member of the chrysoberyl mineral family - which was discovered in Russia in 1831, during the reign of Czar Alexander II, and named for him.

Natural alexandrite is extremely rare, and prized for its color change properties. Depending on the lighting, it can appear red, green or blue.  The only piece of natural alexandrite I have is very small, in my mother's heart pendant.

I would love add to my collection, but with a price of $5,000 per carat for a strong color change and the difficulty of finding jewelry with natural stones (there are lots of created alexandrites on the market) this is probably it for me.

Photo credit metalicious.com

The third June birthstone is moonstone.  Moonstone, a member of the feldspar mineral family, is much more affordable than either real pearls or natural alexandrite.  I love the iridescence of moonstone,  and I have a number of pieces made with it in my jewelry box.

My favorite piece of moonstone jewelry, was a Mother's Day gift from my husband many, many years ago when all the kiddos were little.  It is a silver pin from Sundance, with a mom, dad and three children - all of whom have moonstone faces.

I also love this pair of cascade earrings, with moonstone drops and blue calchedony rondelles. The facets give the moonstones extra sparkle and iridescence, and the purple in the rondelles is kind of an homage to the bluish-purple found in alexandrite.

So if you, or someone you love, has a June birthday - you have lots of options...enjoy them all.


Until next time.