02.25.19 Once in a Blue Moon(stone)

I had coveted a pair of these dangle drop earrings from Metalsgirl for a long time, and when I saw them at Blue Genie, last December I snapped 'em up. Then I posted them on Instagram, and my sister in law loved them, so I snagged a bright colored pair for her, too (which made her very happy).

As my new earrings went into heavy rotation (as in they never really got put away) I started thinking, "I need a faceted moonstone pendant to go with these"

Not too long after having that thought, one of the lapidary artists I follow on Instagram, posted a lovely faceted moonstone cabochon, and I ordered it.

Once the stone arrived, I had some time to think about what to put on the back, because I was still almost a month from returning to the bench.  I decided to put a "D" on the reverse, and call it..."Facets of Myself".

When I finally went back to the studio, late in January, my friend and wonderful instructor, Rita Marie Ross, said "that's a pretty stone - and look at how the blue comes out when you put it on a black background".

This kind of interaction is why I love working in a communal studio. In that moment of serendipity, I learned a new trick - and it makes the stone look AMAZING!  On my own, I never would have thought to put the stone on something black (in this case, it was a dark phone screen).  To achieve this effect, I decided to darken the inside of the setting with Black Max (my favorite patina).  

I love the end result - and as always, I'm excited to have learned something new.  I imagine I'll be wearing these pieces a lot, and using this technique in the future.

Until next time.