Entries from November 2007 ↓

It’s definitely time to start writing Gemstone of the Day articles again, and I thought I’d begin with a fairly well-known gemstone: onyx.

Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. It occurs in pretty much any color you can imagine, and it is commonly banded. Onyx with red banding is called sardonyx. Solid black onyx is perhaps the best-known variety of onyx. Onyx has a hardness of 7 on Moh’s hardness scale.

The name onyx is often erroneously applied to banded calcite found. True onyx can be easily distinguished from this impostor by its hardness. Calcite is much softer than onyx.

One of my latest creations: wire-wrapped faceted black onyx necklace with a wire wrapped labradorite pendant. I discussed labradorite earlier in my Gemstone series.

There’s still time to join the Winter Beading Challenge, by the way. I know I mention this quite frequently, but I’m really excited about it, so I don’t think I can be blamed for talking about it so much.

Question of the Day: If you could train your pets to do one thing to help out around the house, what would it be?

It’s about 4 in the morning, and I’m just getting over a particularly bad migraine. Now that I’m feeling better, I don’t want to go to sleep. I’m feeling good, so I want to get some work done. Funny, huh?

I’m absolutely certain that I had something more interesting to write here, but it has escaped me for the time being. Ah well. I can always come back later and add more, right?

We’re now up to 55 participants in the Winter Beading Challenge, if I’m counting correctly. If I’m wrong, let’s blame the migraine for killing off brain cells, okay? There’s still plenty of room, so come buy your bead set today if you’d like to join in the fun!

Well, I’m feeling much better after my migraine night, and I’ve got a cozy kitty on my lap. I’m going to go make a cup of tea and decide if I should get some work done or get some sleep.

Let’s hope today will be Cyber Tuesday!

Lapis lazuli stone wrapped with sterling silver wire – one of my latest creations. Lapis stone cut by local artist.

Upcoming:
*If you need me to create a custom piece of jewelry in time for the holidays, please contact me to order as soon as possible!
*I plan to continue writing articles in my blog about various gemstones. Please comment below if there is a particular gemstone you’d like to know more about.
*I plan to start featuring Etsy shops in my blog again starting in January. I will make an announcement at that time and ask for volunteers. I look for shops featuring unique and well-made items with good photos.

Ongoing:
*The Winter Beading Challenge now has 52 participants, and there’s room for plenty more! Even if you’re not a jewelry person, you’re welcome to join – you can make anything you like using some or all of the beads! For details, see the Winter Beading Challenge web site. Purchase the bead set from my Etsy shop.

Question of the Day: What are your plans for Christmas this year?

Pendant with flower motif that I made of brass.

There has been a lot of talk lately (well, complaints really) about mistagging on Etsy, which results in wonky categorization and frustrating searches. I believe that most mistagging is done by people who do not understand how to use tags according to Etsy’s rules. I propose this very simple way of reducing mistagging on Etsy. It consists of asking a few simple questions each time a new listing is created.

I propose also doing away with “suggested tags” because, quite frankly, most of them end up being rather silly.

Perhaps after the user selects the main category, the subcategories should be listed, but no more suggested tags after that.

See the flow chart below (No, I’m not graphics genius…) and see what you think.

Make your voice heard in the Etsy forums!

The latest addition to my Etsy shop are copper earrings and this lovely copper pendant (above). The copper earrings have a hammered texture and sterling silver ear wires. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I have hammering that texture into the metal.

Happy Tofurkey Day to all!

I now have 45 people signed up to participate in the Winter Beading Challenge. Yay!

I’m nowhere near capping it off, though, so there’s plenty of room if you’d like to join. The competition is open to absolutely anyone. Just purchase a bead set from my Etsy shop (just $10) and start crafting! The deadline is Feb 1, and all of the rules are posted on the Winter Beading Challenge web page.

One of my latest creations: Bezel-set thulite sterling silver pendant.

I haven’t had nearly as much time in the metal studio as I’d like, but I’ve still managed to complete a few new pieces, unlike anything I’ve offered before.

Above is a sterling silver ring with a twist pattern. I oxidized the silver, and then polished it to make the twist design shiny.

Below is a black onyx necklace with a one-of-a-kind pendant I made by bezel-setting a rectangle-shaped larvikite stone in sterling silver. The shape of the pendant is Victorian-inspired.

Just wait until I have my own metal studio set up! It’s gonna be grrreat!

Yes indeed, the beads for the Winter Beading Challenge are available for sale in my Etsy shop now.

Each set is $10 and includes:

1 Swarovski baroque pendant, clear, 22x15mm
1 blue glass spoon pendant, 51x24mm
1 silvertone filigree pewter snowflake, 32mm
20 white Swarovski pearls, 6mm
17 crystal/lilac faceted Czech glass beads, 6mm
2 crystal/light blue faceted Czech glas beads, 6mm
15 clear round glass beads, 6mm
3 silver glass leaves, 14x9mm
6 light cobalt blue glass cone flowers, 8x6mm
5 iris clear Czech bicone beads (with blue), 4mm
3 foil blue glass oval beads, 12x10mm
10 g seed beads in white, silver, blues, lilacs
10 g assorted frosted white beads, various shapes and sizes

All the information you need about the contest can be found at the Winter Beading Challenge web page. Remember to bookmark it!

I can’t wait to see what everyone makes!!!

I have made a web page with all the info on the Winter Beading Challenge. It contains all the links you’ll need, and I’ll be adding information to the web page as the challenge goes forward. Please remember to bookmark it!

Also: I have found a judge for the contest! Christine Dhein from the Revere Academy for Jewelry Arts in San Francisco has graciously agreed to judge our beading challenge. She is a wonderful teacher and brilliant jewelry artist. Christine Dhein and the Revere Academy have very generously donated a jewelry-making book and a DVD to be given as prizes to the winner in each category.

I’m here to announce that I plan to host a winter beading challenge!

It will be very similar to challenges previously hosted by Beads4You, and I have her blessing to continue the tradition while she is very busy in Australia.

Here’s the idea:
I assemble packs of beads that you can purchase (I plan to keep it around $10 each), and each contestant uses those beads to create whatever they can come up with. Everyone will be issued the same set of beads.

Here are the entries in last winter’s beading challenge:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beads4you/sets/72157594380652864/

This contest is open to all Etsy users. I would love for anyone interested in participating to post in this forum thread so I can get an idea of how many bead sets I will need to assemble.

Contest judge, prizes, and deadline to be announced soon!