Entries from August 2009 ↓

If you haven’t seen chrome diopside before, you’re in for a treat.

Chrome diopside is a green variety of the mineral diopside. The chrome diopside I’ve used is a vivid, vibrant green, and it is less blue-ish in color than the emeralds I’ve used. It has such wonderful clarity too.

Diopside is a pyroxene mineral that forms in monoclinic columnar crystals. Another cool property of diopside is that it fluoresces in black light. Diopside is a 5-6 on Moh’s hardness scale (where diamond is a 10), and it can cleave somewhat easily. Because of its relative softness, it is better suited to items like earrings and pendants, rather than rings and bracelets, which tend to get knocked around a bit.

Chrome diopside owes its green color to the presence of chromium. This beautiful green gem is mined in eastern Siberia. It is a somewhat rare gemstone, but since the recent opening of former Soviet countries to the west, it has become more readily available here. Lucky for us, because it is truly a treat!

P.S. If anyone is interested in more technical detail on gemstones, just let me know! I’d be happy to start writing more detailed posts.

All Lava Jewelry Facebook fans will be entered for a chance to win $30 to spend at Lava Jewelry. A fan will be chosen at random at midnight the night of August 31st. All you need to do to enter is to become a Lava Jewelry fan on Facebook. It couldn’t be easier!

Last month’s winner was Emilie C, who chose this lovely rose quartz pendant as her prize. It could be you this month!

I’ve decided to offer another Saturday Night Special (SNS) in my Etsy shop tonight…

What: BOGO Sale! Buy one jewelry item, get a second item (equal or lesser value) at half price. (Applies to everything but the supplies section of my shop.)
When: Sat. Aug 8th 2:00pm to Sun. Aug. 9th 3:00am Pacific time (5pm to 6am Eastern)
Where: My Etsy shop
How: Just check out with the items you’d like and write “SNS” in the message to seller box when you check out. Wait for me to email you a revised PayPal invoice before paying.

Please feel free to contact me with questions. Have a great Saturday night!

When I tell people I work from home, the response is invariably, “Must be nice.” Well, yes and no…

The biggest advantage to working from home is the lack of a commute. My last job involved a 45-minute commute, which meant that 1 1/2 hours of my day were taken up just sitting in my car. Not very fun or productive! The second biggest plus to me is being able to work in my pajamas. I love being able to wear comfy sweats all day!

The biggest drawback to working from home is that I don’t have peers/coworkers. You’d be surprised how much you miss having co-workers, even that person who wears too much perfume, and that person who talks your ear off day after day. Sometimes I think I’m going to lose my voice from lack of use… I really don’t talk to my cats as much as my friends might think!

Another difficulty in working from home is balancing your time. You have to be good at scheduling your work time; you don’t have anyone else telling you when things need to get done, so you really need to be disciplined and self-motivated. It can also be difficult at times not to be distracted by housework and other family obligations while you’re at home during the day. You have to keep yourself on track despite other things that need to be done. You also need to try to make time that isn’t for working, which can be difficult when you live and work in the same space.

All in all, however, working from home is a positive thing for me. I get to spend more time with my cats; I don’t waste time and gas commuting; and I can give myself a flexible schedule when I’m sick. Must be nice? Well, yeah, it kinda is…