The Blog of Lava Jewelry & Fresh Picked Candles

I thought it would be fun to share this video of a bronze pouring (casting) done at Mission College (Santa Clara, CA) this spring. I’m the one on the right in the blue hard hat. Enjoy!

Below is a picture of my bronze casting just after being taken from the sand mold, with the gating still intact. It is a series of bronze bas relief mini-art pieces. I am still working on these pieces, but I will definitely post photos when I finish them.

Bronze casting

Unlike most minerals that are used as gemstones, which are silicate minerals, apatite is a phosphate mineral. It is less durable than a lot of gemstones; it is about a 5 on Moh’s hardness scale, and it fractures somewhat easily.

Apatite derives its name from a Greek word meaning “cheat,” because it is so easily mistaken for other gemstones. Apatite is a transparent mineral that forms in a variety of colors, including colorless, yellow, pink, blue, green, and violet. The apatite commonly used as gemstone is typically an aqua to teal blue, green, or yellow color. The colors of the apatite stones I have purchased tend to be extremely vivid.

Apatite deposits are fairly common worldwide. It can be found as grains in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The large crystals used as gemstones are found in contact metamorphic rocks.

More information on apatite can be found on webmineral and the mineral galleries site.

Google image results for apatite.

Metaphysical information on apatite.

Prehnite is another gemstone that seems to be surrounded by some confusion. I have seen prehnite referred to as a type of garnet, or as an alternative name for tourmalated/tourmalinated quartz. I have also seen prehnite consistently misspelled as phrenite, pernite, and prenite. Prehnite is not a type of garnet or quartz; it is a calcium aluminum silicate mineral. Prehnite is a phyllosilicate. It is typically yellow-green to brown-yellow in color. (Most of the prehnite I have purchased is a celery green color.) Prehnite ranges from transparent to translucent. Prehnite does not sparkle, but it has a glow that I personally find very soothing to look at. Some prehnite exhibits a cat’s eye effect, and is best cut en cabochon.

Prehnite has a Moh’s hardness of 6-6 1/2 (about the same hardness as quartz, sometimes a bit less). It has a good cleavage, making it easier to break (and therefore less durable) than quartz.

Deposits of prehnite are found in Australia, China, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States (Schumann, Gemstones of the World.) Prehnite is found in hydrothermally altered rocks. It is associated with xeolite minerals (although it is not a xeolite mineral itself.)

More information on prehnite can be found at the mineral galleries site and webmineral.

Google image results for prehnite.

Metaphysical information on prehnite.

Many people have been asking me lately about my migraines, so I’ve decided to go ahead and post an update on my blog.

For just over a month, I’ve been taking Migrelief (a combination of feverfew, magnesium, and B2), and Co Q-10 supplements. My migraines have generally been less severe, but I’m still getting about 3 migraines a week. (I should really track my migraines more carefully and scientifically!)

I’ve decided to increase my dosage of Co Q-10, and I’m adding a vegetarian Omega-3 supplement to the mix. I plan to post another update after taking these for about a month. Wish me luck!

Daily medications and supplements

I’ve seen vesuvianite mistakenly called vessonite, or referred to as a type of garnet, but it is in fact the mineral idocrase, with no relation to garnet. Vesuvianite is usually an olive green color, but idocrase also occurs in yellow-brown and pale blue. It is a complicated calcium aluminum silicate mineral, with a wide range of compositions and therefore physical properties. It has a Moh’s hardness of 6.5 (which is comparable to quartz), and it is pretty durable.

Deposits of vesuvianite are found in Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, Russia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, and the United States (Schumann, Gemstones of the World).

Vesuvianite is found in skarns (limestones that have been subjected to contact metamorphism). Vesuvianite got its name from the volcano Vesuvius, where it was first found.

Other varieties of idocrase include cyprine (light blue), Californite (also called California Jade), xanthite, and wiluite.

According to thatcrystalsite.com: “Vesuvianite provides a link to the higher self and the information it offers to the soul in incarnation. Psychologically, it releases feelings of imprisonment and restraint. It is helpful for healing past-life experiences of being a prisoner, of extreme danger, or of mental or emotional restraint; it gently dissolves anger and alleviates fear, creating inner security. Vesuvianite (Idocrase) has powerful mental connections. It opens the mind and clears negative thought patterns so that the mind can function more clearly. It stimulates inventiveness and the urge to discover, linking this into creativity. Vesuvianite can be used to promote loyalty to mankind. It represents cooperative effort and is a wonderful stone to present to newlyweds, business associates, friends and acquaintances. It also assists in the control of the creative and intuitive aspects of the inner realm. Unlocks and stabilizes the mental faculties, helping to clear negative thought patterns from the mental, emotional, an physical bodies and helps one to recognize that which is important to further ones advancement along the spiritual path.”

More information on vesuvianite can be found at webminerals.com and mineral galleries.com.

Google image results for vesuvianite.

I will hosting an online art exhibit for Worldwide Women Artists Online (WWAO) next month, and I have a few ideas for the theme. I would love some input, so please vote here!

Image created by wordle using my bio

If you haven’t seen Wordle yet, you might enjoy checking it out. You simply enter text or a URL, and Wordle creates an image with the words pulled from the text. You can change the font, colors, and orientation of the words in the diagram.

The image above is what I came up with when I entered my bio into Wordle. Fun!

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!