Unusual Mix of Kyanite & Ruby

I have a new find (at least for me) that I have never come across before. I found this new find recently during a rock show hunt. The mix is unusual of natural stones, ruby in kyanite. It is a beautiful contrast of color in the blue kyanite and the rose purple ruby. 

I started to research the stone and find there is not much out there, but here is what I did find. It is an unusual find, not rare, but not often found either and it comes mostly from India. The combination of the two stones enhances the many qualities of the individual stones. In addition, ruby in kyanite helps in meditation and to balance the yin-yang energies. 

Together Ruby in Kyanite is a power stone that will bring dreams into reality while releasing old patterns of our lives. It is said to have balance and protect against negativity and together the stones surround the person in peace, allowing you to manifest your heart's desire.
 

Whatever the mix, it is a lovely and beautiful treasure from nature; this sample that I have just sparkles in the sunlight. The small pieces I'll be wire wrapping alter on, so keep a watch out for the wired pendants to appear sometime in the future!

Tucson 2012 Kick-Off

 This weekend starts the kick-off of the biggest shopping in Tucson, Arizona from hundreds of vendors. One of my favorite locations I call the Street Vendor shows, this is where I have gotten some of the most unique and unusual items that I incorporate into my jewelry designs. I love to rummage through tons of barrels, boxes, tubs, and miles of tables.

The shows stretch for miles and miles as vendors take over the hotels, parking lots, and anything in-between; starting at Congress Street and running all the way down past Freeway Avenue. A person can find any type of vendor selling everything from beads, findings, silver, raw materials, lapidary, finished products, gemstones, clothes, bags, and so much more.

And best of all, most are open to the public, however check with vendors before purchase to make sure they don’t require a wholesale license.

Good Luck and happy hunting!

Hunting Rocks – Rockhoud Trip

This past weekend we went to a small rock & mineral show just a few hours north of us. It was a great adventure digging through slabs, boxes, barrels, and seeing everything spread across all of tables.

As I wondered down the first aisle, I came to a vendor from Colorado that I've bought from before. He always has some breath taking raw slabs, but to my surprise, this time he had several that were small enough to wire wrap!   I was so excited and spent about an hour there going through all the tubs full of slabs, finding just the right ones that gave me inspiration to wire wrap.

These new pieces will be wired into pendants, some will go into necklace sets and others will be set alone as single pendants to wear on cords, collars or chains. 

The new slabs are raw and will be unique pendants that are left in their natural state for a more beautiful look.   I look forward to wire wrapping these slabs and then designing with some of them. 

Being somewhat of irregular shapes, wire wrapping them will be somewhat of a challenge.   The slabs are a mix of several agates, a couple of jaspers, chevron amethyst, ruby in kyanite from India, tiger iron, and a piece of laguna agate from Mexico.

Once I get them wired and into some necklace set, I'll feature them here on the blog, so check back often --- just never know what you might find here!