Styles of Chain

I’ve been experimenting with different styles using chain; trying to give the necklace designs more dimension and texture. Here are a couple of new styles using just a few stones and mainly chain as the base.

Boro Lampwork Beads Denim Lapis Crystals Set

CA Palm Wood Jasper Ivoryite Crystals Set

These and other custom styles are available for purchase in our collections.

Single Red Coral

Doing designs in purely one color is often risky; however with the Red Coral design I hit onto something. It was such a hit, that I redesigned the piece and incorporated different chunky coral stones, several types of copper beads and added a bigger Sponge Coral pendant. This piece hit the mark and was sold before it even hit the website!

Coral Lampwork Beads Sponge Coral Pendant Copper Set (SOLD)

For more designs in natural stone and wire, browse our website for available pieces to purchase.

Don’t Forget the Green

Green jewelry, who knew and it comes in a variety of styles; browse our collections for available styles to purchase.

Lime Green Dichroic Glass Wire Pendant (to the right - SOLD)

Raw Brazilian Agate Slice in Shades of Green (to the left)

Green/Blue Dichroic Glass Swarovski Crystal Sterling Silver Bracelet (to the right)

Green Peridot Chips Blue/Green Turquoise Nuggets Pewter (to the left - SOLD)

Turquoise Hot Color 2010

Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing. Pantone, a company that supplies and tracks color for fashion, home décor and many other industries, named Turquoise as the hottest color for 2010.

“Leatice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says there is no runner-up to turquoise in her mind because people crave escapism and freshness after a tough year. The shade is on the cusp of blue and green, which makes it both inviting and serene, characteristics associated with blues, and invigorating and luminous, which comes from green, she states.

"Transporting" was a word many used for turquoise, a shade that takes designer Tommy Hilfiger to the beach, especially the Caribbean, St. Tropez, France, or Southern California, which served as the inspiration for his newest collection. In jewelry, he thinks of the American Southwest, or Central or South America. The women in my life wear it on vacation and it looks great with a suntan at the beach," Hilfiger says.

Interior designer Charlotte Moss says she turns to turquoise to liven up a look that otherwise seems stilted or conservative — and it pairs nicely with a wide range of colors more typical to home decor: gray, navy, black and white. "We're looking for things that are that are flexible and more universal, and that is turquoise," she says.

“Pantone's color for 2009 was mimosa yellow, intended to carry a hopeful, optimistic message. Eiseman says the public is shifting gears as the economy shows some improvement: They are ready to fantasize a bit about the beach resort. In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color and is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many - taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy."

Whether envisioned as a tranquil ocean surrounding a tropical island or a protective stone warding off evil spirits, Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively. It is universally flattering, has appeal for men and women, and translates easily to fashion and interiors. With both warm and cool undertones, Turquoise pairs nicely with any other color in the spectrum. Turquoise adds a splash of excitement to neutrals and browns, complements reds and pinks, creates a classic maritime look with deep blues, livens up all other greens, and is especially trend-setting with yellow-greens.

In fashion, Turquoise makes a statement that can look elegant and dressy in fine silk and gemstones, or casual and fun in cotton and athletic apparel. Because of its versatility, Turquoise is a great accent color in jewelry, purses, shoes, hair accessories and even nail polish for women, and ties, shirts and sportswear for men.

Visit our Southwest Flair collection to purchase custom designs in Turquoise.

*Resources Tamapbay Fashion Features and Pantone Color Institute.

Fun Styling in Southwest

Looks like Turquoise (but it’s not) and is still a natural stone in all Magnesite! I just fell in love with this strand of green Magnesite when I saw it; the raw edges of the disks just give it an all natural fun and stylish Southwestern look. I’ve matched it with teardrop Magnesite (pendant style) that has a really great beige/brown matrix, sliced in a hint of Amber chips and Sterling Silver fancy toggle and beads to match. To complete this set, I did the same Magnesite disks, adding in Amber chips to make large dangle earrings; you could pair this set with just about anything or wear them seperately to accent any outfit!

This and many other unique and unusual designs are available to purchase on our website.

Naturally Earthy Fossil

More of the great Tucson finds here, a beautiful Moroccan Goniatite in soft shades of green/cream/black wired in non-tarnish silver and accented with carved Jade in natural earthy colors, mixed in some dark green Aragonite for contrast that are in pewter star end-caps.

This and many other Tucson finds are available for purchase on our website.

Feldspathoid Minerals – Lapis Lazuli

The feldspathoids is a group of minerals very similar to feldspars, including solidate, hauyne, nepheline, lazurite, leucite, cancrinite, and nosean. They are all minerals that would have become feldspars if there was more silica present when formed. Feldspars tend to contain three times as much silica, so feldspathoids do not occur in silica-rich rocks such as granite but typically form in volcanic lavas.

Its beautiful, rich blue color makes lazurite one of the most distinctive and attractive of all minerals. Its chemical make-up is quite complex, but the blue color comes from the sulphur that takes the place of some silicate atoms. It is soft and brittle and easily ground to make the rich blue pigment ultramarine, but it is most famous as the major ingredient of the gemstone Lapis Lazuli, famed since the days of Ancient Egypt. Little spots of gold pyrite look like starts in the deep blue lazurite of Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli is one of the oldest, most treasured of all gemstones. Its name is a combination of the Latin Lapis for ‘stone’ and the Arabic Azul for ‘sky’ or the ancient Persian Lazhuward for ‘blue’. It usually occurs as lenses and veins in white marble. Consisting largely of Lazurite with spots of pyrite, it has a mottle look. Crystals are sometimes found, but more usually it is massive, and carved to make jewelry, cups and other decorative objects. It was first mined over 6,000 years ago at Sar-e-Sang in the Kokchua valley in Afghanistan, still the source of the world’s finest and most sought after Lapis Lazuli. The ancient royal tombs of the Sumerian city of Ur contained over 6,000 beautifully carved lapis lazuli statues, and it was a favorite stone of the Ancient Egyptians, much used in the tomb decorations of Tutankhamun. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder described it as ‘a fragment of the starry firmament’.

Today, lapis lazuli is mined near Lake Baikal in Russia and at Ovalle in Chile as well as in Afghanistan.

Lapis Lazuli: Wisdom, intuition, awareness, objectivity, clarity, creativity, expanded consciousness, dreams, purity, courage, serenity.
Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.

Custom designed gemstone jewelry available at our website.
Research from various gem-rock-mineral books.