Ammonite Fossils All Wired Up

 Ammonite fossils are sought after by almost every shopper, they are all unique from their colors to the fossils encased within the ancient sea sediment. Millions years old and coming from African regions of Madagascar, these little fossils are quite stunning in their own right and in each one you can see the crystallized chambers.

I’ve hand wire wrapped them in non-tarnish brass wire, then mixed them into new necklace designs with all different looks – from crystals to cultured freshwater pearls, cloisonné beads and natural stones.

Southwest meets Old World; turquoise and jasper paired with a center focal ammonite fossil pendant

 

Classy and sassy; ammonite fossil pendant incorporated into cultured freshwater pearls and cloisonné beads

For more of these and other uniquely artisan crafted jewelry, browse our collections at our online Ruby Lane shop!

Southwest Gone Shimmering

A twist of the old Southwest in shimmering delights with tons of faceted crystals! This design is a favorite among many and I’ve just gotten a few back into the shop. Here I feature a beautiful blue turquoise donut with light tan veins running throughout the stone. I’ve accented it by hand twisting brass non-tarnish wire around and then into a bail.

There are tons of hand twisted charms all in faceted crystals and stationed between are lovely lampwork beads in complimenting colors. Everything is loose on the silk cord so you could gently twist the charms around to feature more or less of certain colors if you wanted – this is different in style, the last few I did on cords were held stationary so that nothing moved, I decided to do something different this time.


Browse our collections of fine artisan crafted jewelry at our online shop! Never know what you might find in natural stones, crystals, millions year old fossils and dichroic glass.

Enter The Brazilian Oco Agate

One of my most popular and requested wired pendant is the Oco Agate Slice.  These are also one of my many favorite pendants (yes I have many, but this one is in the top) to work.  Their unique colors is a mesmerizing explosion of deep dark rich earthy brown, black, navy, olive, and rust or the slightly more delicate shades of pink, purple, cream, white, and gray.  What sets them apart from any other agate is the crystalline centers, some even have very tiny crystal cylinders within the crystalline.

Agate geode halves which are found in the Ocos region of Brazil are small agate nodules with a crystalline interior. Agate is named after a river in Sicily called Achates, where it was found in the Fourth Century, B.C. In the center of the rock, where there is a cavity, crystals often form, thus the name geode.

The formation in which the geodes are found is 50 million years old and located in the country of Brazil. Farmers have gathered the oco’s for many years. After the crops have been harvested and the farmers are unable to work, the fields are tilled under allowing the oco’s to appear. They are then gathered and sold for cutting into the geode half.

These newest designs feature some dazzling color mixtures…from black to grey to pink to purple and everything in-between.

For these and many other unique artisan crafted jewelry, browse our collections at our Timeless Designs Ruby Lane shop!

Agate tones and strengthens body and mind, as well as imparting a sense of strength and courage. It enhances creativity and stimulates the intellect. Agate is calming and soothing, and can dispel feelings of jealousy.

Greek & Roman Luster of Bronzite

In striking shades of brown, with flecks of golden and silvery slivers, bronzite is a bronze-like sub-metallic luster variety of Enstatite. The bronzite variety of enstatite has a semi-metallic luster which is formed through weathering of the enstatite mineral. The gemstone consists of magnesium and magnesium iron silicates and has an orthorhombic crystal structure. These are considered to be the ferriferous variety of enstatite.

The purest bronzite comes from Brazil, but is also found in India, Western Australia, China, and South Africa. It can be found in meteorites, leading some to speculate this means that other worlds in our solar system must have a similar composition to that of the earth.

The ancient Romans used to grind bronzite into powder form to protect against mental illness and confusion and as an effective treatment to strengthen the nerves. They also wore the stone as a protective amulet. Bronzite was highly valued by the Greeks and Romans as a decorative stone because of its particular brilliance. 

 

This new design features several stones in an octagon cut and faceted rondelles with a high polish to bring out the golden flakes. It has been paired with matching metal pendant and earrings in red enamel; tons of hand twisted charm crystals, rare Arizona ivoryite and cloisonne beads.

A rich and classy necklace set, sure to capture attention!

    

Find your next rare gem among our collection of finely artisan crafted jewelry!

Research various books and websites; bronzite rough picture by R. Weller/Cochise College

Heavy Metals Designs

Trendy and chic, moving beyond the traditional designs with stone pendants…these new designs feature metal pendants and matching earrings! This is a new line of designs that I’m testing the market with and so far, they are quite popular and going fast at our online Timeless Designs Ruby Lane shop!

Metal is a great way to showcase any mixture of stones, crystals and pearls. The different textures, and sculpture done with metal brings to life the art created by the artisan. These new designs feature different pendants and matching earrings, offering a collection of bold, classy, sassy and still classical looks for any occasion.

This first design (to the left) reminds me of the waters in the Caribbean….crisp cool teal blues of the Caribbean are always a fantastic palette to use. The pendant is hammered on one side and the front is sectioned with two different colors of blue – royal and teal. I’ve added in a clustering of hand twisted charms in faceted crystals and large nuggets of teal druzy agates, colorful faceted agate rounds, more crystals and spacey silver pewter beads finishes off the necklace.

Next up (to the right) is a lovely and very fun set all about the green of spring sparkle…..at center focal is a shamrock pendant and matching earrings, tons of hand twisted charms of creamy glass pearls and faceted crystals, lovely flowery lampwork beads, more crystals and marbled ceramic barrels finished off the necklace.

Bold and classy (to the left) in a stately metal two-tone cross and matching earrings…..featuring more hand twisted charms of cultured freshwater pearls, faceted crystals, two large marquee shaped agates with pyrite, bold deep etched barrel beads and finished with black tourmaline.

For these and many other artisan crafted designs, visit our online shop to browse our latest custom collections!

Shards of Glass – Dichroic Glass

Dichroic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metal oxides which give the glass dichroic optical properties. The invention of dichroic glass is often erroneously attributed to NASA and its contractors, who developed it for use in dichroic filters. Dichroic glass dates back to at least the 4th century AD as seen in the Lycurgus cup.

Multiple ultra-thin layers of different metals (gold, silver), metal oxides (titanium, chromium, aluminum, zirconium, magnesium) and silica are vaporized by an electron beam in a vacuum chamber. The vapor then condenses on the surface of the glass in the form of a crystal structure. This is sometimes followed by a protective layer of quartz crystal. The finished glass can have as many as 30 to 50 layers of these materials yet the thickness of the total coating is approximately 30 to 35 millionths of an inch (about 760 to 890 nm). The coating that is created is very similar to a gemstone and, by careful control of thickness, different colors are obtained.

I love working with dichroic glass, just not really good at making any beads or pendants; however I’m in luck! A very good friend and fellow artisan Anna is a premier glass designer here in San Antonio, Texas. She makes some of the most incredible, gorgeous dichroic one-of-kind pieces (I know, I personally have quite a few of her pendant sets!).

From time to time I purchase her pendants and incorporate them into my own creative designs; accenting with wire, metals, crystals, or natural stones; drawing on the colors of the pendant to develop the jewelry.

These latest designs feature dichroic glass dichroic pendant and earrings sets; accenting with tons of crystals, lampwork beads (another fun glass to work with), metals, and cultured freshwater pearls, just to name some.

Browse all our artisan crafted jewelry at our online shop – find your next treasure of wearable art!

*Research from various websites.

Fiesta of Gems Show

If you are a rockhound, general fossil, rock or mineral enthusiast and living in the surrounding around of San Antonio, than don’t miss the gem and mineral show this weekend! It is put on every year by the Southwest Gem & Minerals Society of San Antonio, Texas. This year marks their 50th Year Anniversary show!

There is something for the whole family --- gemstones, lapidary, beads, fossils, minerals, faceting, crystals, demonstrations, silvercraft, exhibits of all kinds, and jewelry. There will be door prizes hourly and the proceeds support the Earthy Science Scholarships.

Fiesta of Gems

March 19th – 20th

Live Oak Civic Center

Free Parking

Admission

Hours: 10:00am – 6:00pm (Sat)
10:00am – 4:00pm (Sun)

Come on out and celebrate and have tons of fun!

*Picture by Lee, registered Gemologist.