This design is from our Southwest Flair Collection and features a beautiful red jasper pendant. The pendant is a nicely shaped triangle with a high polish and lovely light golden matrix veins running through it. I have hand bailed it using brass non-tarnish wire. 
It often contains organic material and mineral oxides which give it interesting patterns, bands and colors. Many of these patterns resemble landscapes with mountains and valleys, thus the name "picture" is part of the name of many well know jaspers.
In a previous post (just a few down, find out all about amethyst) I posted about amethyst and in one of the pictures there was a large chunk that I had wire wrapped as a pendant. Here is the finished product of that pendant and what I ended up mixing with it.
The beauty and mystic of murano glass; it glitters and produces some of the most sought after vintage glass products in the world. Venini, Salviati, Barovier & Toso, Pauly, Seguso and many other brands are still around today making murano glass, they are among the most historical glass factories, and the oldest glass factory is Antica Vetreria Fratelli Toso, which was founded in 1854.
(to the left)
This new little piece is so delicate and small; it will be an excellent specimen to wire; however the challenge will be working the wire in and around the frail delicate crystals and hopefully not breaking anything in the process. There is no outer ridge to work with like normal, just lots of tiny crystals; this is what makes this piece such an excellent specimen, at least in my optioning. I’m up for a challenge and this one definitely will be just that, so stay tuned, when I get it finished I’ll be posting the finished product! I’m not sure what I’ll do with it once it’s been wired; rather I’ll put it into a necklace piece or let it stand alone as a single pendant, which it most definitely can do!
Found in most countried where grantic rocks are exposed, amethyst occurs in alluvial deposits and geodes. Its coloration is principally due to traces of iron, and it is sometimes color-zoned due to twinning or preferential absorption on the rhombohedral faces. Major commercial sources of amethyst are Brazil, where it occurs in geodes that are frequently human-sized; but it is also found in Uruguay, Siberia and North America. Crystals from Brazilian and Uruguayan deposits are most often found as radiating masses, with individual crystals appearing as pyramids. Lower grad Brazilian and Uruguayan amethyst is frequently turned into citrine by heat treatment, which changes its color. Where both amethyst and citrine occur naturally in the same stone, the name is ametrine.
Amethyst has a long history as a gemstone. In the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, amethyst was highly valued and was used to create cylinder seals, engraved with a religious design and the owner’s name. The engraving was transferred to legal documents in the form of clay tablets by rolling the cylinder over the tablets. The ancient Egyptians also valued amethyst, using it in much of their jewelry. The Greeks wore an amethyst for protection against magic, homesickness, evil thoughts, and drunkenness. This is why wine was preferably served in amethyst beakers. In antiquity amethysts were also known as “stones of Bacchus”, because out of jealousy the goddess Diana had changed a nymph with whom Bacchus had fallen in love into an amethyst. It is said that the traditional properties of amethyst will alleviate migraines and improves concentration. It is said to attract justice and protection against burglars and thieves. It also wards of danger and violent death. It is the stone of Pisces, brings clarity to the conscious and unconscious minds and the birthstone for February. 
Amber is often regarded as a gem, but is not a mineral, but a solid organic material. It is a form of tree resin that was exuded to protect the tree against disease and insect infestation. This then hardened and was persevered for millions of years. Amber slowly oxidizes and degrades when exposed to oxygen, so it survives only under special conditions.
Amber can form nodules, rods and droplets in various shades of orange, yellow, red or cognac, deep green, and brown. Milky-white varieties are called bone amber. Modern analysis techniques are beginning to indentify the detailed composition of ambers and link them to modern resin-making trees. Mexican amber, for instance is linked to the Hymenea tree. Up to 3,000 different inclusions have been found in amber objects. These range from beetles and flies to spiders and water drops attached to the resin in primeval times and then petrified with it.
This design is from our Southwest Flair Collection and features a beautiful red jasper pendant. The pendant is a nicely shaped triangle with a high polish and lovely light golden matrix veins running through it. I have hand bailed it using brass non-tarnish wire. It often contains organic material and mineral oxides which give it interesting patterns, bands and colors. Many of these patterns resemble landscapes with mountains and valleys, thus the name "picture" is part of the name of many well know jaspers.
In a previous post (just a few down, find out all about amethyst) I posted about amethyst and in one of the pictures there was a large chunk that I had wire wrapped as a pendant. Here is the finished product of that pendant and what I ended up mixing with it.
The beauty and mystic of murano glass; it glitters and produces some of the most sought after vintage glass products in the world. Venini, Salviati, Barovier & Toso, Pauly, Seguso and many other brands are still around today making murano glass, they are among the most historical glass factories, and the oldest glass factory is Antica Vetreria Fratelli Toso, which was founded in 1854.
(to the left)
This new little piece is so delicate and small; it will be an excellent specimen to wire; however the challenge will be working the wire in and around the frail delicate crystals and hopefully not breaking anything in the process. There is no outer ridge to work with like normal, just lots of tiny crystals; this is what makes this piece such an excellent specimen, at least in my optioning. I’m up for a challenge and this one definitely will be just that, so stay tuned, when I get it finished I’ll be posting the finished product! I’m not sure what I’ll do with it once it’s been wired; rather I’ll put it into a necklace piece or let it stand alone as a single pendant, which it most definitely can do!Found in most countried where grantic rocks are exposed, amethyst occurs in alluvial deposits and geodes. Its coloration is principally due to traces of iron, and it is sometimes color-zoned due to twinning or preferential absorption on the rhombohedral faces. Major commercial sources of amethyst are Brazil, where it occurs in geodes that are frequently human-sized; but it is also found in Uruguay, Siberia and North America. Crystals from Brazilian and Uruguayan deposits are most often found as radiating masses, with individual crystals appearing as pyramids. Lower grad Brazilian and Uruguayan amethyst is frequently turned into citrine by heat treatment, which changes its color. Where both amethyst and citrine occur naturally in the same stone, the name is ametrine.Amethyst has a long history as a gemstone. In the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, amethyst was highly valued and was used to create cylinder seals, engraved with a religious design and the owner’s name. The engraving was transferred to legal documents in the form of clay tablets by rolling the cylinder over the tablets. The ancient Egyptians also valued amethyst, using it in much of their jewelry. The Greeks wore an amethyst for protection against magic, homesickness, evil thoughts, and drunkenness. This is why wine was preferably served in amethyst beakers. In antiquity amethysts were also known as “stones of Bacchus”, because out of jealousy the goddess Diana had changed a nymph with whom Bacchus had fallen in love into an amethyst. It is said that the traditional properties of amethyst will alleviate migraines and improves concentration. It is said to attract justice and protection against burglars and thieves. It also wards of danger and violent death. It is the stone of Pisces, brings clarity to the conscious and unconscious minds and the birthstone for February.
Amber is often regarded as a gem, but is not a mineral, but a solid organic material. It is a form of tree resin that was exuded to protect the tree against disease and insect infestation. This then hardened and was persevered for millions of years. Amber slowly oxidizes and degrades when exposed to oxygen, so it survives only under special conditions.Amber can form nodules, rods and droplets in various shades of orange, yellow, red or cognac, deep green, and brown. Milky-white varieties are called bone amber. Modern analysis techniques are beginning to indentify the detailed composition of ambers and link them to modern resin-making trees. Mexican amber, for instance is linked to the Hymenea tree. Up to 3,000 different inclusions have been found in amber objects. These range from beetles and flies to spiders and water drops attached to the resin in primeval times and then petrified with it.