More Photos!!

The first two pictures are of an absolutely stunning pair of ruby earrings...
These earrings were a custom order from a friend who supplied the rubies which came directly from Burma, everything else is gold filled while the ball wires are gold...simply wonderful!!!
I will be making a similiar pair of sapphire earrings, in sterling silver, for this same person in the next couple of days and will post a picture when finished!


This piece is part of the Heart & Stroke Foundation collection I do...a hand cut, hammered, and sanded/finished sterling silver heart attached to which is a tiny Swarovski clear crystal heart, hanging from a large sterling silver oval link chain...

Aventurine nuggets and pendant, wrapped with silver plated wire


Hand cut, hammered, sanded/finished sterling silver dangles hanging from hand shaped sterling silver ear wires...

I love the color of these Swarovski crystals...Bali beads, sterling silver tubes and a sterling silver toggle finish this bracelet...




This is a great set...hand cut, stamped and sanded/finished sterling silver circles, the pendant is hanging from a sterling silver chain...the smaller circles are hanging from sterling silver hand formed ear wires...


Red and silver...a striking combination...coral, resin and glass beads are all wrapped with Argentium silver...from which hangs a sterling silver heart...again part of the Heart & Stroke Foundation series...


I've had people say these look like silver fish...simple but they do make a statement...all sterling silver, hand shaped...


A versatile two strand necklace and earrings...front and center is a great lampwork bead, with soladite nuggets, resin and glass beads, on silver coated wire, finished with sterling silver cones... matching earrings are included...


Cobalt blue lampwork beads and white glass dangles...wire wrapped and hanging from sterling silver ear wires...
Hope you've enjoyed the latest photos...
PS...Watch for the post I will be doing in the near future regarding the Heart & Stroke Foundation Series...
Cheers

"Birthstone of the Month" Peridot (Olivine)

This striking green stone is also called Chrysolite and in the mineralogy world it is known as Olivine. It is thought the name Peridot comes from the Arabic word faridat which means "gem". This beauty only comes in various shades of green, pale yellowish green, olive green, bottle green or a vibrant apple green, which is the most sought after. In Pakistan, near the Afghan border you will find large Kashmir peridot stones which are the best for cutting, possessing intense striking color, which of course makes them expensive. Other locations where peridot is found is, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt (St.John's Island), Myanmar (formerly Burma), South Africa, United States (Hawaii, Arizona) and Zaire.


I'm including the definitions of igneous and metamorphic rocks as I think it helps to understand what these words mean...

Metamorphic Rocks
"The American Heritage Science Dictionary: 1. Relating to metamorphosis. 2. Geology: Relating to rocks that have undergone metamorphism. Metamorphic rocks are formed when igneous, sedimentary, or other metamorphic rocks undergo a physical change due to extreme heat and pressure. These changes often produce folded layers or banding in the rocks, and they can also cause pockets of precious minerals to form. The folds and banding can be produced by incomplete segregation of minerals during recrystallization, or they can be inherited from preexisting beds in sedimentary rocks or preexisting layers in igneous rocks. The precious minerals can form as the result of recrystallization when the rocks undergoing metamorphism are subjected to changes in pressure and temperature.

" Igneous: "
adjective
1. Geology...produced under conditions involving intense heat, as rocks of volcanic origin, or rocks crystallized from molten magma. 2. of, pertaining to, or characteristics of fire.

Intrusive Igneous Rock: forms beneath the surface of the volcano
Extrusive Igneous Rock: forms on the surface volcano"

Peridot, which is an extrusive igneous rock forms as a result of magma reaching the surface of the volcano, either from eruption, or cracks, fissures or as lava or ash. It can also form in metamorphic rocks. The striking green colors of the peridot comes from its own chemical composition of the stone (iron) itself and not from some other sources such as impurities. Peridot is transparent but often includes some form of inclusion, they appear as spots or lines, and are naturally occurring deposits of such things as silica glass, biotite mica, small crystals of pyrope garnet and spinel. While lovely, the peridot is not a brilliant stone, it may have the appearance of glass or even look greasy, rarely, the stone will have a cat's eye or star effect. Treatments, such as oiling or a polymer filler may be used to improve the look of the stone, by decreasing the visibility of flaws. Care must be taken with the peridot as it is tends to burst under pressure, it is sensitive to heat and is not resistant to acids...so keep away from household cleaners, steam, etc.


Stones of Interest:

• A 319ct perito found on the island of Zabargad is now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
• Cut stones from a meteorite that fell in 1749 in eastern Siberia are now in Russia.

As always, I hope you found the Peridot information interestingly informative!!
Cheers


Information courtesy of: Gemstones of the World,Walter Schumann, Third Edition, Sterling Publishing Co., The Jeweler's Directory of Gemstones, Judith Crowe, Firefly Books, 2006 "igneous." dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 21 Aug. 2008. dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/igneous "metamorphic" The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 21 Aug. 2008. dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/metamorphic
The two photos of the raw peridot are courtesy of @Edith Ochs - Fotolia.com, thank you.
The lovely peridot ring photo is courtesy of @K. Geijer - Fotolia.com, thank you.

Creativity

Creativity has been attributed variously to divine intervention, cognitive processes, the social environment, personality traits, and chance ("accident", "serendipity"). It has been associated with genius, mental illness and humour. Some say it is a trait we are born with; others say it can be taught with the application of simple techniques.

Although popularly associated with art and literature, it is also an essential part of innovation and invention and is important in professions such as business, economics, architecture, industrial design, science and engineering.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you, Kim of Laketrees, for thinking of me when she decided to create this award...I'm truly honored to be included with many amazing artists, to whom Kim has past this award ...here is what Kim said about her award...

"Many of my blogger Artist friends are really creative people so I have decided to recognize their creativity (as defined above) by designing this award "

Thank you Kim...a wonderful thing to do for others!
Cheers

Finally, new photos!!!

Here are a few new photos...I'm so slow at getting around to taking photos that unfortunately many of my pieces where sold on the weekend before I had the chance to take the photos...
These wonderful pink chalk turquoise balls are wire wrapped in Argentium silver, with a sterling silver lobster claw... these lovely turquoise beads remind me of pink bubble gum, you know the kind that is individually wrapped...used to love that kind as a child!

~~~Argentium sterling silver for those of you who will want to know is a sterling silver in which the metalloid germanium is replacing a percentage of the copper. Sterling silver is 92.5% silver and 7.50% copper. Argentium sterling silver is more expensive than sterling silver but it is tarnish resistant which for many is a worth the extra cost!~~~

This is a stunning piece of chalcedony with a naturally occurring cavity in which crystals have formed...this is called a "Drusy"...I often had people ask if the pendant was broken...it sold on the weekend to someone who knew exactly what it was and was thrilled with it!


Ahhh..some of my favorite charms...I'm a "sun, sand and water" person so I love everything to do with the water...here is a gorgeous all sterling silver bracelet made with me in mind...but...it went to a good home on the weekend...I will make another!!!


A sterling silver pendant, hand cut, sanded and stamped, hanging from a black leather cord...simple but effective!


This striking pendant looks like turquoise but it actually is a form of jasper...strung on a black leather cord it does make a statement!


Now from the retro collection...isn't this fun...glass circles attached to a black leather cord...


Brass, brass, and more brass, with a lovely delicate yellow glass bead...


I like these...in fact I wear a pair myself, without the stones, often...sterling silver wire, with three sparkling clear quartz rondelles...


Another retro piece...large resin beads, tied on a natural colored leather cord...it looks short in this photo but it is acutally a long piece...this went to a great home on the weekend as well...retro is popular this season!

Watch for the August "Birthstone of the Month" coming soon!
Cheers

Links are white again!

I know I'm off topic again but I thought this answer might be of help to some of you who have had similiar problems!

First, thank you to those who took the time to offer help regarding the blue and pink links!!! As you may notice they are back to white... :0)

I posted the question in the Blogger Group help section and a fellow there had a great suggestion...remove all the Word coding in the Ruby post and see what happens...(he could see there was a problem with the coding for that post).

I composed the Ruby post in Word, pasted to Blogger and had problems with the font etc., right from the beginning...so...I removed the Ruby post and voila the links are back to white. I'm now in the process of removing all the Word coding but it is slow and difficult for me. I wondering if it would just be easier to retype the whole think in Blogger...at least I know exactly what I'm doing there...

My lesson learned is...do not compose in Word and past to Blogger, as the coding doesn't mix well!!!

I will be back on topic later in the week...
Cheers

I have a question???

I'm having a problem with the color of my links...if you look down my blog you will see some are blue and some are white...until a few days ago they were all white, which is the color I want them to be.

I've tried changing the color back to white in the editing section, but it doesn't work...can anyone tell me how to change the color back to white????????

I have checked Blogger for help but didn't find anything helpful...

Suggestions are appreciated...
Cheers

Yes...I've removed Entrecard!

I've decided, for personal reasons, to remove Entrecard from my blog. I may return to "dropping" in January but for now my attention is required elsewhere.

I would like to thank everyone who visited, dropped and left their encouraging, kind and complimentary comments regarding my blog.

When I joined Entrecard my idea was to increase traffic for my blog, which it did, far more than I could have imagined in such a short while. I know traffic will now be greatly reduced, which I understand!

I've met many talented wonderful people through this little widget, people I would never have come in contact with other wise...that alone has made Entrecard worthwhile!

Cheers