Wednesday, March 30, 2011

So many new rocks!

At the beginning of this month, my entire family was hit with the worst flu bug I have ever experienced. It's been 4 weeks, and I'm still recovering. During this time, I was not feeling up to cutting, but I was up for shopping! The internet provides many wonders, including the ability to shop in pajamas. We ended up with tons of new rough rock, and I'm so excited to be back to work, cutting away!

One new material for us this month is Purple Kingman Turquoise and Bronze. We have carried the blue for quite a while, but the first purple cabs were listed on etsy just a few hours ago. This material is dyed, stabilized, and bronzed in Arizona.




Another new material I am completely in love with is our Chatoyant Malachite. Who ever thought malachite could get better? Not only does this stone have the classic, stunning malachite color, but it also features a glowing, feathery effect. Gorgeous!



And anyone that knows me knows how much a crave working with Chrysocolla. I've going Chrysocolla Crazy, cutting

Gem Silica:


Ray Mine Chrysocolla:


Sonoran Sunset:


And a few more varieties, check our etsy shop for all the beautiful blues!

And one more I have to mention in the Cherry Creek Jasper, also known as Red River Jasper. This has been a stone I have always wanted to work with. I have tried in the past, and failed when it came to the polishing process. This time I got it right! I was lucky enough to start with an incredible quality chunk of the material, and it polished up beautifully! I couldn't be happier with these stones.


So I guess there is even a silver lining in being sick, I can't wait to dig deeper into my pile of goodies and get back to cutting!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Custom Work


Photo of a Laguna Agate Cabochon

I originally started cutting stones for my own jewelry designs. I could never find exactly what I wanted when shopping for cabochons. It seemed to me cutting stones would be a simple job with not much to it. Boy was I wrong! Pretty soon I found myself using all of my time trying to perfect my stone cutting, and I didn’t have any time left for creating jewelry designs.

It didn’t take me much longer to realize I enjoy cutting the stones more than I ever enjoyed creating jewelry. Now that’s really all I do, and my FAVORITE part is seeing what other artists create with my stones.

It’s because of all of this that I also really enjoy custom work. I offer two different custom work services. The first is for when you may see a stone in my shop, but it’s not quite the correct size or shape. I almost always set aside rough of every material for custom work. If you find yourself in this situation, you’re more than welcome to send me a convo! At this point I will cut the stone and send you photos for approval once it’s done. You are never obligated to any stone! If you’re not happy, I can try again.

The second type of custom work I do is from your personal rock collection. Maybe you have a stone you’ve held onto since you were a kid, or maybe you just picked up a slab at a gem show. You can send your rough stone to me along with a sketch of how you would like it cut, and I will cut it for you. We charge a flat fee per cabochon and you can convo me through etsy for more details.

The custom work I have done in the past has always been so exciting for me. There is something special about being included in an artists vision!