Molly's Summer Project

My daughter Molly, who will turn 7 this summer, dreams of being a photographer for National Geographic when she grows up. She loves reading the magazines, both the adult and kids version. For her summer learning project I put together a book that will take her to 7 different countries. This is how it works:
First I made this book for her to keep all of her activities in:


For each country she receives a packet. The packet starts with a letter from her boss welcoming her to whatever country. The first country is Madagascar. The letter explains she has to start by learning about the country so she doesn’t get lost!

First she reads a packet about the country. In the book she will mark important cities/landmarks on the map.

She will color where the country is on the world map.

She can then write interesting and important facts about the country in the fold out book.

After she has learned about the country, she can start on the animals! Each country has a packet of 10 animal information sheets (printed from enchantedlearning.com) She reads about each animal, then makes an animal fact card for each one. She writes about the animal on one side and draws a picture on the other. Tonight she made cards for the Aye-Aye and the Ploughshare Tortoise.

Next she needs to choose 3 animals she thinks should be included in the new National Geographic Zoo. For each of these animals she needs to write why she thinks they should be included in the zoo.

Then she needs to write a letter home telling her family about her trip to this country.


After each country, we will take her to the zoo to get real photographs of the animals she has learned about! There are pages in the back of the book for her photographs.

I gave Molly her book tonight. Her eyes lit up and she started working on her first animal cards right away. At bedtime she begged to stay up and work “just a little bit longer!” I love seeing her so excited to learn!

Introducing Some Amazing Artists!

Ring I am currently lusting over, made by formandfunktion


For those of you that don’t know me well, my favorite part of etsy is the shopping! And my biggest weakness? Jewelry of course! Jewelry is a very personal purchase for me, especially since my daughter was born. We spend hours together going through my collection and trying on the different pieces I have collected. But all of my favorites have come off of etsy. The pieces of my collection from etsy have gained a story. Who made it? Where are they from? What inspired this? These are some of things my daughter will ask about my jewelry.

Over the next few weeks, I am excited to be able to introduce my readers to some of the talented artists on etsy that have made their way into my jewelry box, and into my family memories with my little girl.

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!

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!

Gems on Etsy: How to Cut a Rock

Gems on Etsy: How to Cut a Rock: " I did this post last year on a jewelry making forum,I figured I would post it here on my blog for anyone interested.  I start w..."

Win a $50 gift certificate to Cabbing Rough!

Flickr Contest

Leopardskin Jasper pendant made by Pennee. You an find this pendant in her etsy shop All Wired Up

When I first started cutting cabochons, they were either for my jewelry creations or for people I knew personally. I was always very excited to cut a stone for someone else because their finished pieces would always be so different from what I imagined when I cut the stone. Since we’ve started selling on etsy, there have been so many stones I wonder about what they have turned into.

So a few months ago we started a contest to encourage artist’s to share their jewelry designs with us. Here’s how it works:
1.) Make something out of a stone you purchase from Cabbing Rough
2.) Upload a photo of it to www.flickr.com/groups/cabbingrough You may enter as many pieces as you like.
3.) At the end of the month, each member of my family gets a vote, even my 3 year old son! The photo with the most votes gets a $50 gift certificate to our etsy shop.
4.) This contest runs EVERY MONTH, so make sure you stop back often!
Although I didn’t think of this originally, this contest page has been a great resource for me. Many times I receive emails from customers wanting one of or stones made into a finished piece of jewelry. I now refer them to this flickr page to browse! So if you enter, make sure you have a link to your online store under your flickr profile, not on your photo (against flickr rules)
Flickr Contest

Mooka Jasper (mookaite)

Mookaite is a stone I have worked with quite a bit. I really love cutting this stone because of the possibilities. The shades and patterns can vary so much, and sometimes the patterns create pretty scenes or eyes.

Mookaite is also known as Mookite, Mookalite, Mooka Jasper, or Mookarite. It is found in Western Australia. The Aboriginal word "mooka" means "running waters". It is made up of chert, opalite, and chalcedony.