Citrine, Kyanite, Pearls, and a Little Lampworking

I haven't posted for a while since I've been busy in Washington, D.C. taking a lampworking class among other things. I drove my daughter's-in-law 2 cats there (about 900 miles) so that they could all be together since they are back in the US for a while. I've been busy trying to find blue topaz that is a decent colour, but affordable, and trying to resize a bracelet with huge chrysocolla beads so that it retains its original look. But I did do a couple of things.
The first bracelet celebrates citrine since citrine is the birthstone for November. Aren't the dragonfly beads great?
The pearl necklace/torsade came from an idea I had when I was in Bailey, Banks, and Biddle in St. Louis buying a watch for my husband. (Thanks for the inspiration B,B, & B).

Finally, the earrings are the most marvelous sterling silver woven rectangles from the Karen Hill Tribes that have kyanite coins hanging in front of them. The basketweave in the silver is wonderful.
I will post again soon, I promise! I am also trying to get new pieces on the website as soon as possible - check Cluny Grey Jewelry.


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TOO MANY BRACELETS!!! Pulsera, Brăţară, Bracelete, Armbånd, Karperec....

I run the risk of looking like a photo blog this week, but I was looking at some of the pictures of bracelets I'm adding to my Cluny Grey Jewelry website this week as well as my Ebay store and realized I had quite an eclectic group here. First, a bracelet made with muscovite - a stone I love because it sparkles. Next, a bracelet made of some better quality prehnite that I happened to find; what's interesting about this prehnite bracelet is that the wonderful lampwork beads by Robin really are more green and while they have a tinge of pink to them that is almost all that shows up when I photograph them. This is a wonderful bracelet!
Blue lace agate is always pretty, but when mixed with blue chalcedony, lampwork, and glory be! white opal Swarovski crystals! it is really special! This is a combination that I think that I'll be using again. The earrings do seem to glow, not just in the sunlight.
I'm starting to mix more Swarovski crystals with gemstones - something that I never used to do - or only rarely did, but I've decided that I really like the look. Great lampwork beads here; tanzanite Swarovski is just to die for, and these great amethyst faceted nuggets I got in Spain are wow!
Labradorite (picture taken in the sunlight) will probably always be one of my favorites. I wear labradorite earrings all the time because I like the surprising flash of blue coming through my long hair. And labradorite looks great with boro lampwork, too. Oddly enough, those little smooth square beads that look almost brown aren't; they are some of the flashiest labradorite I have, but I can never get all the labradorite to flash at once in one picture. But that's one of the great things about wearing labradorite - no matter which way you turn, there's always some stone flashing its chatoyancy.
I made the labradorite bracelet below with some of Robin's great beads that won't show up the green (pale) that they really are. I took labradorite that was more of a grey colour than the dark green that we generally expect labradorite to be - but grey labradorite with plenty of flash! I'm rather happy with the result.


A couple of these bracelets are up for auction on Ebay this week (or will be starting tomorrow and/or Wednesday; they'll start at half the price or even less that they will sell for normally so do your Christmas shopping early!
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A Little of Everything! Litt av alt, Vähäinen määrä -lta Kaikki, Un Poco de Todo

This week I've done a bit of everything as the spirit (or my muse?) moves me. I still have some of that wonderful ruby crazy lace agate that I combined with lampwork beads and Swarovski crystals for a bracelet that is bright and cheerful. This time of the year I can use bright and cheerful!
Rainbow moonstone is still a favorite of mine to work with and lately I've gotten some very good quality rainbow moonstone with quite a bit of flash. The 3 strand bracelet here began because I had to paly with the rainbow moonstone, then I wanted to do something with the curved sterling silver Karen Hill Tribes beads (hard to see here, but the circle charms are hanging from them. I was very happy with the bracelet when I finished it, and I did put it on Ebay: see user id chloemarie99 or do a search for Cluny Grey.
I'm becoming more interested in tourmaline. It is a rather high priced gemstone (for good tourmaline anyway) and hard to find in the sizes and shapes I would like to work with. This 2 strand bracelet makes use of nuggets, coins, and some pink chips. A lampwork bead picks up the pink in the tourmaline.
To see these and other bracelets and more jewelry from the Cluny Grey Jewelry collection, go to Cluny Grey Jewelry.

If you haven't voted yet in the Ka-Gold Jewelry design contest, go by and see all the entries - or enter yourself!

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October Birthstone: Opals Are Okay

In the world of handcrafted beaded jewelry, we seldom see those wonderful flash and fire opals that come from Australia since most of them are set as gemstones, but we do have some opal beads that are beautiful. First are my favorite, yellow opals, and for the men out there who want to get their October sweetie a birthstone jewelry piece, remember that not all women like pink! Yellow opals with translucence are a wonderful colour, sometimes they look like liquid butter, but they are also opaque and can range from almost white to a deep yellow with hints of green as well as many shades between. The nuggets in the bracelet above,"Emily Morgan", are very rough, but they do have great translucence so I mixed them with a lot of sterling silver - and nothing else so that the earthy beauty of the stones shows through.

The other opals that we beaded jewelrymakers use often are called Peruvian opals, and yes, they come from Peru. Rumour has it that the mines are limited and these opals will soon be gone, but I'm not sure if that's hype or truth. While they last, I love to use pink Peruvian opals, and they too, come in varying stages of colour and even translucence ranging from almost white to opaque pink to very dark bright pink. Sometimes they have yellowish or brown to black inclusions. I love the perfect ones, of course, but I'm especially fond of those that are pink with black lines running throughout. The bracelet above, "Millicent", has "pebble" opals with less pink and also a pink scarab bead that is almost perfect in colour.
The next bracelet has the type of pink opal nuggets that are quite common to find on the market today: they are pink with some translucence, some whitish parts and some black inclusions. They are perfect to mix with garnets and black lampwork beads.

"My First Love" is the name of the bracelet above; it is very sweet although a nice chunky bracelet with lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves, a Thai Karen Hill Tribes intricate rose charm and a second strand of sterling silver chain with more small Hill Tribes charms.
Opals are formed when water becomes trapped in layers of silica. There are many kinds of opals and not all have flash or fire. Mexican fire opals, the common opal, Australian fire opals, Peruvian blue opals, Boulder opals (from around Boulder, Colorado) are just a few.
You can see more opals on the Cluny Grey Website of Unique Handcrafted Jewelry by going to Opal Bracelets and Opal Necklaces.
We will also be auctioning some opal jewelry on Ebay under Cluny Grey or look for user id: chloemarie99.

Don't forget the JEWELRY DESIGN CONTEST GOING ON AT KA-GOLD JEWELRY!



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More For Fall

I felt Fall today. A breeze in the humidity, an undercurrent of something cool in the air, the trees dancing gracefully to that rushing sound - yes, it's Fall here. For those of you not in the South, I will point out that I have been known to come home from teaching a night class in October and was so hot that I jumped in the pool. So Fall seems a little early actually.
On to Fall jewelry: I have decided that the gemstone that with the most "Fall" feeling is jasper. The bracelet above features red picture jasper, ocean jasper, and a couple of pieces of agate (another great Fall stone). This is "Listen to the Leaves" and it will go up for auction on Ebay tomorrow (Wednesday) night (late).

The next bracelet is primarily leopardskin jasper and has matching earrings. Most of the leopardskin jasper beads - and especially the round ones are huge! I think that this is about as chunky a bracelet as you would want to wear. The carved bead is red aventurine as is the heart charm (really the aventurine is more of a peach colour - the peach colour in the jasper beads.

The blue lace agate bracelet I did simply because I was so attraceted to the faceted rectangular and diamond shaped beads. Although I did add charms, this is one of the few gemstone bracelets that I've made lately that doesn't have any lampwork beads.

These jewelry pieces will probably all be on Ebay auction tomorrow night: look for Cluny Grey or check for seller id: chloemarie99 .

Jewelry Designers: Don't forget the ongoing contest at Ka Gold Jewelry!!! See previous blog entry for details.

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Enter Your Jewelry Designs In Contest

Ka-Gold-Jewelry artist David Weitzman is holding an intriguing contest for all jewelry designers. Jewelry designers submit their designs and the winner receives a rendering of this design in 14 karat gold! (Or if he/she wishes, 5 implementations in sterling silver).
What I love about this contest is that the designer is urged to submit a symbol that is special to him or her in some way whether it is a religious or cultural symbol or one that is unique to your website or one that has a personal meaning known only to you! You can submit your special design, website logo or the custom jewel you have always dreamed of.
The winner is selected by user’s votes. So even if you don't submit a design yourself, you can participate in the contest by going to the Ka Gold Jewelry site and voting for one of the designs that you see. The contest is an ongoing contest and every two months a winner is declared.
To see the current entries and vote for your favorite, go to Ka Gold Jewelry ContestTo see the contest rules and enter the contest yourself, go to Ka Gold Jewelry Contest The model will also be sold at Ka Gold Jewelry(if the submit person agrees) and it will be said that it is his design - a great way for jewelry designers to receive publicity and get your designs and name before a larger audience.

And while you're there...Ka-Gold Jewelry is a site I love to browse because they have some of the best information about symbolic imagery that I have seen on any jewelry site on the net. Check their Articles for some facinating information about symbols used in different cultures and eras. But watch out! You could stay on this site for hours!
Don't forget to check Cluny's New Fall Collection!
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Cluny's New Fall Collection

Time for the new Fall Collection here at Cluny Grey Jewelry. I've chosen 3 different bracelets to illustrate the variety that you will find in this Fall Collection. The first bracelet is a simple one-strand ocean jasper and lampwork bracelet with sterling silver and gemstone charms. I love the large ocean jasper olive beads in distinctive and different colours. The pretty lampwork beads are by artist Irene Collier.Labradorite, I love labradorite! I've been lucky enough to acquire some great labradorite with lots of the characteristic blue flash. The good news is that I've got some pieces of spectrolite coming - the finest labradorite from Finland. This double strand bracelet has a beautiful borosilicate bead as its focal. The second strand is a charm bracelet with wire-wrapped gemstones on the ends, and the chain a wonderful large linked one from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes. Lots of sterling silver just makes this bracelet super-shiney.
Brown and tan punctuated by yellow - when I was growing up I always had an outfit for the Fall with these colours predominating. Great citrine nuggets pick up on the yellow in the floral lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves. This is a simple bracelet again, but one with a lot of presence. The gemstone charm is a faceted citrine set in a filigree of sterling silver.

See these pieces and many more at Cluny Grey Jewelry

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Cluny's New Fall Collection

Time for the new Fall Collection here at Cluny Grey Jewelry. I've chosen 3 different bracelets to illustrate the variety that you will find in this Fall Collection. The first bracelet is a simple one-strand ocean jasper and lampwork bracelet with sterling silver and gemstone charms. I love the large ocean jasper olive beads in distinctive and different colours. The pretty lampwork beads are by artist Irene Collier.Labradorite, I love labradorite! I've been lucky enough to acquire some great labradorite with lots of the characteristic blue flash. The good news is that I've got some pieces of spectrolite coming - the finest labradorite from Finland. This double strand bracelet has a beautiful borosilicate bead as its focal. The second strand is a charm bracelet with wire-wrapped gemstones on the ends, and the chain a wonderful large linked one from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes. Lots of sterling silver just makes this bracelet super-shiney.
Brown and tan punctuated by yellow - when I was growing up I always had an outfit for the Fall with these colours predominating. Great citrine nuggets pick up on the yellow in the floral lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves. This is a simple bracelet again, but one with a lot of presence. The gemstone charm is a faceted citrine set in a filigree of sterling silver.

See these pieces and many more at Cluny Grey Jewelry

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Renaissance Woman

Have you ever known anyone whose range of skills and knowledge is not only wide, but who is also kind and beautiful? Then meet jewelry designer, former ballerina, astronomer, philosopher, college professor, fashion lover and artist (I know I've left something out!) Patricia Vener. (Oh, she's also a writer!) If you're a keen follower of fashion and a lover of artisan jewelry, especially the intricate beaded kind created with a strong artistic sensibility, check out Patricia's article on colors for fall -" Fall Fashion Colors for 2006".
Be sure to follow her links in the articles to see some of her fantastic jewelry. The necklace above is just a preview of the many beautiful pieces she has for sale on her site. Here is the link for the home page of her site: The Silver Dragon's Beadwork and Fine Art Galleries.
Enjoy!

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But It's Still Summer!

And so it is - still summer that is. But for those of us who sell any fashion item, we have to be at least a season ahead; therefore, I have the first of my "Fall" bracelets. The first is a double-strand labradorite bracelet with a borosilicate bead and a wonderfully detailed lampwork bead and some of the best labradorite I have. There's a lot of flash in this bracelet.
More borosilicate beads in the next bracelet which also features some rutilated quartz that I recently obtained from one of my favorite sources. I loved it so much that I worked with it until it was almost all gone, and then I ordered some more. This is also a double-strand bracelet with a nice sterling silver Karen Hill Tribes linked chain attached (chain in jewelry is very big this year).
More of that wonderful rutilated quartz that I had, only this time I just used the ones that were primarily black and white. They have great depth and the hair-like inclusions (rutiles) that create this class of stone. A length of sterling silver chain joins the two points on the bracelet where a bevy of little rutilated quartz rounds cluster. Karen Hill Tribes charms hang from another point on the bracelet. The lampwork beads are from one of my favorite beadmakers; they are unusual - black with actual raised dots of sterling silver scattered over the surface.

Cluny Grey Jewelry

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It's a Drusy!

My newest love is the drusy. What is a drusy, you ask? It is a gemstone that is covered with a large number of tiny crystals. Porous parts of rock were exposed to water with silica in it, and these crystals were formed. Drusies remind me of the surface of snow that has frozen, snow that glitters at night under the streetlights. A drusy (also called druse or druzy) is truly one of nature's most beautiful phenomena. The bracelet above has a soft blue drusy in a kidney shape that forms the focal of the bracelet. The beautiful lampwork is from Burt Gumeson"s "Jewels" series.
At Cluny Grey Jewelry we have a new section featuring drusy jewelry. As yet, there is only the one bracelet that you see here, but more are coming. I have a great ocean jasper drusy that will probably become the pendant in an ocean jasper necklace (unless I decide to make a bracelet from it - you know how I am about bracelets!)
On the personal side: my son and daughter-in-law are home after 3 years in Portugal (I did go there to see them). It is wonderful to have them home although for the past 3 or 4 days they have escaped the humid misery of the Arkansas summer by visiting a friend in Seattle. They will be in Washington, D.C. for the next two years and I am delighted to have them on the same continent! (That hasn't happened since 1998). My daughter-in-law is also a jewelry-maker and is hoping to take class in lampwork - and I'm crossing my fingers that she will be able to. Anything she puts her hands to turns into something exquisite!
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Rose by Any Name:Ruusu, Levantado, Gül

A unique bracelet that I'm not sure how to classify. It's from the Raj Collection, but features rhodochrosite as well as lapis, turquoise and lampwork with vermeil. Rhodochrosite is rather expensive, rather soft (Moh's hardness between 3.5 and 4), and because it has perfect cleavage, it is rarely faceted since it is so difficult to cut. Most rhodochrosite comes from South America - Argentina, Peru. However, in 2002 Colorado named rhodochrosite its state mineral; while found worldwide, some of the best samples of the stone have come from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado.
The name comes from the Greek word rhodo for rose.
See this at Cluny Grey Jewelry as well as other unique bracelets.



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Rainbow Moonstone: Bring Me the Moon

Some lampwork beads are just stunning! These silver-laced beads are. With blue and white and flashing silver, they are perfect for a rainbow moonstone and kyanite and sterling silver bracelet. I also used white Softflex so that the rainbow moonstone would not have a dark look to it.

See this unique handcrafted bracelet and more at Cluny Grey Jewelry

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The Many Colours of Turquoise and Coral

Surprise! More necklaces! The first one is with stabilized turquoise and freshwater pearls, double strands with sterling silver.


I really, really like coral - and sometimes the rougher it is the better it is. Of course these coral slices have a smooth polish to them, as do the rondelles, but they are so rugged looking despite that. I like coral that looks as though you just broke it off the reef yourself!


The rose quartz necklace has a great lampwork bead that is huge (from Connie at River Oaks II - she does super work!), but the focal is the very large pink, yes pink, turquoise nugget that is at the center. I don't know why I like such an ersatz thing, but I really do. Lots of sterling silver with this one, too.

The simple coral bracelet above has little pieces of rough coral with freshwater pearls and sterling silver. Coral is just so basic, so rough in some ways, that it is very appealing, especially for summer.
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The Beauty of a Necklace

For me, the real beauty of a necklace is that it usually doesn't get in the way of doing things throughout the day the way that a bracelet can. But I am a bracelet person through and through. Sometimes I have to stop and work on making necklaces - to match bracelets - or just to "even" out my inventory. I 've been working with coral and with turquoise so I incorporated both into the necklace that you see above. That's pink angelskin coral with some nice large stabilized turquoise nuggets that I've had, and of course, I had to add some lampwork beads. One of the problems I have with necklaces (that I don't with bracelets) is that I'm bothered that on many people the back of the necklace will never be seen.
The second necklace I'm temped to keep for myself. I adore lapis and the lapis in this necklace is especially good with lots of the glittering gold pyrite that I like so much. And while carnelian is great with lapis, turquoise is wonderful when paired with lapis. I've also used lots of vermeil because lapis and gold are just scrumptious!
I'm trying to slow down a bit and take a little holiday. I only have one auction on Ebay this week, and summer is slow anyway. I'm going to try to stay in the pool some (if I can tear myself away from my beads), put in a new closet, and do various things that I've been ignoring for ever so long. It's amazing how much jewelry I can make while the house falls down around my ears!
Turquoise and Coral Jewelry by Cluny Grey
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A Touch of Yellow: Keltainen väri, Jaune, Amarelo, Sárga

I love yellow. I like to wear yellow; I like yellow rooms. It is sunny and bright; it stands for the intellect (think sun=light=reason), and yes, it is mysterious although it often seems bright and happy. (Think of that ominous yellow glow that occurs sometimes after a bad storm - when you know that there is more to come.
In the turquoise braclet above, the darkish, but bright amber yellow really punches up the turquoise making you see it differently. I love this look!
Here is my overdose on yellow: yellow citrine, yellow lampwork beads with a creamy white, and yellow crazy lace agate which I love. Its wonderful swirls, patterns and colours are so beautiful that I like to play with them actually - trying to think of what I'll use them in. The yellow lace agate is so beautiful that I've been known to string some of just those gemstone beads and put them on my bedside table so that I can look at them. Okay, maybe that's weird, but they are that pretty!
In the last bracelet here, more yellow with just a touch of turquoise in the lampwork beads to punch up the yellow. More yellow crazy lace agate and also calcite beads. I really like calcite because it is the colour of clarified butter and is so rich that it is to yellow what rubies are to red.
The little dark yellow cubes on the second strand that hang as charms are also calcite. I added a generous helping of sterling silver since I wanted one of the strands to be a chain.
These will soon be on my website. You can find them by looking for Citrine Bracelets on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website. I am working on the website (it seems to be getting huge, and I still have lots to add to it. So if you see something that you like, but it doesn't not have a "Buy It" button, it will soon.

I do have some Ebay auctions running this week; check them out by searching for Cluny Grey or user id: chloemarie99.
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Bracelets, Bracelets, Oh, No, More Bracelets!

I'll start with carnelian, and the wonderful faceted orangey carnelian nuggets that I mixed with a carved flower of carnelian, lampwork beads, sterling silver and a bit of turquoise. The second strand has little charms hanging at intervals from the second strand.
I also got some great tourmaline faceted nuggets and decided to use those with these boro lampwork beads and vermeil. The chain is 14 karat goldfilled, and the other gold accents are vermeil (24 karat gold over sterling silver).
I really love sunstone, and peach is just about my favorite colour, so of course, I'm always trying to get my hands on good sunstone. This bracelet has 3 strands (one is a sterling silver chain). The wonderful lampwork beads are by Irene Collier.
I've been working on many different things this week, but I am still entranced with the Babylon Collection and have been making drawings that I may experiment with later this week. The basis for this collection is my love of lapis lazuli - especially when it is paired with gold. The lapis lazuli one sees on the ancient art in Egypt (beards are often rendered in lapis in sculpture) mixed with gold is opulent, the way you imagine rich gold and gemstones when you're a child. The museum in Cairo is like being lost in a fairy tale. One gets the same feeling at the University of Pennsylvania's small museum when viewing the Middle Eastern art with its lavish gold and lapis from Mesopotamia.

See the jewelry at Cluny Grey Jewelry . A few of the pieces may be on auction at Ebay this week: check for Cluny Grey or under the user name chloemarie99.
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Fluorite: It's Not Easy Being Green & Purple

I love fluorite because of the complexity of its colouring. Yes, it's green and purple --- and teal and lilac and lavender and azure and violet and mint and aqua and striped and mottled and transparent, translucent, and almost opaque. It's a very unpredictable stone!

It is a soft stone which is one reason that you don't see a lot of fluorite rings (too bad!). But if you don't wear it 24 hours a day and when you're digging ditches, it should be okay.
Whenever I am not sure what I want to do, I try to do something with fluorite; inevitably, it gets me in the mood (fluorite as aphrodisiac?). Anyway, here is what I've been working on this week.

The fluorite bracelet with the toggle clasp is up for auction on Ebay this week, and the fluorite nugget earrings do come with it. To see the auction, do a search for Cluny Grey or look for user id: chloemarie99.
Otherwise, as usual, you can find my jewelry on my website, Cluny Grey Jewelry where I'll soon have these up here: Cluny's Fluorite Jewelry

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