Aquamarine: The Sea Stone

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, so I've been working with it quite a bit lately, getting ready for next month. It is a gemstone that I love to work with though since turquoise and aqua shades are just about my favorite colours. I cannot help myself when it comes to naming jewelry pieces containing aquamarine: the only thing I can think about is water, namely the ocean, the sea, the beach, mainly the colour of the water in the Bahamas.
It is rather hard to find aquamarine at a reasonable price usually. Much of the aquamarine out there is so pale as to be almost colourless. But I have been lucky to find some aquamarine with good colour that is natural - and what a stroke of luck! Good aquamarine is truly beautiful; I don't have aquamarine with deep, deep colour except in some opaque nuggets, but what I do have is clear and true and lovely even when it has inclusions.
The first aquamarine bracelet is one of the few that does not have a "sea-name" since I called it "Silent Singing;" however, I'll let you in on a secret; I was thinking of the singing of the sea sirens who lured sailors to their deaths with their beautiful songs, so it is sea-related after all.
I am very fond of the set I made with aquamarine and coin pearls: earrings, necklace, and bracelet. (The bracelet isn't shown here, but you can find it on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website on our page of Aquamarine Bracelets.)Click Aquamarine Earrings for the earrings, and Aquamarine Necklaces for the necklace. They are all quite simple, but integrate the geometric look that is so in style this season.
I have made some aquamarine bracelets without any lampwork beads (for a change), but of course, I made some like the two above as well. Directly above, borosilicate lampwork beads add to the watery look and mysterious feel, and the bracelet above it has lampwork beads from Blue Seraphim lampwork that look great with goldfilled elements with aquamarines.
We've added quite a few new pages of jewelry to the Cluny Grey Jewelry website. One features Apatite Jewelry, and another features our new Prayer Box Necklaces which feature sterling silver prayer boxes as an element in our jewelry. The apatite bracelet above is a favorite of mine (the colour of course!). Until next time, keep beading and making the world beautiful!


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Chatoyancy: Moonstone, Sunstone, and All Mixed Up

I am particularly fond of jewelry that glows or sparkles or glimmers or shimmers...you get the idea. That's why I love jewelry that has chatoyancy or the Schiller Effect (flash or iridescence). You expect flash from rainbow moonstone, but look at the glimmer in this peach moonstone bracelet. It's as though there's is a light sprinkling of glitter in these natural stones. I liked these moonstones so much that I decided to combines them only with one lampwork bead and sterly silver so I wouldn't overpower them. This is listed on the Moonstone Bracelets page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.Above you see what most people think of when moonstone springs to mind: rainbow moonstone, here in a double strand bracelet with lampwork by James Derrick Reeves and lots of sterling silver. A ton of flash glimmers in this rainbow moonstone bracelet, and even the little sterling silver bezel-set cabochon rainbow moonstone charms have flash. I love this one. You can find it on the Rainbow Moonstone Jewelry page.
Ooooooo, sunstone! And this is great sunstone with its wonderful flash and fire. I've also added fire agate nuggets to this triple strand bracelet, and Swarovski copper crystals AB including a large Cosmic Swarovski crystal. This is the bracelet that cannot be ignored! It's on our Sunstone Jewelry page.
I went crazy, picked out some of my favorite colours in gemstones and combined them all together for this Spring themed bracelet that is very colourful to say the least. It will go with about any outfit in your closet. Gemstones include: citrine, amethyst, rhodochrosite, apatite, smoky quartz, blue lace agate, and amazonite. I have a newer page on the website that I've called Unique Gemstone Jewelry because I like gemstone mixtures so much, and I am not always quite sure where to list them. You'll find this bracelet on that page.
I've been busy with commissions and haven't blogged enough, but I remember my New Year's Resolution about updating and will try to get back on track!


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Amethyst, Aquamarine, and Coral, Coral, Coral

First, halloo to the jewelrymakers in Estonia; thanks for looking in on my blog.
The first bracelet is made of chunky, and I do mean chunky nuggets of amethyst and aquamarine. The aquamarine nuggets are rather rough cut, but it only adds to their charm. They were sold to me as aquamarine (I bought them directly from a reputable dealer in China), but I really think that they are probably aquamarine quartz. Anyway, I am crazy about this chunky nugget bracelet, and it looks like a million bucks. It's listed on a new page of the website called Unusual Jewelry Of course, I can't take credit for the lampwork beads; they are the work of master lampworker James Derrick Reeves.I worked with coral as a diversion (I usually do coral for the summer)but got carried away with the blue coral that I had and mixing it with other items. This blue coral necklace I mixed with some great mother of pearl flat beads I have; the flat mother of pearl has a blue tint and a gorgeous nacre; I was quite pleased with the way that it turned out. All three coral necklaces are on the Coral Necklaces page, and pricing is coming soon. But check out my ebay auctions since I think I may put one up for auction, and if I do, it will start at a much lower bid price than it will be on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.
I've been lucky lately in finding good faceted nuggets and these fire agate nuggets are just one example. Babylonian Tiger is fire agate mixed with some quite good lapis lazuli and sunstone. This is on auction on Ebay at a lower beginning bid than the website price.Finally, I like these earwires so much that I included them in the blog today. The little faceted squares at the bottom are a peach-pink moonstone. You can find those on the Moonstone Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

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Could You Call Me Eclectic?

First, "Hello" Hei, to all my friends in Finland. I haven't made it to your beautiful country yet, but I'm planning to get there. I hope the winter is not too dreadful for you this year, and that you were spared the terrible winter storms that Germany and other parts of Europe are getting.
I have been busy this new year of 2007, mostly working on the site and on special commissions for people, but I do have some pieces that have not made it to the website yet, or that I've just managed to put on in the last day or so.
The first is a rainbow moonstone bracelet - three strands of blue flash that is so difficult to capture in a photograph - but this bracelet is flashy. The lampwork beads that are in the bracelet have a special glow to them that reminds me of the moonstone. This would make a great piece for a wedding member - or even a bride.


The next two pieces are rose quartz, a bracelet and a necklace made of rose quartz nuggets (thinking ahead to Valentine's Day - see the heart charm on the bracelet?). Some gemstones look really good in nugget form; rose quartz is one of those gemstones.

When I have "nice" gemstones - precious stones that are well-faceted and have a good colour, it is very hard for me to use them - I want to have my cake and eat it, too. I hoard them, but I finally made myself use these great sapphires. They have a great colour though they are not transparent and it was hard for me to let go of them and actually put them in a piece of jewelry. (I'm like Scrooge; I like to take them out, look at them and handle them, and then put them back knowing that I have them). I'm pleased with the way the bracelet turned out. The clasp is one I've had for quite a while. It has a faceted iolite of very good quality in the toggle; I decided to use it for the sapphire bracelet (iolite was referred to as the "water-sapphire" after all).

More moonstone - only this is peach moonstone with little sparkles of chatoyancy; I really like it and can't wait to order more. Of course, I love peach.
This is not a combination that you see a lot: lapis and tourmalinated quartz with a greenish hue, but I'm blaming the colours on the borosilicate lampwork beads from Irene Collier. Only these beads gave me the idea to put these two stones together, and it's one of those mixes that I personally find rather exotic, so, of course I like it. It should probably be listed on my Unique Gemstone Jewelry page, but I am listing it under Lapis Jewelry.

Chrysoprase is always good when I have some that is ever so slightly translucent like these little pebbles of chrysoprase. The lampwork beads by laffingull were just made for chrysoprase, so here they are!

Finally, just a little bridesmaid jewelry with blue freshwater pearls, but that wonderful Swarovski bead in the center is so beautiful that I decided to put the picture here.

I do have a couple of auctions on Ebay this week: go to Studio G Ebay store to get a great deal.
The rest of the jewelry will be or is already listed on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.

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Pearls...Bracelets, Necklaces, Earrings

I've been working with pearls, and loving it although I seem always to have to make myself get started with them. I'm especially fond of Biwa pearls, as you can see here, but I also love anything in the grey or silver family. With the first bracelet, I used these funky Biwa pearls that are rather large and have strange, but not unattractive, rings on them. I used some Swarovski crystals (small ones) and large Karen Hill Tribes chain. I wanted at least two strands of the Biwas to make an impact. Pearls are so beautiful when you're working with them in the studio, but if there aren't enough of them, they are diminished in a piece of jewelry. The pearl bracelet is listed under Freshwater Pearl Bracelets.The earrings are smooth flat Biwas that have the most beautiful nacre that I wanted a pair of earrings for myself out of them. Earrings are my least favorite jewelry type to make, but I decided to wrap some gold wire around these, and couldn't stop at making one pair. They're great, if I do say so myself.
The pearl necklace was inspired by the large blue pearl slab I had that I wasn't sure what to do with. I wrapped it, and wrapped a little shell bead on the front of it and decided to make a whole necklace instead of just a pendant. I had just gotten in new Karen Hill Tribes silver that day, so I had to experiment with some of the pieces I received. It's a very feminine necklace that also makes a statement. I already have it posted on the Pearl Necklaces page.Finally, I returned to those great Biwas pearls and wire wrapped a bracelet in goldfilled wire. I liked it so much that I'm going to keep it (I wore it today).

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Garnet: January's Birthstone

Garnet probably got its name from pomegranate because the gemstone resembled the seeds of the fruit. Garnet has been used in jewelry for thousands of years, and is still extremely popular today. While most people usually think of garnet as being a dark red, in some cases it almost looks black when it is very dark, it can also be brown, amber, and green (in fact, green garnet called grossular garnet is one of my favorite stones). Garnet looks wonderful with other gemstones and in combination with pearls and mother of pearl. Because it is January, I've been working with garnet quite a bit, experimenting with it. The only thing about garnet that I don't like is that it is hard to find in large sizes (in beads). So when I find large faceted garnet nuggets as those you see here, I grab them fast!
I had fun with the mother of pearl and garnet and made this wirewrapped bracelet using some large white mother of pearl rings and ovals that I had. Deceptively simple, it looks fantastic on. You can see this bracelet on the Mother of Pearl Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website.
I have large faceted iolite nuggets that I like and decided to combine them with the garnet and I'm very happy with the result which is a bracelet that goes with many of the clothes in my closet. The iolite is translucent and is a good complement for the mostly opaque dark garnet nuggets. This bracelet and the bottom one can be seen on the Garnet Bracelets page.The necklace features garnet and sterling silver and has a very nice sterling silver and garnet pendant that I've had in my stash for some time. I used the large linked Karen Hill Tribe imprinted chain and connected it in the middle to the bottom strand of the necklace (the pendant actually hangs from the bottom strand, not from the chain). I also added some borosilicate lampwork beads (I believe that these are from Frozenfyre). Borosilicate lampwork beads look wonderful with garnets. The necklace can be seen on the Garnet Necklaces page.
Finally, the last bracelet here has two strands of garnets mixed with sterling silver, lampwork beads from Irene Collier, and just two large faceted nuggets of rose quartz. The little garnet cabochon charms are the the Thai Karen Hill Tribes. Quite a few pieces of fancy silver on this one.
So to all of you born in January: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (And remember, if you want birthstone jewelry, but don't care for dark red garnets, look for them in other colours).
I also have a couple of garnet pieces on auction at Ebay this week at low, low starting bids. Go to Studio G, my Ebay store and the auctions should be on the first page.

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Mother of Pearl, Mystic Topaz, and Fluorite

I was shocked to look at The Jewelry Blog and see how long it's been since I've posted anything. Christmas, all those packages, jewelry, jewelry, jewelry, a trip to Seattle, and my two new kitties have kept me very, very busy over the holidays so far.
So some things I've been working on: first, I added a couple of new pages to the Cluny Grey Jewelry website, including Mother of Pearl and Mystic Topaz (just click on the names to go there). I so often start working with one material and have to force myself to stop; I've been doing that with mother of pearl as you can see with the first and third bracelets here. I'm in love with the gold mother of pearl and vermeil bracelet, and I'm rather fond of the blue one also. In between the two is the mystic topaz; it's very expensive mystic topaz (and quite perfect) that I've mixed with Robin Weber's fantastic silver-laced beads and some of my favorite Karen Hill Tribes sterling silver decorated chain. Yum.
Of course, my tastes are quite eclectic, so when some great fluorite gemstone beads arrived one day, their wonderful colour made me stop everything else and sit down to make a bracelet (and earrings, too). The fluorite bracelet once again is just made by Robin's wonderful beads, quite different ones this time, with the greens and purples one finds in fluorite and little "bumps".



The fluorite bracelet is on the website's Fluorite Jewelry page along with earrings and necklaces.

A New Year's Resolution: (just one among many) Write in the blog more often!

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The December Birthstone? Turquoise (Among Others)

The December birthstone is difficult to decide upon. It seems there is no hard and fast birthstone for December the way there is for, say, May - the emerald, or January's garnet. Some sources will tell you that the birthstone for December is the Zircon, which is not the same as a cubic zirconia, but a real stone that is usually colourless and heat treated to turn it a beautiful blue colour. Some say the December birthstone is the Blue Topaz, probably because it became quite popular as a jewelry stone, and many people started viewing the Zircon as a synthetic, confusing it with the cubic zirconia. Other sources say turquoise which is what I am going with. So with turquoise in mind, I did the above bracelet with a mix of blues - blue turquoise and blue lapis - inspired once again by the great lampwork beads of James Derrick Reeves. Also, not only do I like lapis mixed with turquoise personally, but it has been mentioned as a traditional alternative to turquoise and blue topaz as the December birthstone. The smaller lapis pieces are good lapis from Afghanistan in a lovely dark royal blue. I have listed this bracelet on the Lapis Jewelry page on the Cluny Grey website, simply because there was more room on that page.
The turquoise bracelet above features borosilicate (boro) lampwork beads and blue ovals and rounds in turquoise. I think of this more as a birthstone bracelet than the others.
Turquoise gets its name from Turkey, and it has long been used in jewelry. A gift of turquoise is supposed to represent friendship and fidelity. In the ancient world, turquoise was considered to be a sacred stone.
The bottom turquoise bracelet is called "In the Time of Flowers" and has great turquoise nuggets with the wonderful spidering veins that makes it so pretty when it is this colour blue, and little charms at intervals throughout the whole bracelet. Everything is sterling silver, and the lampwork beads were chosen to complement the spidering as well as the turquoise. To see more turquoise bracelets, click here.
If you don't know what your birthstone is, or want to know your Hindu birthstone, see our Birthstone Chart.

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Swarovski Rocks!

I really stayed away from Swarovski crystals when I first began making jewelry, and what a mistake that was! I am trying now to make up for lost time. Working with the crystals is such a delight visually since the flawless crystals sparkle and flash so much that I find myself pushing them around on my workspace the way my cats push their toys around the floor, toying with them, holding them for a moment, then walking away from one only to pounce on it later as though I'd never seen it before.

The top bracelet is made with aquamarine crystals - huge ones, the new Swawrovski Cosmic crystals - and sterling silver Karen Hill Tribes dragonfly beads.
I love bangle bracelets, and I really, really like this one. The Hill Tribes silver of course, then some Bali silver and then the huge Cosmic crystals in the 12mm and 16mm sizes. I am thinking of keeping this one if I don't sell it this week.
Copper Cosmic crystals and copper coins pearls suit my monochromatic tendencies and although I made this bracelet with sterling silver, the next one in these colours will be with gold. See Swarovski and Pearl Bracelet.
Large round Swarovski crystals in a green colour go perfectly with this natural abalone that I just got in. This bracelet really should be seen live to get its full effect.
I'll be posting a few pieces of jewelry on Ebay this weekend if I have time (see user id: chloemarie99 or do a search for Cluny Grey); otherwise, I'm getting them on the Cluny Grey website as quickly as I can.

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Tourmaline, Lampwork, and a Drusy

I didn't used to work with tourmaline very often; it is a rather expensive stone if you are able to find stones that don't look like lumps of coal (and I really don't care to work with lumps of coal) but I finally have had some luck with getting some decent tourmaline. This tourmaline bracelet mixes different colours of toumaline, including pink tourmaline, with sterling silver and a couple of lampwork beads from two different lampwork artists. I love the faceted nuggets, a cut I haven't yet gotten tired of.

I decided that I needed to make a lampwork bracelet without gemstones, and that I needed to use some of my new Swarovski Cosmic crystals - these are in Lt. Colorado topaz, and I am very happy with the way this bracelet turned out. The very, very nice lampwork beads were some that I've had and that are so special (and expensive) that I'd put off using them. They are also a rather odd colour as well and weren't easily matched. I do love the new Cosmic crystals by Swarovski.
A drusy agate pendant got me started on this necklace, and it was serendipity that some whitish to bluish-grey agate nuggets, smooth, arrived in the studio, just waiting to be paired with this drusy pendant. I'm making earrings to match, of course.
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ah, the beginning of the holidays. From now on, everything will be rush, rush, rush!
See the drusy agate pendant necklace at
Cluny Grey Drusy Jewelry, and don't forget what a wonderful gift our unique handcrafted jewelry is!

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Unconventional vs. Conventional?

The first bracelet was inspired once again by the marvelous lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves and reminds me of something a friend once said,"Artists can get away with anything."
"Oh, you mean like staying drunk all the time and being unfaithful?"
"No, "she said, "you know, like wearing green and purple together."
The bracelet above is made of tourmalinated quartz, lampwork beads, and wonderful faceted amethyst nuggets along with sterling silver chain and tiny little charms.
Maybe not as daring as green and purple together, but I was in a mood, and I'd just gotten these luscious faceted citrine nuggets (very nice), and decided to mix them with some light aqua chalcedony I had as well as the lampwork beads. The sterling silver accents are from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.
For the more conventional, a rainbow moonstone bracelet with lampwork beads in a light periwinkle blue. The lampwork is by Burt Gumeson. There are also chalcedony nuggets and faceted rondelles as well as some tiny little cabochon rainbow moonstone charms.
In the same vein, but a different temperature is the bottom bracelet: a sunstone and boro lampwork bead bracelet with vermeil and a huge very special crab fire agate faceted nugget. The vermeil elements in this bracelet are from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes also.

After being out of town for a while, nothing is as hectic as returning and trying to catch up on all the work - even though I took plenty of work with me! Does work multiply exponetially when we're away?
To see these bracelets, and many more, go to our Cluny Grey Jewelry website; the link will take you to the citrine bracelet first. (Don't forget that citrine is the November birthstone).

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