Aquamarine the March Birthstone

Did you know that blue gemstones is the most popular choice of colored gemstones in the USA? It is, mostly blue Topaz, because of its affordability. Aquamarine, is the birthstone for March. It is a beautiful blue color, ranging from light blue to a deep blue. Did you also know that most Aquamarine is heat treated to achieve the blue color? Most natural, untreated Aquamarine is a blue green color, which many buyers do not find favorable. Aquamarine is a member of the Beryl family, and has a Mohs hardness of 7-8 making it suitable for jewelry. This past Friday, my kids and I, hosted a resin class for fellow homeschool friends. My son was not incredibly interested, but he had collected some shark teeth while fossil digging recently, so I helped him set them in resin. They will be pendants soon. This is actually only my third pour, and I am still learning. Someone wanted pink resin, so we added just a tiny bit of pink acrylic paint to the resin, once it was mixed. You need to use a toothpick to add it, because if you use too much paint, the acrylic will not cure properly or the color will be too dark. I did not actually want pink resin in with my blue gemstones, but since we set up all the molds ahead of time to stay organized, one of the girls poured pink resin over my blue gemstones. The result is quite pretty. The blue is very faint in the center of the pink resin. Depending on the type of lighting, the blue is darker or lighter. These will be made into earrings, and eventually listed in my Etsy store. I just have to find the time, lol. I have so many new pieces to share with my readers, plus crochet projects, and paintings in the works. Anyone visiting from All About Blogspot, don't forget to enter into the Easter Treasury and the monthly blog challenge. There is still time for both of them.