Tanzanite Rough From The Source

Ever wondered what Tanzanite looks like in its rough form, straight from the ground? Watch the video below, to see. It is astounding the difference, between the two. Tanzanite is one of the most rarest, and sought after gemstones in the world. It was first discovered in 1967, and the mines are almost completely mined out. It has been called a generational gemstone, and a universal birth stone. Tanzanite did have a little bit of a taint recently, when it was discovered that some of the top color items, were actually coated, rather than just heated, like most Tanzanite is. The coating is not a permanent treatment, and brings down the value of the stone, tremendously. It is not one of the strongest gemstones, with a Mohs hardness of only about 6. It is very susceptible, to chipping, and scratching, and great care must be taken when cleaning, or wearing it. This pendant is one I made featuring a 5.5mm trillion shaped Tanzanite, set in a heavy sterling silver pendant, with yellow MOP, and CZ accent stones. It is available for sale in my Etsy store. Be sure to watch the video, and see the difference between a gemstone in its rough state, to a beautiful gemstone.

Paraiba Blue Chalcedony Pendant

This lovely sterling silver with fancy bail pendant, features a 12 mm round Paraiba Blue Chalcedony gemstone. This very unique, and special variety of Chalcedony comes from Paraiba Brazil. It is a fairly new find, and they found when they heat treated it, the color enhanced to this love Paraiba blue color. It is strikingly similar to the color of Paraiba Tourmaline, one of the rarest, and most expensive gemstones on the planet. Chalcedony is a member of the Quartz family, which is a very broad family of gemstones. It has a hardness of 6 1/2 to 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, so if it is set in a ring, care must be taken against dings. In a pendant, however, there are no worries. The bail is big, and easily accomodate an omega, ribbon, leather, or any other chain you might put it on. This lovely pendant is available for sale in my Etsy shop. If you do not have Etsy, and you are interested, you can contact me at darien04@gmail.com for details. Be sure to check out all my great items. I offer combined shipping, and a layaway plan.

My Never Ending Quest To Learn The Beaded Bezel

Yesterday, in the mail, I got a new Fire Mountain Gems catalog. As I was browsing through it I noticed a design for a beaded cabachon. So I went to their website, to check out their free tutorials. I have never paid much attention to their tutorials, just never thought of it. They had two of the kind I was looking for. After watching them both, I saw that there are other methods to achieve the same outcome. They used felt, and some interesting material I had never heard of. They used a couching stitch, and the back stitch, as the main bezel stitches. These appeared to be much easier to learn, than the one I have tried. I can not wait to get time, to try out these two new techniques. I am fairly certain, I have some felt around here somewhere. I hope everyone has a great day. If you have not checked out Fire Mountain Gems tutorials, they have both video, and printable forms, I highly recommend it.

So I Tried The Beaded Bezel Tutorial

On Sunday, my husband, and kids were going to be out of the house, for an extended period of time. I figured this was a great time to try the beaded bezel tutorial, I shared in a previous post. First let me say, if I ever say beading looks easy, please slap me. I spent the first two hours, just mastering the first three rows, ugh. Of course some of that time was spent watching the video a few times. Once it clicked what the first three rows were supposed to look like, I got it. Ha then came the rest of it. Now I did finish it, but it is way too ugly to share LOL. I did learn a few things, however.

1- I have a disability for following directions. I think I have mentioned that before. Had I followed the directions, it might have come out better.

2- I think I can modify the directions, to suit my inability to follow the directions supplied to me.

3- There must be an easier way to accomplish the same goal.

4- I will be messing around with some different ideas rolling around in my very active head, to see if I can come up with something less complicated. I am not so sure of this, but I can dream.

In conclusion, I will be doing this pattern again, and again, until I get it right. I would love some words of encouragement from all of you experts out there.