Tucson 2017 - Chrysoprase and Variscite

This year marks the 13th year I've been traveling to Tucson from Georgia. It's always a wild ride, several days of nonstop shopping, with zero to little downtime. I both look forward to and dread it, a little, every year. ;)

This year was no different, but I came home, as always, elated with my new finds. My love for colored gems remains undiminshed and I found some true lovelies to share with you.

Though it sells more slowly for me than other gems, I personally simply can't resist that magical greeny-green green of chrysoprase. The best chrysoprase comes from Australia, which is where all of these beauties are from. I love it best, as I love most gems, when it has not been entirely separated from its host rock (the brown you see in the photo). And when I find what I consider excellent examples, I will do whatever's necessary to make sure they come home with me. :)

This is how most people know chrysoprase, if they know it at all. Relatively rare on the gem market, it's not a very well-known gem and every time I offer a piece with chrysoprase, I get a lot of questions about it. These small cabochons, with their lovely and very even hues, will be accent stones for a series that will also use variscite (see photo below). I brought the larger cabs with me to the Tucson show in order to match some chrysoprase with them.

Here's an example of a finished design:

Variscite is also found in Australia (though a lot of good quality gem material comes from Utah), and the two gems are so complimentary that I love to put them together.

Here's another example of chrysoprase, that I made into jewelry designs last summer:

These actually stayed with me. I loved this softer, seafoam-y coloring with the host rock and the dark inclusions scattered throughout...I've never seen it in quite this shade, and I couldn't part with it. I had a few more stones like these, but all those designs have sold. Hopefully one of these days I'll find a few more...

I found many, many more deliciously colored goodies in Tucson this year, and I'll be sharing those soon. Until then....

Rolling With It

This week has been SO up and down for me. I had some great productive days, and some craziness just recently. Yesterday I went to jewelry fabrication class at the Spruill Center, and soldered some gallery wire and a bezel cup to a wide band ring. It went well...so well, in fact, that I left class early as that was our whole session: demo by the teacher and then we got the ring to the step of having all the bits soldered together. Cleanup and stone setting aren't until next Friday. So I left early...which I've kind of been doing in classes for a while.

I feel a bit bad, but the instructor knows me well and says she doesn't mind. And it was good that I left, because I had a long day of errands on my plate anyway: trip to the jewelry supply to spend a small fortune on supplies, trip to the Merchandise Mart to spend *more* money on *more* supplies, and a trip to get the oil changed on the car (which ended up being over $100 because it needed additional services...and I didn't even get all the services done because I am waiting to do the more expensive services next month after the big Michigan festival). Also the car needs tires badly...money's starting to feel quite tight again.

So I got home around 4 pm yesterday and did some work. But it's a bad idea (for me, at least) to start work late in the day when I'm tired, hot, and stressing about finances. Work did not go well. So I went outside to read and it was just too, too hot. How can anyone enjoy the summer when it's so freakin' hot outside? You can't DO anything...so my husband and I went to dinner and a movie. And I got food poisoning.

Apparently yesterday the Universe just was not on my side. ~wry smile~

However, today's a new day (though I slept in after the food poisoning issues and now the day feels late)...so I'll show you some good fun from earlier in the week.  :)

The Dare Boldness necklace. So named because it's got a VERY green chrysoprase as its center stone Not a shade for the color-sensitive.  :)

Also:

The Underbrush earrings. Sweet ocean jaspers with unusual coloring, making me think of the cool summer morning underbrush, damp earth, and some sort of respite from the summer heat.

Both are currently listed on my web site  and on Etsy if you'd like further details.  :)