Monday, October 6, 2008
Oh, I've been counting down the days. It's been so long and I've been looking forward to it for months. But it finally arrived this past weekend.
THE BEAD AND GEM SHOW !!!
I was BAD again. I mean, do I really need any more beads?
Well, actually, YES! And here are some of my new acquisitions.
Can you identify them all? (If not, check the corresponding photos on my flickr site for the answers.)
And since I recently learned to make bezels, I had to get some new cabochons. -->
See those light green ones in the middle. They're prehnite, one of my new favorite stones. Don't they look like large droplets of water? And the square blue one in the back is a labradorite. It's an amazing dark, dark blue, a color that you rarely see in such a pure form in this stone.
The blue and brown one in the upper right is blue larimar in a brown matrix - that color combo is so fashionable right now, and I can understand why.
All in all, I didn't go too overboard with buying cabs. Setting them in bezels is going to take me some time, so what you see here will probably be about 6 months (or more) of work - when and IF I can make some time. So I really tried to contain myself.But there were a couple of pieces that I just couldn't resist.
For example, I just fell in love with this stone on the left. The green half is prehnite. The dealer (who was Russian and whose English wasn't the best) wasn't sure what the dark brown half was.It's definitely a one of a kind piece and I paid more than I've ever paid for a gemstone before. But I just couldn't leave the show without it.
I'm planning to make it into a pendant with a really simple setting - in order to emphasize the gorgeous stone.
I think this one may end up not for sale. I'm really in love with it.
And then there's this cabachon on the right. The stone is called Simbircite and it comes from a town from Russia.This is what I found out about it on the internet:
"Simbircite is one of the rarest gemstones in the world, new to the gemstone world. Much Simbircite on the market today comes from the Simbirsk, Russia. It was discovered in 1985 and is made from fossilized remains of sea creatures found in the interiors of huge ammonites, another type of fossil.
The colors are amazing - rich ambers and browns and gold tones. I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but the darker areas of the stone are lined with pyrite which gleams like gold. The colors are perfect for autumn. But I doubt whether I'll be able to set it this year. (You may see it in my Fall 2009 line! lol )Even though it might be a while for me to set those cabs, the briolettes will be inspiring me. So expect to see some new jewelry, in the near future, in my online shop.
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Love all the stones in all your pictures, they are so colorful, I love colors. Especially the first pic. Have a great day :) MonikaROse
Checked out your Etsy shop... Nice work!
What on earth do you mean, you didn't need any more beads?!? We addicts always need more beads!
Those cabs are beautiful. I've got to improve my bezel setting too as I've just inherited quite a few that I want to do justice to.
Have fun!
That was my farorite too. I kept returning to the dealer to look at it. It's just such a unique stone. As soon as I set it, I'm going to have to post the photos.
I'm watching your shop for some of these to come out - great blog!!
Freida