Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Ocean Jasper is found only one place on earth: the northwest coast of Madagascar. It can only be seen and collected at low tide and only by boat. Ocean Jasper was named for its location as well how it resembles to the foams of the ocean as it recedes back into the ocean, with its wavy patterns of colors. I bought this beautiful ocean jasper cabochon from StonesInMotion, a seller on Etsy. It has a sparkly green druzy (sort of like a miniture geode!) in the middle of the stone, which makes it all the more special. And if you look closely at the little orange “eyes” , they're surrounded by green "cogs" making them look like flowers. I wanted to use them as a motif, and tried to replicate them as flowers on the setting. But just like the eyes of the jasper, I didn't make them perfectly symmetrical. I think the assymetry gives them a bit of character. Too big for a ring (at least for me - I guess I'm not that daring yet), I decided to set the stone as a pendant. It’s still a work-in-progress because I will add a chain when I get the time. Would you like to be a Contrariwise follower? All you have to do is click on the link on the left in my side bar.
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I wonder if there's really a market for Cocktail Rings?
What took me a while to learn is how to get the bezel to lie perfectly smooth next to the stone, without creases or buckles. For example, this setting: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36697946
What a lovely stone and you have set it so beautifully :)
kathleen
I have an old Sony Cybershot which is about to die on me. My biggest tips are to use your macro setting, keep the camera steady, and then use a photo- editing program. (GIMP is a good one and you can download it for free.)
Also, I learned a lot by searching for tips on the Etsy forums and asking a lot of questions.
Do a search through my blog. I have several posts on tips for taking photos.
Best of luck to you.
Everytime I see an ocean jasper I want to hold it and own it. Each is different and just so lovely.
StonesInMotion cut this particular cab just for me so it's quite special.