For Those with Stretched Ears

~*This post is solely for those with stretched ears*~

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A bunch of new goodies will be hitting the Gauged by Stasia Etsy shop this coming Monday afternoon! Below is a sneak preview of *most* (not all!) of the lovelies to come….

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THE ORNATE BORDER GROUP

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Also! for the *MADE TO ORDER* category:  “Warm Hearts” style in 10 gauge and 2 gauge smooth rainbow moonstones…

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Lastly, we have “The Ochre Dangles“: 4 gauge darkened scalloped tunnel plugs featuring dangling swarovski crystals and olive fresh water pearls. “Cold Feather Tunnel Dangles”: featuring hand sawed sterling silver feathers with etched detailing and faceted cold labradorite gemstones on 14 gauge small hoops!

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Catch these and a few more styles Monday afternoon!

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xx Stray Arrow

Gem Show and New Work Preview…

Well, I went to the gem show with the intention to restrain myself from buying too many sparkley goods, and have succeeded! Only three new cabs this weekend…

one a beautiful light and white dotted variscite stone, one stunning red fossilized dinosaur bone, and one big fat flashy labradorite…

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New goodies for the Gauged folk will hit the shop Wednesday:

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New goodies for the main Etsy shop…

mini turquoise drop stackers from the Royston mine. These are perfect for turquoise lovers looking for an everyday ring or something on the less expensive side!

Other new turquoise is a large ring featuring a fantastic natural Nacozari turquoise of  a brilliantly deep blue…

Also coming soon is a new edition to the Romantics Line, for winter…

“The Evergreen Necklace”

featuring a snowy moss agate and two teardrop rainbow moonstone gems. The main pendant is set in a pebbled piece of recycled pure silver…

Lastly is the “Winter Lace” ring, featuring a collector’s slice of Calico Lace Agate with snowflake like orbs in the background.

Keep a look out in the shops on Wednesday!

xx Stray Arrow

“Low on the Sand, and Loud on the Stone”…

Before I post new work to be added to the Etsy shops tomorrow, and recently completed work,  Etsy has made a few changes to their hosting websites where my shops are. They have recently added the option to change a Shop Name. While my shop for the gauged folks will remain “GaugedbyStasia”, my shop name for my StasiaSalvucci account will now be “TheStrayArrow”, permanently. All bookmarks and URL’s will be forwarded to http://www.TheStrayArrow.Etsy.com

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Tomorrow, in The Stray Arrow shop…

a new addition to the Grave Series, featuring sweet little silver and copper Momento Mori studs:

Also new, an addition to the Stormy Night miniseries in the form of a splendidly fat ring of substantial size and weight, inspired by Alfred Lord Tennyson

This lovely features a square flashly labradorite gemstone flanked by two hand sawed sterling black birds. The back is adorned with a raven and the quote..

“SILENCE FELL WITH THE WAKING BIRD”

from Part 1 of Tennyson’s “Maud; A Monodrama”…

Come into the garden, Maud,
      For the black bat, night, has flown,
Come into the garden, Maud,
      I am here at the gate alone;
And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
      And the musk of the rose is blown.
   For a breeze of morning moves,
      And the planet of Love is on high,
Beginning to faint in the light that she loves
      In a bed of daffodil sky,
To faint in the light of the sun she loves,
      To faint in his light, and to die. 
   All night have the roses heard
      The flute, violin, bassoon;
All night has the casement jessamine stirr’d
      To the dancers dancing in tune;
Till a silence fell with the waking bird,
      And a hush with the setting moon.
   I said to the lily, “There is but one
      With whom she has heart to be gay.
When will the dancers leave her alone?
      She is weary of dance and play.”
Now half to the setting moon are gone,
      And half to the rising day;
Low on the sand and loud on the stone
      The last wheel echoes away.
   I said to the rose, “The brief night goes
      In babble and revel and wine.
O young lord-lover, what sighs are those,
      For one that will never be thine?
But mine, but mine,” so I sware to the rose,
      “For ever and ever, mine.”
   And the soul of the rose went into my blood,
      As the music clash’d in the hall;
And long by the garden lake I stood,
      For I heard your rivulet fall
From the lake to the meadow and on to the wood,
      Our wood, that is dearer than all;
   From the meadow your walks have left so sweet
      That whenever a March-wind sighs
He sets the jewel-print of your feet
      In violets blue as your eyes,
To the woody hollows in which we meet
      And the valleys of Paradise.
   The slender acacia would not shake
      One long milk-bloom on the tree;
The white lake-blossom fell into the lake
      As the pimpernel dozed on the lea;
But the rose was awake all night for your sake,
      Knowing your promise to me;
The lilies and roses were all awake,
      They sigh’d for the dawn and thee.
   Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls,
      Come hither, the dances are done,
In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls,
      Queen lily and rose in one;
Shine out, little head, sunning over with curls,
      To the flowers, and be their sun.
   There has fallen a splendid tear
      From the passion-flower at the gate.
She is coming, my dove, my dear;
      She is coming, my life, my fate;
The red rose cries, “She is near, she is near;”
      And the white rose weeps, “She is late;”
The larkspur listens, “I hear, I hear;”
      And the lily whispers, “I wait.”
   She is coming, my own, my sweet;
      Were it ever so airy a tread,
My heart would hear her and beat,
      Were it earth in an earthy bed;
My dust would hear her and beat,
      Had I lain for a century dead,
Would start and tremble under her feet,
      And blossom in purple and red
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New to the gauged shop tomorrow…
one pair of 10 gauge faceted rainbow moonstone ornate plugs
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one pair of 4 gauge Stormy Night plugs with black pyrite fool’s gold
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and these:
12 gauge dangles for tunnels that feature a MATCHING PAIR of natural, genuine,
White Buffalo Turquoise
These lovelies have been oxidized, brushed and filed for serious contrast and are a comfortable weight so that they will swing in the most amusing arc, and still not weigh your ears down in the slightest…
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Recently completed is a necklace made with a turquoise I had posted in recent months…
featuring a museum quality webbed piece of natural Pilot Mountain Mine Turquoise, a cabochon of Kings Manassa Mine Turquoise, and four beautifully micro-faceted genuine emeralds…
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check the shops out tomorrow (Wednesday) for new goodies!
xx Stray Arrow

“Muse’s Window”~Now Carrying Stasia Art!

MUSE’S WINDOW is now carrying my jewelry!!! Visit the lovely Karin Biow’s shop in Concord, MA. You can find it on Main St. right above the Main Street Cafe, up the stairs right before you hit Nesting on Main Antiques…

here are some of the lovelies now stocked there!

Oxidized sterling rings featuring rare turquoise from Crow Springs and Cripple Creek Mines…

Stud earrings featuring gold bezels, Fox Mine turquoise on sterling backings, and sterling oxidized feather studs!

“As The Crow Flies” necklace, featuring Crow Springs Turquoise, bronze hand stamped backing, pure silver bezel. Necklace rests on doubled different kinds of sterling chain and peridot gemstone clasp with my trademark jeweler’s tag.

“River Stripes” necklace, featuring Crow Springs Turquoise set in pure silver bezel, bronze hand stamped backing and resting on a longer sterling oxidized chain. Topped with my jeweler’s tag and labradorite gemstone clasp.

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New Items in SPERO, Boutique in Concord,MA.

For those who don’t know, “Spero” means “HOPE”, and so I was inspired to make these studs in two versions (oxidized and bright) out of PURE recycled silver~

Also new at Spero are unique lariat necklaces…

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New completed commissions! I now offer “Custom Totem Bracelets” in my Etsy Shop, and recently made a bear for a lovely customer. This bracelet is on sterling half round bracelet with a hand sawed one of a kind bronze bear that has been acid patina darkened and hand scratched and etched to mimic bear fur! A red healing arrow has been engraved as well…

To grab one of your own, copy and paste the link below into a new window in your browser:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68186763/custom-totem-bracelet

I’ve also just finished a pair of custom sterling silver 5/8″ plugs~these lovelies feature stamped in Frida quotes around mini 4mm bullet chrysoprase gemstones…

Also new to the ETSY SHOP are two new large turquoise rings from my finds at the Tucson Gem Show!

Behold the Turquoise Mountain and Cripple Creek Mine Rings! Both stamped on the back with either “Rockin’ the Cripple Creek” or “Rockin’ the Turquoise Mountain”…


~~~COMING SOON~~~

CROW SPRINGS DRAGONFLY SILVER CUFF (in progress):

SILVER AND KINGMAN MINE TURQUOISE SPIDER RING (in progress):

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check out the new items in the new Boutique, and check back this weekend for and Etsy Shop update!

Tucson Turquoise

So I found more gems than I could have hoped for, Tucson was an absolutely divine blast! I met the nicest people there and was able to track down stones from some really rare kickass mines.

Here’s a little (but heads up! long…) taste of my treasures and some info on the different turquoise mines, so you know how incredible these finds are and why I drooled over everything the entire trip!

~*if you see any stones you’d like for a custom piece, email me*~

#8 Turquoise Mine

The Number Eight Turquoise Mine is in Nevada, USA and was mined in the early 1900’s until its depletion- no more of this stuff is coming out of the ground! It is famous for its extreme spider wedding matrix, and the deeper the blue in the golden brown to black matrix-the higher the quality. These are the two that I found and adore-perfect for rings or necklaces~

Apache Mine Turquoise~

Now this is a mine I’ve barely heard of and didn’t expect to find at all-this super nice couple after hearing I was hunting for turquoise dug through all their cabs to show me their lot-what sweeties. These two were so nice I had to scoop them up! The Apache Mine is known for its green turquoise in black matrix, and is still operated today but is a very small mine so not much is produced.

Alright….so can I just say…HOLY CANOLI. When I saw this rock I just had to grab it, it is magnificent. This other couple had cabs (stones for bezel setting in jewelry) that they cabbed themselves, knew and had all the mines labeled, and were so nice in helping me pick things out. I found great stuff from them but these next two stones I fell in love with…

~MORENCI MINE TURQUOISE~

This mine is rare. Rare, rare, rare. It is mined in Southwestern Arizona, USA. It is known for its light blue turquoise and black pyrite (fool’s gold) mixed in that often looks like silver when polished. It is so well known because, not only is it one of the first turquoise mines to come on the market, but it is completely depleted and hard to find! This stone is beyond perfect and has a tone of pyrite in it, there are no fractures or divets in the stone and its got a great polish…This is 1 of 3 Morenci Mine turquoise stones I’ve found in my 4 years of obsessing and hunting down turquoise…

Another stone I got from this couple is this great cab, from the rare

Turquoise Mountain Mine Turquoise~

Mined in Arizona, Birdseye turquoise and Turquoise Mountain turquoise come from the same mine. This mine has been closed since the 1980’s, and thus is hard to find…this stone would make a killer “statement” ring…

Another vendor there that I stumbled upon towards the end of my trip was this rad fella named Casey of lovenlifedesigns.com (CHECK IT OUT!). I swear I was drooling over everything, the stones were so nicely displayed and cut/polished it was grand. The next photo are turquoise stones all from him-numbers 8&10 are from the Royston Mine, and the rest are CRIPPLE CREEK!!! For the 99% of you who have no idea who I’m on about, get excited. This wasn’t even on my hunting list as I never expected to ever find any. Ever.

~Royston Turquoise Mine~

Royston is actually a district that contains 3 different mines in Nevada. Royston mines, along with the Pilot Mountain mine, are known for their extreme color variations. Blues, greens, rusty bronze browns and dark colors spin together with or without matrixes to make these lovely stones look like landscapes (you can see why this painter *loves* these mines). This turquoise is still being mined today and continues to be one of the most popular!

~CRIPPLE CREEK TURQUOISE MINE~

Cripple Creek turquoise is actually found in Colorado, USA. It is a by product of some small gold mines, and yields turquoise from light green/blue colors with the occasional darer blue/green matrix. This is the only Cripple Creek turquoise I have found. These lovelies are sublime sizes for rings!…

The Cripple Creek Mine Turquoise hunk below is *mine*, but I just had to share…

Now for some mini turquoise. These rocks I specifically picked out in pairs for gauged plugs (stretched ears) or earrings. These stones I got from the nicest older man named Jim, who’s set up was right next to Casey. He had a fantastic collection and I must’ve spent over 1/2 hour going through everything and came back the next day for more. I love nice people who dig talking about the rocks and the mines, theres always more to know

~Fox Mine Turquoise~

The Fox Mine is one of Arizona’s biggest producers, and also known as Cortez turquoise. It is rare, and comes in all colors with and without a matrix. These little ones I picked out are more of a teal green color that remind me of deep variscite stones…

More assorted turquoise from Mr. Jim…all but #20 is from the Royston Mine, #20 is Morenci Mine with a little flash of pyrite. #21 has a great tiny spider web and #19 is rare as green green turquoise doesn’t show up much anywhere…

Another find from the couple I got the large Morenci Mine and Turquoise Mountain Mine pieces from is this pair of Royston Boulder Cut turquoise stones. “Boulder cut” turquoise is extremely popular and doesn’t refere to the mine its from but the style. It is a vein(s) of turquoise through another rock matrix, often leading to funky and unique designs. This pair is perfect for earrings or gauges…

So those are selections of the turquoise treasures I found…yes there are more…but those are just for me, or for later! I was surprised to find a multitude of other gems at the many gem shows in Tucson. I found some really great and rare stones there, so here are a few of those goodies too!

more labradorite, because everyone loves the flashy “butterfly wing” stones. These are perfect for fat cocktail rings…a little tip-the more blue the flash, the higher the quality!

Crazy Lace Agate-a favourite of everyone, this one has great clear formations and coloring, love love love it-but a little too pink for me, so it can be yours 🙂

TOURMILATED QUARTZ GEMSTONE

This is so wicked. Really. This faceted gemstone is a quartz, featuring slices or “needles” of black tourmaline within it. This rock is NATURALLY like this, and rare for this many needles in this clear a matrix. Usually you’ll see golden rutilated quartz, but the black stuff is hard to get man.

The big reason I’m going to remember the vendors Casey and Jim for awhile is because of their killer selections. Vendorman Casey had WAMPUM. Yeah, wampum. What the heck is the New England beauty doing in the Southwest? Most likely traded. Let me explain…

Wampum is carved from the quahog clam shell found on the shores of the East Coast. If you don’t know about it, but have heard the word before, you may have been told in was like “Native American Indian money”. Nope. It was only thought to be used financially because the Europeans assumed so from the importance the Natives bestowed upon it. The carved wampum has actually been used for hundreds of years as trade, or for treaties. It could be strung into beaded strings called “condolence strings” for a mourned one, or expertly beaded into belts-famously known and seen in many museums- for peace or war treaties between tribes. Although used by many different Woodlands (Eastern) tribes, it is most famously seen used by the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee). The Iroquois Confederacy consists of the 5 tribes of the eastern longhouse-one tribe for each beam, or one tribe for each part of the “Hiawatha belt”. The tribes are (in the Europeanized names and spelling): Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk (me!). I could go on for hours gabbing about the two origin stories of wampum and the different museums it is kept in, but for the sake of making this post not quite long enough to make your eyes blurry I’ll refrain!

Needless to say, you can hardly EVER find it. Oh sure, people make imitation wampum out of glass, but it looks nothing like the real thing. It is harder and harder to find true Native wampum carvers anymore, and I know of only 3 existing in Massachusetts. Not only did vendorman Casey have 3 wampum pieces, but instead of just polished shell, they were beautifully formed cabochons….! The white color in the shell stands for peace, the purple for war~these cabs are 50/50 for perfect beautifully colored balance…

Now vendorman Jim also had some rocks that got my in a tizzy. He had wild horse magnesite. Wild horse is another popular and rare stone from the Southwest (Arizona) and its seen in a lot of Native American Indian jewelry. This type of magnesite is essentially magnesium mixed with carbonite. These colors are reminiscent of the Appaloosa horse and thus its name. The higher the quality of this stone, the more the brown and white matrixes are defined from eachother. I love love love it, it reminds me of drums and thunder and tree bark…

All great stones, all great quality, all rare, all here for custom work…I’l be using these for designs soon to be found in my Etsy shops, so if you see something you like and can envision on yourself, don’t be quiet for long!

 

Also coming soon-GOLD BEZELED GEMS, AND GOLD “NO-SEE-EM” STACKING RINGS!!!

Nativango…

New pieces just in~double click any image for a larger view~

Silver and bronze leaf stacking rings now in the Etsy shop~get your own set with however many of each you’d like!



In the Gauged By Stasia Shop~

New tunnels featuring PURE recycled molten silver open circle blobs with gemstones~

pictured below is the current pair in 0 gauge (for sale in Etsy shop) and a commissioned pair in 2 gauge (NFS)~

New to the shop is another style of bronze 14 gauged tribal dangles for those who wear 14 gauges or to wear through tunnels~

Newly created for commission~

I recently was fortunate to make another pair of custom 0 gauge plugs for one of my favourite customers! These lovelies feature hand sawed sterling silver cherry blossom flowers with stamen curled over flashy 6mm faceted labradorite gemstones. From the petals dangle different colored Swarovski crystals!

~~~NEW FEATURED NECKLACE: THE NATIVANGO~~~

This one of a kind stunner features hand sawed and forged dangling charm elements. My freshly made Nativango (Native-Tango) tangles the layered look, a rustic vintage vibe, the gypsy charm element, and the Native gems for a complete package of sophisticated funk. Gems of labradorite, turquoise, sunstone and high quality natural White Buffalo Turquoise shown off in pure silver settings on sterling silver oxidized backings and rest on 3 layers of oxidized sterling chain. Little sterling hand sawed heart arrow charms and tags make this necklace’s spunk climb up your collar bones, and at 21 inches long it will comfortably fit a multitude of people! See the full description and details in my Etsy Shop!

 

 

 

~~~~~***IN THE WORKS***~~~~~

“At The Bottom Of The Sea Necklace”~

featuring a high quality designer cut fossilized coral stone and amethyst gemstone necklace of sea wonderment in sterling silver-to be rustically patinaed, with adjustable chain!

For The Ear and Finger…

New earrings in normal and gauged wear along with new fancies for the fingers…

Rings made of recycled pure molten silver and gemstones, in darkened rustic and bright white light silver!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New ~*Turquoise Crown*~ ring

The Turquoise Crown ring features a lovely *natural* turquoise stone from the rare and collectable Southwest turquoise Mine called “Crow Springs”. It is joined by a sweet 6mm faceted rose cut labradorite gemstone with some serious light green flashes to it (matching the turquoise). The back of the ring is stamped:
“A crown for a Queen” followed by my trademark, .925 for sterling, and the year (2011!).
Perfect for a queen, or just a gal wanting to be treated like one~see more info or grab it in my Etsy store! (link in upper right of my blog)~

 

 

New leaf shape stacking rings in sterling silver with little bronze leaves~sets of 3~

and *JUST MADE* Snowy Meadow Prairie Ring with dendritic jasper stone in rustic sterling setting~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Turquoise Ring~ “Said The Spider To The Fly”~ a ring with quotes from Mary Howitt’s poem “The Spider and The Fly” which starts with the line…“Will You Walk Into My Parlour, Said The Spider To The Fly”. This ring features a beautiful natural stone from the Kingman Turquoise Mine with the quote stamped around it in sterling…

 

 

 

New Earrings~

~Black Lava Silver Molten Studs, made of recycled pure silver and back with sweet little sterling earring backings.

~Moonstone Teardrop Dangles, little rainbow moonstone gemstones in blackened silver dangles

~Rustic Silver Leaf Posts, hand sawed of sterling and stamped with leaf designs, oxidized

 

 

 

 

Bronze Leaf dangles in gauges and for normal pierced ears…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~*JUST MADE*~ Bronze Tribal Dangles in 14 Gauge Silver,

and Wilting Flower Tunnel Gauges in bright silver and rustic darkened silver…

~*COMING SOON*~

~huge Spider ring featuring Mary Howitt’s quote

~Bronze Tribal Gauges in various designs