I’ve been neglecting this blog, so this is going to be a long long post.

First up, pics of recent commissions and pieces…

#8 Mine Turquoise Ring-SOLD-made with rose gold, oxidized sterling, natural turquoise from the rare #8 Mine, and a gemstone iolite on the back ring band.

Burning Bright Ring~RESERVED~featuring a striped montana agate stone in oxidized silver with the quote “Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright”, from William Blake’s poem stamped on the back.

Fossil Necklace~Coming soon to the shop! Features a cephalopod fossil in pure silver on a sterling backing and long chain. This has a dragonfly sawed out on the back!

These PEACOCK PLUGS were a custom order~LOVED making these. They’re actually detachable. Sterling scalloped tunnel plugs with oxidized sterling chains. From the chains dangle mini crystals and freshwater pearls in peacock feather themed colors. The peacock feather earrings with hand forged sterling clamps/earring hooks are separate.

This was a custom order. TALISMAN NECKLACE~I loved creating this one. It features a Kings Manassa Mine turquoise, all hand forged sterling goodies and an amethyst gemstone flower clasp. The back features a raven and a quote by Emerson. I will definitely be making more of these domed gemstone flower for gauges and earrings!

Another custom order~Walt Whitman Statement Ring~This has to be one of my favourite quotes of all time. The ring features a bloodstone and genuine Baltic Amber, with Whitman’s quote from his poem “O ME! O Life!” on the front and back:

“Answer: The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse”

Matching Wampum Set~custom order~This set featured a matching ring and necklace (second ring is MINE).

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ROCKS. STONES. AND GEMSTONES.

In the past 3 weeks I’ve been to 2 gem/mineral show…so I have MANY new goodies. Also new goodies from other sources, most pictures are on top of or near hands to show rock sizes. All pictures are left unaltered in terms of color, etc. These have only been cropped and photographed in natural sunlight.

If you see anything you like for a custom piece, feel free to email me or send me an Etsy message…

Lace Agate

Amethyst sage

Calico Lace Agate-matching pair for earrings. These are a bit more lilac in color than the photo 

Campitos Mine Turquoise~Natural stone from the Campitos mine, similar in color to the famous and huge Sleeping Beauty Mine but a touch lighter. This would make a great long “finger shield” ring.

Natural Candelaria Mine Turquoise~This is the only stone I’ve found from this mine. It has a beautiful beautiful webbed matrix and amazing colors.

On the left-a *high quality* Crow Springs Mine turquoise-similar in color to the Cripple Creek Mine. On the left-a Pilot Mountain Mine turquoise.

Damele Mine Turquoise-this is a stunning old stock natural stone from the Damele mine which is rare! This is high quality with the rarer color scheme of lime/white/yellows and dark dark blues/browns/blacks. Because of how rare this is, I can offer a “Certificate of authenticity” on the mine for any jewelry pieces created with it.

Botswana Agate-this one has sweet little white dots on it which is a little more rare-a very romantic stone.

Eudialite (Eudialyte). These are rare, and even more rare to find one faceted! This stone comes from Russia and has beautiful wine like colors. This would be a great pendant with a little gem above the top.

Fordite-its debated whether these stones are natural or man made, but the colors in this are lovely.

Garden Quartz-this is fairly hard to photograph. It is suspended minerals in a quartz matrix-this stone features all red/flame colors. It basically looks like flaming moss, very great in the light.

Indian Mountain Mine Turquoise-THIS.STUFF.IS.RARE…

This is the only stone I have ever had or seen from this mine, it is very very collectable. This sweet little button features a bright blue colors with black inclusions. Because of how rare this is, I can offer a “Certificate of authenticity” on the mine for any jewelry pieces created with it.

Kings Manassa Mine Turquoise~This is one of my favorites out of the rare American Southwest Mines. They features amazing color patterns and great webbing. These two cabs have a fantastic polish and are roughly a little bigger than a USA half dollar. Really, really great quality.

Matching Geodes! These are so nifty. Great for earrings or gauges~these are mini geodes split in half (so quite tall and domed). These sparkle and shine in the sun or the dark.

Matching Eudialyte cabs for gauges! These would be best with 1/2″-1″.

Matching Kingman Mine Turquoise cabs for earrings/gauges

*these are currently reserved!*

Faceted quartz gem with pyrite (fool’s gold) inclusions! These are rare, and these ones have great clarity.

Mini genuine Wampum

The focus isn’t great for this one, but I wanted to get as close as I could. This stone is a picasso jasper-and has an amazing image within it. Can you see a horizon line? See the girl in the middle with the orange blouse, and black skirt walking along in the meadow? This stone is just stunning. Perfect pendant size at roughly 1 1/2″

This one is a RAW RUBY. Yes. That’s right. Genuine ruby-this is what you start with before you grind, cut, and facet it down into a gemstone. This stone is fairly large, and raw. A lovely light wine color.

White Buffalo Turquoise Ribbon~this stone is a “ribbon” or “boulder” cut because there is a ribbon of white turquoise in the host rock (black chert).

Matching pair of natural super sparkly drusys! Great for gauges or earrings

Smaller matching natural drusy for earrings/gauges

A STUNNING Pilot Mountain Mine natural turquoise stone-seriously high quality, great polish and amazing amazing colors! This lovely is roughly 1″ tall.

Variscite-also from the Southwest like Turquoise. The bottom pic is of a matching pair. Top pic the larger stone is roughly 1.5″ tall.

This is a stone similar to labradorite called larvikite. This is a mix of rainbow moonstone and some other black stone-incredible flashes of a more slate blue/gray. Perfect for gauges (0 or 00 gauge).

THIS. THIS IS MINE.

I am still in shock of finding this, yes this, little tiny square thing. It is a natural stone from my favorite turquoise mine of all time-The Red Mountain Mine. This stuff you just don’t find anymore.period. This has an amazing webbing, and the rusty red patterning within the blues that the mine is famous for. This is rare rare rare, collectable, and impossible to ever find. This stone I’m keeping for myself, but just had to share.

So, I know I keep gushing about turquoise mines and how rare the ones I find are. I know most people out there don’t know about turquoise. I’m going to give you two example pictures, which will hopefully help all realize how rare the stones I collect are, and how much they go for…

The pic below is a *high quality* Red Mountain Mine turquoise, it retails for something around $500USD…

The picture below this is from the most famous and collectable Southwest mine out there: the Lander Blue Mine from AZ. There were only 98 lbs. of turquoise recovered from this mine-famous for its black webbing and blue blue colors. The LOWEST I have seen this kind of turquoise go for is $100USD per CARAT. That is more than emeralds and rubies my friends..this stone would be over $1,000 USD….:

Turquoise can be easily faked these days, unfortunately. If people don’t know their mines and sources they can be easily tricked. All of my turquoise is bought from collector’s, those that acquire it from the actually mine owner’s, or those that actually mine it themselves.

Well, there you have it. New goodies, new gems-New Etsy shop update with MORE jewelry pieces will be Tuesday.