Another Batch of Beautiful Tumbled Stones

On May 19, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & LapidaryLeave a comment

We’ve been a little road-weary, so we decided to hang out in Cheyenne for a little while. At 6000 ft in elevation, this nice town has trees, grass, horses, scenery and real friendly people. While here, it was time to take my latest load of tumbled stones out of polish. Here are some pics of God’s geologic wonders… enjoy!

Obsidian


Petrified Wood


Dinosaur Bone


Wonderstone


Australian Dendritic Opal


Fire Agate and Desert Roses

Assorted Picture Jasper


Natural Citrine


Orangey Quartz


Pretty Agate


Mookaite

Hawk’s Eye


Tiffany Stone or Bertrandite

Cool banded Agate with moss topper


A beautiful Moss Agate

Beach Stones


Another beautiful Quartz

Cool stones

Mary Ellen Jasper and Jaspellite from Lake Superior


Noreena Jasper from Australia

Brenda Jasper from AZ


Awesome Moss Agate


Colorful Jasper

Doesn’t this one rock?

Beautiful Flint


Beautiful Jasper

Awesome Unknown Agate


An awesome Quartz crystal with a Citrine crown


Beautiful Jaspers


This one is my favorite


Rhyolite with Hematite


Plumey Agate


A Red Jasper with Hematite sprinkles

Spectacular Agate with a druzy center


Another beautiful Agate


Not sure but it sure is pretty

Australian Rhodonite


Dynasty Jasper

Another unknown beautiful stone

Rainforest Jasper


Mookaite

Butterscotch Jasper from Montana

An Agate cut scrap

Birdseye Rhyolite

Banded Agate

Not sure, but it sure is pretty

Love these colors

Golden Plume Agate

Agatey delight (looks like a dessert)

How beautiful is this one?

Hubbell Trading Post and Three Angels

On April 26, 2012October 14, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & Lapidary2 Comments

Finally we arrived at the historic Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site.

This trading post has special significance in our nation’s history. Operating since 1878, it was the main source of supplies for settlers, explorers, mail carriers, and anyone traveling across the great open west.

JL Hubbell was a real man who bought the trading post and worked closely with the Navajo selling their work, demanding excellence in their craftsmanship. He built an empire of freight and stage coach lines and owned 24 trading posts.

Probably any item you could imagine needed by a western traveler or resident is somewhere in this store.

Navajo blankets and rugs, earthenware and pottery made by Hopi and Navajo.

Mr. Hubbell homesteaded 160 acres before they were part of the Navajo Territory. When the reservation expanded, it surrounded the Mr. Hubbell’s property. Through an act of Congress, Mr. Hubbell got permission to keep his homestead. It was declared a national historical landmark in 1960.

Bill had read about this place in books as a child. One told about how the pony express would ride through and there would be a supply of fresh horses and refreshment for them here.

The trading post was sold to the National Park Service in 1967 by the Hubbell family who operated it until then.

Mr. Hubbell and his family also lived here. Guided tours are given by Park Rangers of the inside of the house.

In the back yard there is a guest house, a gazebo and a well. The guest house was built in the early 1930s by Mr. Hubbell’s son and daughter in law, in his memory. The hill behind is called Hubbell Hill and it is where Mr. Hubbell, his family and his best friend lay at rest.

The fields around the property are now being irrigated again and crops are growing.

Here are a few pictures from around the property.


Outdoor oven


They kept turkeys, chickens, lambs, sheep, horses and beef cattle.

The corrals were made of Juniper logs.

The barn was built in 1897

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Been working with Angels lately. Here are three custom pieces for a wonderful client. All are in 14k gold.

The gems are (left to right): Abalone & Moonstone, Amethyst Lace & Blue Quartz, Agate & Citrine.

Adventures in Faceting

On April 4, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & LapidaryLeave a comment

My new faceting machine arrived. The Graves Mark IV is an inexpensive starter machine for beginners.

I worked on two stones. They are not perfect by any means. Meet points are less than perfect and I ended up making changes in the design. But, as all skill acquiring goes, much was learned and as you can see, I am on my way to many adventures in faceting.

First stone isn’t a stone, it’s colored glass. This is a .9mm Mini-Barion.

But, it wasn’t too shabby.

The second stone was my first real gemstone. This is an Amethyst and the cut is a Double Zircon.

The stone is not flawless by any means, but it was good experience. To tell you the truth, I do like the little things in a stone that give it character and this is no exception.

Beautiful Tumbled Stones

On April 4, 2012September 23, 2022 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & LapidaryLeave a comment

As you can imagine, tumbling stones while RVing can be challenging at best. While camped here in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, I’ve been working on a batch of rounded stones and tumbled cabochons. The cabochons are stones that I’ve precut into shapes with my saw and then run through my QT12 tumbler. With care, they turn out nicely with a natural flair. Then, I attach a bail using lapidary epoxy and they go into my box of “Cheapo Pendants” (as many of you know I affectionately call them). My assortment was getting low and in need of some color.

Yesterday, I finished a batch that I’ve been running for the past two months.

Half were rounded stones that I’ve picked up on my travels, gifts from friends, or purchased.

The other half consisted of tumble cabs to become future pendants for my “Cheapo Pendant” box.

Australian Rhodonite

Here are some pictures of tumbled stone vignettes… please enjoy.

Sedimentary Rock from White Sulfur Springs, MT


Mookaite from Australia

Unknown Jasper

A colorful Flint

Serape Crazy Lace from Mexico

Chrysoprase


Unknown


Unknown Jasper

Burro Creek (left) and a beautiful Unknown Agate

Brown and Blue Tiger Eye

Unknown Jasper

Jasper/Agate

Porcelain Jasper from Utah

Beautiful Unknown

Brown and white Agate with Druzy Pocket

Fancy Bloodstone

Colorful Quartz and Hematite

Mozarkite from Missouri


Zebra Crazy Lace from Mexico

Brenda AZ Jasper


Golden Jasper/Agate


Unknown Jasper/Agate

Red Jasper


Burro Creek Agate from Wickenburg, AZ

Australian Rhodonite

Picture Jasper

Various tumble cabochons

Rare Blue Montana Agate

Orbicular Jasper


Jasper

A beautiful Botswana Agate

A beautiful Jasper/Agate showing good fortification

Green Jasper

The orbs in this stone are actually Chrinoid Fossils

An incredibly beautiful Crazy Lace

Wire Wrapping in Quartzsite

On February 25, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & LapidaryLeave a comment

I gave a private wire wrapping lesson today. Violet is a lovely lady who did a very, very good job on her first wire wrap.

We used copper wire for learning and a great online tutorial developed by my friend Randy Emerick. Anyone is welcome to use his free wire wrapping tutorial here: http://imageevent.com/jemcraft/silversmithing?p=15&n=1&m=16&c=3&l=0&w=4&s=0&z=2 Randy’s tutorial is the one I used when I first learned to wire wrap.

Well, a week has gone by since I first mentioned my entry for the RTH Cab and Wrap Team Competition. Today the contest ended and I’m proud to announce that my team’s entry has won! This is the piece I produced with my cabbing partner, Steve Holmes. 10 teams were selected of 1 cabber and 1 wrapper per team and they partnered to produce a piece which was then voted on by RTH members.

My teammate Steve produced the incredible cabochon made from Jake Place Jasper and then sent it to me to create the wire wrap.

The wrap was complicated to say the least.

I had wires going every which way.

Steve came up with the concept of the double hearts while driving in his car to go help a friend. None of this could have happened without Steve bringing that concept to reality with his mad cabbing skills.

When I received it, at first I was a little flustered, but, like I do with many new projects, I slept on it and the steps soon materialized in my dreams.

Two different colored metals, silver and gold-filled, each with rose-gold accent, interlocking, with three different colored wires on the girdle and (not shown yet) a ribbon flourish.

Was not easy at all, and I had to take many breaks to keep focused and maintain a grasp on my goal of creating an overall picture that tells a story.

And I began to breathe a little as I got a little further on it.

My hands kept sweating which kept the tape from sticking, LOL. On a scale of 1 to 10 the level of difficulty on this (both cab and wrap) was probably a 12. This was a very complicated wrap.

Really, I was just happy that I was able to complete the challenge, but now I am even happier that I am able to keep it because I wore it out to dinner on Valentine’s Day and it made me very happy to wear it.

I feel very blessed for this experience.

My neighbor Ralph said I should call it “Together Forever” or “Entwined Hearts”.

As the sun went down tonight, my neighbor Ralph came and got us to take a look at the Moon and Venus tonight.

May all your challenges leave you smiling.

More Quartzsite Faceting at the Gem and Mineral Club

On February 23, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & Lapidary, QuartzsiteLeave a comment

My second project began as another piece of cut glass from my friend Jamie. The color is really beautiful. This will be a round stone and the pattern is called a Brilliant Cut.

This is my work station. The club uses Graves Mark IV faceting machines.

The stone is starting to take shape. Even though it is normally considered a flaw, I really liked the little air bubbles running through this side of the stone.

This top part is called the crown, the middle part is called the girdle, and the bottom pointed part is called the pavilion. I made the girdle a little wider because this was going to be a large stone and I plan to wire wrap it for my friend Jamie who gave me the glass. On softer material like glass, a thicker girdle is a good idea. Some will shatter upon setting into prongs.

And here is the result. At almost 15 carats, it is a monster, LOL.

This is a really, really beautiful color. I’m almost out of wire at the moment and in process of ordering more. So, the wrapping won’t be right away.

After a year of saving, I put a down payment on a brand new Graves Mark IV faceting machine. It’s considered a good, solid beginner faceter. Should have it in a month. I plan to do many fun projects with colored glass for something totally new for my ETSY shop. Hopefully to take shape in the next coming months.

Faceting at the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club

On February 21, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & Lapidary, QuartzsiteLeave a comment

Spent the day at the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club today and walked away with this baby.

This club is the largest in North America. It has numerous opportunities to have fun, participate and learn about all things rock.

Information on the club is here.

This is my second year here and first thing on my agenda was to get back into the faceting lab.

This is Paul, my instructor, who helped me refresh my memory and my skills. He was great. All the instructors are top notch and all are volunteers.

I wish I had taken a before pic of the chunk of glass I chose to work on today. It was given to me by my friend, Jamie, last year and I promised to do a stone for her.

This is called cutting the pavilion. It is the bottom of the stone. Each type of cut has a different pattern to follow. Faceting is fascinating.

This is the lap where the stone is cut. A series of measurements and settings determine the angles of the sides.

When the pavilion is finished, the stone is transferred to another dop stick and the sides or girdle is cut. The bumpy stuff shown on the top here is the remaining wax left over from the first dop, but that will be ground away when we cut the top.

Doesn’t look like much now, but the next steps of cutting the crown and top or table will soon bring this stone to life.

Now it looks like something. Time to cut the table and we’re all done.

How beautiful… you almost wouldn’t know it was glass. The cut is called a Mini Barion and it is 6.5 carats.

I’ll be spending the next two days in the faceting lab brushing up on my skills and trying to be a sponge and soak up all the information I can.

Some Color in Quartzsite

On February 16, 2012September 2, 2017 By thinkcarebelieveIn Jewelry & Lapidary, QuartzsiteLeave a comment

This morning I set a goal to grind some of the stones I just cut. As I began to shape them, the wind picked up and gusted steady all day. An afternoon rain brought relief from dust and gave us a beautiful double rainbow.

Bill said that at age 62, it was the first full end to end rainbow he’d ever seen.

After I took some pictures, I went inside to put the camera away and grab my sweatshirt and I heard Bill say…

“Get out here you nutcase, now it’s a double!”

I had to act fast to take my pictures…

…because the rainbow soon began to dissapate.

I had earlier moved my cabbing machine inside to work out of the wind, careful not to make too much of a mess.

And here is the result…

Left to right: Noreena Jasper, Aventurine, a real pretty unknown Jasper, and Ruby in Fuschite.

Left to right: that pretty Jasper again, Ruby in Fuschite, Chrysoprase, and Dinosaur Bone.

Here is just a tiny remnant of rainbow in the clouds.

I’ve been working on an entry for a team contest for my rock club. There are 10 teams and one person creates the cabochon and ships it to the other team member to wire wrap. Once all entries are sent in, pictures will be posted without names and online voting begins this Friday. You have to be a member of RTH to vote. At the end of the contest, I will post pictures of my team’s entry here to share. Wish me luck!