> PRIZE WINNERS, VIRUSES AND RIDICULOUS SNACKS

So, long time no hear. Wasn't quite planned that way. 
First off was a week of holidays. Fine. But, although you usually bring back some kind of souvenir, a gastronintestinal virus wasn't really on my list. That's where the second week passed. In bed. ;)

Oh, and another thing: We flew to Turkey with Condor, and back to Germany with SunAir. While we knew that SunAir wouldn't offer any snacks and no free drinks, Condor said there would be a snack. I expected a small sandwich or some such, according to the 3,5-hour-flight. What we got was one very thin and quite small waffle. I mean, really?? If you can't afford to give out a decent snack, just don't offer one at all. AND the children didn't get one, as a rule. What a joke. But at least the kids got coloured pencils and a small colouring book, which was nice. Well, I gues you can't have everything. ;)

Anyway, holiday's over, family's fine now, so let's get started.

A really nice thing about the Etsy platform is the possibility to promote oneself and others through teams. There are hundreds of teams with all kinds of different foci. One such team is the Bizzy Bee Hive, which promotes its members through all possible means, and also often has team events (Hive Parties). People can win real prizes there, donated by fellow team members.

Kathleen won my donation, a custom-made pair of earrings made according to winner's specifications, and she chose a variation of my Earth earrings. Essentially, she wanted the same design, just with a blue or silver bead instead of the yellow one. She decided on a blue drawbench bead, which accents the main bead made from tourmalated quartz quite nicely.

> GEMMOLOGY AND LORE: SPINEL

Finally, a new post! Gosh, I'm really behind on my self-given promise not to let go by more than a day without a new post. Huh. Guess that's what you call 'real life'. ;)

So, today, a new favourite of mine is dragged into the spotlight: the spinel. Recently, I added black faceted spinel briolettes to my stash, and I love them! They sparkle like mad and look almost like black diamonds. 

Again, to get the necessary raffle out of the way: The supposed healing properties are in no way scientifically proven and don't replace medical treatment. A doctor should be consulted in every case. I don't advertise the so-called healing properties of stones, I just report the different opinions of others to create a comprehensive picture. Yadda yadda.

During the 16th century, the name spinel was coined and given to any red gemstone, allegedly meaning spark stone (Greek 'spinos' = spark). The mineral that is known under that name today got it around 1800. However, spinel can not only be red, there are also orange, yellow, green, dark green to black, brown, blue and purple versions of this stone. To make it even more difficult (and interesting ;)), each color also has its own name(s):

'Black Diamonds' - Faceted black spinel briolettes

Red: Alabandine Ruby, Alamandine Ruby, Alamandine Spinel, Balas Ruby, Precious Spinel, Garfunkel, Ruby Spinel, Spinel Ruby
Orange: Vinegar Spinel (not sure about THAT translation ...), Rubicell, Vermeille
Yellow: Rubacell
Green: Chlorine Spinel
Dark green to black: Candite, Ceylonite, Pleonast, Zeilanite
Brown: Picotite
Blue: Sapphirine, Sapphire Spinel
Purple: Eastern Amethyst

Spinel often appears via contact metamorphosis in marble, dolomite marble, crystalline slate, gneissic rock and serpentinite. Since it's quite hard, erosion doesn't affect it much, and so it is often flushed out of its original mother rock and found in river sediments (placer deposits). Spinel is mined in Russia, Sri Lanka, Birma, Thailand and the USA. Big red crystals have also recently been found in Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan (Pamir Highlands).

Spinel mostly grows octahedrons, sometimes also cubes or rhombic dodecahedrons (... I'm too lazy to google it right now, but I'd really like to know exactly HOW this assemblage of vocals and consonants is supposed to look like ...). 

The mineral is a magnesium-aluminum-oxide from the spinel group and the mineral class of oxides. The blue colored variant is because of more iron and less magnesium, green is created by a bit of magnesium being replaced by copper and aluminum being replaced by iron, and red by chrome instead of aluminum and manganese and zinc instead of magnesium. Larger iron percentages in the make-up create brownish and black colors.

Mohs hardness of Spinel is 8, denseness is between 3,58 and 3,61, it has imperfect fissionability and white streak color.

Apart from the possibility to mistake spinel for alexandrite, amethyst, chrysoberyll, garnet, ruby, saphhire or topaz, there are many imitations to be had. They are synthetic spinels, which are also used to imitate a number of other stones. Apart from that, natural spinel can also be burned to achieve a different color, so if in doubt, your best bet is a gemmological examination.

Although the supposed healing effects of spinel are not up to par with ruby or garnet, the spinel is nevertheless used to achieve a positive attitude towards life and helps with accepting yourself as you are. It lends stability to fickle personalities, and is supposed to lighten the mood and lend courage and confidence. It is also said to cleanse the intestines and the skin and to re-awaken numb or paralysed body parts.

> STRIKING EVENING JEWELRY

Shoulder duster scalemail earring base

Ah, what a great day! Ordered a bacon burger from the local burger place, and guess what? Got fries for free! :D Not intentional, mind. But, since the bag was already stapled shut, I thought I'd save them the hussle to open it up again. Using a second paper bag wouldn't have been good for the environment anyway.

I was feeling creative yesterday evening. Remember the dress fiasco regarding the wedding and the cocktail party? I changed tack and now have a different dress for each event. 

The dress for the cocktail party is dark grey in colour, with dark red roses across the bust and the lower part of the skirt. The shoulder part is decorated with a few sparkling green rhinestones. The earrings I saw on a favourite showmaster of mine yesterday evening (huuuuuge dangling sparkling pieces) inspired me to the jewelry I plan to wear with this dress. And naturally, I too started with the earrings. :) The base is made of red and green aluminum scales, and they'll be embellished with some gemmies - probably faceted labradorites, deep red faceted garnets or highly polished hematites. Something flashy, in any case. :) Not sure if the base design is going to stay that way, but yes, they will be long, from ear lobe to collarbone. :D I love statement earrings!

That's it for now, keep an eye out for project updates. :) 

> PROMOTION TIME: BELLA D'LUNA

First off, I updated the treasury lists. :)

Second, it's TGIF (!) and a week into the daycare strikes. Would be really happy if they'd finally came to an agreement. Although our little one seems to enjoy it immensely, today a whole day with my parents, next week a whole week with my mother-in-law. How will I ever get her back to normal after she'd been spoiled so much? :D

Summer Sky Bindi - Bellydance body jewelry

Third, PROMOTION TIME! :)

In this issue, a fellow jewelry artist is featured. She goes by the name of Bella D'Luna and has a shop on Etsy by the same name. 

Her focus lies on goth, steampunk and bellydance jewelry, so she's an artist right up my alley. :) If you'd like to know more about her, please refer to the Featured Pages From Fellow Artists And Artisans. Enjoy! :)

> GEMMOLOGY AND LORE: LAPISLAZULI

Ugh, sorry for the long gap between postings. Had a busy weekend, and on top the daycares are on strike, so my husband and I had to juggle child and work. But we manage. :)

Today, I'd like to do a post on gemmology, describing a certain stone, its different appearances and supposed uses in healing and stone therapy. 

To get the necessary raffle out of the way: The supposed healing properties are in no way scientifically proven and don't replace medical treatment. In every case, a doctor should be consulted. I don't advertise the so-called healing properties of stones, I just report the different opinions of others to create a comprehensive picture. Yadda yadda.

One of my personal favourites is lapislazuli, because I love the deep blue dotted with the typical golden pyrite specks. Sadly, I don't much use it in my designs, simply because there are so many treated stones on the market that it's hard to tell the difference, other than maybe that the untreated stones are usually unremarkable and not as beautiful and therefore are harder to sell. Figures.

Milky Way - Earhooks with lapislazuli chips

The name means "blue stone" in Latin, which is also mirrored in the mineralogical name lazurite. Sometimes, it is simply called lazuli.

The stone has been used for jewelry and healing for over 9000 years! The earliest findings were somewhere in the Indus valley. In ancient Middle Asia cultures and throughout antiquity it had been used for cultic rituals and as a colorant.

Lapis is formed in the contact zone (metamorphic zone) of just forming magmatites and metamorphously changing sediments (metamorphite; = marble). Important mines are in Sar-e-Sang in Badakshan/Afghanistan (which also produces the best quality) and in Chile and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The crystal form of lapislazuli is cubic, although visible cubes are a real rarity. It is a sulfurous aluminum silicate, is a rare representative of the sodalite-nosean-group and is a framework silicate. In its raw appearance, it is of a deep blue, with golden (pyrite) or yellowish-white (marble) specks.

In terms of technical specifications its mohs hardness is 5-5.5, the density 2.4 (can also be up to 2.9 due to inclusions), it has a imperfect eminent minerlal cleavage, shows shell fracture and has a weak blue steak colour.

Sometimes, sodalite is mistaken for lapislazuli, but the easiest way to resolve the problem is to check the streak colour, which is white for sodalite.

As I already mentioned, lapislazuli is often imitated and treated. The usual methods are artificial colouring to achieve the much demanded deep blue hue, or actual imitations with coloured calcite, quartz (chalcedony, jasper), magnesite (also often used as imitate for turqoise), china, glass, synthetic spinel, plastic and many more. Sadly, many forgeries can only truly be confirmed through gemmological analysis.

The supposed therapeutic effects of lapislazuli include dissolving of insecurities and the easier acceptance of criticism and to find the courage to voice inconvenient truths. For the latter three aspects, it should be worn around the throat. It is fittingly also called "stone of truth".
Since it's uses are focused on the throat, it is also supposed to ease raw throat, swallowing difficulties and colds. Furthermore, it is said to lower the blood pressure and slow hormone cycles.

> NEW ARRIVALS

Sometimes, there are just too many good opportunities to pass up. While browsing stores (both real and virtual ;)) for gems for a custom project, I found a number of orphans that begged so much for me to adopt them. And I, being the kind soul that I am, just couldn't resist. :D

So, please welcome the new arrivals to my stash:

A few new donuts. Because I like them and also because beautifully wrapped donut jewelry never gets out of style. :) There are some nice mottled green dendritic agates, three nice flashy bronzite donuts and two blue quartz specimen. The blue quartz are the only ones that kinda annoy me (purchased online), because while they both have 3cm diameter, they don't match in thickness, and one is visibly darker than the other. Oh well. Goodbye earrings, let's turn them into pendants ;).

Next we have two small but sparkly crystal druzies and one crystal stick. Bought them at a local shop in my hometown, and the stick was even mined locally, which means it's franconian. :) Then, we have a small lot of double-drilled oval tiger eye beads, which I quite liked and decided to buy more of after finishing the custom tiger eye choker. 

Last, six new strands have been added to my collection. The silver one is highly polished hematite, which always makes for a nice spacer bead and of course also looks fabulous by itself. Then, we have twin strands of teeny-weeny deep red garnet beads. They were so tiny but cute that I had to buy two of them, and besides, the small beads are always the first that run out. The strand with the rectangular beads is made of mother-of-pearl-pieces that have been glued together with the iridescent side facing out, so that you get beads that showcase the nice mother-of-pearl-colors front AND back. This strand has oh so many utilisation possibilities. The three strands I'm most fond of are made from faceted bronzite, faceted glimmer and engraved onyx. I already possess engraved crystal beads, which show a silver phoenix, and the engraved onyx ones show a golden dragon. I'm positive they'd look dashing when combined in a design.

Should any of these beads implore you as strongly as they did me to take them home, drop me a message and I'll whip them up into shape for you. :)

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Manchmal gibt es einfach zu viele gute Gelegenheiten, die man nicht einfach verstreichen lassen kann. Während ich einige Geschäfte (sowohl virtuell als auch real ;)) für Material für einen Kundenwunsch durchforstet habe, habe ich eine Reihe von Waisen gefunden, die mich so angebettelt haben, sie zu adoptieren, dass ich, gute Seele die ich bin, einfach nicht wiederstehen konnte. :D

Heißt deshalb die Neuzugänge zu meinem Fundus wilkommen:
Einige neue Donuts. Weil ich sie mag und weil schöner Draht-Donut-Schmuck einfach nie aus der Mode kommt. Hinzugekommen sind zwei schöne Baumachate, drei Bronzite und zwei Blauquarze, wobei letztere (Onlinekauf= der einzige Posten meines Gesamteinkaufes ist, der mich stört. Sie haben zwar beide 3cm Durchmesser, sind aber in der Dicke deutlich unterschiedlich, und einer ist sichtbar dunkler als der andere. Na ja. Goodbye Ohrringe. Machen wir halt Anhänger draus. ;)
Als nächstes haben wir zwei kleine funkelnde Bergkristalldrusen und eine Bergkristallspitze. Ich habe alle drei Stücke aus einem lokalen Geschäft aus meinem Heimatort, und die Bergkristallspitze wurde sogar dort in der Nähe abgebaut. Was bedeutet, dass sie eine Fränkin ist. :) Dann haben wir eine kleine Menge an doppelt gebohrten ovalen Tigeraugen, die ich gekauft habe, weil mir der Stein aus dem Tigerauge-Choker so gut gefiel.
Zu guter Letzt kamen sechs neue Edelsteinstränge zur Sammlung hinzu. Der silberne ist hochpolierter Hämatit, der sich immer gut als Zwischenteil oder natürlich auch als Alleindarsteller macht. Dann haben wir Zwillingsstränge aus klitzekleinen dunkelroten Granaten, die mir so gut gefallen haben, dass ich gleich zwei gekauft habe. Außerdem sind die kleinen Perlen sowieso immer als erste weg. Der Strang mit den rechteckigen Scheiben ist aus Perlmutt, und die einzelnen Perlen bestehen aus zwei dünneren Scheiben Perlmutt, die mit der schillernden Fläche nach außen aneinandergeklebt wurden. Dadurch entstehen Elemente, die nach vorn UND hinten die schönen Perlmuttfarben zeigen. Aus diesem Strang kann quasi alles gefertigt werden. Meine drei Lieblingsstränge jedoch sind aus facettiertem Bronzit, facettiertem Glimmer und graviertem Onyx. Ich habe bereits Kugeln aus graviertem Bergkristall mit einem silbernen Phoenix, und die Onyxkugeln haben einen goldenen Drachen. Ich bin mir sicher, dass beide kombiniert einfach unschlagbar aussehen.

Wenn einer dieser Edelsteine euch so stark anfleht, ihn mit nach Hause zu nehmen wie sie mich angefleht haben, schreibt mir eine Nachricht und ich bring ihn in Form für euch. :)

> PROJECT: REVAMPING

I am so never buying a dress online again. Never ever. I needed a dress for both a wedding (no black/white) and a cocktail event from work. I found one online, and bought it, believing the information provided by a size chart. It should have fit. Emphasis on 'should have'. 

Anyway, my daughter watched her first Star Wars movie yesterday. Well, kinda watched. She lost interest pretty soon. :P However, after the first scenes, when Princess Leia's ship is being boarded and the blaster fight ensues, she saw a few men topple over and she just said 'Hoppala', which basically translates as 'oooops'. :D (I always automatically say that when she falls, which is way better than 'ouch' and somehow takes the crying impulse away.) We laughed so hard. :)

Sooooo, back to business. I got a new task: revamping earrings. Or more correctly, revamping the stones from the earrings. A friend really wanted a jewelry piece with spessartine (an orange variety of garnet), so she bought a pair of earrings. On the picture, they looked really pretty, silver ovals with a faceted oval gemstone in the middle. What the picture didn't show, however, was that the gemstone setting was not flush with the base oval, but in a raised bezel on top of the oval. All in all, the earrings were quite massive, and she didn't like them at all. We debated sending them back and getting some spessartine for our own creation, but sadly, we couldn't find nice specimen that also were affordable. So, we decided to try to revamp them. 

One stone was easily liberated from its bezel, the other will require some more persuasion. The plan is to give them a nice new wire wrapped bezel and remodel them as a double pendant for a midi-length necklace. I also plan to recycle the silver pieces, but have not decided upon the final design. I will get you posted on further developments. :)

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Ich werde nie wieder ein Kleid online kaufen. Nie wieder. Ich brauche ein Kleid, das sowohl für eine Hochzeit taugt (kein schwarz/weiß) und aber auch für ein Cocktail Event meiner Arbeit. Außerdem soll es kein Standard sein. Ich habe auch ein entsprechendes Kleid gefunden und es bestellt, den Angaben einer Größentabelle vertrauend. Es hätte passen sollen. Die Betonung liegt hier auf 'hätte'.

Egal. Meine Tochter hat gestern ihren ersten Star Wars-Film gesehen. Na ja, quasi gesehen. Sie hat relativ schnell das Interesse verloren. Aber, bei den Anfangsszenen, in denen Prinzessin Leias Schiff geentert wird und ein Blastergefecht stattfindet, hat sie logischerweise ein paar Leute umfallen gesehen - ihr Kommentar war nur "hoppala". :D Ich sage das immer automatisch, wenn sie hinfällt, da es irgendwie besser als "aua" ist und auch nicht das Bedürfnis zu weinen aufkommen lässt. Wir haben so gelacht. :)

Sooo, zurück zur Sache. Ich habe einen neuen Auftrag bekommen: die Ummodelierung von Ohrringen. Oder genauer, die Umfunktionierung der Steine aus den Ohrringen. Eine Freundin wollte unbedingt ein Schmuckstück mit Spessartin, einer orangen Varietät von Granat, haben, und hat sich ein Paar Ohrringe bestellt. Auf den Bildern sahen sie auch echt hübsch aus, silberne Ovale mit einem facettierten Spessartin in der Mitte. Allerdings haben die Bilder nicht gezeigt, dass die Steine nicht im Oval gefasst sind, sondern die Fassung AUF den Ovalen sitzt. Alles in allem waren die Ohrringe recht groß und haben ihr absolut nicht gefallen. Wir haben überlegt, ob es besser ist, sie zurückzuschicken und stattdessen uns selber Spessartin für eigene Kreationen zu besorgen. Allerdings konnten wir absolut keine Exemplare finden, die sowohl schön als auch bezahlbar waren. Also haben wir uns für Umfunktionierung entschieden. 

Einer der Steine war leicht aus der Fassung zu lösen. Der andere braucht noch etwas Überzeugungsarbeit. Der Plan ist, sie in eine schöne neue Drahtfassung zu setzen und sie als Doppelanhänger für eine Kette umzufunktionieren. Ich möchte auch gern die Silberteile recyclen, habe mich aber noch nicht auf ein finales Design festgelegt. Ich halte euch über die weiteren Entwicklungen auf dem Laufenden. :) 

> MAY THE 4TH AND CHALLENGE WINNER!

Yay, it's May the 4th! Star Wars day! :D

Program for the rest of the day: Stop working, go home, watch Star Wars IV around 16:30, order pizza, watch Star Wars V 18:00, watch Star Wars VI 20:00. Or something like that. :) And yes, I won't bother with the prequel trilogy. Hopefully the new movies will bring about something of the flair the original episodes had. 

Aaaand, we have a winner for the challenge! Please give a hearty round of applause to Laura R. from Würzburg, who offered the correct answer to my question. For all those interested, yes, the mistake was the change from silver jump rings to golden jump rings, and no, it absolutely wasn't intentional. :D
I of course will post her earrings of choice here, once they're finished. 

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Juhuu! Es ist der vierte Mai, Star Wars Tag! :) 

Programm für den restlichen Tag: aufhören zu arbeiten, nach Hause fahren, Star Wars IV gegen 16:30 Uhr anschaun, Pizza bestellen, Star Wars V gegen 18 Uhr anschauen, Star Wars VI um 20:00 Uhr. Oder so ähnlich. :) Und ja, ich werde mich nicht mit Episode I-III aufhalten. Hoffentlich bringen die neuen Filme etwas vom Flair der alten Episoden zurück.

Uuuuund, wir haben einen Gewinner der Challenge! Bitte eine Runde Applaus für Laura R. aus Würzburg, die die korrekte Antwort geschickt hat. Für alle die es interessiert, ja, die richtige Antwort war der Wechsel von silbernen Jump Rings auf goldene. Und nein, der Wechsel war keine Absicht. :)

Natürlich werde ich Lauras Ohrringe hier posten, sobald sie fertig sind.

> FREEFORM WIRE WORK

Good evening. After a great First of May Garden Party a little blogging to close up the day. :)

Many, or even most, of the wire tutorials you can find online or buy as books are very specific in what wire gauge you're supposed to use, how much wire it should take and what direction you need to weave in first.

The total opposite is freeform wire work. In general, you take a piece of wire and weave, wrap and coil just how it suits your fancy. No tutorial required. Ideally, the result should still look somewhat ... planned ... or desired. :D Personally, I tried to freeform wire wrap some stones to use as pendants, and I really didn't like the results. They didn't exist for long. :D But that's probably just because I knew I had absolutely no plan while doing it. To a different person, the result may still have looked aesthetical, if not beautiful. 

The first real freeform wire design I made (and also sold :D) was a wire cuff made with thick oblong chrysocolla beads. The beads were mounted on a central wire piece, and framed left and right by thicker wire. To bring the wire and the stones together in a more or less sturdy construct, I used thin violet artistic wire in freeform to wrap around both. The result is what you see on the left side. It turned out pretty well, actually, because the cuff was so heavy and also snug enough to settle on the wrist and stay there. Not much twisting and turning because of the snugness, but you still knew it was there because of the weight,which is something I like in cuffs. :) Yet, I was not totally convinced by the design, a big part of which was the freeform wire. But one of the interesting and funny things about jewelry design is that you often sell those designs the quickest you're not a hundred percent sure of. This was one of those pieces. :D But I'm happy, the customer is happy, so it was a success all around. For project part 2.0, I already have a strand of gemmies picked out that would fit the design pretty well, I just have to make the final decision to actually buy them. :) Which might take a while, since my saved shopping cart at my favourite gemstone seller basically changes daily. Decisions, decisions. 

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Guten Abend. Nach einer tollen Ersten Mai-Gartenparty noch ein bisschen Bloggen, um den Tag abzuschließen. :)

Viele, oder sogar fast alle, der Wire Weaving-Anleitungen, die man online oder als Bücher finden kann, sind sehr spezifisch bezüglich welche Drahtdicke man nehmen soll, wieviel Draht das Projekt in etwa braucht und in welche Richtung man am besten zu erst arbeiten sollte. 

Das totale Gegenteil davon ist Freeform Wire Work. Eigentlich nimmt man einfach ein Stück Draht und fängt an, zu weben, wickeln und drehen, wie es einem gefällt. Keine Anleitung benötigt. Idealerweise sieht das Ergebnis dann allerdings dennoch irgendwie ... geplant ... oder zumindest gewollt aus. :D Ich habe irgendwie wortwörtlich keinen besonderen Draht zu dieser Art des Wire Weavings. Vor einiger Zeit habe ich mal versucht, ein paar Steine in freeform als Anhänger einzuwickeln, und die Ergebnisse haben mir wirklich absolut nicht gefallen. Ihre Existenz währte nicht lange. :) Vielleicht lag das aber auch einfach nur daran, dass ich wusste, dass ich absolut keinen Plan bei ihrer Herstellung hatte. Für jemand anderen hätten sie vielleicht trotzdem noch ästhetisch ausgesehen, wenn vielleicht auch nicht hübsch. 

Das erste echte Freeform Wire Design, das ich gemacht (und auch verkauft :D) habe, war ein Armreif aus dicken länglichen Chrysokollen. Die Steine waren auf einem zentralen Draht aufgefädelt und von zwei dickeren Drähten links und rechts eingerahmt. Um das ganze zu einem mehr oder weniger stabilen Konstrukt zusammenzubringen, habe ich violettes Artistic Wire in freeform um Steine und Draht gewickelt. Das Ergebnis seht ihr auf dem Bild. Eigentlich war es gar nicht so schlecht, weil der Reif schwer war und so eng anliegend, dass er sich gut an das Handgelenk geschmiegt hat und auch dort geblieben ist. Nicht viel Hin-und-Hergewackel durch die gute Passform, aber durch das Gewicht war man sich trotzdem immer bewusst, dass der Reif da war. Irgendwie mag ich das bei Armreifen. :) Trotzdem war ich nicht völlig vom Design überzeugt, was wohl bestimmt auch zum Teil an dem Freeform-Part lag. Aber eine interessante und lustige Tatsache im Schmuckhandwerk ist anscheinend, dass man immer jene Teile am schnellsten verkauft, von denen man selbst nicht hundertprozentig überzeugt ist. Dies war eines dieser Designs. :D Aber ich war glücklich, die Kundin war glücklich, also ein Erfolg rundherum. Für Projekt-Teil 2.0 habe ich mir sogar schon einen Strang passender Edelsteine ausgeschaut, ich müsste ihn nur noch tatsächlich kaufen. Was allerdings eine Weile dauern kann, da sich mein gespeicherter Einkaufskorb bei meinem Lieblings-Edelsteinhändler quasi täglich ändert. Entscheidungen, Entscheidungen. :) 

> PINTEREST AND OTHER SOCIALITIES

Tears of the Goddess -
garnet and labradorite

Boy, does my internet annoy me! The one time I was feeling productive and tried to get my post done in time, I'm sabotaged by my internet connection. Bah!

Sheherazade - Smoky quartz
heart pendant and chain

In this issue, I'd like to promote my Pinterest board a little. :)


For those of you who need a quick, concise summary of what I offer, my Pinterest board is your place to go. All of my items that are currently for sale plus a few of the ones already sold are on display there, linked to either one of my shops for your convenience, and all on one board where you can scroll your way through. ;)

As I already mentioned in my Endless Possibilities post about earrings, that kind of jewelry is featured the most in my current collection. 9 versions of earhooks, 23 different earring designs, 3 chandeliers, 4 hoops and 8 pearl earrings are currently available.

Next are the necklaces, all in all 15 different styles, including one choker and one 2-1 double-strand collier (each strand can be worn individually).

Thorns - Wire wrapped
baroque pearls

A Meeting of Fays -
Size-adjustable statement
ring with carnelian and crystal

9 bracelets, 3 cuffs/bangles and 2 pearl cuffs are also featured, including a very bold style made from wire and baroque pearls.

Circle of Fate - Onx and
carnelian pendant

Among the 9 rings are two very interesting pieces. Both are wired to a size-adjustable ring shank and are statement designs. One is studded with a number of amethyst briolettes, and the other is a broad design with silver ivy leaves and carnelian and crystal briolettes.

Then, we have a very small number of charms and pendants, which really need to be updated.

Last but not least there is my one LARP or CosPlay piece, a scalemail necklace in green and gold. 

So go on and have a look, or, if you don't fancy Pinterest, you could also go and visit my facebook site. :) Every drop of love is very much apprechiated! 

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> PINTEREST UND ANDERES

Meine Güte, geht mir mein Internet auf die Nerven. Da ist man mal motiviert, kreativ und möchte seinen Post rechtzeitig in die Welt hinausschießen, und dann sabotiert einen sein eigenes Internet. Man!

In dieser Ausgabe möchte ich mein Pinterest-Board etwas bewerben. :)

Für diejenigen unter euch, die sich nicht erst durch die Seiten meiner Shops klicken möchten sondern eine kurze, präzise Zusammenfassung der Sachen brauchen, die ich anbiete, ist mein Pinterest-Board der richtige Platz. Alle Stücke, die momentan im Verkauf sind plus einige, die bereits verkauft sind, findet ihr auf einem Board, zum durchscrollen und bereits bequem zu einem meiner Shops verlinkt ;).

Wie ich bereits in meinem Endless Possibilities post erwähnt habe, ist der Großteil meiner Kollektion Ohrringe. 9 verschiedene Ohrhaken, 23 normale Ohrring-Designs, 3 chandeliers, 4 Creolen und Hoops und 8 Perlenohrringe sind momentan dabei.

Bei den Ketten habe ich insgesamt 15 verschiedene Modelle, davon einen Choker und ein doppelreihiges 2-in-1-Collier, bei dem man jede Reihe einzeln tragen kann.

9 Armbänder, 3 Armreife und 2 Perlenarmreife sind auch dabei, inclusive eines sehr auffälligen Designs aus drahtgebundenen Barockperlen.

Bei den 9 Ringen sind zwei sehr interessante Designs dabei. Beide sind mit Draht auf größenverstellbaren Ringschienen befestigt. Der eine besteht aus facettierten Amethysttropfen, und der andere hat silberne Efeublätter und facettierte Tropfen aus Karneol und Bergkristall in der Mitte.

Dann gibt es noch eine sehr kleine Anzahl an Charms und Anhängern, die ich echt mal aktualisieren muss. Und zu guter Letzt mein momentan einziges CosPlay oder LARP-Teil, eine ScaleMail-Kette aus goldenen und grünen Schuppen.

Also auf, schaut mal rein, und wer Pinterest nicht mag, kann gern auch alternativ meine Facebook-Seite besuchen. :) Ich freue mich sehr über jeden Besucher und Kommentar! 

> CHARMS REVISITED

Charms again! :) Not (just) because I like them so much, but also because a friend said that it would be good to visualize their use a bit. Which is good, because I found three extra charms in my handbag that fell out of their box (my daughter played with it, and apparently she managed to make a hole ...) and therefore didn't make it into my charms post. So here is their chance to gain fame. :D

Cool colors on necklace charm holder

Warm colors on white leather bracelet

The simplest way to wear a charms bracelet is to use a chain bracelet with big enough links to hook your charms into. Because I mainly use small-linked chains, I cannot depict that here. However, I'm sure you can easily visualize this yourself. Another possibility is to use charm holders. Those elements for bracelets are small tubes with a ring attached. For necklaces, they usually consist of a bigger, slightly decorative element, also with a smaller ring attached to fasten the charms. 

Snow White and Rose Red

Strong greens, brown and black
on necklace charm holder

I grouped the charms into color themed sets of four, of course you can use more or less, depending on your taste. The first group consists of blue charms (hawk's eye and hemimorphite), turquoise (amazonite) and violet (amethyst), and the charms are attached to a necklace charm holder. The second image is a visualisation of a white leather bracelet with warm colors, charms of red (carnelian), gold (Himalayan golden shell and tiger eye) and brown (smoky quartz). Third, we have a red leather bracelet with white (druzy crystal, clear crystal and tourmalated quartz) and light rose (rose quartz) charms. The last is a 

group of greens (serpentine), brown (smoky quartz) and black (spinel) as necklace pendant. As you can see, it's sometimes interesting and appealing to combine smaller and larger charms. The jewelry piece becomes more harmonious, however, if you group your charms not only according to color matches but also according to size.

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> CHARMS DIE 2.

Schon wieder Charms. :) Nicht (nur) weil ich sie echt mag, auch weil eine Freundin meinte, dass es vielleicht gut sei, sie mal als Anhänger an einem Schmuckstück zu zeigen. Eigentlich trifft sich das ganz gut, da ich kürzlich noch drei extra Charms in meiner Handtasche gefunden habe, die sich anscheinend selbstständig gemacht haben (meine Tochter hat mit der Charms-Box gespielt ... und es anscheinend geschafft, ein Loch reinzumachen). Deswegen haben die armen drei es nicht in meinen Charms-Post geschafft. Das hier ist also ihre Chance auf Weltruhm. ;) 

Die einfachste Art, ein Bettelarmband oder Charms-Armband zu tragen, ist ein Kettenarmband zu nehmen, dessen Glieder groß genug sind, um die Charms einzuhaken. Da ich meist nur kleingliedrige Ketten verwende, kann ich das leider nicht darstellen. Aber ich bin sicher, dass ihr euch das gut vorstellen könnt. :) Eine andere Möglichkeit ist, einen Charms-Halter zu benutzen. Für Armreife bestehen die kleinen Teile oft aus einer Röhre mit einem Ring an der langen Seite. Bei Ketten ist ein Charms-Halter meist ein etwas größeres Element mit einem angeschweißten Ring, das nur leicht dekorativ ist, um den Charms nicht die Show zu stehlen. 

Ich habe die Charms in farblich abgestimmte Vierer-Gruppen gegliedert. Natürlich kann man je nach Geschmack mehr oder weniger nehmen. Die erste Gruppe hat kalte Farben, blau (Falkenauge und Hemimorphit), türkis (Amazonit) und violet (Amethyst), und die Charms hängen an einem Ketten-Charmhalter. Das zweite Bild ist eine Veranschaulichung eines weißen Lederarmbandes mit warmen Farben, rot (Karneol), gold (Himalaya Goldmuschel und Tigerauge) und braun (Rauchquarz). Drittens haben wir ein rotes Lederarmband mit weißen (kristalliner und klarer Bergkristall und Turmalinquarz) und hellrosa (Rosenquarz) Charms. Das letzte Bild zeigt eine Gruppe aus grünen (Serpentin), einem braunen (Rauchquarz) und einem schwarzen (Spinell) Charm. 
Wie ihr sehen könnt, kann es ganz reizvoll sein, Charms verschiedener Größen zusammenzunehmen. Um ein harmonischeres Bild zu erzielen, ist es aber besser, wenn man die Charms nicht nur nach Farbe, sondern auch nach Größe zusammenstellt.

> SIMPLE YET EYECATHING

Yes. I know. The translations are still not finished. Why? Because I'm lazy. And because I gave in to my weakness again and had a gaming date with The Elder Scrolls. So sue me. ;)

Anyway, what I made in between gaming sessions this weekend was a different version of my Cat's Eyes bangle. The design is shockingly simple, but depending on the gemstones you use, the bangle becomes a real eye catcher. This weekend, I did it with completely clear crystal beads, engraved with a  

silver phoenix. The wire frame is a lightweight design by nature, but by adding the gemstone beads the bangle becomes nicely heavy and settles itself well on the wrist. It stays in place quite well, too, so it doesn't bother you doing desk work, for example. 

Imagine this bangle with a stronger color ... like the Himalayan golden shell or the faceted carnelian beads I mentioned in my charms post a little over a week ago. I'm sure this bangle would look fantastic with a simple black or white cocktail dress, regardless of the gemstone color. 

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> EINFACH ABER OHO

Ja, ich weiß. Die Übersetzungen sind immer noch nicht fertig. Warum? Weil ich faul bin. Und weil ich mal wieder meiner Schwäche nachgegeben habe und ein Gaming Date mit The Elder Scrolls hatte. 

Zumindest aber hab ich am Wochenende, zwischen den Spielsessions, eine zweite Version meines Katzenaugen-Armreifes gemacht. Das Design an sich ist erschreckend einfach, aber abhängig von den Edelsteinen, die man einsetzt, wird es zum echten Blickfang.

Dieses mal habe ich den Armreif mit völlig transparenten Bergkristallen gemacht, die mit einem silbernen Phoenix graviert sind. Das Drahtgestell ist von Natur aus ein sehr leichtes Design, aber durch die Edelsteine wird es angenehm schwer und schmiegt sich gut ans Handgelenk an. Es liegt auch so, dass es sich wenig bewegt, also stört es nicht wenn man beispielsweise Schreibtischarbeit macht.

Stellt euch den Armreif mit einer kräftigeren Farbe vor ... vielleicht die Himalaya Goldmuschel oder die facettierten Karneole, die ich bereits in meinem Charms Post vor etwas über einer Woche erwähnt habe. Ich bin mir sicher, dass dieser Armreif fantastisch zu einem einfachen schwarzen oder weißen Cocktailkleid aussehen würde, egal welchen Edelstein man verwendet hat.

> LOST IN TRANSLATION

Hurray! I managed to translate about half of my posts to German. Sorry for not posting yesterday, I promise it won't happen again. I just couldn't find the time to both translate the old ones and compose a new post. :)

Tomorrow, you'll get a completely new post, AND all of the existing ones will be translated! Including nice Buttons to switch between English and German ... which should work ... in theory. I re-activated my HTML knowledge, and the code for the links and the anchors are correct. The problem, in fact, is blogger. Somehow, it automatically changes the links after a time so that they don't read <a href="#link-to-anchor"></a> anymore, but more like <a href="https:\\www.blogger.com/whateverIreallydontgetit........#link-to-anchor"></a>. If someone, anyone can tell me how I have to code so that this doesn't happen, PLEASE tell me. dreampaths.schmuck (at) gmail.com. I'll be eternally grateful!

See ya tomorrow! :)

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Hurra! Ich hab's tatsächlich geschafft, etwa die Hälfte meiner Posts ins Deutsche zu übersetzen. Sorry für den fehlenden Post gestern, ich hab's einfach nicht auf die Reihe gekriegt, sowohl meine alten Posts zu übersetzen als auch einen neuen aufzusetzen. :)

Morgen bekommt ihr einen völlig neuen Post UND die Übersetzung von allen alten! Inklusive schöner Buttons zum Wechseln zwischen Englisch und Deutsch ... die im Grunde funktionieren sollten ... theoretisch. Ich habe mal mein uraltes HTML-Wissen wieder ausgegraben, und der Code für die Links und die Anker sind eigentlich richtig. Das Problem hier ist tatsächlich blogger. Irgendwie ändert es automatisch die Links nach einer gewissen Zeit, so dass sie anstatt so <a href="#link-to-anchor"></a> vielmehr so <a href="https:\\www.blogger.com/wasauchimmerichverstehseinfachnet.......#link-to-anchor"></a> aussehen. Wenn mir irgendjemand sagen kann, wie ich den Code schreiben muss, damit das nicht mehr passiert, BITTE schreibt mir. dreampaths.schmuck (at) gmail.com. Ich werde ewig dankbar sein! 

Bis morgen! :)

> WIRE WONDERS: FLEXIBLE BRACELET WITHOUT ELASTIC CORD

First off, quick reminder: THE CONTEST IS STILL ON, PEOPLE! :)

That said, I'd like to talk about my favourite medium today: wire. 

In general, when you hear the word 'wire', I bet your mind conjurs up something strong, an inflexible and sturdy construct, wire links or maybe a stone firmly embedded within its wire bezel. All that is correct.

But!

Normally, when you need a wire link to connect two or more pieces of your project to shape the whole, the talk is about small pieces of wire, maybe funnily and intricately shaped. Those single pieces are quite strong and don't give much when pulled on from either direction, because of their size. But imagine the same link design, over and over, shaped from a single piece of wire. When you pull on the resulting wire chain, the links give. Not overmuch, ideally, but they do. 

Athena chain links forming a flexible wire cuff.

An easy way to achieve (more or less ;)) evenly spaced and formed loops, bends and twists with wire is to use a jig. Those usually consist of a block of plastic or metal with holes drilled into in a specific pattern. You put metal pegs into those holes and shape your wire around them.


The shape I chose for my Snowflake bracelet is called the Athena Link, because the most perfect form of it can be achieved on the WigJig Athena. It's a smaller jig, with holes arranged in an arrowhead pattern.

You can either add beads into the design while shaping it, making them sit directly on the link, or you can add the beads as dangling charms to the finished loops. I like it when a piece of jewelry keeps moving (only when intended to do so, of course) and jiggling, and the white pearls add a certain softness to the piece.

To close the cuff, you could either try to connect the first and last links somehow permanently, the cuff is flexible after all, or you can simply add a clasp in the same style or shape the first and last links as such.

Have a look round my shops for this and more wire inspirations.

Happy wire shaping! :)

> CHAINMAIL RAINBOW

Simple chainmail earrings with colored
anodized aluminum rings and
rainbow moonstone discs.

Okay, I admit it. The chain-/scalemail wave has caught me up, too. You might have already noticed. ;)

I thought I'd try some easy projects at first. The first (and at the moment, only) project just with jump rings was, surprise, a pair of earrings. :) I opted for the colorful anodized rings instead of just aluminum, and decided to make some rainbow jewelry. The design is really really basic. Aluminum rings connected by two pairs of colored rings per row. The result was okay, but I thought something was missing, so I tried to add some gemstones to it. I chose rainbow moonstone discs and wired them into the aluminum rings so that they looked like they were floating. 

The only problem with this design is ... the discs don't stay where they are supposed to be. Clearly, some adjustment has to be done. Sometime, when I'm in the mood, I'll get to it. But until then, I think I can enjoy them as they are. They are not perfect, but totally wearable, and somehow, I like them all the more for it. :D

> EARRINGS: ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

THE CONTEST IS STILL ON, PEOPLE! :)

When working as a jewelry artist, the possibilities in designing a new piece of jewelry are almost endless. At least in theory. In practice, they are usually limited by the availability of materials, sometimes by the wishes of a customer, and of course by the skill of the designer. ;) 

Amethyst briolettes with
wire wrapped bail

Same basic design, but with
carnelian briolettes and bead
caps

A pair of earrings, however, is the one kind of jewelry that doesn't pose much of a challenge even for a beginner. Of course, there are many extraordinarily elaborate earring designs on the market, from donut jewelry and artfully wire wrapped and hammered designs to soldered, punched and cold-fused pieces and fancyful and fantastic ear cuffs. To just mention a few. But the basic design, a hook and a bauble, can be done with very limited materials and skills.

Since there is so much to say about earrings, and also in answer to ichselbst's comment to yesterday's contest post (THE CONTEST IS STILL ON, PEOPLE!), have a look at (just a few of) the possibilities of earring designs. If you know the answer to the contest, mail me, and you get chose from one of the designs. Or just tell me what you'd like and get a completely new and totally customized pair of earrings for your trouble. :)

Personally, I love making earrings. I always have to hold myself back so as to not overcrowd the earrings section in my shop and neglect the others.

Wire wrapped open hoops with
citrine chips. Can be done with
all kinds of gemstone chips.

Also a very early design. Deep
black and faceted obsidian
beads adorned with a silver
leafy bead cap and a seed bead.

One of the very first designs I made were simple chain earrings with briolettes. I chose amethyst briolettes, cut a chain in two different lengths, created a (not very artful, but very creative ;)) wire wrapped bail for the briolettes to attach them to the wire, added hooks, and the first in a long line of chain earrings was finished.

Other kinds of earrings that I've experimented with include wire wrapped designs. 

There are designs where the wire takes the center stage and the gemstones are just an embellishment. The citrine and tourmaline hoop earrings are examples of that. 

Then, you have wire wrapped donut earrings. You can always attach donuts to readymade donut holders and wear them as pendant or earring, but they don't look half as interesting as a donut in a 

wire wrapped 'cage'. 

Of course, the wire versions can't be detached from one donut and re-attached to another, but they are much more fun to look at.

Most elaborate and most
recent design as of yet.
Wire wrapped sodalite
donuts.

Same basic design as the citrine
hoops, just bigger and with black
and red tourmaline discs.

Two other forms is the wire ear hook and the freeform wire design. Earhooks are quick to make and very versatile, you just need chips of a variety of gemstones. The freeform design is fun to make, but can also be tricky because it's, well, ... freeform. :D Not everything turns and bends just the way you imagined it.

Playful design, twisted strands of
wire, knotted around a big jump
ring, with ruby, emerald and
sapphire discs attached,
accentuated by crystal briolettes.

Below, you can see other examples of earring designs. Almost all of them, and many others, can be found in my shops, so don't hesistate and browse a little. :) 

Long fancyful shoulder dusters.
Two frosted and one clear
faceted smoky quartz bead atop
a long and pointy bead cap with
added chain fringes.

Wire ear hooks, adorned with
green peridot chips.

Elaborate chandelier design with
petrified wood and sterling silver
beads.

Red tourmaline chandelier
earrings, connected with chains.

Marriage between fluorite cubes
and seed bead tubes. Design is
very versatile.

Chain earrings with acoya pearls and three different lengths.

Cute thick tiger eye discs wrapped
in a freeform copper wire
conglomerate.

Simplest but nevertheless elegant
way to do briolette earrings,
just wrap up the bead,
attach to hooks, finished.

Heavy (also because they swing
a lot on the ear) earrings made
from onyx circle, smoky quartz
and engraved rock crystal.

And yet another version of the
simple chain earring design, this
time with three lengths of chain and
acoya pearls.

Cute small tiger eye chandeliers,
connected with wire and chains.

Simple double-bead chain
earrings.

> CONTEST: WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER WORK BY DIMMED LIGHT

Riiiiight. The first one who can spot the problem in the project below wins a free pair of custom made earrings.

A while ago, I started my first two scalemail projects, a necklace and a bracelet. Since the necklace was crafted with bigger scales and jump rings and was therefore easier to work with, I put the smaller bracelet on hold.
Then, one evening, I decided that I wanted to finish the bracelet. I worked on the sofa, with dimmed light because I also had a cold and bright light hurt my eyes. To make me even more comfy, I worked while watching The Flash on TV.

 

Right side of the bracelet. :)

Left side of the bracelet. 

It all went pretty well, no weaving problems whatsoever, and I was quite pleased with the result. Until I saw the piece by natural light the next morning. :D

Can you spot the mistake? :) E-Mail me, dreampaths.schmuck (at) gmail.com.

> NEW GEMMIES!

Rhodochrosite, faceted Labradorite
and a faceted citrine nugget

New gemmies have arrived! Hoooray! :D

I am always super happy when a new shipment of stones arrives. I'm almost like my daughter when she's allowed to help with something new, like stirring up the glue for a papier mâché project - literally shivering with excitement. 

Unpacking the stones and seeing them for real for the first time and not just pictures on the net, feeling their texture and seeing them change their hue when the light is altered, I could spend hours sorting them into my stash and comparing the newcomers with the oldies. 


The first of today's new kids on the block is a nice big cabochon of pinkish rhodochrosite, beautifully polished and drilled through one end. It will probably become the focal bead of a multistrand bracelet. :) Next in line is a faceted freeform piece of labradorite, with a truly beautiful color change and slightly see-through if held into the light. It doesn't have a designated project as of yet, so requests and ideas are always welcome. :) Third is an undrilled, faceted citrine nugget, topside whitish and gradually getting strongly honey-colored at the tip. It will definitely end up as a pendant. Fourth and last is a rectangular faceted grossular bead (green garnet), drilled lengthwise. It's not featured on the pic because it is already busy being made into the center piece of a wire flower pendant ... although it keeps resisting. ;)

If any of the stones strikes your fancy and you decide that they'd look great as newest addition in your jewelry box, drop me a message. I'm sure transfer of adoption rights can be arranged somehow. ;)