YOJ 2012 Week 10: Amethyst ring

To buy this ring, go to link below:

 http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/fleurviolettejewelry/4537368/Amethyst_sterling_silver_handmade_ring/Jewelry/Rings/Metalsmithed

 

 

 

Continuing with my stint with metalsmithing, I decided to use a sterling patterned wire I had bought eons back. And created this bezel setting for an Amethyst cab. Then I antiqued it with LOS to bring out the pattern, and tumbled polished it for hours to get a high shine. This is a US size 9 ring. I love the ring. And because I have not made such a thing forever, no one in my family believed I had made it....they thought I bought it. LOL!!

Two handmade jewelry gifts I cherish with all my heart!

I cherish all gifts given to me, but here I will talk of two handmade jewelry pieces I got from two friends who are very special to me. They are both amazingly creative jewelry artists. Both make totally unique pieces...that are their very own style. And they both are huge inspirations to me.

1) AMETHYST PENDANT
Last year....in 2010, Shay made, what in my opinion was her VERY best piece until then. I really loved it, but knew I could not afford it. And guess what Shay did? She sent it to me as my birthday gift. I was speechless. Her work is so different from most, and yet her style is very her. I can recognize her work anywhere! I will not speak more about what she made...let her piece speak for herself. It a lovely silver and Amethyst pendant. She hasn't made jewelry for the longest time due to pain in her hands. But now her hands are getting better, and we will soon see beautiful pieces being created by her once again. And here are her links:

http://www.ShayStone.blogspot.com
http://www.AllThatIAm.etsy.com
https://www.facebook.com/ShaysBook

2) LEAFY BROOCH
This year I was blessed again with another beautiful gift! This was from Mary. I often just go to her blog when I am feeling sad, low, uninspired, or plain and simple just to drool over eye-candy. She is very dedicated to the wire arts, and is always challenging herself to make something different, better. I love everything she makes, especially the vessels! Various shapes, sizes of vessels made entirely of wire weaving. You have just got to see her work! And I often wondered what should I buy from her, because I always wanted to own one of her pieces. I had never said this to her, but one day she just emailed me and asked me if she could send me a piece she made!! I was once again left speechless! Here is the piece she sent me...one I had looked at for many consecutive days, marvelling at the simplicity, elegance, beauty and craftsmanship...a leaf brooch. And here are her links:

http://www.theangstyartist.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wired-Elements/127714920578975?ref=ts
http://www.etsy.com/shop/wiredelements

If you aren't already familiar with the work of these two jewelry artists, I will suggest you head off to their blogs as soon as you get the chance! :-)))

Amethyst and Moonstone earrings for Monday

OK...these are some of the crappiest pictures I have ever taken. Seriously...I have NO idea why I am unable to take better pictures of these earrings. I promise you, they look much better than this. LOL!! This is the first time I have used chains in my design. I like it. :-). This pair also is for Dawn. She said one should wear Amethyst and Moonstones on Mondays. The Amethyst brios are such a LOVELY color, and really really awesome quality...but does not show in these pictures. The Moonstones are Rainbow Moonstones with an amazing blue flash in them, making them look so divine! You know...it makes one think of the divine spark within each of us. But....it doesn't show in the pictures. In the pictures they look like blah white globs! LOL!! The metal is 14K gold-filled wire. The chain is also 14K gold-filled.

AMETHYST: physical, chemical and metaphysical properties

Description & lore:

This is a transparent stone, mostly purple/violet in color. Its crystals are pointed, and they can be found as cluster, as geodes or as single points in various sizes. They are found in a few different colors like various shades of Purple and Violet. Some are pink in color, and then there are green ones too. The name Amethyst means "not drunken" in Greek :-). It used to be thought of as an antidote for drunkenness.

There are many variations of the mythical story of Amethyst. Here is one. The story goes that the Greek God Dionysus was really upset with a mortal. So he got very revengeful (as Gods in stories are supposed to get often! lol!), and swore that the next mortal he sees has had it! That poor mortal would be eaten up by his tigers. I wonder though, why he didn't go after the guy who made him angry in the first place. Anyway, back to the story. The next mortal who came in his path happened to be a lovely damsel called "Amethyst". She was on her way to pay her respects to the Greek Goddess Diana. Now Diana, being the smart woman she was (or is?), knew the damsel Amethyst was going to be in much distress if she didn't help. So she turned Amethyst
into pure crystalline quartz. When Dionysus saw this absolutely gorgeous crystalline statue of a very lovely damsel, he cried...and he cried tears of...WINE! Cool, isn't it? ;-) So this wine he wept was purple in color, and all his tears flowed all over Amethyst's statue...turning Amethyst completely purple. And that's how my friends we have Amethyst to make jewelry with ;-).

I wonder...did Diana ever change the poor damsel back into human?

Physical & Chemical properties:

Amethyst is the most valuable variety of Quartz, and it occurs in crystal form. The color purple of Amethyst is due to the presence of Manganese and the variation in the coloration is due the Iron content. It has a specific gravity of 2.65, and its hardness is 7 at Mohs' scale. The chemical formula is SiO2 (Silicon Dioxide), the crystal system is Tetrahedral. If you heat Amethyst, it turns colorless or yellow. Most commercial Citrine is made by heating Amethyst to yellow color.

Metaphysical properties:

It is the birthstone of people born in February. Amethyst is said to raise consciousness and intuitive abilities. It is a powerful stone to use in healing and protection. It opens, clears, balances and stimulates the throat & the heart chakras. It clears auras. It is protective and transmutes all lower energies like anger, fear etc. Amethyst inspires creativity. It gives rise to divine, selfless love, love for God, and promotes loyalty in relationships.

It helps relieve one of physical and emotional pain. And it is said to balance the production of hormones. If you have trouble sleeping, keeping an Amethyst crystal under your pillow is said to aid in having a good restful sleep. Keeping Amethyst around when you sleep also helps in having out of body experiences. You might also get intuitive dreams.

If you are injured, it is said to help reduce bruising. It heals hearing disorders, digestive problems, and headaches.

Amethyst opens a conscious channel between your earthly self and your spiritual self. It calms you down and makes you more at peace. It makes you compassionate and heals troubles from this life as well as the past lives.

It aids in contacting your spirit guides and angels, and helps in channeling divine messages.

This stone also helpful for people who are about to cross over to the other side. Amethyst is said to help with mental disorders, but it should not be used in cases of schizophrenia and paranoia.

Amethyst is a great stone for using in jewelry because of its strong healing powers and high vibration. It is especially helpful as a pendant that hangs over the throat chakra or the heart chakra.

Sources of Amethyst:

Brazil, Canada, East Africa, USA, UK, India, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Siberia, Uruguay.

Credits:

Over the years I have read many books, internet articles on gemstones because I just LOVE gemstones. And I have collected points that I found interesting, in my notebook. I don't remember all of these sources because there are so many. But some of my favorite books on crystals and gemstones are "Love is in the Earth", "Gems and Astrology", "The Crystal Bible".

Natasha's Amethyst Moon

Hearts Entwined

This was made from Eni Oken's tutorial. Gold filled wire, Ametrine, and Green Amethyst.

Amethyst Affirmation bracelet

2 new pendants and a ring: Blue Topaz, White Topaz & Mystic Topaz

This Mystic Topaz ring is a commissioned piece made for a new mum-to-be who said something really sweet...that Mystic Topaz reminds her of her yet-to-be-born baby:

Made these two wire sculpted pendants (gold-filled wire). These are big pieces, and very royal to look at :-).

This pendant is made of a huge 18mm x 13mm White Topaz with an 8 mm Amethyst and fresh water pearls:

This one below is an 11 carat Blue Topaz with an 8mm Blue Topaz, and fresh water pearls:

New Wire Sculpted Pendants

These are some wire sculpted pendants I've made over the last few days...techniques learnt from Metallique and Preston Reuthor courses. All stones except one are genuine, and they are all set in 14K gold-filled wire.

This blue stone is Amazonite:

This is a Unakite:

I am not sure what stone this is...I think it is Jade. Any ideas?

This is Fluorite:

This is an Agate cameo...mum and baby:

This is actually an Amethyst colored man made stone (the only man-made stone in this section; the rest of the stones are genuine). But when I took a picture, the picture looks blue:

This is a Peridot:

This is a Pink Topaz:

There are 2 Citrines and a string of fresh water pearls:

Two Pink Topaz here, but the bigger one is not the finest quality...the edges are not pink. Maybe the heat treatment wasn't done well?

The Lotus

This is made in school too. My first resin-inlay work. The pendant is made from sterling silver sheet, the bezel is fine silver, and the inlay is epoxy resin. I am very pleased with the gradient coloring I tried. Our instructor gave the best compliment ever...she said I should have taught this class. LOL!

The chain is made of Amethyst stone, fresh water pearls and sterling silver links that I made. Again...the pictures are bad because my table top studio was packed away, I was in a bad mood (selling the house etc), and not much patience. I'll re-take these pictures later with my new EzCube table-top studio.