The letter "E" for the Blogging from A-Z Challenge

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”.

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for.

It is the May birthstone and the traditional gemstone for Taurus and Gemini astrological signs.  Today’s topic is Emeralds.  Emeralds are gemstones and a variety of beryl.  It gets its green color, ranging from light to dark green, from the presence of chromium and sometimes vanadium.  Emeralds usually have lots of inclusion so they are inclined to be very breakable.  Very clear stones are very hard to find and are very expensive and can be more expensive than diamonds.  They can range in cost from $300 a carat for commerical stones to a high of $90,800 per carat for Extra Fine stones.

They are usually treated in some way to enhance their appearance with cedar oil being the accepted practice.  They can be found in South America, Africa Australia, Austria, and the US.  Columbia mines and produces the most emeralds accounting for 70-90% of the market.  

Emeralds can be purchased in bead form but are rare and not always of a high quality.  Emeralds are usually cut into cabochons rather than faceted shapes.  Faceted emeralds are using cut into an oval shape or the traditional “Emerald” cut which is a rectangle with facets around the top edge. 

Spanish-made emerald and gold pendant exhibited at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Emeralds can also be yellow or blue. 

Emerald was the Pantone color of the year for 2013.

 

The Gachala Emerald is one of the largest gem emeralds in the world, at 858 carats (171.6 g). This stone was found in 1967 at La Vega de San Juan mine in Gachalá, Colombia. It is housed at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again as I continue to blog the alphabet.

Carolyn



Today is the letter "D" for the Blogging from A - Z Challenge

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”.

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for.

Today’s topic starts with the letter “D”.  Druzy or druse is the choice for today.  It is a coating of fine crystals on a rock fracture surface, vein or within a vug or geode.  It occurs worldwide and the quartz druzy is the most common.

  

Druse of uvarovite from the Urals

Pink dolomite druse with yellow calcite crystals
from Lawrence County Arkansas

Pictures and some of the information were gathered from Wikepedia.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you continue to read my blog as I work through the alphabet.

Carolyn


Today is the letter "C"

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”. 

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for.

Today’s topic starts with the letter ”C”.  Chalcedony is the choice for today.  It is a form of silica composed of quartz and moganite. It can range in color from white to gray, grayish blue and even a shade of brown.  It can be semitransparent or translucent. 

There are multiples types of Chalcedony including agate, aventurine, carnelian, chrysoprase and onyx.  It was in use in the Mediterranean area in the Bronze Age as seal-stones which are small, pocket-size personal amulets. 

Chalcedony was also used in pieces of jewelry such as this cameo of Titus. 

Chalcedony cameo of Titus head, 2nd Century AD

Chalcedony knife, AD 1000-1200

It was used in the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest in the form of jasper, chrysoprase and sardonyx. 

In the 1400s Germany had deposits that were mined and lead to an agate carving industry.  In the 1800s Germany again became one of the world’s largest processing center, particularly of agates.  Agates were brought back from Latin America as ballast.  They dyed the agates in any color from secret processes. 

I hope you are enjoying the information that I am presenting and will come back and see what the rest of the alphabet will cover.

Here is a link to the signup list of bloggers participating in this challenge:  a-to-z-challenge-sign-uplist-2014

Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.

Carolyn

"B" is the letter for today's subject

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”.   

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for.

Today’s topic starts with the letter “B”.  Beryl is the simple name for beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate.  It is composed of hexagonal crystals which may be very small or several meters in size.  Pure beryl is colorless but colors are due to impurities and can be green, blue, yellow, red and white. 

Beryl can be found in granitic pegmatites but also can be found in the Ural Mountains in mica schists and in limestone in Colombia.  Beryl can also be found in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.  New England has produced some of the largest stones found including one stone that measured 18.0 by 3.9 ft with a weight of 18 metric tons.  It is also the state mineral of New Hampshire.  The largest known naturally occurring crystal was from Madagascar weighing in at 380,000 kilos. 

Aquamarine is a variety of beryl and was the subject on April 1.  Emerald is another type of beryl famous for its green color.  Beryl can also range in color from pale yellow to brilliant gold which would include heliodor as a greenish-yellow shade.  Moganite is a pinkish beryl.

Beryl, Aquamarine, and Heliodor

Other beryl stones will be discussed on the appropriate letter day so be sure to come back and visit to see what other stones I will be talking about.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back to see what the letter "C" will be about.

The letter is "A" for Blogging A to Z Challenge

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  The idea behind this challenge is to blog for 30 days with Sundays off and using the letters of the alphabet as the inspiration for your subject.  For instance on day one of the challenge you blog about something that starts with the letter “A”.  Day two you blog about something that starts with the letter “B”, etc. until you get to the end of April and the letter “Z”. 

I am a jewelry designer and maker and I chose the subject of gemstones and related subjects.  Hopefully I will be able to come up with 26 related topics from “A” to “Z”.  Right now I have a couple of letters that I still need to get a topic for. 

Today’s topic starts with the letter “A”.  There are many gemstones that start with the letter “A”.  I had a hard time deciding which one to talk about but my birthstone is Aquamarine so I will talk about it. 

Aquamarine ranges in color from a pale blue which may appear to be colorless to blue-green that can stand alone color wise.  They tend to have inclusions which are streaks of another color and they also may have opaque areas.  Those stones with great clarity and an attractive color are expensive. 

Aquamarine is a form of beryl which one of the oldest forms of minerals on earth.  They can be found in veins of minerals formed in granite rocks in Afghanistan, Brazil, Columbia, India, Ireland, Mexico, Pakistan Russia, and Zimbabwe. Aquamarine can also be found in the United States in Colorado and Wyoming.  The largest gemstone quality Aquamarine was found in Brazil in 1910.  It was 19 inches long and 17 inches in diameter weighing over 110kg.  The largest cut gem is in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

Aquamarine



Beryl, Aquamaine, and Heliodor

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to come again tomorrow to see what the letter "B" will be.

Carolyn


Pictures and some content are from Wikipedia.

I got my bead soup

I got my bead soup and I love it.

My soup partner is Billi R.S. Rothove and she sent me a delicious soup.

Painted Wooden beads in the top of the picture and vintage Wooden Spacers in the bottom part of the picture

   Hemitite beads in triangles and discs along with a mix of rounds and 2mm beads and small bugle beads

A Jaspar Obsidian donut and black glass spacers

 Antique cloisonne beads

Lampwork beads in a dark green with green lampwork spacers

4 lacquered badgers and red antique trading beads

Billi has certainly given me a lot to work with.  I am already percolating ideas in my head and everyone will have to wait to see what I come up with.

Big reveal is Saturday May 2, 2014.  Please be sure to come back to see what I have made.

I am also participating in several other blog hops for the month of April.  The A-Z Challenge is for the entire month.  Each day you write about something that starts with the assigned letter of the alphabet.  I hope to make it through the entire month.  Please come back on Tuesday April 1 to see what I am blogging about.

I am also participating in the The Color of Dreams Blog Hop on Sunday, April 6 and Andrew Thorton's Deep Waters Challenge on Thursday, April 24.

Thank you for stopping by.

Carolyn

Bead Soup Blog Party beading partner

I found out last week who my beading partner for the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party was. 


She is listed as a visual artist and lives in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  She has been making her craft since 2001.  She has has been blogging since May 2010 showing off her beautiful creations.  She writes about her processes while making items with polymer clay.  She has an Etsy shop where she sells her items while having the most fun.


She is Billi R.S. Rothove of the blog Artist at Work.


Please visit her blog and see the items that she has created.  Billi has already sent her beads out and I hope to have them by next week.


Thanks for stopping by.


Carolyn