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

Travel Challenge Staycation - Olympia WA

 Welcome to the Travel Challenge Staycation version.  This year Erin decided to have us blog about our home town.  I currently live in Olympia Washington.  I moved here approximately 22 years ago when my daughter was ready to start high school. 

Olympia is the capital of the state of Washington and was established as a city in 1859.  It is also the county seat of Thurston County.  It makes up part of the tri-city area of Puget Sound, the other cities being Lacey and Tumwater.

On my staycation I took daily walks with my dog., Hank.  He is a Chow and Lab mix and the most gentle dog that I know.  He is a very people person, always loving some attention.

The strap over his nose is called a "Gentle Lead" which allows me to have a bit of control over him as he is a big dog (90 lbs.)  He doesn't mind it too much but is glad to get it off once we are home.

One of Hank's favorite places to visit.  The wait staff always has a doggie biscuit or two when we come by.

On one of our walks we discovered an older car.  Not sure of the age but Olympia does have several car collector clubs.  Here is a link to pictures of a recent show:  12th-annual-tenino-quarrymen-car show

You will see giant sunflowers in peoples yards as they grow to six-seven feet tall.

or you can see growing pumpkins

or possibly even a family of deer

This was the first time that I had seen a pair of fawns.

Here is a preview of the beads that I used in my jewelry set.

I decided to make something with wood for two reasons.  I had the beads already and Olympia is a port that exports logs to other areas of the world.  I was hoping to get a picture of one of the trucks taking the logs down to the docks but wasn't able to.  I also used agates as they are a type of stone that is found here in Washington.

This pictures shows of the red-orange agates that I used both in the necklace and in the earrings.

Please visit Erin's website (2nd-annual-challenge-of-travel)  to see the list of other participants.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will come again.

Carolyn