I'm out of words today . . .

 Honest.  Do you ever just run out of words?

I'm busy getting ready for a show in Omaha next weekend and I'm cranking out the juicy stuff and loving every minute of it.  Reminds me that what I really love is cutting and polishing my own stones and hand-fabrication - metalwork - fire - hammers.

So here you go.  A little bit of lavender color chalcedony cut from a band of blue agate, translucent and glorious.  Set in sterling silver and accented with a little drop bead of sunset color carnelian.  For my money, nothing is more satisfying than taking a little bit of pretty stone and making it prettier.

The end.

Oh, for sale.

Montana Agate . . .

Ahem.  Now that I've gotten over my 'pique.ed.ness' from the last post, I'm ready to move on.  You must be so grateful.

Back to the bench!

Instead of doing a wholesale clean up of the whole mess that taunts greets me every day, I decided to simply work myself through it.  Sure, my little space to work gets smaller and smaller but as I turn out lovely work like this, space increases day by day.

I'm in love with Montana Agate, have I told you?

I cut and polished some for a friend last year and this slivver was part of an edge that didn't have much promise as a primo piece but see?  A little lovin' and it turned out great.

Certainly on the milky side, the inclusions and explosions tend to the rusty color and accenting it with copper rings just seemed right.

Sports a pierced and cut out back for no other reason than I love it that way.

Beautiful.

Tres Amigos . . .

Well, this was fun!  In the midst of the 'making frenzy' that is preparing for a biggish show the end of February, stocking galleries and preparing for the summer shows, I took yesterday afternoon to build three beads.  I call them beads because they're open and (duh) not solid.

Punched, drilled, pierced and roughly sanded, these three little guys are fun little pendants - unique, simple and complicated all at once.  They're 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, hollow, of course, and a treat to make when you're feeling sort of 'challenge-y' and not so 'bent wire and a bead earring-y'.  They are capped with three aquamarine beads for accent - still trying to decide if I like that.  Pretty sure I'll be making more so I'll have my chance to leave the bead off, of course.

No more - no less.  Fun at the bench.

Working not talking . . .

Ocean Jasper and Citrine pinned bead

Here I am with new work and not much to say about it all.  In my last post I said I was going to get back to what I love doing most of all and that is cutting, polish and setting my own stones.  Stop trying to chase what I think will sell and make what I love.  And here you have the fruits of my labors for the weekend.

The Ocean Jasper is a stone I've had in my collection for some time and it worked its way to the surface of the pile on Friday.  The Citrine bead I pinned to a cupped bit of sterling silver and like the way it reflects the golden orbs in the jasper.  Pretty.

Rhyolite and Moonstone Beads

The Rhyolite has the most gorgeous pink, aqua and gold striations - just like a Sonoran sunset.  This stone started life as a matching pair that I wanted to make into earrings but I dropped its twin.  That was not a good day.  However, this little guy, accented with moonstone beads still holds its own!

The last piece I finished is a teardrop of Amethyst Sage Dendritic Agate.  Sadly, the photo doesn't do it justice as the stone fades from deep amethyst purple into olive green so softly.  The dendrites frame the horizon and give it such wonderful interest.

Amethyst Sage Dendritic Agate

I'm happy to be back doing what I want and what I love.  

So there, Almighty Dollar!  I refuse to chase you any longer!  From now on, it's all about me!

Prudent Man Agate . . .

I'll admit it right now, this is going to be a hit and run.  

I wanted to quickly post this pic I just took of the lovely pendant I made yesterday (I've got to finish the laundry and you know the litany of other stuff that goes by the name of housework, doggone it).

However, here we have a sweet little piece of Prudent Man Agate - not the best piece of Prudent Man I've seen but I wanted to work with the material and this one has wonderful depth.  Now I'm on the lookout for a slab that I can cut and polish to my own specifications.  

Great stuff, yes?

Today's cache . . .

Bitter.  Sweet.  

Some of you remember my relating to you that my lapidary instructor and dear friend, Professor Roger Pabian passed away before Thanksgiving of last year.  As it is with serendipity in a bitter sweet way, the woman who spent 41 years going on rock hunting expeditions with him was the Lincoln Gem and Mineral Show this weekend and was selling some of Captain Agate's work (his wonderful nickname).  

I spent the better part of an hour there with my friend Jan and we combed and picked over dozens of Roger's beautiful cabs, mostly agates, and there we found the best and most beautiful bits and pieces of Captain Agate's passion.  He could coax wonderful scenes from an agate!

I just couldn't resist buying a whole handful of Roger's beautiful stones and I celebrated Captain Agate by taking one of the lovely little pieces of Montana Agate this morning and turning it into a pendant.

I think it's gorgeous.  I do love this little cab and the patterns in it are wonderful made even better with the sliver of burnt orange running through the top.  The three little carnelian beads make a perfect accent.

A little bit of Roger.

A Triumph of Lichen revisited . . .

Maybe lichen isn't the word I'm looking for here. Maybe fungus is the word but that makes for an icky title for such a lovely stone.

Ocean Jasper is always gorgeous and I blogged about this little bit last week when I was finally able to get back to the lapidary bench for a few hours.  I turned out this stone and a handful of others that will slowly make their debut here in the next few days.

The patterns in the stone remind me so much of the roundish mold or some sort of fungus that grows on fallen logs and sometimes the side of the barn.  You people who read this and know what I'm talking about, please straighten me out as to what this is called.

This stone begged to be set with circle accents and it turned out particularly well, I think.  Okay, I had some issues with it but in the end, I like it.

Once in a while it's all about me . . .

The set up: Sunday night. 9:00pm. Bored. Too early for bed. Finished my book and refuse to turn on the tv. I excuse myself and head out to the pile of rock slabs in the shop where a cat joins me, watching from the windowsill. I find a little bit of Prehnite about the size of your little fingernail and I start to polish.

Monday morning: Using a scrap of silver from another project, I set this stone in a simple bezel, added a long loop for a bail. Change my mind and saw it off and use a tiny slice of tubing for a bail.

I am always surprised when a piece is in progress at how rough and messy it is, metal covered with glassy flux, bits of melted metal, sharp metal edges, a completely nasty piece. But in no time it's polished and hung from a snake chain, now around my neck. I marvel. I'm satisfied that I've fabricated a piece from beginning to end for my own pleasure.

Once in a while, it's all about me and what I want to make for my own creative satisfaction. No worries about finishing a handful of work for a gallery or listing on my etsy site. This is just mine. Unless someone falls in love with it while I'm wearing it. Then . . . awww . . . I'm a sucker for a compliment.