Playing with emeralds.

Yeah REAL EMERALDS!!.  I can't believe that this is something I was able to do and I loved every minute of it.

The history of emeralds is a long one with the earliest known mines dating back to 330 BC.  The stone has been used in some of the worlds most expensive and exquisite pieces of jewellery including items belonging to royalty.

Legends behind emeralds say that the stone can help the wearer foresee the future and was one of the four stones given to Solomon which were said to give him the power to control all of creation.  The stone is now used in crystal healing to bring a calming effect to the wearer, personally though I think it's just a pretty stone to set into jewellery, whether its in a collectors quality stone or a more raw state.

For me, gemstones don't always have to be the stereotypical stone that is selected for it's cut, colour and clarity. The 'least desirable' selection of stones can more often than not hold a HUGE amount of beauty in their own right.

So with that said, I'd like to show you all what I made with my emerald beads.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me ramble, feel free to leave any comments you have.  My next post will probably involve garnets, I think I love garnet more than I love emeralds.

Making my own chain.

I love to try and put gemstones together to show them off at their best which can often mean simple elegant designs, however...   I do like to try something a little bit different at the same time.  This meant trying to find an unusual chain for this design but I just couldn't find what I was looking for until I stumbled upon an image of someone making the chain I used.  I honestly can't remember what site this was on but I have to thank the person who uploaded that image for helping me with inspiration.

It took a little bit of playing but I finally figured out how it was done and I'm thrilled with how it looks

I think it just added a slightly 'funkier' look to a design that is timeless.

This is a sterling silver and amazonite necklace with the amazonite being the main focus of the necklace.

Amazonite is a stone often associated with truth and calm.  It is often used to promote rational thinking when worn and calms tempers.  Personally I just love the colour, it has such a summery feel to it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone.

I am the kind of person who doesn't like to take risks or show off the few things that I feel I am good at.  I would much rather give myself a quiet pat on the back and not tell anyone about something I've done that I'm really proud of.  So here I am stepping out of my comfort zone and sharing my love of jewellery making with you.
I have been making jewellery now for about 7 years on and off, teaching myself new techniques and finding a style of jewellery that I love to create. I've found that simple and elegant jewellery seems to be what works best for me, especially when it comes to working with gemstones and wire.

So for my first blog post here is a couple of pictures of some of my designs

I hope to use this blog to jibber on about the gemstones I plan on using and new techniques I discover along the way, but for now its time to do some of those boring housewife tasks before I can play with some of the goodies I have waiting to be made into some jewellery.