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The Jewelry Blog
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A jewelry designer's take on trends in jewelry in the fashion world as well as information and the historical and cultural aspects of gemstones and jewelry.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'jewellery'
Lariats: Pearls and Gemstones, Gold and Silver
I like lariats, but like some other things I forget, I sometimes forget to make them until I realize that the Lariat Necklace page has only a few necklaces on it, or I put one of my own around my neck...
Strange Brew: Dragonflies, Blue Topaz, and Unakite
These are what we in Arkansas call the "dog days" of summer. Theories abound as to where the name originates from ancient and astronomical (the Dog Star, Sirius, is supposedly in ascendancy during Aug...
Peridot: The August Birthstone
The August birthstone, peridot, is a beautiful bright green gemstone also known as olivine. Its use is ancient, and the peridot has been confused with the emerald. The ancient source of peridot was f...
If It's Not One Thing, It's Another.....
This rhodochrosite bracelet really cheers me up, and wow! do I ever need cheering up! While I usually don't get into personal issues here on the jewelry blog, this last week (and it's been some kind o...
Ruby - The July Birthstone
I love rubies! One of the pieces of jewelry I remember from childhood was a faceted ruby pear (glass, of course) pendant that hung from a gold chain. I loved it; it made me think of fairy tales and I...
Happy Fourth of July!
I wish I had some red, white, and blue jewelry to show today, but I'll have to make do with what's on the page. Here in Arkansas, it has rained until a few minutes ago when the sun has come out in ful...
Summer in the Studio
Usually things slow down for jewelrymakers in the summer, but it hasn't for me yet. The pool beckons (boy, does that water look good), the house could use a lot of TLC (those things I always put off ...
Why I Love Turquoise! Turkoosi, Turquesa, Turkooizen
Turquoise is a wonderful material for jewelry and has been used for thousands and thousands of years. I love to use it for several reasons, not only because the colour turquoise is one of my favorit...
The Bigger the Better!
For those people who prefer "bigger," "chunkier" jewelry, the aquamarine bracelet above is perfect! Large, hunky transparent aquamarine nuggets and large lampwork beads (from James Derrick Reeves) w...
Coral and a Contest!
Summer is here and with summer comes coral! Of course, I wear coral in the winter also (after all, my favorite colors are peach and coral), but coral just sings summer. I prefer my coral with gold alt...
Back to My Bracelets!!
Serendipity strikes once again! A set of lampwork beads, oddly coloured with tones of brown, beige, olive and purple, carelessly placed on a desk next to some new strands of beads, and voila, a combin...
In the Merry Month of May
I love May, and not just because it's my birthday month. May is the month when Spring turns into Summer (at least here in Arkansas), the privet blooms and our backyard becomes perfumed like a night i...
It's My Birthday!!!
It's my birthday, and I cannot believe how old I've become!! But I still love bracelets! My sister and niece and I used to joke that someday I would be an old lady who wore big rings and too many bra...
Shades of Blue
I just spent the last week in Florida! How wonderful is that? It was business as usual with the work laptop and almost the entire jewelry inventory along for the ride, but somehow business is quite di...
Summer Stones, Winter Jewels
When I mix gemstones for bracelets, I mix because of a paradigm that I've adhered to for quite a while. I see many gemstones in terms of season. That may sound stupid, but I simply can't help it, and...
Quartz: Frozen Ice
Pliny the Elder, Roman naturalist, contended that quartz crystal (or rock crystal as the colourless variety is sometimes known)is actually ice that has become permanently frozen over a long period of ...
Prehnite: Misty and Romantic
Prehnite is one of those gemstones that no one has ever heard of until suddenly you start seeing it everywhere. Discovered in the 18th century in South Africa by a Colonel von Prehn, prehnite is usual...
Emeralds, Rubies, and Sapphires
Part of the new Spring Collection from Cluny Grey features precious emeralds, rubies, and sapphires in bracelets and necklaces in which they are mixed with goldfill, sterling silver, and sometimes ...
Tourmaline: The Stone with Mixed Colours
If I get any busier I'm going to have to clone myself! Nevertheless, I decided it was time to update the blog and try to get a few things on the website. Some time ago I bought quite a few tourmaline ...
A Motley Crew of Bracelets
The days are growing longer; I locked the office this evening at 7:30 and it was not totally dark yet - and it was around 70 degrees! I love warm weather and the long, long days of summer - and especi...
Moonstone, Opal, Coral, and Snow?
I was working on this moonstone bracelet today when the secretary came in and announced a 100% chance of snow! Now, everyone else is probably sick of the stuff, but we really haven't had a snow this y...
Dreaming of Aquamarine
Aquamarine is one of my favorite gemstones, a member of the beryl family just like my own birthstone, the emerald. Aquamarine comes in a variety of colours, but my favorite is the pure "aquamarine" c...
Amethysts!
It has been so long since I last posted that I've almost forgotten how. Valentine's Day and its aftermath have kept me busy, then the indescribable sickness that comes from having fibromyalgia stole ...
Valentine's Day Countdown
I'm still working busily on Valentine's Day jewelry and am just taking a moment to post a few things in the last minutes. I have a Valentine's Jewelry page that I am trying to complete (yes, I'm just ...
Gemstones and Hearts!
Valentine's Day is creeping up on us, and I'm still listing jewelry pieces with hearts. I have gemstone hearts I should use, but I've lately been involved with the lampwork hearts that you see here. ...
More for Valentine's Day
I'm still trying to get my depleted website full once again, but it's not easy when you're a one-woman design team. Custom orders do keep me busy and away from the computer (that's why I'm always wri...
Valentine's Day: Coming Soon
Valentine's Day is just around the corner - less than a month away, and I'm trying to get the newest Valentine's creations on the Cluny Grey website. A few jewelry pieces that I will be adding are fe...
Moonstones & More Garnets
Ive been trying to look over my website the last few days and in doing so I realized that I had only one moonstone bracelet that hadn't been sold. It was time to make more. I have a Rainbow Moonstone...
Garnet Bracelets on Parade
I've been working on garnet bracelets along with the other work that I need to get done as well as playing with one of my new Christmas presents: Adobe Photoshop. The garnet bracelets are going well,...
Garnet: The January Birthstone
Although garnet is the January birthstone, it is a favorite with many, many people. It was a classic gemstone for Victorian and Edwardian jewelry and is still popular today. Perhaps it's because its...