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Jun 13, 2014
Jun 12, 2014
A to Z of Gemstones - O is for Opal
Opal, my absolute favourite gemstone, is a gem-quality form of hydrated amorphous silicon dioxide. The name Opal was probably derived either from the Sanskrit word "upala" meaning "valuable stone", or from the Greek work "opallus" which means to see a change in color.
Precious opal is known for its remarkable ability to diffract light, which results in rainbow-like colours that change with the angle of observation - known as 'play of colour'. This colour in precious opal is caused by the regular array of silica
spheres and voids diffracting white light, and breaking it into the
colours of the spectrum. The diameter and spacing of the spheres
controls the colour range of an opal. Small spheres produce opal of blue
colour only (the most common), whereas larger spheres produce red (the
rarest colour).
Fire opal can sometimes exhibit slight colour play, but it is better known for its vivid body colour. Common opal is usually opaque, rarely translucent, and lacks play of colour.
Approximately 95% of the world's precious opal comes from Australia, and opal is Australia's national gemstone. The remaining 5% are mined in Mexico, in Brazil's north, in the US states of Idaho and Nevada, and more recently in Ethiopia and Mali.
According to an old Australian Aboriginal legend, the Creator came down
from the heavens on a rainbow and delivered a message of peace for all
mankind. Stones that were near the place where His feet touched the
ground suddenly came to life and began to sparkle. This was believed to
be the birth of opal.
Pictured above is my Boulder Opal and Sterling Silver Necklace.
Below are some more examples of Opal Jewellery from members of the Jewellery on Etsy team.
Jun 11, 2014
Launch of New Website
I've enjoyed having my own website for the last few years and really liked the design that my website designer came up with. Unfortunately it was not user friendly and I was unable to make any changes to it myself.
I have therefore now created a replacement website using WIX. While I had to use a pre-determined template I liked the fact that it was easy to alter and change the set up of the template in order to make the website my own. Even better - the website set up includes ecommerce functions so I can now sell direct from my own website rather than redirecting traffic to my Etsy store.
So now I can celebrate the launch of the new Shazzabeth Creations website! Let me know what you think.
Jun 9, 2014
Jun 3, 2014
Handmade Weekend
Handmade Store
Handmade, as mentioned in previous posts, took place this weekend. It had taken me a lot of time to get ready for the weekend but it was all worth it in the end.
Felt Exhibition
Everything at Handmade centred around a central Handmade Hub that included the Handmade Store, a Felt Exhibition (from 16 of their artisans), a Brother sewing machines display, a coffee shop and a couple of areas where people could sit and complete their creations.
Handmade Hub
My Byzantine chainmaille classes were held in the afternoons with the Saturday class being completely full and the Sunday class just one short of being full. Not having taught chainmaille to so many at once before I had underestimated the time it would take and in the end only one student managed to complete her bracelet in the class time. Fortunately though all students had decent lengths of chain going by the end of the class and had mastered the weave.
My Class
Looking forward now to another great Handmade weekend next year!
May 22, 2014
Making Jump Rings - 1
With up to 40 chainmaille kits needing to be made ready for my classes at Handmade in a week and a half's time I am currently busy making jump rings. The first stage of making the jump rings is to coil the wire. So as you can see from the picture above this is what I have been doing for the last two evenings - coiling wire. I now have a batch of coils in both sterling silver and copper, ready to cut into rings.
May 19, 2014
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