New Zealand Made

Bamboo and Wool Felt Clutch Handbag

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Bellwheel

Amazonite and Sterling Silver Pendant

My Amazonite and Sterling Silver Pendant was one of the pendants that I initially made to stock the Handmade store over the Handmade expo weekend in Wellington. I am now in the process of gradually listing them online.

Amazonite, as you can see, is a gorgeous pale blue gemstone. For this pendant I have wire wrapped the pendant with square sterling silver wire, which has then also been used to form the bail for the pendant. 

One set of wires, with the central one twisted, have then been swept across the front of the pendant. The other set, again with the central wire twisted, have then been used to form coils to sit just below the bail.

While the basic wrapping of these stone follows a fairly set process, it is the finishing of the wires that produces the main variations, as will be seen as the various pendants get listed.

Friday Favourites

Pink and Red Cherry Corseted Lampshade

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Fabulously Fierce

A to Z of Gemstones - R is for Ruby

Ruby is a variety of the mineral corundum that gets its red colour from chromium.When corundum occurs in any other color it is referred to as a sapphire. The word "corundum" comes from the Tamil "kurundam", meaning "ruby sapphire". The English name "ruby" comes from the Latin word "ruber", meaning red. In the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, ruby is called "ratnaraj", which translates as "king of precious stones". 

The most famous source of fine rubies is Upper Burma, now known as Myanmar. The ruby mines of Myanmar are older than recorded history; Stone Age and Bronze Age mining tools have been found in the mining area of Mogok. Next to Myanmar, the most important historic source of ruby is Sri Lanka. Today the most important sources for ruby include Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

The colour of ruby is its most important quality factor. It can vary from vermilion to red. The most sought after colour is a strong pure red to red with a hint of blue. This vibrant red hue is known as "pigeon's blood". If the color is too pink, the stone is classified as a pink sapphire.

Ancient Hindus believed that by making an offering of a ruby to Krishna, rebirth as an emperor was assured. Burmese warriors believed that rubies would make them invincible, and even inserted rubies under their skin for this purpose. According to the story of Marco Polo, Kublai Khan offered the King of Ceylon a city in exchange for a large ruby. Medieval Europeans believed that rubies assured good health, prosperity, wisdom and a successful love life.

Pictured above are my Ruby and Gold Herringbone Earrings featuring rubies wrapped in 14k gold fill wire. Below are some more examples of Ruby jewellery from some members of the Jewelry on Etsy team.

Ruby and Oxidised Sterling Silver Necklace by Nikha Jewelry

 Silver Antique Wax Seal Heart and Ruby Necklace by Your Daily Jewels

Natural Faceted Ruby and Sterling Silver Micro Necklace by The Silver Bear

Pink Gemstone Charm Bracelet

With new photos taken I have now added my Pink Gemstone Charm Bracelet to my own website. 

This bracelet has a lush collection of gemstone and crystal beads, 64 in all, all securely wired onto a sterling silver chain. There are three varieties of gemstone in the bracelet: rhodonite; ruby and calcite; and fresh water pearls in three different shades of pink. There are also Swarovski Crystals in four different shades of pink. As you can see from the pictures the bracelet is then finished off with an art deco style toggle clasp.

All in all this is a perfect bracelet to gift to that someone special.

New Zealand Made

Gardening Gift Bag

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Square 9

Sapphire Tumbled Stone Pendant

This is one of the pendants I made for the Handmade weekend. With several of the pendants not sold that weekend I am now in the process of photographing them individually so that I can list them online.

This pendant is the exception as I've decided to keep this one for myself, something I don't actually do as often as I should.

Unlike most of the other pendants that are cut cabochons, this pendant utilises a tumbled but uncut stone of sapphire. You can see the streak of blue across the front of the pendant. This is also one of the few pendants that I wrapped with round wire as opposed to square. I must admit that I ran out of the square wire.

Anyway, my keeper, a tumbled stone Sapphire Pendant.