Crackled Black Agate with a little of this and a little of that

www.carolingrammoore.com ~  www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

 These jewelry components had been sitting on the bead board waiting for creative inspiration. Maybe it was the Open Studio or maybe it was the muse, Sunday I finally finished this necklace. It is cracked black agate stones.

I found some Tim Holtz metal tags long ago. This one which reads encourage your hopes not your fears I used for this necklace. It is strung with beading wire and then I added copper metal bead caps, copper jump rings, copper crimp beads, copper crimp bead covers, and a copper clasp.

I collected Susan Lenart Kazmer Industrial Chic charms for their artistic flair. Love her work! I added a glass lily of the valley charm to the SLK charm.

I used two sizes of crackled black agate for this necklace. Agate according to The Book of Stones is a stone of stabilizing and strengthening.

Antique pendant, agate, and aventurine necklace

 I purchased this pendant at an antique store. It reminds me of dogwoods blooming in the spring.

 For this necklace, I used aventurine and agate.  Green aventurine is said to to a stone of optimism and a zest for life according to the Book of Stones. Agate helps with balance and stability and if recovering from an illness. The two green stones are also earth stones.

Here is a close up of the agate with all the different variations of the gemstones. The round stones are aventurine. A little bit of spring all year long....

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Christmas Stone Ignites Creativity

www.carolingrammoore.com ~ www.artisansofthegap.com www.facebook.com/CarolIngramMoore

Imagine coming home after practicing the organ on a dreary cold day to find a package hanging on the door of your studio. I put the Christmas gift under the tree and waited until Christmas Day to open it. Wrapped very carefully in the bottom of the bag was this beautiful gemstone. On the bead board was the carnelian already wrapped. This began the creative juices flowing.

Having created the necklace, I decided to create some earrings. It took just a few tries to remember how to wrap all these tiny little jasper gemstones to the larger jasper. They look like little flowers dangling from the larger flower blossom. The sterling silver ear wires I purchased are hammered and heavier than I normally use.

The finished necklace is shown in the photo above. It is full of jasper gemstones much like the stones in the earrings. There are five links of copper wire on each side of the necklace. A sterling silver clasp was added. Lately I have been creating gemstone and mixed metal necklaces long enough to simply place over your head and fall across your chest.

You just never know what happens with a Christmas stone.