Garnet: January's Birthstone

Garnet is the birthstone for January according to both traditional and modern interpretations. It is also associated with the astrological signs Leo, Capricorn and Aquarius. In the ancient world it was often referred to as the carbuncle. The name garnet probably comes from "pomegranate", and garnets do resemble pomegranate seeds when many are used together.

Garnet blends well with many other stones; it's really almost a neutral since it's such a dark red stone. Lampwork beads, beautifully patterned leopardskin jasper faceted garnets, garnet rounds, and wheels combine with sterling silver and a large flower charm from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes mix with the dark red tones of the garnet in the bracelet here and in the matching necklace.

The garnets in the charm bracelet combine with the beautiful glow of borosilicate beads that also have a garnet cast to the colour. The handmade charms are made of many different sizes and shapes of smooth and faceted garnet beads.






Most people probably associate garnets with the Victorian Age since they experienced great popularity during this time.
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A Few Favorites

Looking back over the recent months, I've discovered that there are some materials I really like to work with although they are certainly not in the semi-precious stones or artists' lampwork category. One is crystal as in the bracelet above made with Preciosa crystals (I like Swarovski also). These crystals are not Aurora Borealis coated so they are much more subtle than they would be otherwise.
I also love beadsbeads that are lined with silver foil, especially when they are well lined (no missing or ragged spots) like the ones above that are light blue and have flowers painted on the outside. Good quality silver foil looks great with white silver.
I personally wear more gold than I do silver, or I wear a mixture. The bracelet above has beads with sparkly gold middles, vermeil and 14 karat gold-filled accents and blue Preciosa crystals. jewelry The Jewelry Blog

The "Canyon Aesthetic" in Jewelry

Combining turquoise with rust, orange and red and especially sterling silver or giving a rough edge to a gemstone otherwise associated with a more refined or sophisticated milieu (such as rubies or tourmalines cut into rough nuggets) I've come to call the "Canyone Aesthetic." The first bracelet illustrates the "Canyon Aesthetic" with turquoise and silver paired with lampwork beads in the canyon colours then mixed with very eenly faceted red aventurine barrels and the more sophisticated matching earrings with an ornate sterling silver chandelier base and the same regularly faceted stones. As sterling silver has supplanted gold according to the preferences of a younger generation in the last few years, we see more and more of the Canyon Aesthetic. It is a style of jewelry that is replacing the idea of Southwestern as turquoise and silver, the elaborate "Squash Blossom", and the tackier geegaws created for the tourist trade.
Still in the realm of the Canyon Aesthetic is the next bracelet featuring lampwork beads, breciated jasper carved ovals and vase beads and deep burgundy freshwater pearls.

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The Weight of Rubies

Rubies are one of my favorite stones; these rubies are a dark opaque burgundy and look wonderful with the beautiful lampwork floral bead from Littlecrow (whose beads are just fantastic!). The lovely swirled bead is by Alyson Straley. Turkish silver is also one of my favorites. Turkish sterling silver is a high quality silver with marvelously intricate patterns and beading and granulation. The cones here and the bead to the left of the floral focal is Turkish as are the flower studded earwires that close in the back. Bali is great, too, but Thai Karen Hill Tribe is another favorite of mine. The super high silver content combined with great workmanship and unique designs make it very desirable for jewelry designers. The ruffled hand-decorated caps on the earrings around the large ruby make almost any piece special! This bracelet was an entry in the Internation Jewelry Designers' Guild Virtual Trunk Show.

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Karen Hill Tribe

The International Jewelry Designers' Guild Virtual Trunk Show

You can't miss this Virtual Trunk Show brought to you by the members of the International Jewelry Designers' Guild. Yes, I am a member, but so are many others, and the work is fabulous! If you are a jewelry fan, you have got to look, even if you can't buy right now! Only on Sunday starting at noon Eastern Standard Time - December 4, 2005.

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Cluny Grey International Jewelry Designers' Guild Virtual Trunk Show jewelry bracelet necklace

A Definite Charm

I have been so busy selling jewelry that I haven't had much time for actually creating it, but I did put this charm bracelet together out of vintage lucite gilia flower beads, some Preciosa crystal, Swarovski crystal for the flower centers, and some other lampwork and glass beads. There is nothing quite so soothing to me as putting together a charm bracelet. I go into one of those "flow" states that is better than meditation where I feel myself centered in one place while doing one thing and thinking of nothing else.

Another charm bracelet features the borosilicate beads of James Derrick Reeves and genuine natural aquamarine. These boro beads have beautiful depth and are perfect with the aquamarine since they have mysterious swirls of blue and green. Currently the top charm bracelet is up for auction on Ebay; the aquamarine can be found on our webiste.
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Time for Sparkle!

As it (finally) starts getting colder here, my thoughts turn to jewelry that sparkles. The November-December-January holiday period is that time of the year when many of us go to more gatherings than we may in all the other months of the year put together! When I think of parties, I think of attention-getting jewelry; when I was in grad school, jewelry was always important since I didn't have the money to spend on party clothes, so the jewelry I wore "dressed" up the outfit (quite often a dressy white silk shirt and a long black skirt) and made it seem more festive even though it may have been something I'd worn many times. One type of jewelry that I never wore during the day was crystal so it was great for going out in. Earrings were especially important since they drew attention to the face and hair; a necklace filled in the neckline and announced that I was going to a party.









The necklace set made with Preciosa crystals hanging down is typical of something I might have worn: it's fairly simple, classic, and it would draw attention to v of the silk blouse which would probably be unbuttoned one button lower than it usually was. The earrings, at over 2 inches long add a nice glow and sparkle, and are certainly not gaudy so that they could go comfortably many different places. The bracelet set in the first picture is great, too, since it has attention-getting earrings and the crystal of the bracelet with its little butterfly charm makes it special also.
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Kyanite: Nature's Beautiful Blue

Kyanite is one of Nature's most beautiful gemstones; the name comes from the Greek word for blue - another name is Disthene. Often a lovely cerulean blue with striations inside that look like long, fine brushstrokes, the kyanite that we see in the jewelry business is usually translucent although it can be transparent. The striations give kyanite a lovely texure even when it's smoothly polished so that it sparkles and has a lovely sheen to it.
For those who are interested, kyanite is associated with the astrological signs Taurus, Libra, and Aries. It is supposed to balance the yin and yang, enhance tranquility and psychic awareness, and dispel anger and frustration. Perhaps more of us should wear it since it is also said to increase mental awareness and lessen confusion!
The kyanite bracelet and earring set shown here is extremely feminine largely because of the great Thai Karen Hill Tribe sterling silver lily beads that hold small kyanite gemstone drums. The bright silver complements the kyanite in a way that couldn't be matched by gold or antiqued silver. The other elements of the bracelet are Turkish beads and cones of filigree, Bali sterling silver accents, and Karen Hill Tribe little flower charms.
This bracelet set is currently up for auction on Ebay; check user id: chloemarie99 or do a search for Cluny Grey.
For those of you who are interested in jewelry, making jewelry, or the jewelry business, check out The Beadboard. K. keeps up with the jewelry business so well that he even found my blog! The Beadboard covers everything from general information about jewelry to buying beads to setting up displays at shows. It's for professionals, hobbyists, and those who just like to keep up with what's going on in the jewelry world.

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The Allure of Charm Bracelets

Zanzibar is the first charm bracelet that is very Fall - Winter in spirit because of the wonderful dark colours and the boro lampwork beads by James Derrick Reeves of Gonzie and V3 Glassworks. The swirls in beads remind me of the rusts, tans, yellows, brown, and soft greens of leaves swirling outside in the Autumn wind. Bronze freshwater pearls and smoky topaz add to that Fall feeling and the heavily ornamented Bali sterling silver adds to the richness of the bracelet. This is currently up for auction on Ebay under the user id: chloemarie99 or you can do a search for Cluny.
The matching earrings I am especially fond of because of the wonderful gem quality topaz squares that are faceted. I added a bronze freshwater pearl to each one then hung them from sterling silver Bali earwires.

They work wonderfully well with the bracelet.
The next charm bracelet, also at auction on Ebay this week is called Grapevine and features lampwork beads by Texas bead artist Lisa Sharik. Lots of amethysts in different forms give interest to this bracelet. There are carved amethyst ovals, carved lotus flower rounds, faceted ovals, smooth rounds as well as smooth rounds of lepidolite and interesting faceted rondelles of violet crazy lace that has patterns that echo the swirls of the lampwork beads. The matching earrings are in the middle of the bracelet in the picture.

Sometimes when I work with purple, especially amethyst or lepidolite, I just want to continue to work with it even though my current project may be finished. That's how my next project came into being. A large clear amethyst nugget got me started, then I found a lampwork bead I liked, and I had to go ahead with this bracelet! It makes use of most of the elements in the charm bracelet, the amethysts, the violet crazy lace, but I also add some sage violet opal or sage violet amethyst as I've seen it called also. Those are the little faceted briolettes that make one part of the bracelet looked scalloped. Even on this bracelet there are charms. The second strand is a chain with amethyst charms hanging from it at intervals. I haven't named this bracelet yet, so if you have any good ideas for a name leave me a comment!
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You can find these and similar jewellery at Cluny Grey Jewelry and at Studio G Jewelry

Mixtures: The Spice of Life

I've grown to love mixtures of gemstones and lampwork in a way that I never thought that I would. I mean, I'm a person who likes to wear one colour at a time where clothes are concerned: all black, all blue, all turquoise: I like the head-to-toe look of one colour. I vary that with my jewelry and with an Hermes scarf now and then, sometimes a pashmina (and yes, I still wear them; I probably always will now; they are one of the most versatile articles of clothing: they can be mufflers, shawls, a hood to keep my hair dry, and they help preserve a sense of modesty in Muslim countries). Anyway, even if my clothes are monotone, my jewelry isn't. The first example is the bracelet I call Indian Summer; it features Indian agate, ocean jasper, artist's lampwork beads by Alyson Straley, and tourmaline. The textures are interesting also, from the filigreed and beaded sterling silver to the "bumpy" lampwork beads to the floral lampwork beads, faceted stones, and carved agate. The next bracelet has a mixture of gemstones and silver, made at a time when I thought that I would never, ever, mix gemstones with lampwork or crystal or any non-natural material. I still love this.

It features tourmalinated quartz, unakite(a mottled peach and green stone that takes some getting used to), and labradorite, a stone with wonderful Schiller effect (flash).Since the stones are all smooth with the exception of a small carved labradorite flower bead, the texture comes from the wonderful Bali sterling silver, the accents, beads, and the clasp, which is really beautiful.
Lately, it's hard to think of doing one colour, one stone! The Jewelry Blog The first bracelet is on auction at Ebay, ending tomorrow night; search for Cluny Grey or user id: chloemarie99. The second bracelet can be found on the Cluny Grey Jewelry website or in our Ebay store. Free shipping in the USA on our website! Also check out the Studio G Jewelry website with designs by Leslie Turtle as well as by Cluny Grey