Rock Review: Labrodorite

As you may have guessed from my new series of blog posts "Rock Review" – I’m a bit of a nerd! I LOVE to know history and fun details about the materials I work with. It makes creating and designing with these incredible, naturally forming materials even more exciting! So, from time-to-time, I plan to enlighten myself (and hopefully my readers) with a bit of detailed research about ROCKS.

The next ROCK on my RADAR is the Labrodorite. Originally discovered on St. Paul Island in Labrador Canada in 1770, this rock ranges in color from a brilliant blue to grey and can sometimes include a rainbow of colors. It is one of the many stones classified in the feldspar family (nerd alert: feldspar family is defined as: a group of rock-forming minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth’s crust, per Wikipedia – and we know they don’t lie!)

Labrodorite is best known for its “shiller effect," or in layman’s terms its iridescent colors reflected at different angles. The scattering of light causes this effect from the thin layers in the stone, formed during the earth’s cooling process. This why the labordorite is so unique – depending on the angle from which it is viewed, a brilliant flash of different colors can be seen!

In addition to its country of origin, GEM QUAILITY labordorite can be found in Madagascar, Finland, Russia and most notably in India. Aside from its enchanting beauty, this stone also comes with an Eskimo legend! According to generations of Eskimo legend, labordorite holds the Northern Lights captive. A powerful Eskimo warrior found the Northern Lights captive in this rock and freed some of them with his spear. Not all of the lights escaped and that is why Labordorite displays an array beautiful colors today.

Another great example of beautiful labrodorite can be seen in these earrings at my ETSY shop:

www.etsy.com/listing/64331359/living-large-in-labrodorite-dangle

A little fascinating fact and a little folklore legend makes for a great ROCK to REVIEW. Till next time!

Rock Review: Chinese Writing stone

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64925250/chinese-writing-stone-cocktail-ring

Chinese writing stone is a naturally occurring gem that is actually mined in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas in California. Those who discovered the stone felt that the white crystal structure against the black stone looked like Chinese characters, hence the name Chinese writing stone. The majority of the stone is limestone, and the white flecks are andalusite crystals. Porphory is a second name for the stone exists which is rarely used in trade, though perhaps it is more PC. This gem is a recent discovery as rocks go. It was discovered during highway construction in the 1960's. It's beauty and durability make it a fantastic stone for jewelry making. It is a 5-6 on the Moh's scale of hardness, which makes it a reasonably tough stone. It is thought that Chinese writing stone is helpful in making a person dream. Pretty cool! Try sleeping with this ring on!

Rock Review: Serpentine

Serpentine ( hydrated magnesium silicate)

More of a mineral than a rock, Serpentine is so named because of its green, yellow or brown hue which resembles the skin of a serpent. Handle serpentine with care because it is porous and relatively soft, ranging from 3 to 5 on the Moh’s scale of hardness (that’s out of 10). This means that it should not be cleaned with an abrasive and chemicals including perfume should be avoided.

Although you may not have heard of serpentine, it has been used for thousands of years. It was used in ancient Assyria to invoke special blessings from the gods. It has also been used as a healing stone to aid in stomach and kidney ailments when laid directly on the skin. Here is a link I found on how to alleviate back pain with serpentine: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6017079_serpentine-stone-back-pain.html

Serpentine is found in New Zealand, China, Afghanistan, South Africa, USA, England, and Italy. While it is pictured here in a striking yellow with flecks of black hematite, it is also found in many other colors. Red, green, brown-red, brown-yellow and white are other colors varieties of the same mineral substance.

Droid Review

I am not the first to get very excited about any new-fangled technology device, but something incredible happened, and I had to share it.

Yes, I am rockin a new DroidX thanks to my mother in law who took a look at my old pitiful phone, and just couldn't stand it. She got me a new phone, and a good phone that will last more than a day out of warrantee.

To tell you the truth, I thought that this phone was a little too big. It wasn't my first pick for looks, but I was planning on getting a phone compatible with squareup--a credit card merchant device for small business to automatically get authorization on credit cards. I can't wait until that get hooked up, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I kept saying, "all i want to do is make phone calls." I'm sure you've thought the same thing. Unless you are one of the proud few who have discovered how fabulous it is to have a really smart phone. The latest Droid is fast. Very fast. and to make it faster, I installed "swype" an app that allows you to type a word by drawing a path between the letters on the keyboard, rather than tapping each letter individually. Swype is changing my phone experience completely. Between slow internet and slow typing on a glitchy touchscreen, e-mails didn't seem possible on my old phone. Now, I am writing e-mails, messages, notes to my self, notes in my google calendar and more.

That's not even the greatest part. When the voice command button is pressed, I can tell it to do anything! It goes way beyond the simple "call mom"....it responds impressively to commands like"navigate to...," "map of..."I get instant google searches for anything i say, and the prefix "note to self" sends my every word to my e-mail inbox.

Because the Droid is powered by google, every g-application is top notch. Gmail, for instance, is very easy to get to, fast, well organized, and because of my "swype" revolution in typing, easy to use.

Ironically, I tried to use the droid to post this, but for some reason I couldn't get the keyboard to appear in the text body block for blogspot. Lol, so I guess it falls short somewhere, but if you have any ideas for fixing that problem, I'd love to hear them :)

Wordless Wednesday!
Brand-New Series Unveiled:
"Brandy Bracelet" Line by LayneDesigns

These new interchangeable pieces can be worn as either a bracelet or pendant. The best of both worlds!

Oppi Untracht and the Jewel Mandala

I came upon this chart recently, and have been fascinated with the concept ever since. A student was reading a few pages from the beginning of Oppi Untracht's "Jewelry Concepts and Technology" when she stumbled upon this chart. She showed it to me, and I had a reaction of amazement that has stuck in my mind for nearly a week. I have read the entire chapter pertaining to this chart entitled " the jewel mandala" and have fallen in love all over again with Mr. Untracht.

He writes" The mandala deals with the functions that jewelry serves the wearer. Staring with the more basic uses which are later subdivided.....All of these uses relate to areas that consern basuc aspects of the human being: the self image, the root image, and the public image."

This chart is now poster-sized on the wall of my studio.

Rather than the simple intention of the jewel that Oppi discusses, from my perspective, this chart is like a roadmap to the destiny of the jewel (which is eternal--at least more eternal than we are) To take into consideration all of the roles that a jewel plays to a person, and in society has given new spark to my imagination which is constantly creating.

The chart is thorough and meticulous, mapping a jewel's purpose to anything from a remembrance jewel to a magic jewel, it continues by listing the ways in which a jewel might be used to remember, or assume special powers.

In the center of the entire chart (and this i find most fascinating) is Self image. Neither the jewel nor the wearer takes center stage in this intellectual display of the jewel's destiny. It is, rather, the image of self that determines the destiny of all jewels, even those which are purchased for investment or collection rather than for wearing.

Thank you Oppi Untracht, for your book Jewelry Concepts and Technology. Oppi Untracht passed away in 2008 at the age of 85. His books revolutionized jewelry making in America. He respected jewelry making as an art first, and an industry second, and he was the most thorough, knowledgeable, and well researched english speaking person on the topic of jewelry and metalsmithing. His book on Amazon. Thank you Oppi, for your absolute interest in sharing your knowledge, passing on the fine tradition of handmade metal arts. It is a dying trend for one to make anything with their hands. Thank goodness for your legacy of keeping it alive.

New! R.Lynn Photo Greeting Cards

R. Lynn's Etsy Shop is building an inventory of adorable cards for animal lovers, and the best part is that she is donating $1.00 from each card to Furever pet adoption center, a no-kill pet shelter start-up. These adorable cards are pur-fect for many occaisions, and they are blank inside for your creative input, and at only $3.50 each, you can make this wonderful donation for the same price as a card at the drug store!! Hurry to get your Halloween orders in on time!

Furever Home Adoption Center is an all-volunteer organization, and we are totally supported through private fund-raising and the good-will of the local community. Committed to the no-kill philosophy and to relieving the suffering of homeless animals, our vision is to make Lancaster County a safe-haven for animals