A fun way to select colours for Jewellery Design

Most of us at one time or another have trouble coming up with new and exciting colour combinations. Of course one way to get out of trouble is to use seasonable colour charts many of which are accessible on the net; one such site that comes to mind is Fire Mountain Gems who are actually a bead and finding supplier in the USA and you can check out the 2008-2009 colour forecast guide on their website.

Alternatively you can raid the paint charts and chips which are also seasonal and available at your local hardware store, but one of my favs is to use fabric or a piece of clothing out of my very own wardrobe.

Here's a piece of jewellery I designed around colours in a new blouse I bought in the summer. It was a combination of deep violet, white and rust tones.
I had been saving a luscious strand of violet dyed large fresh water pearls to make something for myself. I teamed these with sterling silver, and various swarovski crystals to match the colours in the fabric.

Emerald - Birth Stone for May

Emerald, the stone of Love.

This stunningly beautiful green stone belonging to the Beryl family, was mined from as early as 3000BC and it is said the Egyptians took them from a source near the Red Sea that was later to become known as "Cleopatra's Mines". These mines were thorougly exhausted of any gems by the time they were rediscovered much later again in the 19th centuary.

Cleopatra, herself was known to adore the jewel. Well if that's the case all I can say is the woman had darn good taste in stones, but not necessarily in men.

Down through the ages the Emerald has been worn as a sacred talisman, been worshipped by the Aztecs and Incas and carried by Montezuma himself, while its name derives from the ancient Greek word smaragdos, meaning green gemstone.
Pliny also commented that green gladdened the eye without tiring it. Personally I never tire at looking at green, particularly those amazing sea greens.

The Emerald's colour is said to symbolize spring and rebirth, whilst the stone has strong ties to Love; probably because the Ancient Romans dedicated its colour to Venus, Goddess of Love.

In the middle ages the Emerald was used to predict the future and protect against evil. It is the stone of inspiration and infinite patience and is supposed to bring domestic bliss and loyalty. It keeps a partnership in balance. But beware, if it changes colour it may be signalling unfaithfulness. It is helpful to those who suffer from claustrophobia, but more importantly, it is the stone of wisdom.

Nearly all natural emeralds are found with inclusions, this give them a soft mossy green appearance which is known as jardin, meaning french for garden.
Jardin however does not necessarily detract from the stones value. Stones with good colour can sometimes be the most included; as long as inclusions do not run so deep as to cause weakness in the stone.

Emeralds are precious and therefore must be treated with care. They are not be immersed in detergents, so remove them when washing up. Nor should they be cleaned in ultrasonic cleaners. They must also be professionally re-oiled every few years, because they are normally treated with oils and resins whilst being cut and polished. This process fills any cracks thus producing a nice neat finish.

Best places to wear your Emerald are on the little finger, the ring finger, over the heart or on the right arm. However, do not wear it constantly or it may trigger negative emotions.

Lime

On the weekend I decided to go shopping for a new handbag and wallet. I really wanted a new Lime Green wallet. Lime green it one of my fav colours and I destest dreary Black and Brown wallets. If you own a green wallet it is said that your wallet will always have money in it. Might be an olde wives tale, but so far my trusty battered lime green Oroton wallet has never let me down.

Would you believe after weeks of searching and having almost given up ever finding a new green wallet I found three in one shop and yep I secured all three of them, mainly because I couldn't choose between them.....lol. All were gorgeous.

One is oversized in Lime Patent faux Croc skin with two silver buckles on the front. I think this one is probably my fav, the second one is plain faux ostrich in pale apple and the third is a dark forest green with a really neat looking clasp. All are different designs as well I think I've found my fav bargain shop for bags and wallets.

As my birthday is coming up, I also scored a wonderful Fossil brand summer handbag from hubby, reduced from $259.00 to $49.95. I'm in heaven.

So if you're visiting the Gold Coast, make sure you visit Harbourtown at Helensvale, as most of the shops are having a great summer clearance sale at present.

Having bought all those wallets inspired this piece of Jewellery which contains dyed freshwater pearls in Lime of course, Swarovski Crystals in Montana, Ernite and Peridot which pick up the colours in the beautiful Lampwork bead by Bev Butler from the NSW north coast. The clasp and bead caps are all sterling silver.

The Colour Purple or is it?

So how do you mix Purple?

Anyone who has even had an art class will answer by mixing Blue and Red together.
Sounds simple enough doesn't it? However some research reveals a story about purple that spans back into the history of ancient china and involves a buried Terracotta army.

In 1974, a province in China was suffering a drought, so farmers began digging an irrigation well, the fact is that they didn't find water, but what is now widely considered the Eight Wonder of the World. What they discovered below the earth were more than 8,000 life sized warriors, horses and other figures made to accompany and protect Qin Hi Huang, the very first Emperor of China on his journey into the afterlife.

Many of us have seen pics of the warriors in their natural Terracotta colour, but they weren't always this colour apparently. Two thousand years ago, the warriors were actually brightly coloured, no two the same.

One of the colours found on these model warriors, supposedly the highest ranking of the officers, was known as Han Purple. It seems this presented an interesting conundrum to archaeologists, in that Purple pigment was rarely found on ancient artefact's.

Han Purple has since been found scientifically to fade in acid, so colorless particles found in pigments containing Han Blue and Han Purple may be particles which were originally purple but which faded after burial in acidic conditions.

Blue and Purple are not colours found in surface soils and would therefore not have been created using earth. Blue pigments only began to appear in history when mining began and even then they were extremely rare, as was the case with Lapis Lazuli. A blue stone which was once powdered and mixed with oil to create the pigment named Ultramarine meaning "Beyond the sea" and which is often seen in the beautiful blue Renaissance paintings of the 1600's.

The original source for Lapis lies in the valley of the Kokcha River, at Sar-e-sang meaning "Place of Stones" which is in the province of Badakshan in north-eastern Afghanistan. Marco Polo mentioned these mines in 1271 and he noted that the stones were processed to make colour, although Ultramarine has been made synthetically since 1828. Lapis came to Europe via Venice, which was the main trading port between Europe and the East. Today it is still mined by hand and when the stones are brought to the mine surface, they are sorted into three general categories being "Rang-i-ob" meaning "Colour of Water", "Rang-i-sabz" meaning "Green" and "Surpar" meaning "Red Feather". Surpar is considered the highest quality of Lapis, because it has a deep blue-violet tone.

Good Lapis is very rare and very expensive although a new source in Chile has provided a good alternative to the that found in Afghanistan and at a slightly cheaper price. The Egyptians held Lapis in high esteem, it was as precious as gold and as a consequence they were often used together in jewellery and still are today.
Purple has always been associated with royalty, power and wealth.

So how did Ancient China mix up the colour purple?
A bit of detective work reveals that it was indeed synthetic. This means that Chinese artisans were performing synthetic inorganic chemistry more than 2700 years ago.

Aussie Opal Miners Protect Digs.

Recently out at a place called Mundubbera approx. 390 kms north west of Brisbane, Queensland, there's been a discovery of an outbreak of a very vicious plant - The Hudson Pear. A cactus, bought to Australia from Mexico as a garden plant, is so vicious that it's spikes have been known to cause serious injury and even death when a fella fell into a patch at Lightning Ridge (one of Australia's Opal Mining communities) and had a heart attack. It's spines or spikes are so tough they can penetrate boots and car tyres and need to be removed with a pair pliers.

The Cactus was first reported in New South Wales in the 1960's. According to various sources, it spread from a Cactus nursery but was further assisted by Opal Miners deliberately planting it around their diggings to keep thieves away.

In New South Wales reports estimate that this pest now covers up to 100,000 hectares of land, rendering the land useless. It is capable of spreading easily as new plants can grow from segments of any size. It is also found in Southern and Western Australia and has naturalised in South Africa. Two herbicides are however currently available for treating the Cactus.

Pic courtesy of NSW DPI

Gemstones - Myths and Legends

Many tales surround gemstones. From the earliest times, people have and in some cases still believe that gemstones have mysterious qualities. They were used to ward off drunkiness, cure toothache and headache, blindness and so on.

Apparently in the middle ages, Alchemists assigned curative properties to gemstones, somewhat similar to what we have today in the form of homeopathic medicine. It seems that diseases of the time were given classifications according to four qualities,
ie hot, cold, moist and dry. Stones were then assigned within the classification.

Here are some properties supposedly associated with Gemstones.

Diamond - Thought to bring victory to the wearer, along with superior strength and courage. Associated with thunder and lightning. Also believed to indicate quilt or innocence. The stone of Kings.

Amethyst - Said to prevent drunkeness and have the power to induce dreams or visions.

Aquamarine - Remedy for eye trouble, toothache, sore throat, feelings of weakness. Thought to promote a happy marriage.

Emerald - Reputed to cure blindness and believed to preserve the chasitity of women, also supposed to blind poisonous snakes (lol....better remember that one for next time I'm out bushwalking and a "King Brown" pokes its ugly face out at me - It's long story)

Opal - Cupids stone of hope and love. Supposed to bring good luck, but not in the western world.

Ruby - An antidote for poison. Believed by Hindus to ensure health, wealth and joy.

Sapphire - A symbol of truth, sincerity and faithfulness... Supposed to keep one safe from illness and protect again poisoning.

Turquoise - Used against falling or tripping, also worn as a protection again the "evil eye"

A Colour Wheel of Gem Stones

Here's my list - if you've got some ideas of your own, send me a comment and I'll add them here

Black - Jet, Onyx, Obsidian,
Grey - Labradorite
Brown - Agate, Jasper, Smokey Quartz, Tigereye
Voilet - Amethyst, Jadeite, Tanzanite, Tourmaline,
Blue - Amber, Aquamarine, Fluorspar, Iolite, Jadeite,
Lapis Lazuli, Sapphire, Sodalite, Spinel, Tanzanite, Topaz, Turquoise,
Green - Adventrine, Amber, Beryl, Chrysocolia, Emerald,
Ernite, Hemimorphite, Jadeite, Malachite, Nephrite, Peridot, Sapphire,
Tourmaline
Yellow - Amber, Citrine, Butter Jade, Jadeite, Topaz,
Tourmaline
Orange - Amber, Carnelian, Fire Opal, Sapphire
Padparadsha)
Red/Pink - Amber, Garnet, Coral, Fire Opal, Kunzite,
Morganite, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Tigereye, Topaz,
White - Moonstone, Opal, Pearl,
Clear - Quartz

Jet aka Black Amber

Last year my eight year old Border Collie had to be put to sleep, it was discovered that he had a tumour on his spine after not being able to get up one morning. This post is in memory of my beautiful boy, Jet.

So what is Jet exactly? It measures 2.5-4 on the Mohs scale and is one of the softest semi-precious stones, most other minerals can scratch it. It is way too soft to be facet cut, so the most common form of cut is either 'en cabochon' or made into beads. It was used in Britain long before the Romans arrived and is said to have been found in 4500 year old Bronze Age Barrows in Yorkshire and Scotland.

There's an example in the pic below. These were sold to me as Jet beads and are featured with Ernite. Question is now, are they really Jet? Possibly, but certainly not Victorian Jet.


The interesting thing about Jet is that is was once alive, in the form of a tree.
Originally it come from a weird species of Conifer that had a banded spiked trunk, and cones the size of a football. Today the tree's formal name is "Araucaria".

In Australia, the Hoop and Bunya Pines are of that species. For those of us who have seen the Bunya Pine which mainly grows in South East Queensland, we are in awe of the size of its cones which can grow to the size of a football. However I digress.

It was probably due to something as dramatic as climate change, that these ancient trees died by the forest full. Massive logs and debris built up in swampy areas as these giants crashed to the ground, they were then covered with mud, causing them to fossilise without air, shrinking to a black layer of Jet, probably just a few centimetres thick. Directly above this a layer of limestone formed, which then became covered with silt, shale and clay.

Jet was made famous initially by Queen Victoria. Her Jet came from the Whitby mines in Yorkshire. Whitby Jet is considered the finest in the world although very good quality genuine Jet is found all over Europe and North America, especially Spain, Germany and Pennsylvania.

Now back to Queen Victoria, she chose to wear Jet as her grieving adornment when her prince consort passed away. Black signifies the "absence of light" and known to be the colour of death in the Western world. Due to Queen Victoria, Jet became the height of fashion, everyone wore it, its beads were easy to wear with woman's clothing styles of the day. However, Jets popularity diminished around the 1880's when Victoria took to wearing white stones, such as pearls and diamonds.

I've read recently that you should never loan out your Jet jewellery, as it is said to be so absorptive that its owner can be vulnerable to negative magic if it falls into the wrong hands.

Some interesting facts about Jet

When warmed it attracts lint, it can support innate heat, and this can cause it to spontaneously combust.

Testing for real Jet

You can try the scratch test. Use a porcelain tile and scratch the Jet against the rough back of the tile, it should leave a chocolate brown mark. Coal which is softer will leave a black mark, Glass a white mark and Vulcanite (a primitive form of plastic) a trail of grey. It is said that when manufacturers of fake jet realised this they started to add a brown dye to the surface plastic.

Some facts about Vulcanite from the Plastics Historical Society

Combining natural rubber with sulphur in a furnace, Vulcanite was discovered in the USA in 1839 by Charles Goodyear, patented by Hancock in England in May 1843 and Goodyear in USA in June of the same year.

Various mouldings in Vulcanite were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

The material, most commonly black in colour was used to make combs, buttons, jewellery, fountain pens, pipe stems (both plain and decorative), musical instruments, etc. It was also widely used as an electrical insulator and for chemically resistant linings. A reddish colour was used for denture plates until superseded by celluloid and acrylic. Then in 1930 a reddish material rippled with black was popular for fountain pen and pencil barrels. Since the 1930s however Vulcanite has been based wholly or partly on various synthetic rubbers rather than natural rubber.

An example of Vulcanite


So today the best test for Jet is to heat a needle and hold it to the back of the piece. If its real nothing will happen, plastic will bubble and smell. A more dramatic and of course destructive test is to hold the Jet in a flame where it will give off a greenish flame with sooty smoke, plastic will just melt. Make sure you wear safety glasses and use tongs, because if the Jet you're testing is Glass it will certainly explode.

Ok so now I'm off to test one of my Jet Beads, so which test will I use...humm. I'll let you know the outcome.

Ed.. ok it could be Jet I used the porcelain scratch test and it left a choc brown line, but is might also be dyed plastic. So will try the heat test next.

Lets talk about Butter Jade "Butterstone"

This is the next stone in my series on interesting yellow toned semi previous stones. So far I've looked at Amber and Citrine, both extrememly interesting in their own right, but hey, aren't all gemstones interesting?

Butter Jade is not actually Jade, but is another of those stones not unlike Amber in that it is known to contain evidence of the first life on earth in the form of micro fossils - Stromatolites of Blue Green Algae. These fossils predate dinosaurs by 2500 million years and signify the development of life as we know it.

Apparently it is a great stone for carving and there is much evidence of this found in South Africa where it is mainly found. It is a stone that is often Cabbed to, so a great material for those jewellery makers who adore working with seed beads.

Other names for Butter Jade are Butterstone and African Jade.
It is supposed to to bring good luck and is also good for helping accept one’s life path as well as being excellent for self-realization and acceptance. It promotes clear thinking and aids in decision making.

Recently I incorporated some Butter Jade in a piece of Jewellery I made. At the time I wasn't really familiar with the stone, but thought it looked like such a wonderful soft colour. Since doing some research on the stone I have become interested as to why my Jade has white inclusions, surely this can't be blue green algae. If anyone can answer my question I've love to hear from you. I guess its possible that my beads came from a different area to the orignal location.

The pic is of the stones that were sold to me as Butter Jade.

The Art of Amber....Part 2

A few days back I wrote about amber being found in the far north of Queensland, here in Australia. Since then I've been doing a bit of research and found out some very interesting things about amber generally... it truly has me fascinated now. You may recall I was amazed about some of the possible inclusions found in amber, e.g insects and flowers, lizards and even frogs. Apparently mushrooms have also been found in the past as well as hair and feathers. Its seems that these types of inclusions greatly increase the value of the specimen. However, liquid and air bubble inclusions are usually removed by boiling the amber in rapeseed oil, before it is used for jewellery making.

Colour is usually determined by the source tree. Pines are responsible for golden-yellow amber, deciduous trees produce reddish toned amber, whilst green is due to the decomposition of organic material. However after long exposure to air and elements amber changes colour to a mellow brown. So far I've been unable to ascertain what causes some Amber to be blue.

Classification of amber is based on the source. eg. Baltic amber is known as succinite (as it contains succinic acid which biochemically plays a role in producing Citric Acid).

Romanian amber is rumanite, Sicilian amber is simetite and Burmese amber is burmite.

So does that mean Australian amber will be known as austamite? Guess we'll have to wait and find out.

Amber requires a fair amount of care because on the hardness scale it rates around 2-3. Being extremely heat-sensitive, it also needs to be protected from sources that produce heat, including hot water and strong sunlight.

Keep amber away from hairspray and perfume, protect it from bumps and scratches and keep it stored separately from other jewellery. When stringing amber it's best done in the same way as expensive pearls, i.e knotted between each bead.

So how do you tell the fake from the well thing? We've all seen lots of fake amber at weekend markets, this stuff is usually made from glass or plastic. Real amber is warm to the touch and floats in salt water, so that's why its found washed up on beaches.

Citrine - certainly no Lemon

This is the second post in my series about yellow gems. Today I've decided to tackle the Citrine, the rarest gem of the Quartz family.

Citrine is named after the French Citron commonly known as a Lemon. Colours range from lemon yellow to bright orangey brown. It is said to be the most affordable of all the earth-toned gemstones and is the perfect complement to all the warmest tones in your wardrobe. Its sunny colours light up black and contrast with blues and purples.

Natural yellow Citrine is very rare and has been revered for many thousands of years, it was popular amongst the ancient Romans who used it for Intaglio work, whereby a design is etched into the surface of the stone. The stone was particularly popular in the retro jewelry of the 1940s. Its bright yellow color and spectacular size suited the style and bold gold of the era.
It was often set with Ruby, Peridot, and Aquamarine in vibrant brooches, necklaces and bracelets. Many jewelry designers today still love to set Citrine in yellow gold, alone, or with Amethyst, Blue Topaz, or Peridot.

Many Citrines begin their lives as Amethyst and it's difficult to tell a natural Citrine from a heat treated one. After gentle heating, the purple fades and a golden yellow takes its place. Citrine mainly occurs in igneous and metamorphic rocks and a great source of it is the Rio Grande do Sol state in southern Brazil.

Citrine is said to enhance individuality, improve motivation and activate creativity. I wonder if that also applies to those grown in a Lab?
Now where did I put my Citrine ring and necklace. I shall wear them more often and particularly when I'm lacking motivation in future.

The Art of Amber

Did you know that Amber has been found on the beaches of Far North Queensland, somewhere in the Cape York area?
Sorry I can't divulge the exact location, because it's a secret with the reason being that scientists want to study the inclusions.

According to a news report, huge chunks of it, some the size of footballs and up to Twenty million years old (not as old as Baltic Amber though) have been collected in the last few years, some 60kgs of wondrous resin and now stored in a drum. There is speculation that this Amber has come from up to 200 kms's away and is likely to be from the Kuari Pines of ancient rain forests.

This is the first real Amber to be found here, sure we have other versions like coal resin and so on, but the interesting thing is some of this Amber is actually coloured apart from pale Lemon and Yellow, as in, Blue, Red and Green. One of the most amazing pieces to be found is Red and glowing with the inclusion a Gold insect. By all reports just stunning!

Imagine finding fossils, insects, plant material or even flowers belonging to the Jurassic age. Imagine some of the bigger pieces holding a frog or lizard, apparently this is possible. There are pockets of air and water also captured by the resin, imagine reaching into the past to discover what the atmospheric conditions were of the day. Scientists will be able to ascertain the temperature, rainfall and various other conditions and with the ability to test DNA as we do today who knows what will turn up.

So what is Amber used for exactly? Most of us know that it features in jewellery, its also made into beads and is used to make cigar holders and the mouth pieces on pipes. Why? Apparently is has the inability to past on infection.

The majority of Amber comes from a region near the Baltic Sea, but it can also be found on the coast lines of Denmark and The Netherlands, some areas of England, as well as several other places in Europe. Its also been discovered on the islands of Java and Bali in Indonesia.

So with this Australian discovery about to be investigated further by paleontologists, can they discover the source of our Amber and what indeed does the future hold for the commercialisation of Amber here? I can't wait to find out more.

Picture: Alan Pryke, cropped by Bernie

Colour Inspiration

I often like to look to nature for colour inspiration. Earlier today I was having another peek at some of my photos from past camping trips and came across this one of a dragonfly on a log.

The pic was taken in 2006 on Stradbroke Island in Moreton Bay not far from Brisbane. Its had a little editing done, mainly cropping to get a better look at the fly.

I'd never seen a dragonfly like this before, well not in those colours anyway which I might add weren't edited. Light Blue, Marine Blue, Black and Rust tones.

Am having a bit of think about creating something in those tones and colours.. Now to pull out the drawers of my bead cabinet in search of further inspiration.