Aquamarine, Charoite & Amethyst Link Bracelet

Here is my latest link bracelet. I love the color combinations of the round aquamarine and amethyst cabochons, and the large charoite stone.

Spiney Oyster & Gaspeite Bracelet

I'm into creating link bracelets these days! I really like the bright orange colors of this high-quality spiney oyster with the bright green gaspeite. I spaced them with hand-crafted sterling accent pieces. This bracelet is available on my etsy site. Sorry, this bracelet has been purchased.

Winter's Starry Night Druzy Ring

This is one of the pieces I've finished lately--this gorgeous blue is one of my favorite types of druzy.
Sorry, this ring has sold to the lovely Ellen in Texas!

Pietersite Cabochons

My big purchase in Tucson was Pietersite. Pietersite comes from 2 places--China and Namibia. The Chinese Pietersite is not as fabulous as the Namibian, and the Chinese mine flooded a few years back, and so is no longer producing.
The Namibian Pietersite is an incredible stone, with chatoyant flashes in golds, browns, blues and reds. Tucson is the only show in the United States that the owners of the Namibian mine come to, and I was the first one to the booth! I got cabochons, tumbled stones and slabs. I can't wait to make up some jewelry with my new stones! The chatoyancy is hard to capture in pictures, but I'm including this picture anyway...

Tucson Trip January 2011

Part of fun of going to Tucson is seeing the saguaro cacti. They are so cool-and dignified!

Tucson Gem Show Trip January 2011

I made a quick dash to the Tucson Gem Show, which is actually almost 40 different shows all across the city.
I drove down from my home in Colorado through New Mexico. I took a long-cut through Hillsboro and Kingston, where I'd never been before. What an oasis! I think of southern New Mexico and Arizona as primarily desert, and it's just not so. Highway 152 goes the the Mimbres Mountains--a slow and windy pass, but beautiful.
I spent the night in Lordsburg, New Mexico, and drove into Tucson early in the morning. It was so funny to have left anow and skiing country, to see cactus and this sign in southern Arizona!