by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Well, it’s been a few months since the Tucson gem shows this winter, but I still love pulling out my Tucson treasures and seeing if today is the day to use some of the cabs and beads I collected there. I know it’s still the better part of a year before I’m back in Tucson, so I’m making my treasure last. But what if you are itching to relive the experience? Here’s a modest list of the biggest gem shows in the US. Each of these is a fantastic resource for jewelry making supplies, tools, classes, and inspiration. You should also do a Google search for "your area gem show" to see if a small show will be in your area this year, or check out this search – and I would love to hear what the big shows are in other countries. Let me know your favorites in the comments below!

• Tucson Shows: each year from end of January through middle of February (show dates vary in this range). There is also a smaller-scale version of this event at the beginning of September. For information, check out these resources:
• Tucson EZ Guides
• Tucson Show Guide
• VisitTucson.org
• Bead Fest: Occurs four times per year in Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico
• Bead & Button: annual show in Milwaukee in June

Speaking of the Bead & Button Show… it’s just around the corner! The Bead & Button Show, from June 1-June 10, 2012 at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the "Biggest Consumer Bead Show in the World" will host a stunning range of jewelry supply and jewelry tool resources for handmade jewelry artists.

The Bead & Button show will have over 600 classes from over 200 jewelry instructors, including Stephanie Eddy, Rebeca Mojica, Lisa Niven Kelly, Brenda Schweder, Jackie Truty, and many more familiar names.

New to the Bead & Button Show this year, albeit veterans of the wholesale shows in Tucson, are 2 popular jewelry supply sources: Wire-Sculpture.com and JewelryTools.com! That’s right, we’ll be in Milwaukee this June with a selection of DVDs (Wire-Sculpture) and most popular tools (JewelryTools.com) – likely with special show rates or promotions.

JewelryTools, an exclusive distributor of Euro Tool jewelry making tools, will have a selection of its most-loved and most-utilized jewelry tools available, including beading, wire wrapping, soldering, metal clay, and jewelry display tools. This is just a small sampling of its 5,000 tools available online at http://www.jewelrytools.com. The official Euro Tool booth is just steps away from the JewelryTools booth, and Euro Tool will have tool representatives doing tool demonstrations every day of the show.

The Wire-Sculpture booth is located at #637. The JewelryTools.com booth is located nearby at #738 & 740 – these booths are in the middle of the sales floor. Both vendors will be open, June 7 – June 10, 2012, at the Frontier Airlines Center. Find more information about the show at http://www.beadandbuttonshow.com.

Will we see you at the Bead & Button Show this June? We would love to see you there!

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Tool of the Week for
May 21, 2012

This week’s tool: Wire Rounder Set, #PIN-225.05

Video by Kate, JewelryTools.com

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Moss Agate and Plume Agate, one in a Series on Quartz

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Just as there are many kinds of included quartz, there are several varieties of included agate. Sagenite agate, or sagenitic agate, has needlelike inclusions in a sunburst or fan shape, and come in a variety of colors. Here’s an example of a neon yellow sagenitic agate! Dendritic agate, such as Montana agate, just like its quartz counterpart, has thin, dark, tree or branchlike inclusions. Plume agate has featherlike inclusions that resemble smoke, clouds, or feathers. Finally, moss agate has the appearance of green moss, seaweed, or blue cheese on a translucent background. Moss agate is the most common and most well-known included agate for jewelry makers.

Frances Lediaev wire wrapped this beautiful moss agate cabochon.

Some rockhounds don’t consider these included agate stones to be true agate because they do not have the concentric  typical of most agates banding (banding formed in gradually larger circles that share a center point). However, they are definitely part of the quartz-chalcedony-agate family of silica minerals, formed from silicone dioxide. In fact, Montana agate and Plume agate are among the top tier of agates in jewelry making, surpassed only by rare stones such as fire agate.

Moss Agate

Moss agate is typically a green agate with pale to translucent patches of stone; tree agate shares the green, moss-like inclusions but has white opaque patches, rather than translucence.

A moss agate cabochon, left, and tree agate cabochon, right. They are essentially the same (and often both are called moss agate), but tree agate has opaque white patches, whereas moss agate is translucent with the same green, mosslike inclusions.

Judy Copeland wire wrapped this moss agate in silver craft wire. The design in the stone looked to Judy like a rainstorm with lighting! It is hung on a base metal Viking weave necklace.

Montana moss agate is unique in that it originally formed in the volcanic region of Yellowstone National Park. Now it can be found in the gravel of the Yellowstone River in Montana, and typically has red (iron oxide) and black (manganese oxide) large inclusions on a translucent background.

Judi Hogan wire wrapped this Montana Moss agate in an angular cabochon pendant frame.

Plume Agate

Plume agate draws its name from the fluffy, feather-like shapes it exhibits. There are several types of plume agate, including Priday, Graveyard Point, Del Norte, West Texas, and Mexican Plume. This plume agate is from Texas; I have a cab of Texas plume agate that shares the same gold, orange, green, and white colors.

This graveyard point plume agate slab comes from Dorothy Duflo: at left, on a background, and at right, held to the sun. Dorothy's wondering what to do with it: what do you think of a belt buckle?

In Tucson, I saw Graveyard Point Plume Agate for the first time: this distinctive golden, tan, white, and gray-blue (and sometimes pink) agate is named for the stone’s location, found in the Owyhee Mountains along the Idaho-Oregon border, near the burial place of an 18th century massacre.

I found this tub of graveyard point plume agate slices, ready to be cut into cabs, at the RV Park Show near the TEP Show in Tucson 2012.

Here's a closeup of the same graveyard point plume agate slices, sparkling wet in the Arizona sun.

Priday plume agate is another name you may come across, which was a rare plume agate found on the Priday ranch outside Madras, Oregon, round in thunder eggs. However, this agate is practically played out. You can find pictures of beautiful Priday Plume agate stones here.

The Regency Rose variety of plume agate is located near the Graveyard Point area and has the tan hues of that stone as well as reds and pinks.

Regency Rose Plume Agate wire wrapped necklace by Judi Hogan

Next week, I will cover some agate you may have wire wrapped, or seen in person: thundereggs, geodes, and I’ll also touch on crazy lace agate. Have you made wire jewelry with thunderegg agate, geodes, or crazy lace agate? Send your agate pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

• Dandy Slab Saginitic Agate
• Agate with Inclusions
• Minerals N More Graveyard Point Plume Agate
• Wikipedia Moss Agate
• AZ Blue Rockers Priday Agate

Gem Profile by Rose Marion

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Video by John Dyer

If you have the budget for quality cut stones, you have to check out this video by John Dyer. John explains the faceting in gemstones to look for, including windows and polishing quality. While there is nothing "wrong" with economy stones that have windows or crooked facets – in fact, buying imperfect gemstones is an excellent way to prepare for wire wrapping the real deal -I hope you’ll enjoy this video.

While we don’t carry John Dyer’s magnificent stones at this time, you will enjoy wire wrapping our selection of cut gemstones!

Happy Jewelry Making!

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Tool of the Week for
May 14, 2012

This week’s tool: Cordless Bead Reamer, #HDP-380.00

Video by Kate, JewelryTools.com

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Fire Agate and Iris Agate, one in a Series on Quartz

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Fire Agate

Fire agate is a special kind of agate that appears brown from a distance. However, upon closer inspection, this agate is botryoidal in appearance (as I mentioned last week, that means it looks like a boiling pan of water caught bubbling, frozen in time – or like a bunch of grapes). What makes fire agate more interesting than typical botryoidal agate is its color play. Upon its brown background, a rainbow fire plays, with iridescent red, green, gold, and sometimes blue lighting up the surface of the stone.  Fire agate received its name from the feeling of staring into the embers of a fire, resulting in a similar color play.

Fire agate stones from Mildred Schiff's collection (click to view full-sized)

How did fire agate acquire its firey colors? It is thought that hot water, filled with colloidal silica and iron oxide and heated by volcanoes, raced into cavities in rock and then slowly cooled, forming a hard agate. Alternating layers of silica and iron oxide, forming over time, cause the schiller and iridescence. Fire agate is especially rare because unlike regular quartz, which is found all over the world, fire agate is only found in pockets of the southwestern US and northern Mexico. It’s estimated that fire agates are 24-36 million years old, due to the timing of volcanic activity in that region of the world.

Jane Elizabeth Duke brought this fire agate home from Wire-SCulpture and created a magnificent Argentium and Gold Filled cabochon frame for it, attaching a peridot stone and a fire agate bead to the orbit design. (click to view full-sized)

There are 3 factors that contribute to fire agate’s rarity and high cost to be used as a gem in jewelry: as I mentioned, it has a unique creation, and is only found in specific locations. The third factor is lapidary effort. The botryoidal agate must be carefully shaped, removing the outermost layer to perfectly reveal the best colors. Removing too much chalcedony from the top layer will ruin the iridescent effect, and too little will leave the surface dull. This is why, when you visit Tucson or other gem shows and see fire agate cabochons resting in a tub of water or polished in a case, most are not calibrated-cut, but freeform.

Wire-Sculpture has a small selection of beautiful freeform genuine fire agate cabochons (limited supply)

Despite the delicate process of finishing a fire agate stone, the stones themselves are very sturdy and durable. Although it has a strong resemblance to opal, fire agate does not share the danger of cracking or crazing. The layers will not flake off, nor will the stone lose its shine: like its quartz and agate siblings, fire agate has a Mohs hardness of 6.5-7, much tougher to scratch than window glass.

For an amazing gallery of fire agate pictures, click here!

Metaphysically speaking, Fire Agate is said to have a deep, calming energy bringing security and safety. It is also linked to the fire element, of course, bringing vigor and opening the root chakra. it is also said to aid in conquering addictions and harmful desires.

Crackle Fire Agate

There is another type of stone that is often called fire agate by vendors, which we call crackle fire agate. This “stone” is typically either glass or carnelian that has been heat treated to produce the lava-like lines in the stone. While also in demand, crackle fire agate is not its rare and pricey cousin, real fire agate. The crackle fire agate on Wire-Sculpture is real agate that has been dyed and heat treated to achieve the firey, crackle effect.

Crackle Fire Agate Cabochons, available on Wire-Sculpture.com

Iris Agate

Iris agate is another, lesser-known kind of iridescent agate. Iris agate is also called rainbow agate, although some vendors simply call any agate that is colorful, “rainbow agate,” even when it does not have the iridescent effect. When true iris agate is thinly sliced, it shows all the colors of the rainbow! The effect is more delicate than fire agate. This rainbow effect is the result of very tightly packed, very thin layers and banding, and can occur in colorless or pale chalcedony. It is also mostly found in North America, although some has been recorded in Argentina. Because it must be sliced so thinly, iris agate is fairly rare in jewelry. You can read a complete analysis of iris agate at this link.

Iris agate slice - image courtesy of Karen Brzys, Gitche Gumee Museum, Grand Marais, MI www.agatelady.com and www.agatelady.blogspot.com, used with permission.

Next week, I will cover some agate you have probably wire wrapped, or seen in person: moss agate and plume agate. Have you made wire jewelry with moss agate or plume agate (including Graveyard Point Plume Agate)? Send your agate pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

• AgateLady’s Iris Agate
• Crystal-Cure.com
• Mindat.org Fire Agate
• Mindat.org Iris Agate
• Minoscam.org Iris Agate
• Wirewrapjeweler.com Fire Agate

Gem Profile by Rose Marion

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Video by John Dyer

John Dyer is one of the biggest names in the gem world, and I was fortunate to meet him briefly at the GJX show in Tucson this year. (GJX is one of those shows with very tight security – and for good reason). John Dyer’s faceted gems are among the most well-cut I’ve ever seen, and you can tell a John Dyer stone by the tiny "JD" logo cut in a discrete place in the gem. While well out of my price range now, perhaps someday I, like Dale, will be able to wrap a John Dyer stone!

I hope you enjoy this recent video by John Dyer which explains how a rough stone is taken through the cutting and faceting process to become a brilliant stone, which is then perfect for snapsets and wire prongs for use in wire jewelry.

Happy Jewelry Making!

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Tool of the Week for
May 7, 2012

This week’s tool: Miniature Digital Caliper, #GAU-178.00

Video by Kate, JewelryTools.com

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Orbicular Agate, one in a Series on Quartz

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In today’s agate article we will discover orbicular agate, bloodstone, and botryoidal agate. I apologize for the lack of pictures; these are some rare forms of agate. Instead, I have included several links so you can visit several rockhounds’ private collections of these unique agates. Please enjoy!

Bloodstone cabochon pendant wire wrapped by Vicky Martin

Orbicular Agate: As shown with bloodstone, the components that make up rocks and gems have quite a bit of overlap between agate and jasper, including the orbicular varieties. As you may remember from Dale’s jasper discussion, the kinds of jasper that have circles or spherical inclusions – "needle-like crystals of different minerals in a radial structure" – are called orbicular jasper, such as ocean jasper and Dalmatian jasper. However, that is practically a synonym of orbicular agate. But – what are the types of round-spotted agate?

Polka dot agate has round spots on a translucent background in a variety of colors, such as blue, brown, yellow, gray, and green, as you can see in this example. It can be found in several locations, Oregon being one of the well-known US locations, yielding slabs like these.

Pigeon blood agate is named for its bright red hue from the high iron content of the stone; pigeon blood agate is often clear with a few bright red spots, while others have many red inclusions and a translucent background. This agate is found in Utah. You can understand the bloody connection by taking a peek at this pigeon blood agate and the cabochons on this page.

A little different from orbicular agate is botryoidal agate, also called grape agate. "Botryoidal" comes from the Greek term for a "bunch of grapes." This type of agate really does look like a bunch of grapes: spheres form in the layers, rather than flat or banded layers. These bubble-like structures can be on the surface, which looks like a pot of boiling water frozen in time. Click here to see some colorful examples of botryoidal agate. The grape- or bubble-like structures can also form away from the surface, into the stone, called turtlebacking: here is an example of a turtleback blue agate cabochon. What an interesting effect! This adds a deep dimension to the cabochons. Several other minerals can present in a botryoidal or globular shape, including fluorite, hematite, and malachite.

What causes the botryoidal feature? From its Wikipedia entry, "Each sphere (grape) in a botryoidal mineral is smaller than that of a reniform mineral, and much smaller than that of a mamillary mineral. Botryoidal minerals form when many nearby nuclei, specks of sand, dust, or other particles, are present. Layers of mineral material are deposited radially around the nuclei. As more material is deposited, the spheres grow larger and eventually overlap with those that are nearby. These nearby spheres are then fused together to form the botryoidal cluster."

Next week’s article will cover fire agate and iris agate – I can’t wait! Have you made wire jewelry with fire agate or iris agate? Send your agate pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botryoidal
• http://mindat.org
• http://www.glypticconcepts.com/turtleback.html
• Peterson Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals by Frederick H. Pough, ISBN 0-395-91096-X

Gem Profile by Rose Marion

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Something that I usually don’t talk about here on Wire-Sculpture is my medical history, but today I’d like to share a bit of it. I have life-threatening food allergies as well as asthma. Luckily I outgrew many of my food allergies, but I’m still very allergic to milk, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. Let me tell you, I am saddened by the rise of allergies and things like gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease – but I’m delighted by the new range of gluten-free, milk-free, egg-free, and nut-free foods that just wasn’t available 10 or 20 years ago! (And my poor husband is, too!)

The Bracelet I Loved to Hate

I’ve had allergies and asthma all my life, and it was a lot to learn about as a child – I learned to read ingredient labels before I read Dick and Jane. But one of the big things I had to learn was to always wear my medic alert bracelet, which was a metal box with the medical insignia that I wore around my wrist; the box opened to reveal a page of waterproof paper with my allergies and doctor information on it. I wore my medical bracelet so that if I started to have an allergic reaction, an adult could call 911 and paramedics would know to use my Epi-Pen. And so began my love/hate relationship with jewelry.

You see, I was a very small child and the jewelry wasn’t designed well for children – the band dug into my wrist, was heavy, stuck on hot days, was very unattractive, and I got teased for it in school – but it protected my life.

I "upgraded" to a more standard medical alert bracelet as time went on and I could explain my medical issues to strangers. I got a simple engraved plate with my name, allergies, and "Call 911" written on it with the standard red medical symbol. But it came with an ugly curb chain that didn’t fit well and I hated looking at it.

I have to admit – many days, I would just stuff it in my pocket. Luckily I never needed to use it during that time – I’m sure paramedics are used to looking for medical jewelry on wrists and around the neck, but wouldn’t dig through my pockets!

Then I Saw a Solution to Unwearable Medical Jewelry

Then one day in school, I noticed another girl who wore a medical bracelet, and she had wire wrapped beautiful glass beads on links to attach her medical ID – no curb chain there! And it fit beautifully. I was amazed. Who knew that was possible?

Well, now I know. My ideal medical id bracelet will have wire wrapped beaded links that are interchangeable with the medical tag, so I can match my outfit. The links will be fairly heavy, to balance the medical ID plate in the middle of the bracelet, so it doesn’t slide around my wrist all day. And the bracelet will have a toggle clasp, rather than a lobster claw clasp. You have heard me mention I hate lobster claw clasps – there was a time when I didn’t know there was another kind, and I had to clasp and unclasp my darn bracelet myself every day!

You can find many generic medical id pendants and bracelets in drug stores, near the pharmacy, and there are also many medical id tag sellers online who will engrave your information and customize it for you.

I had to have some information changed, so I am waiting for my new medical id tag to come in the mail. I can’t wait to dress it up!

Do You Make Medical Jewelry More Wearable?

I’m sure there are many jewelry artists who’ve found creative solutions to wear their medical jewelry, or ways to dress up friends’ and clients’ medical jewelry. It’s a great service that you can mention when you see people wearing medical jewelry that are checking out your jewelry booth, too. While it’s careful to make sure paramedics will still recognize it as a medic alert bracelet, I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who would love a customized option. You can make wire wrapped links, as I did (use this pattern for inspiration!); incorporate the medical tag into a wire bangle; use chainmaille techniques or a charm-style bracelet; or even create your own perfect style of wire wrapping medical id tags.

How about you? Have you helped a friend or relative design their own medical jewelry, or medical jewelry for yourself? Leave a comment below about your wire solution to such an important piece of jewelry!

Happy Jewelry Making!

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