So here we are with a spanky new theme, customised with a new logo which reflects that it’s me (Tree) who makes all the jewellery. As of right this moment we’re having some technical difficulties, but with a little patience and some help from the nice small business website people, the site will start behaving itself better!

Oh it’s lovely to see all the spring flowers and feel the warmth of spring coming… With that in mind I made a couple of pieces this morning with Light Amethyst.
This is the necklace, it uses a large (20mm x 17mm) faceted pendant and little amethyst heishi beads.
Because I used one of my gorgeous toggle clasps, it is designed so that the clasp and pendant are worn to the front.
I also added a little dragonfly charm.
I’ll be adding it into my shop later and it’s going to be a one-off

Platinum Pearl Earrings, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com.

Well my goodness it’s that time of year again!

In case the weather wasn’t enough to tell you then TV certainy will. One of my favourite shows “Bones” just had their Christmas episode and the main character, Dr Temperance Brennan was wearing some lovely drop earrings. She wore them a few episodes ago so I set about making my ownn version.

Here they finally are, and I used the new Swarovski “Platinum” pearls- they have a gorgeous soft sheen that’s not quite golden, but not silver either- lovely! So say hello to “Temperance”…

Fuchsia & Black Bracelet, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com.

Ah the 80′s! Back in the 80′s fuchsia was one of those bold signature colours. This jewellery blends that shade of shocking pink with deep burgundy Garnet and black Onyx to bring it up to date and make it altogether subtler, but still on-trend.

I kept it simple and just alternated a pink with black and used some of my faceted black onyx beads. Swarovski crystals finish the ends and I’m currently in love with hammered hoops so there’s one of those in there too!

Just because the 80′s in back in vogue doesn’t mean you have to make the same fashion mistakes…!

More
details. Available from 8 Nov 2009.

Citrine Bracelet “Melina”, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com.

Most people associate Topaz with Novemebr, but Citrine is also a traditional gem for this month. This is probably because the two gems are very often mistaken for each other, but I’m just guessing.

If you know someone who has a birthday this month then consider a Citrine gift- it’s a very pretty gem and ranges in colour from very pale and watery yellow through to darker amber hues.

Just lovely, and just the thing to add a touch of colour to your outfit!

Garnet is a gemstone that has been in use since ancient times, indeed it is among the stones mentioned in the surviving literature of all ancient languages.

Properties of Garnet

Garnet is actually the name given to a family of silicate minerals whose members are:

• Almandite
• Andradite
• Gossular
• Pyrope
• Spessartine
• Uvarovite

Its hardness is rated as being between 6.5 to 8.5 (it has roughly the same hardness as quartz at 7 Mohs).

Garnets occur in almost all colours:

Almandite– Deep red to reddish-brown, occasionally with a violet or brown hue

Andradite– Red, green, yellow, brown, black; rarely clear

Grossular– Clear, white, green, yellow, pink, brown, orange and orange-red

Spessartine– Brown, orange, and pink

Pyrope– Deep red to nearly black; rose-red to violet, blue (as pyrope-spessartine)

Uvarovite– Emerald-green

Industrial Uses of Garnets

Garnets are used as an abrasive in industrial applications, the harder varieties of almandite are crushed and mounted on paper and called garnet paper.

Gemstone Uses of Garnets

The characteristic deep red shade has made it extremely popular and has been appearing in jewellery since ancient times through to modern day.

The most popular dark red variety is pyrope because of its attractive deep red colour and because it is normally free of inclusions ready for gemstone use in jewellery. It is also less expensive than almandite.

Garnets often appears as a doublet. A doublet is a composite stone i.e. a stone that has been fused or cemented together with another stone. In the case of garnets, usually an almandite garnet upper layer is fused to coloured or clear glass and then faceted. This is to make the most of the more expensive, durable stone.

Garnet Traditional Associations

Garnet is the birthstone for January, as this excerpt from a poem of unknown author attests:

By her who in January was born

No gem save garnets shall be worn

They will ensure her constancy

True friendship and fidelity

It is also the stone for Aquarius the Water Bearer in the Astrological table.

There is another list which associates stones with the day of the week a person was born on. Garnet appears in this list for the day Tuesday.

The twelve tribes of Israel each had a gemstone associated with them, and garnet was for Levi. Garnet was also associated with the angel Ambriel.

Garnets Superstition

In the past gems were invested with supernatural qualities, for garnets some believed that they averted plague and that they were a defence against thunder.

These superstitions have been updated and are commonly called “mystical properties” however there seems to be as many different properties as there are written sources e.g. from car sickness prevention to curing food poisoning.

Garnet jewellery makes a gorgeous gift and just as in earlier times, is a beautiful way to demonstrate affection for a loved one.

But then, autumn/fall colours are sooo pretty! The cool thing about left-overs in jewellery making is that after a little while you end up with a sizeable collection that you actually do something with and here’s an example.
This one-off necklace features a variety of lampwork, gemstone and other assorted beads. Jewellery like this is great for playing with as there are so many different shapes, sizes and textures. Boring meetings, speeches and waiting rooms can all be made more bearable if you have such a necklace!
Click here for details.

Green Amethyst Jewellery

Green Amethyst, also known as known as Prasiolite, is a pretty, watery shade of green. I have some in supply and I initially wanted to make something combined with smoky quartz, but in the end some little rondelles of purple and light purple amethyst combined better with the colours.

It’s great end-of-summer jewellery because the colours look fantastic when worn with white or beige.

Here’s the bracelet:

Green Amethsyt Necklace, Prasiolite

For the necklace and earrings i included some lovely little Sterling silver connectors from Bali:

Green Amethsyt Necklace

And finally, the earrings:

Green Amethyst Earrings

As usual you can buy any or all of the items from my eBay shop, or directly from me here.

I made a special necklace ahead of time just to try out the materials and see how the colours work together- take a look at “Ellie”:

Green and Black Jewellery "Ellie"

It’s a long size 80cm necklace and the special thing about is that, as there’s no clasp, you can choose how to wear it yourself.

I also love Green and Black because there’s a strong link with chocolate (the cognoscenti among you know what I’m talking about!)

Are you enjoying the summer or are there aspects of autumn that you’re already looking forwards to?