A Trip to the Gem and Mineral Show

The Augusta Gem and Mineral Society is hosting their annual Gem and Mineral Show this weekend, and I closed the bead shop yesterday so I could scoot downtown and scope out the goodies!

Ostensibly, I was going so I could find some unusual things to offer for sale at the shop. Truthfully, I knew I was going because I love to look at all the fossils and gemstone specimens. Just looking, mind you - I would never buy any ..... says the woman with cabinet after cabinet after cabinet of fossil and gemstones in her home!

The good news: I found a few cabochons and other focals for the shop (and for my own silversmithing).
The bad news: I was behind 4 school buses as I approached the venue, and since it was 10AM, I had a sneaking suspicion where they were headed. Sure enough, they pulled in right in front of me, and discharged some 425+ school kids for a field trip to the Gem and Mineral Show. Ugh.

It was loud, and super-crowded in there, and very hard to get to the tables and displays. The headache that I already had soon blossomed into a Super Headache.

But I saw so many gorgeous rock and gemstone specimens. I wish I had had my camera with me (I purposely didn't take it, because I wanted my hands free for touching!) I saw many unusual specimens that up until yesterday, I had only seen on my Pinterest Gem and Mineral Board!

Here are some of the rocks that followed me home:

A fossil trilobite (in matrix);

Trilobite - Andalusia. Devonian Age, Morocco

 I think the back is almost as pretty as the front!

What you can't tell from these pics is that this specimen is 12 inches wide - it is basically the size of a small serving platter. I love it!


Citrine:

Citrine in matrix - unbelievable golden color!

This side view of the citrine specimen shows the crystal morphology and growth pattern.
This citrine was another large specimen - about 9 inches across. Absolutely stunning.

A gorgeous amethyst geode, 10 inches tall:

 amethyst geode

And as if this geode weren't lovely enough, all on its sparkly own,  if you look closely at the above pic, you can see some dark brown circles coming around either side - these are what make this piece special to me:

These brown circles represent an orbicular agate, growing alongside the amethyst (or, one is replacing the other - I don't know. Doesn't matter - they are together in this pretty specimen!) In this particular picture, there are some brown crystals visible mixed in with the amethyst; these are probably smoky quartz.

Elestial quartz:

Elestial quartz - mixture of clear and smoky quartz

This is a new one for me - never heard of it! The lady who owned the booth filled me in on its metaphysical properties (I just picked it out because it was pretty!) - I Googled it, and learned that elestial quartz consists of multilayered or etched quartz crystals with many small terminated crystal formations all over it; the most common elestials are smoky quartz, clear quartz, and citrine. Amethyst elestials are rare and ametrine elestials even more rare. Mine is a mixture of clear and smoky quartz.

This stunning opalized ammonite:

 Opalized ammonite, with brilliant gold, orange, and green fire.

Can you see the incredible fossilized leaves in this specimen? - I took a more detailed shot, just in case - this was breathtaking, to me.

Look at the fossilized leaves in this ammonite, and the flashes of opal fire!

Fossilized sand dollar; whole, intact clam; and sea urchin:

fossil sand dollar, clam, and sea urchin

Some quartz points (which didn't photograph well) and aqua aura points for wire wrapping:

aqua aura points and quartz points

More ammonites (sorry - the pic is over-exposed) - for wire wrapping, bezel setting, bead weaving, etc.:

ammonites

Some colorful dyed agate slices (I can think of so many cool ways to use these!):

 Dyed agate slices

They may not look too impressive in this photo, but look what happens when I hold them up to the light:

I love how you see the delicate veins in this blue one!

I love the colorful blue ruffles on the edge of this one!

Last, but not least, the cabs:

clockwise from top left: turquoise, sodalite, charoite, charoite, larimar

clockwise from top center: banded agate/quartz geode, rainforest jasper, magnesite, chrysoprase, rainforest jasper, and chrysocolla (center)

top row: dalmatian jasper; middle row: lapis; bottom: opals

I really scored, right?!

If I had an unlimited budget, I would pretty much have a house full of rocks - I have no idea where I am going to put these new ones!!

OMG I'm Bored

I am so incredibly bored today that I am wandering around the living room taking pictures of stuff.

The boredom started yesterday - I spent some time beading (bead-crocheting, actually) - but making a bead crochet rope is just (to me) incredibly repetitive and boring.

And there was nothing good on TV, to keep me rooted to my seat while beading. So I didn't get much done - and the same was true today - I worked for about 2 hours on the rope crochet, but then I had absolutely had it.

So I just grabbed the camera, and started walking around.

I have an absolutely incredible lapidary collection - I have been collecting specimens for over 40 years. I even had a rock tumbler in elementary school, and tumbled rocks I found around Minnesota (where I lived at the time) for weeks, and weeks, and weeks.

This picture shows an agatized coral head, from a riverbed in Tennessee. And in the foreground, a gigantic piece of raw malachite, purchased from a published collector who travels through Afghanistan collecting malachite. (Or at least, he used to). This particular specimen is about 8 inches in diameter, and over 12 inches long.





When I was 5, I was hospitalized for about 3 months, and desperately needed things to keep me busy. I had a Lite-Brite - remember those? But after a couple of weeks, I had finished every single design available, and so my Dad brought in some fabric, and beautiful threads, and needles, and a embroidery-frame he had made himself just for me - it was adjustable to many different sizes, and the tension could be finely adjusted - it was a piece of art itself!

And then he taught me all kinds of needlepoint, including crewel.

And I spent hours doing crewel - and continued until I was in my 30s.


I made these 2 wall hangings, which have moved with me over the years, but always find a place in my living room, wherever I set up house.










This lamp was handmade by Wishon-Harrell in their Muncie, Indiana, studio. I lived in Muncie for about 5 years, and knew both these gentlemen well, and have a lot of their artwork - many lamps, and a wall clock, and vases, and candle-holders, and entire set of dishes, including a casserole and drinking tumblers.

I have heard rumors that their studio is closed - of course, it was back in the early '80s that I lived there and frequented their studio.


OMG - I'm not only bored, I'm old.