Renaissance Woman

Have you ever known anyone whose range of skills and knowledge is not only wide, but who is also kind and beautiful? Then meet jewelry designer, former ballerina, astronomer, philosopher, college professor, fashion lover and artist (I know I've left something out!) Patricia Vener. (Oh, she's also a writer!) If you're a keen follower of fashion and a lover of artisan jewelry, especially the intricate beaded kind created with a strong artistic sensibility, check out Patricia's article on colors for fall -" Fall Fashion Colors for 2006".
Be sure to follow her links in the articles to see some of her fantastic jewelry. The necklace above is just a preview of the many beautiful pieces she has for sale on her site. Here is the link for the home page of her site: The Silver Dragon's Beadwork and Fine Art Galleries.
Enjoy!

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But It's Still Summer!

And so it is - still summer that is. But for those of us who sell any fashion item, we have to be at least a season ahead; therefore, I have the first of my "Fall" bracelets. The first is a double-strand labradorite bracelet with a borosilicate bead and a wonderfully detailed lampwork bead and some of the best labradorite I have. There's a lot of flash in this bracelet.
More borosilicate beads in the next bracelet which also features some rutilated quartz that I recently obtained from one of my favorite sources. I loved it so much that I worked with it until it was almost all gone, and then I ordered some more. This is also a double-strand bracelet with a nice sterling silver Karen Hill Tribes linked chain attached (chain in jewelry is very big this year).
More of that wonderful rutilated quartz that I had, only this time I just used the ones that were primarily black and white. They have great depth and the hair-like inclusions (rutiles) that create this class of stone. A length of sterling silver chain joins the two points on the bracelet where a bevy of little rutilated quartz rounds cluster. Karen Hill Tribes charms hang from another point on the bracelet. The lampwork beads are from one of my favorite beadmakers; they are unusual - black with actual raised dots of sterling silver scattered over the surface.

Cluny Grey Jewelry

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It's a Drusy!

My newest love is the drusy. What is a drusy, you ask? It is a gemstone that is covered with a large number of tiny crystals. Porous parts of rock were exposed to water with silica in it, and these crystals were formed. Drusies remind me of the surface of snow that has frozen, snow that glitters at night under the streetlights. A drusy (also called druse or druzy) is truly one of nature's most beautiful phenomena. The bracelet above has a soft blue drusy in a kidney shape that forms the focal of the bracelet. The beautiful lampwork is from Burt Gumeson"s "Jewels" series.
At Cluny Grey Jewelry we have a new section featuring drusy jewelry. As yet, there is only the one bracelet that you see here, but more are coming. I have a great ocean jasper drusy that will probably become the pendant in an ocean jasper necklace (unless I decide to make a bracelet from it - you know how I am about bracelets!)
On the personal side: my son and daughter-in-law are home after 3 years in Portugal (I did go there to see them). It is wonderful to have them home although for the past 3 or 4 days they have escaped the humid misery of the Arkansas summer by visiting a friend in Seattle. They will be in Washington, D.C. for the next two years and I am delighted to have them on the same continent! (That hasn't happened since 1998). My daughter-in-law is also a jewelry-maker and is hoping to take class in lampwork - and I'm crossing my fingers that she will be able to. Anything she puts her hands to turns into something exquisite!
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Rose by Any Name:Ruusu, Levantado, Gül

A unique bracelet that I'm not sure how to classify. It's from the Raj Collection, but features rhodochrosite as well as lapis, turquoise and lampwork with vermeil. Rhodochrosite is rather expensive, rather soft (Moh's hardness between 3.5 and 4), and because it has perfect cleavage, it is rarely faceted since it is so difficult to cut. Most rhodochrosite comes from South America - Argentina, Peru. However, in 2002 Colorado named rhodochrosite its state mineral; while found worldwide, some of the best samples of the stone have come from the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado.
The name comes from the Greek word rhodo for rose.
See this at Cluny Grey Jewelry as well as other unique bracelets.



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Rainbow Moonstone: Bring Me the Moon

Some lampwork beads are just stunning! These silver-laced beads are. With blue and white and flashing silver, they are perfect for a rainbow moonstone and kyanite and sterling silver bracelet. I also used white Softflex so that the rainbow moonstone would not have a dark look to it.

See this unique handcrafted bracelet and more at Cluny Grey Jewelry

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The Many Colours of Turquoise and Coral

Surprise! More necklaces! The first one is with stabilized turquoise and freshwater pearls, double strands with sterling silver.


I really, really like coral - and sometimes the rougher it is the better it is. Of course these coral slices have a smooth polish to them, as do the rondelles, but they are so rugged looking despite that. I like coral that looks as though you just broke it off the reef yourself!


The rose quartz necklace has a great lampwork bead that is huge (from Connie at River Oaks II - she does super work!), but the focal is the very large pink, yes pink, turquoise nugget that is at the center. I don't know why I like such an ersatz thing, but I really do. Lots of sterling silver with this one, too.

The simple coral bracelet above has little pieces of rough coral with freshwater pearls and sterling silver. Coral is just so basic, so rough in some ways, that it is very appealing, especially for summer.
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Cluny Grey Jewelry

The Beauty of a Necklace

For me, the real beauty of a necklace is that it usually doesn't get in the way of doing things throughout the day the way that a bracelet can. But I am a bracelet person through and through. Sometimes I have to stop and work on making necklaces - to match bracelets - or just to "even" out my inventory. I 've been working with coral and with turquoise so I incorporated both into the necklace that you see above. That's pink angelskin coral with some nice large stabilized turquoise nuggets that I've had, and of course, I had to add some lampwork beads. One of the problems I have with necklaces (that I don't with bracelets) is that I'm bothered that on many people the back of the necklace will never be seen.
The second necklace I'm temped to keep for myself. I adore lapis and the lapis in this necklace is especially good with lots of the glittering gold pyrite that I like so much. And while carnelian is great with lapis, turquoise is wonderful when paired with lapis. I've also used lots of vermeil because lapis and gold are just scrumptious!
I'm trying to slow down a bit and take a little holiday. I only have one auction on Ebay this week, and summer is slow anyway. I'm going to try to stay in the pool some (if I can tear myself away from my beads), put in a new closet, and do various things that I've been ignoring for ever so long. It's amazing how much jewelry I can make while the house falls down around my ears!
Turquoise and Coral Jewelry by Cluny Grey
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