Gemstone Treatments on Labradorite, VIdeo of Cat Stuck in a Box, Wire-Wrapped Earrings Tutorial

So, here I am at the Fremont ice rink with my… er Gabe’s laptop. I may as well blog, right?

Still doing lots of SRAJD work.

We (thanks to the help of one of our members) opened an SRAJD Yahoo Group. It’ll be for members only, but with over 2700 members to pool from it should be somewhat lively.

I’ve been having fun going through the list trying to correct email addies and update websites. For a few, it’s sad… they’ve fallen off the face of the jewelry world. But for others it’s really exciting to see them going stronger than ever before. And most of the members I contact are so incredibly nice. They understand that Alex and I do this because it’s something be believe in and it takes a lot of our time and effort just to keep the bare minimum of the group going. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to improve the website… and market the artists.


MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Did you know that for every pound of shrimp that is caught, four pounds of non-shrimp creatures are caught… and die?


EARRING TUTORIAL

Here’s a nice little tutorial with photos: Wire Wrapped Earrings



Looks like a great site with tons of useful info!


I don’t think this caption is overly funny, but I think the cat is TOTALLY adorable…


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This video is hilarious (to me, anyway)… http://video.yahoo.com/network/100284668?v=3915121&l=3774740



GEMSTONE TREATMENT

Yeah, to further fuel my meticulous and overbearing desire for accurate disclosure in gemstones…

On May 13th of 2009, the AGTA (American Gem Trade Association) gave a press release:

“For many months there has been an industry-wide debate on the treatment of red feldspars in the andesine / labradorite varieties. There has been significant research done on this material and there is general agreement within the scientific community that a great deal of this material is treated.

What is also clear, from the body of research that has been done, is that there is currently no reliable methodology to prove treatment or to separate treated from certain natural red-colored material. Current research is underway to detect the differences in the treated and untreated material.

With consumer and buyer protection in mind, the AGTA will now require its members who sell or consign any red andesine-labradorite to disclose it as diffused material, and indicate this either in plain language or by use of the industry accepted code, “U”, for diffusion*. If it can be determined that the material is natural, as in the case of particular Oregon material; then it may be disclosed as untreated.

*Codes must appear in a column next to all gemstone descriptions, with a noticeable reference or label, at the bottom or back of invoices and memorandums. Codes and type of treatments must only be used as directed in the Gemstone Information Manual (GIM), 8th Edition, available from the AGTA.”

Some think it’s not enough… too much wriggle room. But something is better than nothing and it’s always a step in the right direction.

Well… time flew (yeah, I yapped with a few friends) and it’s time to go, so I’ll sign off now, but I’ll be back tomorrow.

TTYL!

Tuesday? How did that happen?

Hm... I won't have time for a really good blog entry until Thursday evening. That's my first "free time".

The bad news is that a weekend just passed and I didn't do any good long blog posts.

The good news is the reason why. Because of that fine silver bracelet I made this weekend. Yeah, I know... how can the whole weekend have been taken up making ONE bracelet?

Well, there were a few forays out of the house. I wasn't working on the bracelet non-stop for two days. But art clay silver (by a newbie) can definitely be a time-consuming thing.

I really enjoyed making it, though (except for the part where I dropped one of the pieces and had to remake it... twice). I loved the very slow filing of the green clay (too much or too fast and the damage can be irrepairable). I didn't think I liked filing, but I do.

I guess I should finish the experiments I started with decoupage, too. But that's not something I can do on the road... and in a few minutes I'll be heading to Dublin (will get back at midnight). After work today, I took Bear to the dog park and the kids to the tennis courts.

Made pot roast for the first time. Well, the crockpot made it. It's so cool coming home and having dinner ready without having to cook.

Okay, I'm going to take off now, but first a bit of useless trivia. :-)

Ambergris is not only from sperm whales (which I knew), it's from the hard-to-digest giant squid beaks eaten by the sperm whales.

And how come only dead giant squids have been seen? No one's ever seen a live one.

Oh wait... I stand corrected (click on the pic for the story).




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Finally... another silver metal clay piece

JEWELRY

Yes, actually made in one weekend. Can you believe it?

I used a set of Anita Pepper's boro lampwork beads... er, half a set, actually... that I'd been hoarding for several years. You know, the kind of beads that you go, "I can't make just ANYTHING with these... it has to be something special." And so... four years later....
:-)


HOCKEY

Watched the Gold Medal game at Stanley's. Mon got to watch the overtime win... still in her gear... she and her instructor left the ice for those last 7 minutes of the game.

Gabe's team made it through to states.



see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Hockey, and lots of it...

Just watched Finland make a third-period comeback to take the Bronze.

Not happy that Mon's goalie session with James Jensen is tomorrow at 1pm. Geez... I would have LIKED to watch the Gold Medal game. Hmph!

Sigh...

Gabe's team is down south at the playdowns. There are some strange upsets... lower seeded teams stomping in higher seeded teams. Shrug

Unfortunately, we are one of those higher seeded teams.

Ryan started the first game and got pulled in the second when the score was 5-0. Gabe finished the game but they still lost 6-0.

Ryan started the second game and they lost 3-2, I think that final goal happened with only seconds left in the game. How painful.

Tomorrow morning will be the third game. Don't know if they'll have a fourth.

Mon, however, had a good game today... except that I doubt ANY goalie is happy about taking only four shots. Heh... but they were GOOD shots and she got a shutout, so that's fine. Her team has made two really nice showings in a row. 16-0 last week, 4-0 today.

Okay, Mon's watching Forest Gump and I'm going to go watch Fringe.

I made some silver metal clay pieces today. Monica calls them "sandwiches". I'll try to finish them up tomorrow, then bake them (hopefully before going to her goalie session).

Talk to you tomorrow!

Friday

VERY glad it's Friday.

Took Gabe to Dublin (for his ride to Valencia). Playdowns. I hope I get timely updates.

I'm texting him semi-final updates (Canada is up, 2-0).

Registered Mon for round two (Pacific Division?) of the girls selects tryouts. The price took me by surprise, but it is room and board. It's not really expensive when you think about it, I guess... I just wasn't ready for it. :-)

Next I'll make her flight arrangements.


JEWLERY

I'm experimenting with some decopauge tonight.

I also want to plan a project that I can do in metal clay this weekend.

Here are the latest additions to the website (click on a pic for more photos):






And here are two from my Law of Attraction line:


Treat Yourself How You Want Others to Treat You



Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire in Glass Bottle on Sterling Silver Chain


Oh, I finally got into an Etsy team. Turns out I merely needed to apply to one who takes everyone. :-) They seem so super friendly and there's some awesome talent.


Well, I'm going to go back to the game now.

Just out of curiosity... if a wild animal (held in captivity) has already killed two people, why would you keep working with it? Perhaps I'm missing something, but that's how it seems from my angle. This is not commentary on working with wild animals. This is merely confusion over why you would allow animal trainers to work with something that has already killed two people. I certainly hope they don't end up killing the animal (for doing what I'm guessing comes naturally to it)... like they did with the Tiger at our zoo a few years back.