Mega Tree! MEGA!!

Oh yeah, oh yeah! A MEGA tree! :D

I'm going gianormous. Gia-nor-mous! Those little rock slices I got at the rock show...the piece of Labradorite that was my wall tree goal...

That silly little, still gonna make an awesome 6" x 7" wall plaque, piece...

pfft. Pfft. I mean... PFFT. So tiny. I wasn't thinking grand scale enough. Apparently. Um...

LOOKIE WHAT I GOT!!!!!!!!!

*pets*

It's a 16" diameter piece of Labradorite, cut and polished, with flashes of light blue, dark blue, green, gold, and, and, and... EVERYTHING!

My new hunka-chunka is 1 1/2" thick...

...with a slightly beveled front edge. It's like... THE BIGGEST CABOCHON EVAH!!!!

If all that isn't just cool enough, the back was milled out so the whole middle is recessed. Why? Well, back lighting of course.

Back lighting. BACK LIGHTING!

Back lighting. Whoda thunk it.

Isn't it fabulous? I got it from our granite guy at work. His wife loves my trees and when he was in the other day he tried to abscond with the copper labradorite pendent I recently made for himself. Lol I guess he really reeeeeeally liked it because he made me this hunka-chunka piece of awesomeness.

Now...I have a new goal. A wire wrapped, back lit, mega size, antique copper, Labradorite tree of life wall hanging.

That's a mouthful. I wonder how one makes such a thing. With wire. o.O

I've got NO idea. But I'll sure figure it out! It's gonna be the best wire wrapped backlit mega size antique copper Labradorite tree of life wall hanging EVER!!!!!!!

EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The end.

heehee :D :D


ETA: Pic for scale.

Wall chip tree (biggest I've made so far), Lab slab with a 1 1/2" tree pendant and quarter to show size.

Tis hugeamous. Huge-a-mous.

Growing a Cabochon Forest

Growing a cabochon forest ... is hard work! My goodness!

I've been working really hard the last week or so on making some more cab trees. Actually, not just making more but redesigning them as well. I think I finally have figured out a bail system I reeeeeally like. I've started doing them totally different, using different wire to wrap it closed and adding some embellishments to the bail.

Am totally diggin' it.

It started with my new Aquamarine tree. I wanted to do something a little different with the bail, but was afraid to try new things out on Sterling, so had to make a copper one instead. So out popped a Serpentine tree...

It worked well, so the Aquamarine tree came together in a similar fashion...

Same, only dif.

I then moved on to these two. A Rose Quartz with my first ever swirled bail, and my first chunky copper Labradorite tree.

I loved them both so VERA hard.

All of those have gone off to their new homes so I've decided to carry on and continue to grow my forest. This week I've finished 3 more. A Tourmalated Quartz, a Blue Lace Agate and last night... a Charoite.

I'm uber in love with the Charoite cab. I've been wanting to get some for many months now, but have had a hard time finding good ones for a reasonable price. I found this one at the rock show and just had to scoop it up!

It's so cool! It has this awesome shimmery thing going on in parts of the purple that I just LOVE. Not sure the tree is finished yet though. I think when I get home tonight I may antique it. The tree is overpowering the stone. Think I want to tone that down a bit. Not 100% sure yet.

Anyhoo, there it is. My new, ever growing, cabochon forest. :D

Trees-a-plenty!

W00T!

Summer Bookmark

Finally finished up a bookmark project I've had laying around for a while. A summer themed bookmark...

 ...with a sterling silver wrapped dangle on it with faceted Citrine, Aquamarine and Iolite chips...

...the actual shepard staff style bookmark is pewter, with suns, stars and rainbows on it.

Summer. Fun in the sun and all that jazz. :D

Another project down. Go me.

:D

Rock Show Goodies!

Lots of new goodies! I tried to be smart about things this year, and was very selective on what I brought home, unlike last year where I was just walking around in a daze of "OMG TEH SHINY!" and bought everything I saw. Even if I had no clue what to do with it or HOW to do anything with it. Most of last year's haul... I still have. 

Silly excitable shinygrrl is ... silly and very excitable.

This year it seemed several Rockhounds didn't make it. There were a couple/few I really wanted to hook up with again but couldn't find them. Bummer that. Rumor had it, maybe they will be at the next one. Fingers crossed. Prices were a lot higher this year too, I think. At least from what I remember. This year's show was rather pricey. 

Boo on pricey. 

Oh well. It is what it is. And I DID get some fabulous goodies. The stash looks mostly like this...

Top: Moss Agate, Bloodstone, Jasper (2) Cacoxenite, Mahogany Obsidian
2nd: Suglite, Jade, Charoite, Labradorite (3)
3rd: Mohogany Obsidian, Blue Lace Agate, Ribbon Obsidian, Aquamarine (2), Ruby Zoisite
4th: 2 rare cabs that I can't for the life of me remember the name of. All I can remember is... it's not mined much anymore and...starts with a B. Darn it!! I've been looking thru all my books and it cooooould be... Binghamite.

The show stoppers for me were finding 2 more Aquamarine cabs. I didn't expect that at all. And oh my are they gorgeous! The other was this Cacoxenite. A rare stone and just incredible. I've been reading up on it a bit, and I /think/ what I have is an Amethyst, with cacoxenite inclusions which is the gold striations. It also has some black in it, which could be hematite, from what I'm reading. Stone of awesome.

Cacoxenite

I also got several slabs. Something I want to try this year is larger trees; window and wall size. Trying not to get too carried away until I figure out how to do it, I got 5 slabs of stone to try with, one was a beautiful piece of green and white Ocean Jasper, with sparkles in it and a couple small druzy spots on it.

Ocean Jasper

It's somewhat transparent so it may be good for a window tree.

What I hope to work up to is putting a tree on this baby. It's a slab of Labradorite, about 7" with a whole lot of blue and green flash in it. Last year I saw these everywhere! This year... it was the only one I could find.

Labradorite

Seems Labradorite is in high demand or something. It was everywhere last time, beads, cabs, slabs, you name it. This year... hardly any. :( I think there's another show in July so maybe it'll be there.

Good times at the rock show. Now... time to get a twistin' and a wrappin'.

Later taters!

New Copper Chains for Larger Trees

Copper chain has been a serious struggle for me since I began this little shiny adventure. Seems like it would be such a simple thing, but.... no. Finding real, raw, copper chain is next to impossible. Everything is either gigantic or copper plated. Last year I had finally found some real copper chain in a decent size for pendants, but sadly I can't find any more and I've run out. 

I did find some Rolo chain, I've actually been using it for bracelets. I've not made many pendants big enough for it. Last week I took a chance on some cable chain I found as well. Now with the new cabochon pendants I've been buying for the stones inside I will have some much bigger trees. Much bigger... whatever-i-feel-likes. :D They're all going to need bigger chain.

This afternoon I matched up my new copper Aurora Borealis Tree of Life with both kinds of chain. antiqued to match. 

Raw copper chain for the win. :D

I also made a clasp for them. A sort of decorative S-clasp. One thing that drives me nuts about necklace chains is how the darn clasp always ends up in the front as you wear it. So I've been playing with clasps that could actually double as a decorative component in the necklace so that when it inevitably moves to the front, it won't just be an ugly lobster claw or spring clasp, but part of the whole necklace.

Rolo Chain

Rolo Chain

Cable Chain

Cable chain

I like them both. They are pretty similar in size, the rolo looks bigger, the cable a bit lighter and more open looking. These 2 chains are both 28", but since the links are so big, the chains can actually be clasped anywhere, making it fully adjustable.

I think they're going to work out great for a bunch of things I've been working on. Necklaces, bracelets... all kinds of goodies. Yay for new copper chain! :D

When all else fails...trees.

I've noticed that when I'm having trouble with shinies, I tend to fall back on trees. Caught myself doing it again. Behind the scenes I've been trying and trying and TRYING to get weaving under control. Sometimes I do ok with it, most times... not so much. Oh, I can get the weave part, but by the time I'm done ... some is tight, some ... too tight and I end up with wonky wire. Thou shalt not have wonky wire.

Start again.

When I get too frustrated, I set it aside. And end up busting out another tree. Or four.

Four is where I'm at this week. 

I finished up an order of a couple the other day. An Aurora Borealis Tree and a mini Writer's Tree...

Then went back to the weaving. Turned out it wasn't working because I had the wrong weave. So... I tried a new one. It's kind of a mess. So, back to the trees.

The two I did are slightly different. I've been working on new bails. So far I think I like the way they're turning out. Last night I finished up a new Rose Quartz Tree, this one has a nifty little swirly bail on it...

Cute little swirly thing I think. *nodnod* I like it.

I also finished up a new Aurora Borealis. Pretty excited about this one actually. A couple/few weeks ago I bought a bunch of new Labradorite. Labradorite cabochons are something I have a very hard time getting my hands on. Mostly because I'm so darn picky. It's one of the stones I refuse to buy online. Sight unseen doesn't really work for me with this one. The flash is just too darn important. Labradorite without flash is just... unimpressive. With the right flash... full of WOW.

So, being almost totally out, and desperately wanting more, what I bought was not plain cabs but... pendants. The local bead store got some beautiful labradorite stones set in some horrible silver plated settings. Almost all the stones were set in these awful settings... upside down. Bad for the pendants, good for me.

I snatched them all up and started cutting the frames away. What I ended up with were some beautiful stones of all kinds of different sizes and shapes. I went to wrap one and realized... holymoly were they thick! Gotz me some hunka-chunka stones there!

Last week I ordered some new square copper wire to try to wrap them with and started twisting away. What I ended up with is...

... a new square, or rather diamond shaped, Aurora Borealis. My first antique copper version. Complete with new bail style.

W00T!

Am having a lot of fun playing with trees. Will play more with weaving today since they say practice makes perfect, then crank out a few more trees I think. I have another big rectangle Amethyst tree I'm working on that I may finish up. If I can get it to work it may bust open many more new trees, made on beads instead of cabochons. I think it's finally coming together. Fingers crossed.

New trees, new bails and tomorrow... the rock show starts so hopefully... new rocks too.

Adventures in shinies.

W00T W00T!!

GIVEAWAY! Emerald Tree of Life Earrings

It's been a long while since I've done a giveaway. Giveaways are fun and I think it's a fine time to play. :D 

I've been going through a bunch of stuff  the past week or so, trying so hard to get caught up on things and decide what to do with some of the things I have piling up. I actually had every intention of doing some sort of giveaway with a piece or two of the things I had let expire over on Etsy but I've been so into the trees lately... I changed my mind. A tree giveaway seems way more fun. 

So, eeinie, meanie, minie, mo, I pick... these ones. They're one of my new Tree of Life earrings. Don't think I've even listed these kind yet they're so new. 

They are my new twisted wire version. This particular pair is an antique copper, emerald chip set hung from hand made copper ear wires. The trees are approx 1" in diameter, about the size of a quarter. 

Want them? You know you do. :D

Leave a comment letting me know you want to enter, before June 30th, and you're in. Easy peasy. I'll pick the winner using Random.org and post the winner the first week of July.

There you have it. Tree of Life Earrings giveaway. Fun fun FUN :D

Ok, time to kick it.  Ready, set... GO!


ETA:
- Giveaway open worldwide
- Void where prohibited
- Shipping is free, but winner is responsible for customs fees or taxes should they occur.

A Whole New Forest of Shiny Trees

It's been a very shiny weekend over here. I've been working on several projects and managed to finish up several new trees. Busy busy. Go me.

I think I'm getting my shinies mojo back. Feels good. Yay for that.

On the project front, it's pretty much been a bust. Mucked up another scorpion and a woven cab wrap I'm trying to figure out. Seems weaving wasn't in the cards yesterday. Hoping today is it's day. The way I've been crankin' out the trees lately, I thought the Tree of Life bracelet would be good to focus on, but no, mucked that all up too. It wasn't it's day either. Poor projects.

What I did manage to do is finish up the Aquamarine cabochon tree I've been working on. Pretty stoked about that one. I wanted to try something new with the bail, but being silver made me hesitate. It reeeeeeeally sucks to muck up sterling pieces on the last steps. Really really sucks. So I decided to make a new copper one to play on. Still sucks to muck up copper trees on the last steps but cost wise it sure hurts less. ;)

One thing led to another and I ended up with... several new trees lol.

A pair of copper/turquoise full moon earings, a copper/Serpentine cabochon tree and a silver/Ruby Zoisite Crab Apple tree. :D I just finished antiqueing them. With the Aquamarine Tree and the others I've been neglecting to post, the new forest is looking like...

...a forest.

I really need to get my listings caught up. Badly.

Maybe I'll work on that today. I just now got my lightbox working again so I've run out of excuses to not get to it. Other than I don't wanna. Wanna make shinies. I'm on a roll!

One big shiny tree roll! :D :D

Rolls are fun.


ps: Oh yeah. I'm having a clearance sale! There's a couple trees in there too. :D https://www.etsy.com/shop/FreiaInguz?section_id=11399566

Later taters!!

Let the uber sale begin!

My oh my am I behind on things. For various reasons, this year has been a bit of a shiny making challenge for me. I've managed to make some things, but nothing like the quantity I was crankin' out last year. The last couple/few months ... pretty much nada. The other night I realized I actually /do/ have several finished pieces from months back, however they are just sitting here, never making it to the actual listing phase of things. Turns out... things don't move real well if they never make it further than my table.

Go figure.

I also realized the other night, I'm so far behind on updating my Etsy that I've let listings expire. Something crazy like... 84 of them. o.O That's not good. So, what's a shinygrrl to do?

Get busy.

I've managed to get about 7 new listings up. Several Sparkle Forest Trees I never followed thru on and some simple Tourmaline pendants I made forever ago. I've got about 15 more new pieces to photo and list as well, which I'm working towards. Turns out I only /thought/ listings took a long time when I was going 1 or 2 at a time. 20+ listings takes forEVER!!!

While I'm doing that, and trying to finish up new pieces, I'm also working on going through my physical inventory and comparing it all to the 84ish expired listings to try to figure out what to do with everything. Bottom line is, there's a rock show coming up and I need to clear out some stock. Ya know, out with the old so I can come in with some new. :D So, I've decided to have an uber sale.

So far, I've set up a Clearance section in the Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/FreiaInguz?section_id=11399566 that has about 13 pieces marked down between 25-50%. I've also put several/many other pieces on sale thru out the shop. As I go thru the inventory, to make sure I've not sold it elsewhere (double selling a piece is just bad form) I'll be adding more to the sale section. It could end up growing rather large.

Now I'm off to try to make the sale bigger. Bigger bigger BIGGER!

Let the uber sale begin!!! :D