Chrysoprase Jewelry

Chrysoprase is often referred to as Australian Jade due to its wonderful green color. It is often used for beads, cabochons and cameos.


Chrysoprase Facts
What it is :
Chrysoprase is apple green chalcedony. Its color can go to a darker green. However, if it is dark green this gem is simply called prase. The shade of green is due to the amount of nickel. Chrysoprase has a hardness rating of 7.

Care

Chrysoprase will fade in the sunlight. It is generally durable, but as will all gemstones, it is recommended to store it separately to prevent accidental scratching.

Where It Is Found

The best chrysoprase is found in Australia (Queensland). Other places include: Austria, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Russia, and USA (California).

Birthstone Months with Chrysoprase

• May Birthstone: Other Birthstone
  
• Gemini (May 21-Jun 20): Birthstone

Chrysoprase Themed Books
Actual Gem-related books:

• Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling New 2nd Edition - by Antoinette L. Matlins & Antonio C. Bonanno This book is really great for knowing he latest gems, synthetics, treatments, and instruments. Easy to use.
  
• Gemstone Buying Guide: A Guide to Buying - by Renee Newman Very nice gemstone identification book.

Mystical Properties

Chrysoprase is used for spiritual protection. Some say it helps with fertility.

Lore

Chrysoprase was said said to be a "Victory Stone." It was used by Alexander the Great in battle.
In the 1800's, Chrysoprase was said to help thieves become invisible.
Chrysoprase Jewelry Care & Where Books Lore Jokes Gemstone Information Birthstone Jewelry

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Aventurine Jewelry

Aventurine is a very sweet inexpensive stone. It's claim to fame is having inclusions that look like sparkles. If you buy extremely high quality aventurine (without the inclusions), it looks like emerald.

Aventurine Facts

This form of Cryptocrystaline Quartz contains inclusions of small crystals that reflect light and give a range of colors - depending on the nature of the inclusion. Hence aventurine may be green, greenish-brown, blueish-white, bluish green and orange.

Aventurine has a hardness rating of 7.

Aventurine has been confused with amazonite and jade.

Dark green Aventurine generally has inclusions (due to green fuchsite mica and perhaps a bit of pyrite) which creates a speckled appearance. This is an easy identifying factor often called aventurescence.
If a color is not stated with the word aventurine, it is usually assumed to be green.
Translucent Aventurine often fades in the sun.
Aventurine is found in Brazil, India, Japan, Russia, Tanzania, and USA.

Birthstone Months with Aventurine
Taurus (Apr 20-May 20): Planetary Stone

Aventurine Themed Books
Actual Gem-related books:
Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling New 3rd Edition - by Antoinette L. Matlins & Antonio C. Bonanno This book is really great for knowing he latest gems, synthetics, treatments, and instruments. Easy to use.
Gemstone Buying Guide: A Guide to Buying - by Renee Newman Very nice gemstone identification book.
Gemstones of the World - by Walter Schumann A very well written source on gemstones with great descriptions and photographs

Mystical Properties
Though not meant to replace traditional medical treatment, Aventurine is used for physical healing. It is said to be used to strengthen the body.
More Lore
There was a custom of assigning various saints with a specific gem for use in talismans. The name Andrew (ie. patron Saint Andrew) is associated with Aventurine.
Aventurine has been considered a very lucky stone. Gamblers have been known carry an aventurine talisman.

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January 2009 Spoil Yourself Rotten ArtFire Giveaway!

***Winner Chosen--please see below! 1/25/09***

Welcome to 2009, to a new year, and a new opportunity to spoil yourself rotten with some of amazing gifts and goodies compliments of six wonderful ArtFire shops! It's been sooo cold this winter, I wanted to put together something that reminded me of comfort and warmth. Lots of cream and caramel and coffee and toffee and sugar and spice. ArtFire is a relatively new venue, so I've rounded up some fantastic sellers so everyone can see what they have to offer! Here's what's up for grabs:


You'll get: a Caramel Coughdrop pendant from my shop, Risky Beads, a bar of Sage & Cinnamon soap from soapdeli, Frosted Pink Sugar 3-in-1 Bubbling Body Wash, Creme de Menthe lip balm, and Vanilla Frosting Whipped Body Moussee from Nella Scents Bath & Body, a 10 oz. bag of Fleur De Sel Gourmet Carames from Laura Lee's Tasty Treats, Cognac Crystal earrings from cctexan3, Good Morning Grumpy Body Soap Coffee and Creme Brulee Scent, Maple and Brown Sugar Room Spritzer, and a Toffee Crunch Soy Candle Melt by SimplyTemptedBathandBody, and a trial size of Dragon's Blood Hand and Body Lotion from MeaCulpaBodyandBath! In total, these products retail at $88.50 before shipping, but you can win them all for FREE, and here's how:

To be entered into the random drawing for this giveaway, you must visit at least 3 of the 7 ArtFire shops featured in the giveaway and come back with a comment about your favorite item from that shop. The shops are: Risky Beads, soapdeli, Nella Scents Bath & Body, cctexan3, SimplyTemptedBathandBody, Laura Lee's Tasty Treats, and MeaCulpaBodyandBath.

You can earn an extra entry by commenting about all 7 shops instead of just 3, purchasing something from one of the shops featured above (each shop you purchase from will earn you one extra entry), by blogging about the giveaway, or by mentioning the giveaway on Twitter with a link back to this post. If you choose to blog or tweet about it, please come back and post the link here so I can note it. The context will close at noon, next Sunday January 25th and I'll announce the winner then.

Good luck!~ Lori

ETA: Please leave a way for me to contact you if you win!

ETA 1/25/09: The winner of the January ArtFire Giveaway is Donna! Donna said, "I went to all 7 shops. These are my faves:
MeaCulpaBodyandBath-LILY OF THE VALLEY Shampoo and Conditioner
Laura Lee's Tasty Treats-My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies
SimplyTemptedBathandBody-WARM VANILLA SUGAR 'QUENCH' BODY FROSTING
cctexan3- Black Agate nugget bracelet
Nella Scents Bath & Body-FROSTED PINK SUGAR 3 in 1 BUBBLING BODY WASH
soapdeli-FALLING FOR YOU SOAP FOR EXTRA DRY SKIN
Risky Beads-UNDERWATER KALEIDOSCOPE
I tweeted.
http://twitter.com/donnak4/status/1135740217."
The winner was selected from 143 valid numbered entries by random.org. Congratulations!!! Stay tuned for another giveaway kicking off next Sunday!

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Carnelian jewelry

Carnelian is a fun affordable orange gem stone. It is used for great beads, cabochons and cameos. It was a favorite stone for jewelry in ancient Eygpt.

Carnelian Care, Treatments & Where

Carnelian (also known as Cornelian) is usually ranges from bright orange to reddish orange. The shades of red are due to iron oxide.

Carnelian has a hardness rating of 7.

Most carnelian on the market is stained chalcedony from Brazil or Uruguay.

When this gem stone is placed in the sun, its color will change. This is often used to tranform brown tints to red.

The best carnelian is found in India.

Themed Book
Actual Gem-related books

• Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling New 2nd Edition - by Antoinette L. Matlins & Antonio C. Bonanno This book is really great for knowing he latest gems, synthetics, treatments, and instruments. Easy to use.


• Gemstone Buying Guide: A Guide to Buying - by Renee Newman Very nice gemstone identification book.

Books with Carnelian in their Title

• The Red Carnelian - by Phyllis A. Whitney, Liza Ross (Narrator) A suspense book by a well-known author in audio tape format.

Birthstone Months with Carnelian

• July Birthstone: Other Birthstone
  
• Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22): Birthstone & Lucky Charm

Mystical Properties

Carnelian is used for clear thinking. It is said to help balance creativity and mental processing. If one is in a mental rut, wearing beads is said to help.

Lore

Carnelian was said to bring luck, protection and comfort in the 1700's.

In the 1800's, Carnelian was said to help those who needed courage to speak.

Carnelian was considered sacred in Eygpt during the reign of King Tut.

Mohammed, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III wore carnelian.

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Buy This So I Won't-Volume 5 - Handmade Soap

Yikes, I think I'm a bit tardy with this issue, but the New Year can be quite the whirlwind, can't it? This week's candidate for Buy This So I Won't is actually a class of products from different sellers all hailing from Artfire and is a vain attempt to address one of my most expensive Achille's heels. I have absolutely, positively no ability to resist handmade soap. I have a handmade soap addiction that's fed by the ridiculous buzz I get from aromatherapy or something. Seriously, if I'm having a really bad day, all I have to do is go pick up a bar of soap from the stack that's just waiting to be used, sniff it and WHAM, I feel better. (I will neither confirm not deny that I keep a soap sample in my purse for aroma therapeutic 911 emergencies.)

Now, some of you who pass through my world, may know that I like to make bracelets out of food to entertain myself, but I'm not nearly as skilled as these soap makers who keep making bath & body products that look better than my mother's banana bread. Honestly, do I really need to feel hungry when I'm taking a shower? No, I don't. If I made it to the shower without going near the fridge in the first place, I don't need to be rewarded with a bar of soap that looks like the neopolitan ice cream I just successfully resisted. So, dear readers, your mission this week is to BUY THESE SO I WON'T and don't eat them by accident...

Coconut Cream Pie with Shea Butter by soapdeli $5.00

Snicker Doodle Sugar Bubbles by the soap seduction $10.00

(anyone seen my fork?)

Pumpkin Crunch Cake Body Soap Design Series (Vegan Friendly) by SimplyTemptedBathandBody $6.00

(Is your tummy growlin' now?)
Lemon Sugar Cake Mini Bundt Cake Soap by Adoration $4.00

(One of these days, I'm going to accidentally take a bath with a Hershey Bar or a Reese Cup.)
Peanut Butter Cookie Whipped Goat's Milk Cold Processed Soap by Hendrick's Hearth $4.25

*Whew.* I made it through this entire post without buying any soap. Omg, that means there's a light at the end of my bubble bath. hee hee

Until next week, Lori

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Lessons Learned

So 5 months ago, I decided to write about my first year on Etsy...only it took me 5 months to write it and life intervened and ArtFire and 1000Markets popped up along the way, so the result is now a book about my first 18 months on Etsy. Yes, 18 months of things I learned the hard way, strategies I employed to bring sales in, and tips about marketing, branding and finding your niche. The lessons can be applied to any online venue, save the information on how to make a poster sketch and snag a Treasury, and I hope they'll help new and struggling shop owners make an easier go of it!

And if you're considering branching out and giving ArtFire a shot, there's also a $5.00 rebate inside that you won't want to pass up!

Click here to see the table of contents.

This book is a labor of love, not just a list of answers to FAQs. I hope it will inspire you and help to renew your energy and fine-tune your focus for 2009! The book is $9.00 and in the form of a .pdf file. It will be emailed to your PayPal address unless you email me and specify otherwise.

Have a great week!
-Lori

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Alexandrite Jewelry

Alexandrite is a beautiful, rare gem stone that changes color from red to green. It is very difficult to find natural alexandrite gemstones. Most Alexandrites on the market are synthetic. Alexandrite rings are very beautiful. When wearing an alexandrite ring, the wearer can easily watch the stone change color under different lights.

Alexandrite Gem Stone Facts

Alexandrite changes color from green to red, mauve or brown in incadescent light. The greater the change in color (especially if there is no brown), the more valuable the alexandrite is. Look for a quality stone that is well cut with clarity. Alexandrite has a hardness rating of 8.5.

Protect alexandrite from scratches, sharp blows, harsh chemicals and extreme temperatures. Be especially careful when getting this stone (re)mounted as the heat from a jewelers torch may affect its color change.

There are many many synthetic alexandrites on the market. Natural alexandrite is very rare. If you are being told you are buying a genuine high quality alexandrite, ask for a gem identification report or certificate of authenticity (perferably from AGL or GIA). As large clean stones are very rare, if the stone has no inclusions, that would be a huge warning sign that the stone is likely lab created or synthetic.

Alexandrite is found in Brazil, Madagascar, Myanmar, Russia, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.
The biggest alexandrite crystal cluster was mined in Russia and weighed 5724 grams. It was discovered in 1840. However, any high quality cut alexandrite gem larger than 5 carats is be extremely rare. (Note: 5 carats equals 1 gram.)

Birthstone Months with Alexandrite

June Birthstone: Traditional Birthstone

Alexandrite Themed Books

Actual Gem-related books:

Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling New 3rd Edition - by Antoinette L. Matlins & Antonio C. Bonanno This book is really great for knowing he latest gems, synthetics, treatments, and instruments. Easy to use.

Gemstone Buying Guide: A Guide to Buying - by Renee Newman Very nice gemstone identification book.

Gemstones of the World - by Walter Schumann A very well written source on gemstones with great descriptions and photographs

Alexandrite Mystical Properties

Alexandrite can assist one in centering the self, reinforcing self-esteem, and augmenting ones ability to experience joy.

More Alexandrite Lore

Alexandrite was discovered in 1831 and is named after Alexander II of Russia.
Alexandrite is looked upon as a good omen in Russia.

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