The Green and the Black

Seems like I'm always blaming the Marine Layer in our lovely Pacific Northwest for glooming my photos, but it's true! I always shoot in natural light so am a bit at the mercy of Mother Nature.

(Which reminds me, don't you dare forget Mom, whose day is coming right up. Mother's Day is a week today, next Sunday, May 9th, so buy her something nice. I'm hoping for a lovely lilac bush myself, but anything cheerful will do. Oh, and if she likes jewelry, take a peek into my shop at www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com. There are a number of spring-like designs, among other things, in my fit-for-a-Celtic-goddess treasure chest.)

These stones will be appearing in my shop shortly as earrings:

Real green turquoise, smooth teardrops. These are just beautiful with their brown matrix. I'll probably wrap them on copper that I'll age and burnish.

This is mahogany obsidian; the inclusions are deep red, and this is one of those photos that I might have to retake on a brighter day. (They're promising sunshine later, but so far, so gloomy.) I might wrap these on silver and oxidize the heck out of it. A shiny wrap would distract from the real beauty of these stones, which should make for a very sophisticated pair of earrings. Hoping so, anyway. Copper might work better. Will be mulling this over... any comments?

Best, Suzy

Picasso Jasper: Fascinating!

I recently found some yummy stones that will appear in jewelry form in my shop, http://www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com/, in the next few days. Please feel free to take a peek at these, and send comments or custom requests (it's easiest to go to Etsy and convo me; I check several times a day).


If you're a fan of picasso jasper, hang onto your heart!

Delicious wedge-shaped stones, flat on the back, rounded across the front; I'll wrap these on copper in either my traditional Celtic wrap or the Druid wrap you can see on such pieces as "Celtic Fire" in my shop. Some will make wonderful earrings, each pair one-of-a-kind, and in sizes ranging from approximately 1" - 1-3/4" from the top of the ear wires, and at least one long pendant.

Green-brown-gold perfect smooth teardrop pendant focal stone. I may pair this with complementing rounds of picasso jasper and copper, probably on leather.

Resembling the forest, or even the sea floor, this pendant focal is just gorgeous! Can't wait to work with this one, and I'm hoping it will go well with a pair of stones I have in my stash. It would make a stunning set!

Check back soon - here and at www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com. I have a couple of pretty things coming right up!

Best, Suzy

Beautiful Blue Crazy Lace Agate!

My Etsy shop has been happily selling a series of earrings from a terrific strand of smooth blue crazy lace agate teardrops that is - horrors! - about to run out. In the meantime, my wonderful supplier has gone out of business. So when marvelous customer Ms. C. asked if I could do up something especially for her with these most intriguing stones, I turned a critical eye on the remains of my stash.

These were photographed on a gloomy Pacific Northwest day, so they aren't popping quite as much as I'd like, but the markings are pretty well demonstrated:

Above: An interesting group. The two on the left are very nice, with areas of red streaking. To their right is my best remaining pendant bead. The pendant on the far right has, I think, more personality. More photos below.

Above: Here are the four, close-up. The red in the pair on the right is much more "red" than as it's showing in the photo. Lots of cloud, pretty blue. Compatible with either of the pendant pieces - probably more so with the unwrapped stone on the right.

Above: These are gorgeous! They don't have any discernible red in them, but I see areas of mauvy-white that are very pleasing. Yummy stones. Probably most compatible with the unwrapped pendant stone.

Above: The color of these two is stand-alone fantastic, leaning to teal; but their markings are much more subdued than the others. They would probably be most compatible with the wrapped pendant, which has a bit of teal-green in it.

I'm looking for more of these stones, but no luck so far. Check my Etsy shop now and then, www.suzyrocksdesigns.etsy.com, or right back here, or convo me, for updates!

All my best, Suzy