Amber is a pretty unique gemstone. Instead of being formed from some sort of mineral that has had an excessive amount of pressure or heat applied to it, it’s actually fossilized tree sap mainly located around the Baltic region of Europe.
Traditionally, amber ranges in color from a light opaque yellow to a dark, translucent brown. You can also find green and red varieties of amber. Regardless of its hue, it is a gorgeous stone that makes for gorgeous jewelry!
As a stone, amber has been associated with the Western zodialogical signs Leo and Virgo, a nod to its warm autumn tones. In Eastern traditions, it is associated with the tiger. As an essential oil, amber is thought to bring love to the user.
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I like to consider the cultural aspects of designs and materials. I like to look at the role of jewelry in ancient cultures, and the role of symbolism in jewelry.
I had long thought myself a bit odd, but over the weekend I met someone who also blends their interest in ancient cultures with their jewelry design. In retrospect, though, I’ve read about people who have designed jewelry based around artifacts. Somewhere, I have a pattern for a necklace that resembles one of Cleopatra’s.
I’ve seen people create jewelry inspired by their love for a particular musician or song (I’d love to give that a try some time). I’ve seen pieces that incorporate bits of scrapbooking materials, made by scrapbookers. I’ve seen recreations of pieces worn in favorite movies and anime.
The inspiration for jewelry can come from anywhere, if you’re receptive. With a little creativity, you can create truly unique pieces of jewelry just by incorporating your own interests.
Somehow, I should figure out how to create something that involves my passion for teaching. Hmm…
Stone Pages and World Science both carried stories this week on the discovery of the oldest known beads. These shells show signs of deliberate modification, a bit unusual for beads of this nature.
Stone Pages looks at the phenomenon of jewelry as symbolism, and discusses why this find is so interesting in that light. Definitely worth the read!
Rose quartz is hands-down one of my favorite stones. I have a difficult time wearing it because it tends to blend in with my skin tone, but it’s pretty much the only pink I’ll wear!
As expected, rose quartz is a pink-toned quartz, the color caused by iron that has seeped its way into the quartz. It’s found in many places around the world, but most commercial rose quartz hails from Brazil.
Rose quartz has long been thought to promote and attract love, and represents the birth sign Taurus. In new age studies, it is thought to align with the heart chakra.
In my most recent order from Fire Mountain Gems, they included an irregular citrine pendant as the free gift.
I think it took me all of five seconds to deicde what to do with it. I’m going to make it into a necklace similar to the Ugly Duckling necklace and give it to a friend when she moves at the end of the month! It’s my first time playing with citrine, so I thought it would be a great time to learn more about this bright, light yellow stone!
Citrine is a yellow quartz that has been confused for the semi-precious topaz at times. It is commonly found in Brazil, and is very heat sensitive. Much of the citrine on the market today was created by heating low-grade amethyst, causing the heat sensitivity.
In ancient times, citrine was thought to cancel the properties of snake venom and relieve health conditions related to the digestive tract. Citrine is thought to promote clarity and creativity as well as block evil thoughts.
Citrine serves as an alternate birthstone for November, and is often associated with the zodialogical signs Leo and Virgo.
I’m working on a piece this week involving the beautiful black onyx, and thought this might be a great opportunity to sit down and blog about this stone.
Also referred to as Monk’s Stone, onyx is a microcrystalline quartz that is most commonly found in layers that can easily be carved. For this reason, it is used frequently for creating cameos because the contrast can be easily achieved by carving. Onyx also comes in varieties that may appear to be a solid color because the layers are of very similar colors.
Onyx has been thought to promote balance, creativity, and good fortune. It has also been thought to keep troublesome people at bay.
The piece of interest is way down at the bottom of the page, but i’s just a little blurb on the role of jewelry in Egyptian religion.
Excerpted:
Physician, priest and magician were one in ancient Egypt. It would not be unusual, for example, for a patient to have a dog bite treated with a paste of berries and honey and then bandaged, after which the priest would utter an incantation over the wound and give the patient a magical amulet to wear.
Healing was an art that was addressed on many levels. The sanctuaries of the gods often had sanatoria attached to them, allowing physician-priests to perform ‘miraculous healings’.
In those days, amulets were small objects that ancient Egyptians wore, carried or offered to a deity, in the belief that they would impart a magical kind of protection to the wearer.
In ancient Egypt, amulets might be carried, used in necklaces, bracelets, rings, or even small statues. They were often placed among a mummy’s bandages to ensure the deceased a safe, healthy and productive afterlife.
Egyptian amulets functioned in a number of ways. Symbols and deities generally conferred the powers they represented. Small models that represented known objects, such as headrests or arms and legs, served to ensure those items were made available to the individual or that a specific need could be addressed.
Magic contained in an amulet could be understood not only from its shape. Material, colour, rarity, the grouping of several forms, and words said or ingredients rubbed over the amulet could all be the source for magic that granted the possessor’s wish.
Pretty interesting read. It also explains why jewelry found in tombs often is in specific shapes.
My mother has informed me more than once that I’m overly interested in symbolism. It’s true. I’ve always liked symbols. It’s so interesting to see how different cultures regard the same same symbol, especially when it comes to colors.
I’ve been working in glass beads a lot lately, so the idea of color symbolism has been on my mind over the past few months. Most recently, I created necklaces and goblet tags as part of the prize support for the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For those pieces, color wasn’t a terribly difficult decision. Of the four necklaces created, there is one in each of the house colors. For the three sets of goblet tags, each set had four tags. Each tag had a centerpiece bead or charm surrounded by one of the four house colors. As I sit here thinking about it, I realize that I may have created a very funny situation in one of the sets. I made a set of goblet tags that use charms with inspirational words in them. I worked hard to match each value to a house, instead of to the color.
This caused Gryffindor (red) to be “trust”, Hufflepuff (yellow) to be “believe”, Ravenclaw (blue) to be “inspire”, and Slytherin (green) to be “imagine”.
Colors do traditionally have a meaning attributed to them. In early cultures, the rarity and processing difficulty of the indigo plant made purple a color to be worn only by royalty. Red, typically understood to be a color of strength, was donned by the Roman Legions.
Traditionally, the basic colors are associated with the following meanings:
Really kind of puts my charmed tags in perspective, and it’s a great thing to consider when trying to pick out jewelry for people. Color can be a very useful way to convey a message to the recipient.
I’d been meaning to start these sooner, but I thought it would be fun to share what little I know about the stones I like to work with. I’ve often been accused of being overly brainy and a symbologist. I’m not sure either really fits me well, but it’s fun to pretend they both are sometimes.
So…amethyst is a rather lovely variant of quartz whose color varies from white through light purple to dark purple. It’s a semi-precious stone generally native to the warmer climates of North America, although they have been found in Europe and Africa as well.
Amethyst has been thought to promote meditative thought, creativity, and relaxation for centuries. It is also thought to promote success in business matters and through changes.
Finally, Amethyst is the traditional birthstone for those born in the month of February.
Look for more stone introductions over the next few months!
I was recently approached to design some pieces that will become part of the prize support for a figure skating tournament. The promo manager gave me no boundaries, and is still trying to nail down how many pieces there will be. I hope she also can tell me what the age divisions are.
As I started to think about potential designs, I decided on two things. The first is that I want the necklaces to reflect the winners’ placement. The second is that I want a different design for each division.
The first issue was completely developed in my mid as soon as I had thought it. I work entirely in silver, so I knew I wouldn’t be playing on the medal colors. However, gold, silver, and bronze have not been the only indicators of position in competitions. Anyone who has been in a competition where ribbons were awarded knows this. I’ve decided to incorporate the ribbon color scheme (in the form of bead colors) into the designs.
The second issue is a challenge to work with until I’m told how many divisions there will be. I have two designs in mind already. I’m thinking I’d like to create a series of patterns that are inter-related, as if each is a progreesion from the next.
Tonight, I ought to work out mock-ups of the two designs I already have selected, and then determine a third from there. At least then, I will have something to show the person who asked me to do this.
