The golden hour

I've been working hard at putting together my "home".   While it's been very exciting for me and the hubby, the poor guy I am married to is not going to get much time to enjoy the place as he has so many trips away from home to train soldiers with the Army this year. 

Last year would have probably been better as we were in that budget battle that caused a lot of training to be cancelled -- if we had closed last year, maybe he would have gotten more time to enjoy the place.  As it is, it seems like it's about a week or two home to every 4-5 weeks away for this year.

With all that time away -- it's a double edged sword, really.  On one hand, I can kind of set up places around the house how I want -- on the other hand, he doesn't get to experience the wonder of the new place at the same time. 

Also -- I am kind of doing it all by myself, so my poor shop is suffering and I am not getting nearly as much done as I would like.  Like right now I have some fabulous peach moonstone and some fabulous Swiss blue topaz I just have not been able to touch.  It's sad to me, because they are so pretty that I wish I could just make them into something and post them.

I did however, get a few new items listed -- finally, even though I am still not caught up on creating my work-spaces.  I will show you those later in the post.

I think, however, the thing that is messing up my desire to work in the office / studio here is the golden hour.  It's this time of day that my yard is bathed in this fabulous golden light. I sit back in the back yard during that time every single day, enjoying the fabulous lighting hitting my fruit trees and my gardens.  When raspberries were in season (you know for about a week) it was like heaven in my back yard during that time.

Hubby has been home for almost his two weeks now -- and he can't seem to drag himself away from the back yard golden hour either.  It's like this moment of heaven on earth -- peaceful, serene, and absolutely stunning. There are several photos of the golden hour on my instagram, you'll see what I mean.

This is a Peridot colored Swarovski starfish.  I love it, because finding actual Peridot in this size would not in any way be cost effective -- or probably possible as Peridot cracks easily.  Think August birthdays.

This is a simple rutilated quartz wire wrapped pendant -- except the rutilations are purple.  OOOOH purple!

This was a custom design -- Rainbow Tourmaline Teardrops.  I have only listed these as a custom order -- but may list them for the greater shop later this week.

I bought this strand of Ruby on a whim -- and oh my goodness I am so in love. I wish I could keep the whole strand for myself, but that's not really fair is it. Minimalist Oxidized Ruby Necklace -- July Birthstone

This is a statement pendant -- a gorgeous specimen of Labradorite with all the flash you could imagine.  It was so pricey that I only bought two gemstones and am thinking my mother would love the other one :)

Topaz...especially of the London Blue variety

I know, I know, it's not November (the month that boasts Topaz as its birthstone) or December (the month that has stolen London Blue Topaz as its birthstone) but still -- it's a lovely stone and perfect for spring and summer this year with the blues of the fashion color scape.

But what exactly is London Blue Topaz?  Unfortunately -- it's an enhanced stone, it does not naturally occur.  In it's pure form, Topaz is colorless (a great alternative for April birthstone if I may say so) and impurities are what bring colors.

The most common color is the golden topaz -- often mistaken historically for citrine, and vice versa -- which is why both stones are considered the birthstone of November.  The most prized is Imperial Topaz -- which hosts goldens, yellows, some orange and pink hues, usually together.

Many stones can often be mistaken for Topaz -- it's the crystalline and fluorescence that often sets other stones apart.   In fact most topaz on the market with funky names, like Madeira topaz, occidental topaz, Palmeira topaz, Rio topaz, Scottish topaz, and Spanish topaz are actually a form of Citrine -- which itself is a form of colored quartz.  (This is why you find stones like Ametrine -- Crystal, Citrine and Amethyst grow together often as it is impurities in crystal quartz that creates citrine and amethyst). 

The one difference is Smokey Topaz -- which is never, ever topaz, but smokey quartz in structure.

I know it's a sad state of affairs -- but it's all about the trade names these days in the gemstone business.  I often get angry when at gem shows, because some dealers can't stand that Mom and I can usually see what type of stone we are looking at (or at the very least what is trying to be mimicked through 'enhancement') on sight.

Enter London Blue Topaz -- stunning beauty that it is, it is merely an enhanced stone -- so why the heft price tag?  (Only imperial topaz can top it's price tag).   I don't know really -- but I think it's probably about popularity.  I went to a show in Seattle recently and was ready to drop well over 300 wholesale for a fabulous strand -- yes one strand -- of London Blue.

Blue does happen in nature -- just not vibrant striking London Blue.  It's a softer blue, often called something like "ice blue."

Virtually clear -- with just a slight hint of blue.   In order to get the London color (think the color of the 11th Doctor's TARDIS) the producers usually irradiate it and then heat it to bring out fabulous blue.

Yes those are different necklaces -- and they are both sold from the shop, I am just using them as examples of how blue topaz looks naturally, and how it looks after the irradiation and heating to produce London blue.

Even though I know it's an enhanced stone -- and I don't like using very many enhanced stones in the shop -- I just can't get past how much I love the deep ocean blue of that London Blue Topaz.  Also -- it seems to adjust well to being layered with sapphire, in case you wanted to know.



~Maggie~