A New Name!

I have a new name! I love the name Wellspring Creations.

My daughter came up with it. It has a nice ring to it. Sadly, it is too long to use with venues like Twitter where I had to abbreviate it. Plus, I made a newbie mistake and created online shops on eCrater and Etsy before I purchased the .com. Someone snatched it up, didn't use it, and periodically wants to auction it of to me. Not.

So I needed a shorter name. I've been toying around with a variety of names. Any more "logical" name involving jewelry, design or initials is long since taken. Because the internet is an international affair, any attempt to get fancy usually resulted in a name that is a common name in some other part of the world. Finding a name that was available on the several venues, both market and social media, proved to be a real challenge!

Then, the other night, one popped into my head. It was so simple and so accurate I figured there was no chance it was still available.

It was!

So, right then and there, I reserved StoneWyre on all my favorite venues AND got the .com, too! And what better name for my work? You know how I love the unique stones, setting them with wire like a poem to music.

It'll take me a while to get the .com site all pretty and the shops all populated, but in the meantime, you can find me on http://www.facebook.com/StoneWyre AND http://Twitter.com/StoneWyre Please stop by, like or follow. I'd love to see you!

In the meantime, if you're interested in shopping, you can still find me on http://WellspringCreations.eCrater.com and http://etsy.com/shop/WellspringCreations

And, of course, I'll be working hard to get all my new creations listed (like the garnet in mica shown above); watch for announcements and links on my Facebook page.

Where to Find Me

Considering I have a background as a writer, I should be doing a better job of updating my blog! Sad to say, it's just been a busy summer all around, but I do try to keep in touch, even if it's only 140 characters! Yes! I'm on twitter and you can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/WSCreations Check it out if you're on Twitter. I promise not to bore you with a constant list of links.

I'm also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/WSCreations. I do post new listings, but am also working to provide more personable updates on the life and times of a jewelry artist. Drop by and say "hi"!

In the meantime, I've been busy making jewelry and updating my booth display. Since the early days, I have always pinned most of my necklaces on a cork-backed tray. A few items, I featured on mannequins. I'm going to try more mannequins to see if that shows my jewelry to better advantage--certainly, it will help people see it better from afar!

I am also in the process of consolidating my websites. This time, I am moving my WellspringChakra inventory over to WellspringCreations. The chakra site had most of my copper creations, but soon, you'll be able to see all my jewelry creations in one place. I have been listing all my new pieces there, such as this original copper chainmaille!

In addition, I have a new model, Eve, who is modelling all my new jewelry creations. Eve, meet world; world,

Eve. Please leave a comment of encouragement to her...doesn't she look a bit concerned? I don't know if it's because it's her first modelling job or if she's self-conscious because she has no hair. Personally, I like the look.

Charoite -- Lavender Purple and Pearly -- What's Not to Like?

Charoite is a lavender purple stone with a pearlescent white that is unique to the Charo River Valley in Siberia, Russia. I fell in love with this stone early in my stone collecting career. That was a lucky thing, too, as the quality available now is not nearly as good as it was when I collected my pieces. ...And with the decrease in quality of the cabs, there has been a 400% increase in price!

This kite-shaped cabochon was one of the first pieces I discovered. My source for this stone lived in St. Petersburg, would travel up to Siberia to collect the stones, and then ship them to me from Finland. The rich purple, large areas of pearly lavender and the hint of black contrast make this a lovely specimen piece. This special stone deserved a special setting, so I designed this unique geometric wrap specifically for it.

Some time later, I stumbled upon these torpedo-shaped charoite at a gem show. What I liked about this piece was the gradation from the darkest purple down to the pale lavender to the pearlescent bottom...and the shape! The deep grapey purple is a real treat in this specimen stone. This is a drilled bead and, fortunately, the stones were very reasonably priced (for a rare stone). I had fun capping this off with a heavy sterling silver cap and a matching sterling heishe on the bottom.

Much more recently, I was able to find these smaller stones, perfect for earrings. I hadn't seen the stone cut in such small pieces, probably because they are trying to use up smaller caches or perhaps just find a more affordable size. Another possibility, is that these are not from Siberia, but from a newer mine, recently discovered in China. The charoite from this mine is typically a paler purple and lacks the pearly quality of its Siberian cousin.

However you look at it, it you love purple and are intrigued by rarity, charoite is a stone to consider. With its variety of purple to lavender and the amazing pearly quality, it will always attract admiring comments and definitely falls into the "family heirloom" category!

New Venture! A Wire Wrapping Tutorial: Egyptian Coil Earrings

Due to several requests, I have written a jewelry tutorial for these earrings!

After college, I began my career as a technical writer, writing "Getting Started" manuals. Now I've come full circle by applying these same skills to jewelry! Forty step-by-step instructions with more than 60 photographs!

If you don't want to make the earrings, you can buy them, too!

How to Put on a Cuff Bracelet

Cuff bracelets are a wider and stiffer form of bracelet. Some are hinged with sections, while others are one piece. This bracelet is an example of an unhinged, one-piece cuff. (A bangle doesn't open and you have to slide it over your hand and onto your wrist. The pictured bracelet does have a hidden clasp, so it is a cuff--do NOT slide it over your hand!)

There is a trick to taking these cuffs on and off that will insure they last for a very long time. Treat it like a spring, rather than a hinge!

Here’s how:

1. Unlatch the clasp and open the cuff only wide enough to pass across the narrowest part of your wrist.

NOTE: A cuff isn’t a bangle--you shouldn’t try to slide it over your hand to put it on...that expands it too much. As you can see in the next photo, the cuff is extended only about 1-1/2 inches.

2. Slip the bracelet on across the narrowest part of your wrist. Rather than from the top down, slide it across from side to side (the photo shows a side view).

3. Once the cuff is around your wrist, gently slide it around so the clasp is in the correct position. The cuff illustration shows the clasp is actually at the top of the bracelet. More often, the opening will be under your wrist.

4. If the cuff has a clasp, close the clasp. It may be easier to push your wrist against your body to hold the bracelet in place while you close the clasp with your other hand.

If you overdo it:

While the frame is a thicker wire, if it is bent like a hinge, several things could happen.

a. If the bend is sharp, it can cause the frame to be misshapen. The jewelry artist might be able to straighten it somewhat, but it would never have the straight lines again.

b. If the cuff is overextended to put on and off, the wire can succumb to metal fatigue and eventually break.
.

CPSIA Petitions to Save Pre-1985 Children's Books AND Handcrafted Goods for Children

In addition to sending emails to your congressional leaders (my previous blogpost has a sample letter and the links), could you please sign the following petitions to mitigate the effects of the CPSIA?

* This petition requests that the CPSIA be modified to allow children access to books printed prior to 1985.

* This petition, written by Etsian, Kristin Kline, of
happyflyingbuttons addresses the CPSIA and its effects on the Americal children's apparel industry and small business handcrafters.

Please note that, while the ipetitions.com host requests donations to support their service, no donation is required to participate in the petitions.
.

Death of the Printed Word?

The CPSIA, a law intended to protect our children from lead and phthalates (a chemical that makes plastics soft), has taken a wrong turn and I am especially concerned with its decree that books printed prior to 1985 should NOT be available to children. In response to my previous blogs, I have heard some sad and alarming stories reflecting the repercussions of this mandate.

But what if this is the beginning of a trend? The CPSIA tells libraries they must "sequester" these children's books--keep them, but not let them be available to children. Then, Half Price Books removing half their children's inventory and the resulting lack of availability to foreign buyers who rely on these sources for children's books.

Taken a step further, we have the story from Australia, where the library management decided they were no longer a "research" library, but a "lending" library and removed all books printed prior to 2000.

Yesterday, the top news story was about the newspapers that are going out of business. The great San Francisco Chronicle, once owned by William Randolph Hearst of newspaper fame.

It makes me wonder if we are seeing the beginning of the end of the printed word. Hopefully, it will be a long road, but the prospect of my children's children getting all their reading material off the internet or their iBooks saddens me deeply.

Compare the incomparable photographs of Life magazine to the video clips from cell phones we are seeing on our news. Yes, it's instant. Yes, it's there. But it's hardly art; hardly memorable.

Besides the loss of the leisure of reading a good book, the smell and feel of paper between your fingers, the suspense of turning the page, and the lovely illustrations that can only be fully appreciated in printed form, what pitfalls lie before us?

Eventually, will we have a central online library? Who will control what we see? How much easier to track who is reading what--our own government wants libraries to provide this information to them today, but libraries have fought to protect our privacy--our freedom of reading--preferring to provide the information only where a lawful warrant is provided.

If centralized, how easy to eliminate what is embarassing or block what is unflattering. It's happening today. Type "Tiananmen Square" in a search engine in China and you will see a list of travel highlights but no mention of the massacre of July 5, 1989.

These things may not come to pass, but it is worth considering the ramifications if this were to happen.

Hopefully, our children won't be looking back on history and thinking 'I wonder why my parents didn't try to stop this from happening?'