Make Mine Lime

Lime green is so popular now, and more to the good for me as is it one of my favorite colors to wear. There's just something bright and refreshing about it that makes me think of happy new leaves, delicious Key Lime Pie, and of course, Lime Sherbet!

The dichroic cabochon was made by GlassLadyLisa; it is a pale gray color with a high reflective layer that almost pulses with green, wild orange, red, and yellow flashes, especially in sunlight. I used size 15, 11, and 8 Czech beads as well as Japanese silver-lined 15s for extra sparkle. Two green-dyed pearly shell beads and 6 dark garnet dyed pearls accent the center cabochon. The clasp is a simple green glass button.

I hope Lime, and it sister colors of Green Apple, Acid Green, and Grass Green hang around for a long time! Completed 7-11 >>MPK

Bracelet - Fresh from the Sea

I rarely do simple stringing anymore but decided not to hold off on making this bracelet. A year or so ago, I purchased these unique shell beads from Meant To Bead. They are dyed, and formed around a solid core through which the hole is drilled. Their color and unique shape caught my eye. By adding the aurora borealis coated green glass beads, there was enough to form this bracelet finished off by one of Jill MacKay's magnetic clasps. Simple, fresh, comfortable to wear. Completed 7 - 11 >>MPK

Pretty Pewter Cubes Bracelet

Of course, one good turn deserves another. Here is the "opposite" of the previous bracelet, pewter colored Japanese cube beads with an antiques coppery clasp. Completed 2-11 >>MPK

Coppery Cubes bracelet

A bold and simple peyote bracelet made with coppery-finish Japanese cube beads and closed with an antiqued pewter clasp.

Completed 2-11 >>MPK

Bracelet - Obsidian Obsession

Purple Sheen obsidian isn't common, and it is difficult to cut into cabochons because the cutter has to take into account the angle of the slab cuts in order to get the most beautiful effect from the stone. I surrounded this 40 mm cabochon with dyed coral, Japanese # 8s in metallic purple and Japanese #11s in matte rainbow-coated purple It is said to provide clarity of thought. I just think it is really pretty. Completed 4-08. >>MPK

The Tubular Series: Septarian and Interstate 99

>

A septarian nodule is a rock composed of Calcite (yellow), Aragonite (brown) and Limestone (grey). These beautiful and unusual rocks are found in southern Utah, a relic of ancient seas that dried and returned several times with geologic changes. I have often seen them carved into eggs, spheres, bookends and the like, (usually from Madagascar), but rarely are they seen as cabochons. This nearly-rectangular one was purchased at a pow-wow I visited many years ago. I married it with Japanese matte-grey/bronze beads in both tubular and flat peyote and added bronze baroque pearls as an accent.

The alternate pendant is a piece of sulfur-rich pyrite, a special piece because of its origin locality. It comes from Skytop Mountain, in central Pennsylvania, and was excavated during the construction of Interstate 99 through that part of the state. The lapidarist formed the cabochons and then treated them with polyethelene spar varnish, ending any chemical decomposition which might take place from exposure to air. The cabochon is hard to photograph, but has a nice metallic sheen, exhibiting both silvery and golden colors of pyrite. You can read more about Skytop Mountain pyrite here:

http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I99.html

Completed 3-11. >>MPK

The Tubular Series: Citronella

Obtaining these Japanese silver-lined dark topaz beads from Land of Odds inspired me to create this necklace with jasper and a piece of banded quartz crystal. This yellow/gold isn't a color I work with often, but it marries so well with Baltic amber that I can't resist. Besides, it's a 'Burgh thing.

Completed 2/11. >>MPK