Wire Jewelry Idea May 23:
Destinations for Bead Shows in the US

by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Well, it’s been a few months since the Tucson gem shows this winter, but I still love pulling out my Tucson treasures and seeing if today is the day to use some of the cabs and beads I collected there. I know it’s still the better part of a year before I’m back in Tucson, so I’m making my treasure last. But what if you are itching to relive the experience? Here’s a modest list of the biggest gem shows in the US. Each of these is a fantastic resource for jewelry making supplies, tools, classes, and inspiration. You should also do a Google search for "your area gem show" to see if a small show will be in your area this year, or check out this search – and I would love to hear what the big shows are in other countries. Let me know your favorites in the comments below!

• Tucson Shows: each year from end of January through middle of February (show dates vary in this range). There is also a smaller-scale version of this event at the beginning of September. For information, check out these resources:
• Tucson EZ Guides
• Tucson Show Guide
• VisitTucson.org
• Bead Fest: Occurs four times per year in Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico
• Bead & Button: annual show in Milwaukee in June

Speaking of the Bead & Button Show… it’s just around the corner! The Bead & Button Show, from June 1-June 10, 2012 at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the "Biggest Consumer Bead Show in the World" will host a stunning range of jewelry supply and jewelry tool resources for handmade jewelry artists.

The Bead & Button show will have over 600 classes from over 200 jewelry instructors, including Stephanie Eddy, Rebeca Mojica, Lisa Niven Kelly, Brenda Schweder, Jackie Truty, and many more familiar names.

New to the Bead & Button Show this year, albeit veterans of the wholesale shows in Tucson, are 2 popular jewelry supply sources: Wire-Sculpture.com and JewelryTools.com! That’s right, we’ll be in Milwaukee this June with a selection of DVDs (Wire-Sculpture) and most popular tools (JewelryTools.com) – likely with special show rates or promotions.

JewelryTools, an exclusive distributor of Euro Tool jewelry making tools, will have a selection of its most-loved and most-utilized jewelry tools available, including beading, wire wrapping, soldering, metal clay, and jewelry display tools. This is just a small sampling of its 5,000 tools available online at http://www.jewelrytools.com. The official Euro Tool booth is just steps away from the JewelryTools booth, and Euro Tool will have tool representatives doing tool demonstrations every day of the show.

The Wire-Sculpture booth is located at #637. The JewelryTools.com booth is located nearby at #738 & 740 – these booths are in the middle of the sales floor. Both vendors will be open, June 7 – June 10, 2012, at the Frontier Airlines Center. Find more information about the show at http://www.beadandbuttonshow.com.

Will we see you at the Bead & Button Show this June? We would love to see you there!

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Tool of the Week for
May 21, 2012

This week’s tool: Wire Rounder Set, #PIN-225.05

Video by Kate, JewelryTools.com

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Moss Agate and Plume Agate, one in a Series on Quartz

Shop Agate Beads | Shop Moss Agate Cabochons | Shop Tree Agate Cabochons | Shop Green Spot Agate Cabochons

Just as there are many kinds of included quartz, there are several varieties of included agate. Sagenite agate, or sagenitic agate, has needlelike inclusions in a sunburst or fan shape, and come in a variety of colors. Here’s an example of a neon yellow sagenitic agate! Dendritic agate, such as Montana agate, just like its quartz counterpart, has thin, dark, tree or branchlike inclusions. Plume agate has featherlike inclusions that resemble smoke, clouds, or feathers. Finally, moss agate has the appearance of green moss, seaweed, or blue cheese on a translucent background. Moss agate is the most common and most well-known included agate for jewelry makers.

Frances Lediaev wire wrapped this beautiful moss agate cabochon.

Some rockhounds don’t consider these included agate stones to be true agate because they do not have the concentric  typical of most agates banding (banding formed in gradually larger circles that share a center point). However, they are definitely part of the quartz-chalcedony-agate family of silica minerals, formed from silicone dioxide. In fact, Montana agate and Plume agate are among the top tier of agates in jewelry making, surpassed only by rare stones such as fire agate.

Moss Agate

Moss agate is typically a green agate with pale to translucent patches of stone; tree agate shares the green, moss-like inclusions but has white opaque patches, rather than translucence.

A moss agate cabochon, left, and tree agate cabochon, right. They are essentially the same (and often both are called moss agate), but tree agate has opaque white patches, whereas moss agate is translucent with the same green, mosslike inclusions.

Judy Copeland wire wrapped this moss agate in silver craft wire. The design in the stone looked to Judy like a rainstorm with lighting! It is hung on a base metal Viking weave necklace.

Montana moss agate is unique in that it originally formed in the volcanic region of Yellowstone National Park. Now it can be found in the gravel of the Yellowstone River in Montana, and typically has red (iron oxide) and black (manganese oxide) large inclusions on a translucent background.

Judi Hogan wire wrapped this Montana Moss agate in an angular cabochon pendant frame.

Plume Agate

Plume agate draws its name from the fluffy, feather-like shapes it exhibits. There are several types of plume agate, including Priday, Graveyard Point, Del Norte, West Texas, and Mexican Plume. This plume agate is from Texas; I have a cab of Texas plume agate that shares the same gold, orange, green, and white colors.

This graveyard point plume agate slab comes from Dorothy Duflo: at left, on a background, and at right, held to the sun. Dorothy's wondering what to do with it: what do you think of a belt buckle?

In Tucson, I saw Graveyard Point Plume Agate for the first time: this distinctive golden, tan, white, and gray-blue (and sometimes pink) agate is named for the stone’s location, found in the Owyhee Mountains along the Idaho-Oregon border, near the burial place of an 18th century massacre.

I found this tub of graveyard point plume agate slices, ready to be cut into cabs, at the RV Park Show near the TEP Show in Tucson 2012.

Here's a closeup of the same graveyard point plume agate slices, sparkling wet in the Arizona sun.

Priday plume agate is another name you may come across, which was a rare plume agate found on the Priday ranch outside Madras, Oregon, round in thunder eggs. However, this agate is practically played out. You can find pictures of beautiful Priday Plume agate stones here.

The Regency Rose variety of plume agate is located near the Graveyard Point area and has the tan hues of that stone as well as reds and pinks.

Regency Rose Plume Agate wire wrapped necklace by Judi Hogan

Next week, I will cover some agate you may have wire wrapped, or seen in person: thundereggs, geodes, and I’ll also touch on crazy lace agate. Have you made wire jewelry with thunderegg agate, geodes, or crazy lace agate? Send your agate pictures to tips@wire-sculpture.com, and they could be featured!

Resources

• Dandy Slab Saginitic Agate
• Agate with Inclusions
• Minerals N More Graveyard Point Plume Agate
• Wikipedia Moss Agate
• AZ Blue Rockers Priday Agate

Gem Profile by Rose Marion

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Wire Jewelry Idea May 16:
Good and Bad Gemstone Faceting

by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Video by John Dyer

If you have the budget for quality cut stones, you have to check out this video by John Dyer. John explains the faceting in gemstones to look for, including windows and polishing quality. While there is nothing "wrong" with economy stones that have windows or crooked facets – in fact, buying imperfect gemstones is an excellent way to prepare for wire wrapping the real deal -I hope you’ll enjoy this video.

While we don’t carry John Dyer’s magnificent stones at this time, you will enjoy wire wrapping our selection of cut gemstones!

Happy Jewelry Making!

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by Rose Marion, Wire-Sculpture.com

Tool of the Week for
May 14, 2012

This week’s tool: Cordless Bead Reamer, #HDP-380.00

Video by Kate, JewelryTools.com

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