The Bancroft Gemboree August 06 2019

This past weekend we took a trip to the cottage to attend the Rockhound Gemboree in Bancroft. It's a 4-day festival for rockhounds (mineral collectors), jewellers, hobbyists, and anyone with an interest in gems and crystals. It was quite the spectacle. There were two buildings filled with vendors with a bit of everything from unique cut gems to giant crystals, cool fossils, even some crystal healing booths, tools and books. There was even a person at the door with tools to identify any mineral you wanted to bring in.

In addition to using stones in my work, I have always been very interested in gemstones. Courtney and I even started our very extensive collection of specimens when we were just 5 years old! Most of them are currently in a dusty box in my basement, but I have a little display in my living room of my favourites, and I change it up every so often with others collected over time.

I had a great time looking, and picked up some cool pieces to use in my work. Here are some photos of my haul :)

Digging for crystals July 26 2014

Last week, I was hiking with a friend near Bancroft (the gemstone capital of the world) at a site we had read about that had lots of minerals (apatite, bromite, titanite, calcite...). I didn't know what most of these stones would even look like and didn't think we would actually find anything, but was super excited at the possibility. About an hour into the hike, we came across a pit that looked like people had been digging through and decided to stop and pick through the dirt. I was amazed to see that there were green apatite crystals EVERYWHERE, and collected a little bag full of them. SO exciting! This weekend, I have spent all my free time in the studio making various settings for my favourite pieces and have even gotten a few commissioned necklaces out of it :)

I can't wait to get some of the finished pieces listed on our website and in our Etsy shop!

___

Birthstones! November 07 2012

Today's Etsy newsletter started off with a blurb about how citrine, November's birthstone, is said to emit feelings of happiness, joy and optimism. This made me especially happy because not only is Citrine my birthstone, but it is also yellow, and I love everything that is yellow. That got me thinking that a blog post about birthstones and what they signify might be helpful for all the gift buying you'll be doing this season. Different sources list some variations, but this chart seems to show the most universal modern-day birthstones.

Here is my compiled list of the meanings and associations of each stone:

January:

Garnet- Purity, truth, awareness, endurance, creativity and patience

February:

Amethyst - Stability, balance, inner strength, sincerity, intuition and motivation

March:

Aquamarine – Courage, friendship, creativity, health, perception and hope

April:

Diamond – Eternity, good luck, protection, clarity of thought, balance and abundance

May:

Emerald- loyalty, friendship, love, success, happiness and goodness

June:

Moonstone- good fortune, passion and balance

Pearl- Purity, happiness, peace, love and generosity

July:

Ruby- devotion, integrity, courage, success, nobility, love, enthusiasm and strength

August:

Peridot- Power, influence, truth, loyalty, fame, dignity and protection

September:

Sapphire- Sincerity, constancy, insight and wisdom

October:

Opal- hope, innocence, happiness, loyalty, imagination and confidence

Tourmaline - courage, generosity, compassion and thoughtfulness

November:

Topaz - Loyalty, friendship, strength, balance, wisdom and serenity

Citrine- Happiness, joy, optimism, rejuvenation, energy, and warmth

December:

Tanzanite- Composure, harmony, understanding and sensitivity

Blue Zircon – Success, love, luck, and happiness.

Turquoise - prosperity, happiness, patience and good fortune.