Saturday, April 18, 2015

Handmade Dangling Earrings with Apatite Gemstones

     These earrings spark wonderful memories of a creative time shared with a good friend. Some time ago, we visited dear friends in the Cumming, GA area and enjoyed some sight-seeing together. One rainy day, Lenna asked if I would be interested in going to a bead store with her. The store owner was holding a super sale as she prepared to close her brick and mortar location to focus on her increasingly profitable on-line shop.

     My jewelry-making friend suggested that we make some jewelry together with our "finds" from the clearance sale, offering me the use of her specialized tools and providing whatever fittings I needed from her stock. What a treat! I had been taken with the rich color of the apatite stones on sale; only four were left in the diamond shape. So, I worked with them to make these earrings. My favorite jewelry accessory has always been an interesting pair of earrings (often, special earrings are a treasured souvenir of the trips we take).

     The reason I took photos now is that my husband's sister, who is very interested in and very knowledgable about gemstones and semi-precious stones, expressed a wish to see the earrings. Since she had forgotten to ask about them during their recent visit, I took a few photos for her. The penny helps show the size of the stones. I hope you enjoy seeing these apatite earrings, too. They are fun to wear and remind me of an enjoyable afternoon with a good friend.

Question of the day: Do you remember the fun of making crafts with friends as a child? Do you ever pursue crafts or art projects together with others as an adult?

4 comments:

  1. These are lovely, Mary!! I can see why you were drawn to these stones; the color and marbling are gorgeous! As to your question of the day, I don't remember ever creating anything with anybody growing up. And I don't really have any good friends nearby to do anything with. I think this is a big part of my malaise of late. Ah well...I'll figure it out.

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  2. I love hearing from you and appreciate your comments very much. Sorry to be so slow to respond; we have been in GA visiting our kids and new grandchild. I didn't even go onto the computer while we were there, so am way behind on blog visits, email, etc. It was sort of refreshing to live off-line for a time.

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  3. Jewelry making is such fun. I have some tools and lots of beads. When my sister's granddaughters come to visit her in the summer we usually have a jewelry making or craft day. This sister and I try to get together every once in a while to work on projects together...collaging, journaling, painting, sketching...and keep talking about a day to make pysanky eggs.

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  4. It's fun to hear about your jewelry making experiences with family. Thank you very much for sharing them.

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