Welcome to my February 2025 newsletter! I hope you enjoy reading it.

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Barbara Kay Jewelry News

I'm sorry to be a bit late with this newsletter (although it is still February)! During the first half of this month, I struggled with some type of very nasty virus and got way behind. I am not even close to where I'd hoped to be with new jewelry. But, I have managed to finish three of the pendants I started working on last month, and the others are in various stages of progress. The first one pictured below is a larger statement pendant that features a fossilized Palm Root cabochon. This one I call: Keep Hope Burning and Hold Onto it. Although the pictures make the other two look large, they are actually small pendants. The Larimar pendant has a tropical fish cut out behind the stone and waves cut out above the stone. The Malachite pendant has a little copper shamrock on top - no cut-out in back as the stone was not finished nicely enough in the back. These three are now in my shop.

Upcoming shows:

I am still waiting on final confirmation for a couple of these, but at this point these are the events I plan to set up at. If you are local, I'd love to see you!

March 21 and 22: Dennis 7 Dee's (formerly Shorty's Nursery) Spring Makers Market. Friday - 12-4pm. Saturday - 10-4pm. Address: 10006 SE Mill Plain Blvd, Vancouver, WA

May 10 and 11: La Center Arts Fair. More info to come

August 1 - 3: Vancouver Arts and Music Festival. Esther Short Park, Vancouver, WA.

A new texture!

After the class that I took last month, I bought myself a new little tool. It's actually an attachment for a rotary tool (similar to a Dremel) that I already have. It's called a Hammer Handpiece. A typical rotary tool such as a Dremel, or my Foredom flexshaft, spins the end attachment around. It's a great tool for sanding, polishing and even drilling.

The hammer handpiece translates the circular rotary action into a back and forth hammer action. One of the main uses for this tool is to "hammer" thick bezel metal against a stone. Most of the bezels I use can be pushed against the stone by hand, but if I were to use very thick bezel material - or very hard metal such as sterling silver (rather than the fine silver I usually use) or 14 karat gold, this tool would be ideal. As you can imagine, it does take some practice to do this well - and to do it without cracking or chipping the stone. This picture is just to show you how the little hammer attachment would work; this stone is already set and the bezel is really too thin for this tool. If I were actually setting this stone, the little tip on the handpiece would be hammering back and forth against the metal.

This tool has other tips besides the one used for hammer setting. The tip I've been playing with is a very fine pointed one, which is used for stippling - creating a stippled texture. Basically, the fine tip hammers against the metal, creating lots of very small dimples. I love the effect of this texture and will probably be using it a lot in the future. I have a few other tips that I'll be playing with in future projects as well. Here you can see the tip and the texture that's being created:

I used this texture on the background of the Palm Root pendant as well as part of the wave on the Larimar pendant. Here's a close-up of the Larimar pendant with its stippled background:

One thing I noticed is that when I add patina to this stippled silver, it picks up some interesting colors: pinks, blues, golden browns.

This is my new favorite texture! What do you think?

Stone of the Month: Amethyst

Amethyst is a beautiful purple stone that also happens to be February’s birthstone. One of the things I like about it is that it can be cut and polished into cabochons with smooth tops and also faceted, which gives a lot of options when it comes to making jewelry. Amethyst comes in a large range of purples: from very pale, almost white, lilac to pinkish-purple, to very deep purple. It can sometimes be banded with white quartz and sometimes have other types of inclusions as well. In the picture above, you’ll see one cabochon (in the middle) that has bits of orange agate, another with golden rutile (needle-like inclusions), one on the left that has quartz that appears more “lacey” than banded, as well as the pair on the right that has banded quartz.

Amethyst is a fairly common mineral which is found throughout the world. It is actually a quartz that is composed of silicon dioxide. Like many stones that we’ve explored, it formed long ago in magma. As the magma cooled, gas bubbles created gaps and crevasses which were perfect places for mineral rich fluids to collect and slowly harden, in this case into quartz crystals. The purple colors are caused by the presence of iron and some other trace elements, as well as natural irradiation.

Amethysts are rather unique in that they often form in huge geodes, which look like plain rocks on the outside but are filled with crystal gemstones. The crystals grow in a six sided pyramidal structure, which create a lot of glitter! Here you can see an example of a nine foot amethyst geode, on display at the Museum of Natural History. It was found in the Bolsa Mine in Uruguay.

Historically, amethysts have been used both in jewelry for centuries. The ancient Egyptians carved the stone into protective amulets. It is believed that the word “amethyst” came from the Greek word “amethystos”, which means “not drunk.” Ancient Greeks and Romans believed this gemstone could protect the wearer from intoxication, and would keep him clear headed. One story is that in ancient times, a wealthy lord who wanted to stay sober when drinking with others would use a cup made of amethyst. He would then be able to drink water rather than wine as the purple amethyst would disguise the color of the drink inside.

The Old Testament includes amethyst as one of the twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and was therefore also one of the twelve gemstones on Aaron’s breastplate (Exodus 39). The gemstone has been long worn by priests, bishops and cardinals of the Catholic Church, usually set in rings. It has also been viewed as a royal stone, likely due to the color purple also being associated with royalty. There are several amethysts among the British Crown Jewels.

For centuries, amethysts were viewed as being similar in value to diamonds, emeralds and other precious gems. Until the 19^th century, it was only mined in Russia and was therefore fairly limited. Then mining began in Brazil and after that, it was discovered in many other parts of the world. Now, it is a fairly common gemstone, although deep purple, clear stones are still highly desirable – and are sometimes still called Siberian Amethyst, even when they don’t come from Siberia.

In the past, amethysts that were not eye clear, or that had bands or inclusions of other quartzes and agates, were carved into protective amulets. Now these types of amethysts are often made into cabochons and beads, while the eye clear (meaning no inclusions visible with the naked eye) are more likely to be made into faceted stones.

Another interesting fact is that the purple color can be changed to a more orange-brown color through heat. This can occur naturally; it is also often done intentionally. The resulting stones are then called Citrine. It’s not always easy to know whether Citrine gained its color naturally, or whether it started its life as amethyst that was heated to achieve the golden color.

Amethyst is a fairly hard gemstone. It can be cleaned with warm soapy water and a soft cloth or brush. As with all gemstones (and jewelry in general), avoid using and harsh cleaners or polishes. Although it’s on the hard side, it can be scratched by some other gems such as diamonds, rubies and sapphires so it's a good idea not to store amethyst jewelry together with others. You also don’t want to expose it to extreme heat as this can affect the color.

I don’t currently have a lot of amethyst jewelry in my shop, but doing the research for this article has made me excited about using a few of the amethyst cabochons that I currently have. Here are a couple of pieces I do have:

I always love to hear from you. Let me know what you think, and what you’d like to see in future newsletters.