Welcome to my newsletter!

It is fully summer now; our cool, damp June days are past and we are enjoying perfect summer weather, although just at the moment I am listening to a very rare (for us in the Pacific NW) thunderstorm.

I need to start with a correction. For some reason I had it in my mind that the Washougal Arts and Music Festival would be held on Sunday, August 2. I was incorrect - the correct date is Saturday, August 1. I hope I'll see some of you there!

Upcoming shows:

​Washougal Arts and Music Festival: Washougal, Washington at the Reflection Plaza. August 1 from 9am to 3pm.

​Vancouver Arts and Music Festival: Vancouver, Washington at Esther Short Park. August 7-9, each day from 10am to 8pm.

Barbara Kay Jewelry News

I've been working hard in my studio these last few weeks. I've made a lot of new pendants and earrings, as well as some of my standard things for shows like fidget rings, stacking rings, bangles and copper cuff bracelets. Here are a few of my new pendants that you'll see if you come visit me at one of my shows. Everything that does not sell will be listed in my shop between August 10 and the end of September (ready for Christmas).

This pendant above sat partially finished on my bench for a long time as I tried to decide how to finish the back. I had also hoped to put a heron on the front, but it just didn't work. Lapidary work on this gorgeous Owyhee Jasper cabochon is by Keith Dull.

The stone on the left above is amethyst in quartz. The lapidary artist is Laurie Gates Engelhardt. The stone on the right is a dendritic opal.

Finally, here are a few little bar pendants I made on a whim. As I usually do, I made a number of fidget rings (spinner rings) for the shows. When I cut out the ring bands, I ended up with small pieces that weren't long enough to use for another ring band. So I decided to make little pendants with them instead. I searched through my cut-outs to see what might fit, and this is what I came up with. I apparently made a LOT of pendants with flames cut out of the backs! The flame pendants feature a garnet and a little Ethiopian opal.

The horizontal pendants feature a blue Australian opal with blue and green flash above the mountain scene, and a nephrite jade nestled among the copper leaves. I use a lot of leaves in my jewelry, and tend to have quite a few "left-overs".

Stone of the Month: Chrysoprase

I am usually partial to stones that have patterns on them, but sometimes a stone has such a gorgeous color that I can't pass it up. One such stone is Chrysoprase. As you can see by the pictures, this stone has the most gorgeous bright green color which is often referred to as "apple green." It brings to mind the fresh new leaves of spring, the skin of a tart green fall apple and the bright greens of summer (think hostas!) after a refreshing rain. It is sometimes called the "stone of spring" and is an alternate birthstone for May.

Chrysoprase is a type of chalcedony, which itself is a variety of quartz. As with all chalcedony, it developed through silica rich fluids that settled into rock crevices and fractures and over time solidified. While most green stones get their color from either chromium, iron or vanadium, chrysoprase is one of a very few stones that is colored by trace amounts of nickel, and so it only formed in nickel rich rock The more nickel mixed into the chrysoprase, the more intense the green.

Chrysoprase also contains a small amount of water, which gives the stone a somewhat milky glow that seems to come from within the stone. It is usually translucent, although it can on occasion be fairly opaque or almost transparent.

The name chrysoprase comes from the Green words 'chrysos', meaning gold, and 'praso', meaning leek. The stone often shows pale gold and white inclusions in the green. Chrysoprase comes in shades from very pale green to deep bluish green. The bright apple green that you see in the pictures at the top is the most desirable and valuable.

Below are a couple of pictures of chrysoprase cabochons that would be considered inferior in quality, although they have their own beauty. The stone I used in the pendant on the left is an example of a very pale green chrysoprase. The stones on the right have almost more inclusion than actual chrysoprase.

Chrysoprase has been valued as a gemstone for centuries. An Egyptian necklace made of chrysoprase beads was found by archeologists that dates to 1500 BC. Ancient Greek and Roman archeological sites have also contained chrysoprase carvings and pieces of jewelry. It was known as the "stone of Venus" (or Aphrodite), and was associated with love.

Alexander the Great was said to have had a belt with a chrysoprase stone embedded in it. He wore the belt to battle; once when he took it off to swim in the Euphrates River, the story is that a snake bit off the stone and dropped it into the water. Alexander never won another campaign after losing his lucky stone.

In medieval Romanian lore, chrysoprase was supposed to allow one to understand the language of lizards. In other areas during the middle ages, people thought the color would fade to indicate poisoning. Some people also believed the stone would give a person accused of a crime freedom if they held it in their mouth.

In the 1700s, the stone became very popular when rich deposits were discovered in Poland. Frederick the Great of Prussia and Queen Anne of Great Britain both used chrysoprase to decorate their palaces as well as a variety of decorative items.

Jewelers in the early 1900s became enamored by the bright green of chrysoprase, and incorporated it in a lot of Art Deco jewelry. There is something about this color that really lends itself to the Art Deco style, I think.

It has on occasion over the centuries been mistaken for both emerald and imperial jade, but of course it is neither!

Chrysoprase can be found in a variety of places, including a small amount in the United States (Arizona, California and Oregon). Poland was a significant source of chrysoprase at one time, but now most chrysoprase is mined in Australia and Tanzania, with 85% coming from Australia. The highest quality chrysoprase is found in Marlborough, Australia.

Chrysoprase is a fairly hard stone, which makes it quite durable in jewelry. As with all stones, avoid exposing chrysoprase to direct sunlight for long periods of time. It is best stored in a dark place, like a jewelry box. Because it has a small percentage of water in it, this stone can become dehydrated and may fade if kept in sunlight. I've read that if the color fades, some color may be recovered by putting it in a dark place together with a damp cloth. I've also read that while chrysoprase from Europe may fade in adverse conditions, that from Australia will not. Chrysoprase can be carefully cleaned with warm soapy water and a soft cloth.

Here are two pieces of jewelry I finished recently with chrysoprase (both from Australia): a small pendant and a pair of earrings. Come see them at either Washougal or Vancouver, Washington in August! If they don't sell at the shows, they will be listed in my shop later in August. Lapidary work on the pendant stone is by Laurie Gates Engelhardt.

Lemon Chrysoprase: This is another pretty stone that is green like chrysoprase, but has more yellow in it; the color ranges from almost yellow to pale lime green. Although it is called chrysoprase, it actually isn't, but because of its name I thought I'd give just a bit of information. Lemon chrysoprase is actually a magnesite rather than chalcedony. I won't go into detail about the geology of magnesite, other than to say that lemon chrysoprase is also found in nickel rich rocks, and is also given its green color by nickel. It is more opaque than chrysoprase usually is.

Lemon chrysoprase is also mined in Australia. It appears as nodules that range in size from an orange to a small car! These nodules can occasionally have a "skin" of actual chrysoprase.

Here is an example of a few lemon chrysoprase cabochons. The larger one looks like it might just have a little chrysoprase running through it.

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

Sources used for Chrysoprase Article:

~Fire Mountain Gems - Chrysoprase Meaning and Properties: https://www.firemountaingems.com/learn/categories/essential-resources/gemstone-meanings/chrysoprase-gemstone-meanings.html​

~International Gem Society - Chrysoprase Value, Price and Jewelry Information: https://www.gemsociety.org/article/chrysoprase-gem-information/​

~Gem Rock Auctions - Chrysoprase Gemstone: Meaning, Healing Properties, Uses & More: https://www.gemrockauctions.com/learn/a-z-of-gemstones/chrysoprase​

~Aradon - Australian Gemstones-Lemon Chrysoprase: https://www.aradon.com.au/lemon-chrysoprase/​