2015 NY/NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem & Jewelry Show Recap!

Normally this weekend would have been spent at Bead Fest Spring but this year I decided to change things up.  Instead, I attended the 2015 NY/NJ Mineral, Fossil, Gem & Jewelry Show in Edison, NJ.

Scenes from the show floor

This was a large gem & mineral show held inside the Edison convention center.  There was booth after booth of mineral specimens, fossils and the occasional bead vendor.  I skipped most of the bead vendors because I do all my major (gem) bead shopping at Bead Fest in August.

Amethyst, petrified wood, rough green garnet

I found the show to be overwhelming.  I didn't go in with a game plan so I became distracted by the rows upon rows of vendors.

Faceted gems, metal detector finds from local properties, cabochons

There were plenty of faceted gems to be found in a wide range of prices but the cabochon selection at the show was lacking. I only found 3 vendors selling cabs.  

Fun finds at the show

On a positive note, they had some wonderful fossil and mineral displays.  The dinosaur fossils were great and they were brought in by a broker who rents/sells them for private collections and museums.  Yes, we could have come home with our own dinosaur...ok, maybe part of one (a REALLY small part).  They were waaaaaay out of my price range.  

Fossils on display

Overall, we had a good time and I picked up a few things (which I can't show you because they are gifts).  I probably wouldn't go back though as the bead scene is really my thing.  

What fun things did you do this weekend?

Happy Beading!

Let's Revisit UV Resin!

So much is going on right now...lots of custom orders, bead-making and project planning.  Instead of showing you 800 boring photos of drying greenware, I thought we could re-visit my old UV resin tutorial from 2013!  UV resin is fun stuff and great for those of us who aren't very patient!

Heads up, if you work regularly with resin though, this may not be economical. If you are like me and enjoy busting out the resin from time to time, this stuff is perfect!

Today I'll show you how to set a fossil inside of an open-backed ceramic pendant.

You'll need a few things first:

• UV lamp (You can use sunlight but we are trying to be as quick as possible here.) 
• Open-backed ceramic pendant or another open-backed bezel/pendant of choice. 
• UV resin (I prefer Magic Glos) 
• A fossil or something to add to the center of your pendant. 
• A small piece of scrap wire 
• Clear packing tape 
• Paper towels 
• Goo Gone (available at Target)

Add a piece of packing tape to the back of your pendant.

Open your UV resin and apply a small amount to a paper towel first, to help remove air bubbles.  Then add a layer of resin to your pendant.  Place the pendant under the UV light for 15 minutes.

Remove the pendant and apply another layer of resin.  Drop the fossil into the center and use your scrap wire to help move it into position.

Place the pendant under the UV lamp for another 15 minutes.

Remove the pendant from the lamp and peel away the tape.  Use some Goo Gone to wipe away the tape residue on the back of the piece.  Then gently rinse with water.  Pat dry.

Now you can incorporate your new pendant into an awesome piece of jewelry!

Happy Beading!

Treasures from the Desert

I just got back from a week and a half visit with my parents in southern Utah.  While I was out there I got to do two of my favorite things; visit the best rock shop EVER and go rockhounding.

What's nice about my parents house is that you can explore the Mojave Desert by either walking down the road or just off-roading a couple miles out.

Some of the wonderful things you can find out there include; petrified wood, jasper, quartz and agate.  As you can see, I picked up some great pieces while wandering about.

I also got to visit my favorite rock shop located in Springdale, right outside of Zion National Park.  This place is always full of cabochons, fossils, jewelry and more! It's a family run operation and the husband cuts most of the cabochons himself.

On this trip, I picked up several pieces local to Utah including septarian nodule, picasso stone (picture marble) and some trilobite fossils.  I also purchased some ammonites (for mold-making), turquoise and snowflake obsidian (for bead embroidery...Ooooo) and an orthoceras pendant.

The desert is full of treasures and I'm excited I was able to find and bring some home with me.

Happy Beading!

Diana P.
Suburban Girl Studio LLC

October Component of the Month Giveaway

A week or so ago I saw this amazing picture on Pinterest and then found the original on Flickr.

This inspired my October Component of the month.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/144396731776123971/

I could just picture how cool it would look with different sizes and shapes of Ammonite on a piece of copper, all over lapping each other.

This is the result!

As you can see each one is different. Different textures in different places on each piece and the copper colored differently as well. I really worked hard to get some nice color on each one of them which isn't always easy with copper but I'm pleased with the results on these.

I made 2 extra to give away and the rest go to my AJE team mates.

I plan to make more to have available in my Etsy shop as well in the future.

Here's how it goes!!

Please read carefully

• I will give away 1 component to each of 2 winners selected randomly from those who leave comments below this post by midnight,  Sunday September 29th, eastern time. 
• Please include your EMAIL address in your comment so that I can contact you ASAP should you win.
• Please only leave a comment if you can commit to creating a finished piece and blogging about it on the reveal date!
• The names of the 2 winners will be announced on Monday September 30th.
• The blog reveal will be on Wednesday October 30th.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy