Latest From the Lap of Lapidary

I really miss all the tourists but must confess we are enjoying the slower pace of life this summer. The lady with the agate eye has been up to her old tricks and brought some beauties home with her yesterday, including these two:

Today I fired up the 10 inch Hi-Tech saw and this is what they looked like on the inside. First, the one with all the amethyst druzys:

and here is the second one:

I have to admit, they didn't disappoint. Both the colour and patterning are amazing. And while I was at it, I cut a few more of yesterday's treasures. Here's how they look, outside and inside:

Right now we're hard at work getting our expanded web presence set up for the fall. Look for great things coming from the  Seawall Emporium. I'll keep you posted.

Wire Wrapping Grooved Stoned

 Today I'm going to show you how I wire wrap pendant stones that have been grooved around the edge. I'll use the three stones I featured in yesterday's video. Actually, I'll use two of the three as one had a small chip come off in the groove cutting process and the customer chose a new stone.

A few words about the video. First you will notice that the venue has changed. That's because I'm working on my assembly bench located within the spacious confines of the studio belonging to the real artist in the family- Vickie. And secondly, I apologize for the overuse of the phrase "So now" as well as the phantom voice over "one" that my highly trained videographer threw in. You truly do get what you paid for!

Several people have pointed out that the third tip was missing from yesterday's video so I included it at the beginning of today's. I'd like to say that I did it as a teaser but it was just a glitch. Hey, I'm old!

So here goes:

The results were very satisfying as I ended up with three stones that are very tightly wrapped and look awesome. So the next step will be to choose the leather cords. Stay tuned.

Today's Output- 3 wire wrapped Petrified Wood Cabs

Cutting Perimeter Grooves in Petrified Wood Cabochons

I am now well into my petrified wood project. Just to recap, I started with several beautiful slabs of petrified wood and used a magic marker to define shapes.

I then cut them out and finished them on my new Cab King. The results were pretty spectacular.

Recently I was contacted by someone who wanted to buy these three.

So today, they had to have grooves cut around the perimeter to prepare for wire wrapping. I prefer this technique when stones have a lot of patterning or colour shifts so the wrapping doesn't "compete". I have included this video to show the process. Hope you enjoy it.

In my next post, I'll include a video on my process for wrapping with a groove cut.

Enjoy!