Vintage Jasper Kits on the Way

 I am slowly working on getting the materials I have in my studio into kits.  Here are the last of the Vintage Jasper Cabochon sets, in the original size, done in the silver colorway, with a few descriptive words.  They will be in my Etsy shop on Saturday, October 8th, around noon (Central Daylight Time), for those of you who like to pre-consider your purchases and get exactly what you like.

Set A is a soft sage green with hints of warm salmon and a slash of gold glow.

Set B is very typical Red Creek Jasper with hints of green and gold, and an umber arc.

Particularly vibrant patterning with lots of sandy fawn and deep sunset pinks.

For me the most pictoral of the group.  There's even a partially occluded moon in the autumn sky!

Nicely patterned with lots of color variety.  Flaming treetops against a stormy sky?

And here are images of the sets themselves, because I have them to show you...  Keep in mind you can choose any orientation for this cabs that you prefer.  Some are beautiful more than one way up!

Here's a link to my Etsy shop, which I will point at this listing after I get them up.

As always, digital e-tutorial sold separately at this link.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Autumn!!!

Preview of all the New Vintage Jasper Cabochon Sets, in size XXL!

I have new cabochon sets for the Vintage Jasper Necklace!

 They will post to my Haute Ice Beadwork Etsy shop on Saturday the 5th of December 2020.

First a quick explanation.  These rectangular cabs are both longer and wider than previously.  It's how they arrived from my supplier, Intrinsic Trading.  I have made an additional tutorial for the larger bezel required, and am giving it to those who already own the tutorial.  Just send me a convo on Etsy so I can look up your purchase, and include your preferred email address.  If you purchase the tutorial from this point forward, the larger bezel instructions are included.

Here is an original necklace, next to my new sample so you can see the size difference.

Now, on to the yummy new Red Creek Jasper cabochon sets! If you like the soft pink in my sample, there is a similar set in the Antique Silver group. So we'll start there!

4 Heirloom Silver Kits

Love the energy in this set! Forest, gold, and taupes.

 

Blush-y, with bits of green and gold.

Almost raspberry, with taupe, and dark fracture lines.  

I gave this kit a Rainbow Burnt Sienna bead to hint at the warmth in the chain.

The other pink one.  I gave it a coral Rainbow Orange Sunset bead for warmth in the chain.

3+ Antique Bronze Kits

Mostly gold with soft greens and some red details. Uplifting!

Another one with so much energy!  Mostly gold with green and red accents. Symphony of neutrals.

Burgundy and gold symphony.  Especially nice barrel cabs.

This kit needs a smaller, XL shorter bezel that is not illustrated past Row 3.  If you are experienced with bezels, and want to try it with the guidance given in the tutorial, I will list it just for you. 

Let me know through Etsy Convo.

3+ Verdigris Kits

Light and dark greens, with a lovely red and gold edge.  More really nice barrel cabs.

Awesome red speckle pattern on a mostly green surface.  Hints of gold.

Taupe with speckles and fracture lines in dark grey.  Sunset barrel cabs.

This is the other smaller XL cab.  

If you love its blush sliding into mossy green, let's talk via Etsy Convo.

3 Copper Patina Kits

Yummy warmth with some forest green and gold accents.  Nice set of barrel cabs too.

All the wonderful colors of Cherry Creek Jasper in one stone!  Nice deep red edges.

Rich and deep coppery colors, with gold accents.

OK!  That is the parade of Jasper.  Hoping you enjoyed it, and wishing you a Safe and Happy end to this year of mayhem!

How TOTALLY 2020!

 This won't be easy to explain.  It should have been simple.

Someone fell in love with the Vintage Jasper Necklace which she found on Pinterest.  She asked if I would still sell the tutorial, and I said sure, so I turned on the listing.  Then I thought, "Gee, I still have some of the materials for those kits.  What if I just buy some new cabochons?"  The buyer was enthusiastic, so I contacted Intrinsic Trading, (via telephone, I usually see them in person at the G&LW Show, but we all know how things like that were eliminated to keep us all safe) and bought 16 new rectangle cabochons and enough of the barrel pairs to allow me to make up some nice sets.  

The sales person mentioned that the rectangles were not all exactly the same size.  She showed me a photo.  I had designed the bezel to be largish, in order to make for easy fitting and finishing, so I thought and extra mm here or there would not be a big deal.  

An extra 4 mm however, is quite a big deal.  And 4mm in width, plus another two in length is an even bigger deal.  

There were two Millenial pinkish cabs.  Usually I choose the least worthy cabs to make my samples, leaving the best of everything for buyers.  But this time, (it being 2020 and all) I took one of these yummy pink ones.  I started with the basic bezel base to try to estimate what I needed to do.  Then I made my first try at an enlarged version.  I could tell it was too small by Row 8. So I made a third effort, all the way to the end, with a very thready corner which I found deeply unsettling.

 I thought the third one was good until the last couple bezel rows, and illustrated as I went along.  But I was wrong. 

So, time for a fourth effort.  Which was nice, and fit beautifully!

I created cab sets and allotted a few of each to the four colorways I had designed, and then faced the big dilemma.  There is simply NO WAY to show you the size and scale of what the kit will make, without making a sample in each color, and I already have 5 of these necklaces, and only 15 possible kits to sell.  Hence this long blog post.  I will try to write a more succinct version of this 2020 epic tale to put in each listing, but bottom line, I chose to show the cab and the color over making 4 more samples.

SO...  in a separate blog post to follow, I will show you the cab sets available, which I will post at noon, Saturday the 5th of December, CST, in my Etsy shop.  The new tutorial for the larger bezel will be a freebee if you already own the tutorial, and included with the purchase of the tutorial if you are buying now.  

PLUS there is a final page which explains how you can weave 6 possible rectangle bezels in a range of sizes from the tutorial.  It does NOT diagram them past the third row.  But it is possible, after setting up the framework at the right size, to use the tut to finish the bezel by just paying attention to what happens at the corners. 

Here's the chart of possible bezels.    

"You can increase or decrease the width or length of this bezel by the simple addition or subtraction of 4 beads, 2 on two opposite sides.  I think of these sizes in terms of the number of up beads on a side after Row 3 is woven.  The original bezel is 12 tall by 7 wide, and the XL above is 12 tall x 9 wide.  I’ll make you a little chart for your own use."

Original Bezel 34x20mm 80 beads in Rows 1&2 12 x 7 up beads in Row 3

Possible Bezel 34x22mm 84 beads in Rows 1&2 12 x 8 up beads in Row 3

XL Bezel         34x24mm 88 beads in Rows 1&2 12 x 9 up beads in Row 3

Possible Bezel 36x20mm 84 beads in Rows 1&2 13 x 7 up beads in Row 3

Possible Bezel 36x22mm 88 beads in Rows 1&2 13 x 8 up beads in Row 3

XXL Bezel 36x24mm 92 beads in Rows 1&2 13 x 9 up beads in Row 3

 You might notice there is an XL Bezel size mentioned.  That is because two of the cabs are smaller than the rest.  They are these:

I am not going to list these sets, because I believe the confusion factor will be huge, and I don't want someone buying one of these sets and then not having the exact illustrations they need to make them.  If you have already made this necklace, I think it would not be difficult to make them.  But as a first go, maybe more challenging.  But if you want to try one of them, I will make you a special listing and even give you a little markdown for the effort you will need to spend, choosing how to create your embellishment rows.  There are plenty of beads and rounds to play with.  The designer in you might enjoy that.

OK.  Enough already.  Stay SAFE and HEALTHY!  2020 is almost over, and next year promises to be better!

Vintage Jasper - Verdigris

Verdigris is a patina that forms on copper exposed to the elements.  It is usually bluish-green. Me trying to explain the chemistry of it would have to be pure plagiarism, but I did read somewhere that it was originally a French term, vert de Gris, which means " the green of Greece".  I love that idea! Since I am going for a vintage quality in this project, it seemed the perfect name for this set of cabochons, and their supporting beads. I hope you'll enjoy the GemDuos especially.  Without further ado...

And here is a photo of my sample for this colorway.

Now, I'm off to start writing listings and making sure I get them all right.  

Releasing Saturday, September 1st, noon, central time.

Vintage Jasper - Copper Patina Cabochon Sets

There are only 6 of these sets.  The setting is dark, and allows the drama of the stones to be featured.  Each has some green patina markings.  I do not see landscapes in this set as much as pattern and contrast. I will let them speak for themselves.  At the end of the post is my own copper necklace, which I made with the set of dark green cabs that I used initially to test this idea and work out my pattern.  I think any of these cabs is better suited to the colorway, because of the mostly monochromatic nature of it.  It features pattern well, but is a little mundane with simplicity.

So, remember, I said I thought my sample necklace for the Copper colorway was a little mundane?  This colorway is really suited to the patterns in the cab sets I chose for it.  It's simple, although it includes some of my all time favorite beads and colors. Matte Copper finish on the GemDuo beads.  Miyuki #462 Metallic Gold Iris for the drops and some edgings, with little flashes of purple and teal.  Toho #329 Dark Hyacinth Gold Luster in the bezel.  They make a great supporting cast framework in this case, not a starring character.  I tried using colors in my original mockup, but they were a little parti-colored, and while nice with my simple dark green cabs, they overwhelmed the patterns in the stones. As the saying goes "Sue me." 

But I wanted to save the best of the new cab sets for YOU!

Tomorrow, Verdigris!

Vintage Jasper - Antique Bronze Cabochon Sets

In this set of Antique Bronze cabochon set photos, I have placed the rectangle cabochon on top of my sample necklace, and the barrels and oval at the side for your viewing purposes.  Releasing Saturday, September 1st at noon CST.  Sorry, to be fair to all, I just cannot reserve sets for anyone.

A looks like a desert sunset scene to me.

B and C are almost twins, probably cut at the same time, surely from the same slab.  

There were no matching twin barrel sets though, so they are 

distinguished from each other by the company they keep.  

Do you have a best friend, or sister, and need a gift to share?  

D and E are Halloween Scene sets in my mind.  D is a lone tree on a path lit by the golden glow of a street lamp at dusk.  It might be a little foggy out, eh?  I can almost hear footsteps.

And E has a Van Gogh quality.  That might be a dark moon in the swirly sky, and the tree is maybe bending in the wind... or moving without any wind at all.  Delightfully creepy!

F has landscape-esque markings and colors as well. 

And I love the contrasting clarity of the simple barrels.  

And this one!  I made a choice to use some of these sets with a particular bezel colorway. 

But G stood up and clearly said, "I will be framed in bronze."  For those who love golden tones.

Also, an FYI, the tutorial text corrections I mentioned in the previous post involve Row 5 of the large cabochon bezel, the Double Link Connection, thread length for the Toggle, and some miscellaneous spelling and grammar.  As usual, the diagrams are correct.  I really struggle with text editing, sorry about that!  There seems to be a current problem with Etsy downloading new additions to digital files, and if you want the current version of the tutorial with the text corrected and the new colorway,  Convo me from your purchase invoice, and I will e-mail you the corrected document.