Some Glittering Green for St. Patrick's Day!

Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a really long time since I've blogged. I hope you are all doing well. I thought St. Patrick's Day would be the perfect time to share some green crystals and gemstones with you guys. One of the new interests I've gotten into during this long winter has been crystals/stones/rocks. I've always loved jewelry, but up until recently I was not aware of the many different varieties of stones out there. Now it feels like there is an endless amount.

I have found myself drawn to green stones more than any color, and after a point I realized I had a collection of them. There are so many different colors of green that show up in gemstones and crystals.  

I have done my best to research what I have, because sometimes I don't even think the sellers know what they are selling. I don't mean they're intentionally selling fakes, but that they might be clueless as to what they have. I say that because I've ended up with a few stones that I think were better than advertised. But you guys tell me if you think I have something other than what I think I have. For the most part, I'm pretty confident in what I have.

So, here we go!

This dark green necklace was actually listed as Bloodstone. From the photo online, that was believable enough. But you'll notice here that there are none of the little red "blood" spots on the stones. 

And when I held this up to the light I got another surprise. Moss Agate! You can see how this stone got that name. I love it, probably more than I would have loved the Bloodstone. Isn't this cool? It's like there are little pieces of moss growing in there.

This other section of the necklace is a little different. I see a sort of arrow shape in it.

This is Green Solar Quartz. I'm still on the fence over these crystals being dyed. All the Green Solar Quartz I've seen online is this vibrant, and it may have also been dyed. From what I have read, this is Agatized Quartz that has been cut from stalactites. 

Just look how pretty the sun is shining through it!

They're like mermaid scales.

This pretty stone is Green Amazonite. It's hard to capture the sheen of this in a photo, but it's something you can see as you turn this pendant from side to side. The color is so refreshing. It reminds me of green milk glass. 

This beauty is a rough piece of Chrysoprase with a Peridot on top. It looks like a little figure of a person or maybe an insect if you added some legs.

I love the details on this one ~ The designs on the silver, the facets on the Peridot, and the uniqueness of the Chrysoprase. It reminds me of a cloud-filled sky.

The white stone in the middle here is a Scolecite and the little stones above it are Kunzite. As for the light and dark green oval pendants, they're stones that I bought many years ago. I can't even remember what they were supposed to be, I just liked them. Any idea of what they could be? 

Here's another view of that beautiful Kunzite. There's something almost Opal-like going on there.

This stone is a Malachite and it's one of the stones that I have a hard time believing is real. Although, I went through that with a few of these. It turns out that there are a lot of hard to believe natural creations. In the case of Malachite, I read that the fake ones have harsher black markings. I also read that a real Malachite should be cold to the touch and heavy, otherwise it could be plastic. And this one is cold and heavy. I think I have a real one. It's just such a wild stone! Look up Malachite and you'll see all kinds of amazing designs. This one reminds me of either a fingerprint or a woodgrain pattern. 

And check out the back! 

The larger green stone here is Prehnite and the smaller one at top was listed as a Citrine. That isn't the color I would normally think of for Citrine, but it turns out that they come in different colors. I looked up yellow green Citrine and saw photos of what I have here.

These Prehnite stones remind me of Amber, because it looks like all kinds of things could be trapped in there. 

I'm not sure what that shape is on the right side of it. It almost looks like a little piece of bone. Or maybe a tiny piece of stone? 

The yellow/green stone below is green opal. I got this as part of a set from a woman who was selling stones in their rough form. This is not a color I would have ever associated with opals. 

This beauty is a Fuchsite. I love the amount of mica in it. Actually, Fuchsite is also known as "Chome Mica" so I guess we should be seeing a lot of sparkle. This one is  fun to turn back and forth in the sunlight. 

Something I just learned about Fuchsite is that under a strong UV light, it turns a fluorescent lime green. I was curious after learning that and did some googling. Check out what UV light can do to some crystals: Fluorescent Minerals

I wonder how many of the stones I've shown here would give such a glow under UV light? 

This is another pendant where the seller didn't list every stone included. And the description of the main stone didn't even give me the full picture! I think the little bit of green on here is Feldspar of some kind, maybe an Amazonite.

But the white part is actually a Rainbow Quartz! So how perfect is that for a St. Patrick's Day post? This was just listed as a White Quartz, but if you look closely you will see a little bit of rainbow. It was difficult to turn this back and forth while looking for that and taking a picture, but I managed to capture a bit of it. You see that little glimmer of pink and yellow? That would be the rainbow. Sometimes I can see a little purple and green too.

The black stones on this pendant are Black Tourmaline. The person who sold this had a lot of Black Tourmaline but this was the only piece with an additional colorful stone at the bottom. The seller never listed what the green stone was, but it looks a lot like the Amazonite I saw in a book. 

This view shows the light coming through the mysterious green stone. Do you guys think this is Amazonite too? The color and the stripes are what's giving me that idea.

I bet a few of you will know about Moldavite. I could write an entire blog post about just this. A big part of what makes Moldavite special is that it was formed by a meteorite impact about 15 million years ago. This is one of those times where I just think it would be easier to post a link, rather than get into explaining what I've learned about how this was specifically formed. Directing you to that link makes more sense than me writing several paragraphs here. 

This is worth a read: Moldavite Wiki Page 

There is plenty of interesting information to read about the science behind this material and how it was formed.

Moldavite like the piece I have is basically like a shattered piece of glass. So I think mine was probably one of the pieces formed across a Central European field as the material spread out flat and shattered. Some pieces look more dark, thick, or solid. From what I've read, those kind of pieces formed mid-air and cooled before falling to earth. I'm pretty sure this is the oldest thing I own!

Again, there is a lot to say about Moldavite and I might revisit that topic later. You might also see more about crystals in general some time down the line. But this is a nice start and a way to share all the new green beauty in my life. 💚

I look forward to touching base with everyone again. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day and if there are any crystal lovers or rock collectors out there, it would be fun to compare notes! ☘

Halloween crafts for any budget and location

Recently, I've been collecting a lot of Halloween craft ideas on Pinterest and storing them on this board: Halloween Craft Inspiration

I decided to share some favorite Pinterest craft finds with all of you, but I wanted to focus on projects that nearly everyone could do. I know that outside of The United States, Halloween merchandise is a little more difficult to find. So I looked for the projects that involve materials that can be found everywhere, things like glass jars, natural materials, and paper. These also turned out to be fairly inexpensive projects. Here are 10 favorites of mine.

This first project comes from Martha Stewart. These spooky silhouettes can be cut out of cardstock from the templates Martha was nice enough to provide on her web site. The silhouettes hover above the candles on wires. Here's a link to the project and Martha's templates: Shocking Silhouettes

This skeletal hand project comes from the Formal Fringe blog and full instructions can be found here. This project requires latex gloves, a permanent marker and little LED candles inside a jar or candle holder.

 If anyone knows the source of the next image, please let me know. The link on Pinterest didn't lead to any instructions. Still, I'd say this project is as simple as spray painting any wine bottles you happen to have. I like the mixture of glossy and matte finishes.

This next project is from Country Living and it's something I've been doing for years. You simply cut masks, horns, hats, etc. out of black construction paper and tape them to the photos you already have in your house! It's simple and adds a mysterious look to what you see every day.

Also from Country Living, are the instructions on how to make these decorative candle holders. Basically, what you're doing is printing a spooky image onto vellum and wrapping it around a glass candle holder.

I found this project on the Page Turners Hollow blog. These Halloween Silhouette Lanterns require a glass jar, some bright paint, and a cut paper silhouette. The blogger who made these jars found her silhouettes on The Graphics Fairy blog. I think they'd look cool with many other shapes too, like the silhouette of a bat or a raven.

These spiderwebs are made from black trash bags! I found this idea on the How About Orange blog. Here's the blog post with detailed instructions: Trash Bag Spider Webs

Here's another spiderweb cutout, this time from black construction paper. This is from the Green Baby Guide blog: Template for spider cutout

These rocks were another Pinterest find with a link that led to nowhere, so I can't give you a source. The type looks so perfect that I wouldn't be surprised if there are scrapbooking letters Mod Podged onto the rocks. I collected quite a few rocks this year by the lake, and I plan to paint them for Halloween. I'll probably do more spooky faces than type, but I really like the look of these!

This last project is super simple and I think it could make a cool porch decoration! Or better yet, set them on the ground as if they're emerging from the earth. This idea comes from the Family Chic by Camilla Fabbri blog. Although, the Pinterest link didn't take me to the how-to, I think we can guess how these glowing hands were made. Trace your hand on a brown paper bag and cut out the shape. Then rubber band the hand to a glass votive candle holder. These remind me of zombie hands reaching from a grave!

Sometime this week I should have some photos of the finished projects I've been working on. These upcoming projects had their start with Dollar Tree products. I learned from assembling this list of crafts, how much I rely on Dollar Tree and local craft stores. This little experiment helped to give me the perspective of people who don't have tons of Halloween craft supplies readily available. I hope to try some of the projects in this post, and I'll share the results if I do!

The Justine's Halloween Blog Party is planned for Friday October 26th, and of course you're all invited! So if you have a photo of yourself in costume from any time in your life, please email it to me at this address to be included in the fun: contactartgirl@gmail.com

If you participated last year, I'd prefer a different photo this year. So get digging through those old albums, or create something new! 

Here's a reminder of the festivities from last year's party: Justine's Halloween Blog Party 2011