Howdy,
Welcome back for another blog packed full of fun, rocks and a little skulduggery! We are on Day 4 and things have been heating up. We have heard from many of you, and are already bringing back some seriously outstanding carvings, specimens and jewelry items. As you continue to see our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and the Blogs, please continue to send your texts/emails to me to get on the reserve lists and to purchase special items. 720-352-3224, bruce@handsofspirit.com.
The below items were found by Karen, scroll down to learn more!
These are one of the most unusual included quartz's that Karen has seen in all her years in the business. There are beautiful diopside crystals in a 3 dimensional star formation. They are from Sumatra, Indonesia and occur in very small quantity - we could only get 5 crystals. Two of the crystals become even rarer as some of the diopside crystals have pseudomorphed (changed) to become another mineral in the shape of the diopside star. You may notice the reddish color in these two crystals. Analysis has been conducted on these, but they have been unable to identify then new mineral that the star has become. They feel awesome!
We had to share these magnificent tables with you. Some are dining room tables and some are coffee tables. The above photos feature a mix of Azurite, Malachite and Chrysocolla.
This Tourmaline and Quartz table retails for $100,000. The picture with the hand shows the size of the Tourmaline slices that are scattered throughout the table!
This is the table that Karen and I fell in love with. It also is a mix of Azurite, Malachite and Chrysocolla. It is the size of a coffee table. This table is $24,000. I would make sure anyone who came to visit used a coaster!
Karen has always been drawn to the Goddess Quan Yin. The life size Deity is actually carved out of wood. Maybe Karen is the incarnation...I mean, they are both sublimely holding containers for liquid. ;)
While Karen and I were working with some customers on the tables, Bruce and Luke went to pick up some chicks.
We had a many special requests for large angels this year. We have a small flock coming back with us that are going to their special new homes, but we could not pass up this very clear Rose Quartz angel to have at the Crystalline Temple. This Quartz comes from Madagascar instead of the more common location of Brazil. Rose Quartz also comes from South Dakota for those of you who are interested.
Kammererite (purple) with Serpentine (green) from India. We have sold this material in unpolished small slices for a couple of years, but this is the first year it is being polished and made into shapes. Here is part of the selection we are bringing back. We will also have about 8 flat polished free form slices. If you hold your phone's flashlight around the edges, there are sections on some that glow magenta. These pictures don't come close to showing how pretty this stone is. The bulk of the black that you see is actually VIOLET! Hotel lighting is not always the best for photos. If you see one you would like to reserve, please let us know. The blank tags are pieces that are already spoken for, as well as #2 and #12. Prices range from $36 to $148.
Close up of #17 and #12(now sold).
A close up of the only sphere we are bringing back.
It's back!!! This is the third year that Lattice Sunstone has been on the market. Over the last two years, we have found many of you your own special piece. It is still one of my personal favorites. The combination of minerals is so rare and special. Rainbow Lattice is a variety of Feldspar w/ a very unusual combination of Moonstone and Sunstone. It also displays aventurescence (glitter effect) and the Lattice (rainbows) you see in certain angles. There is something about this stone that makes me very happy. If I could every imagine finding what is at the end of a rainbow, I would think this would be it. For anyone who would like a piece, please text me as soon as possible.
We promised you there was skulduggery going on...
Well, this wraps up Day 4. See you tomorrow!
OK, it's tomorrow! You didn't have to wait very long did ya? Kind of like being able to binge watch your favorite show on Netflix!
Well, lets start day 5 out with a bang! I mean a box!
While looking for Lapis, we happened upon this exquisite little treasure box. This is high quality Lapis Lazuli, as you can see from the bright royal blue coloring.
These little Lapis Lazuli gems will be coming back with us! There is a very high polish on them. The gold you are seeing is Pyrite.
For those of you following us on FB, you will have seen our post introducing our new line of Elegant Glitter. This line is made of faceted gemstone grade beads. They glitter and sparkle! A video would show the sparkle better, but hopefully my pictures captured enough to give you an idea. The earrings above are gem faceted multi colored Tourmalines. These four pairs are returning with us.
From left to right: Clear Topaz, Amethyst with different shade of Purple, Blue Apatite, Blue Fluorite with a few Purple Fluorites, Black Spinel, Rhodolite Garnet, Black Spinel again and then three Black Spinels with Ethiopian Opals.
Here are fuller shots of the necklaces. They are all approximate 18" with extender chains to make them longer or shorter. There are also bracelets that I have yet to photograph. The best part is, the jewelry won't break the bank. It is very affordable. The necklaces can also be used as chains so you can mix and match your pendants with them.
Rocks that are larger than humans...what will they think of next???
For our enjoyment! Very large, Citrine Spheres. For those of you who don't know, this is what Citrine that has not been heat treated should look like. Citrine is a variety of Quartz.
Imagine having this large piece as your coffee table! It has a piece of glass that covers the geode thus turning it into a table.
Drusy blue Chalcedony. Hard to tell, but it does sparkle. These are geode like specimens from South Africa. When this material has banding and is in large mass form, they polish it and it is what is known as Blue Lace Agate.
If anyone can guess what these rather artistic cabochons are, you know more than me! I thought they were Andian Blue Opal when I first saw them, but I was wrong. They are actually Agatized Wood from Indonesia! Can you believe how spectacular they are?!
Every year, we seem to eek out finding a few pieces of Serafina or Seraphinite, though they stopped mining it years ago. These pieces come from rough that was mined 15 years ago and was just recently polished. We were assured this was the last of it. A few more pieces may trickle in from old rough, but this is the bulk of it. We were able to help unwrap these and get first picks! Photoed is some of the flatter ovals and palm stones coming back with us. We stocked up as much as we could! Enjoy close up shots below.
Pretty fantastic! Great polish to boot!
This big kitty is made out of Leopard Serpentine, or Cheetah Serpentine as it is sometimes called. We love the large kitties, but they are hard find. They don't make many of them and they are snapped up quickly. We have to get there while they are unpacking in order to get them. They are all hand carved in Zimbabwe, which we recently found out has an unemployment rate of 80%! We find this very sad from a country that produces some of our absolute favorite carvings. We are happy so many of you enjoy these animals so we can support the artists who make them.
Run Kitty Run!
Now it's time for Luke' Joke Corner!
Two barn owns were sitting on a perch, and one turns to the other and says, can you smell fish?" Lol ok try not to roll your eyes.
Can you tell we have gone Zebra Onyx crazy? Loving this bowl!
Alien Sputniks have landed! Just kidding these are actually Pseudomorphs of Limonite after Pyrite and Marcasite. They come from Farafra Oasis White Desert Egypt. I believe this is the only stone we have from this country. For those of you who enjoy conspiracy theory we can still say they are Alien Sputniks :)
Three lustrous Amethyst buds from Uruguay. Little gems or hedgehogs you know whatever floats your boat.
For those of you who love rainbows these specimens and cabochons will be right up your alley! They are iridescent Pyrite. The small crystals that look like glitter are called drusy. This is the same as what you saw above in the Blue Chalcedony.
Here are some of the iridescent Pyrite cabochons coming home with us. Each one is a piece of art. These would make a mesmerizing center piece for a pendant or ring.
To end day 5 we will leave you with sweet dreams of Eudialyte dancing in your head. I don't think I have ever seen a polished to rival these two large Eudialyte jumbo palm stones and that is saying something. They come from Russia like the Seraphinite.
Oh look it's day 6 already! What adventures does this this day hold? Scroll away and we shall see.
Imagine every lion in Africa has convened in one location and they are ravenous. Then a lone Zebra walks into the middle of the pride. Got that image in your mind? Well that is how our morning started. Certain shows open up with lines that are a block long. The open the doors and its like a full on stampede for the lone Zebra. We thankfully were able to just go for fun to see if anything caught our eye. We found these delicious Bloodstone therapy stones along with a Zebra Rock and Mookaite Jasper.
We found a few very long wands in different verities of Quartz. This clear Quartz is still available. It is six sided and has polished terminations on both ends. Magic! $89.
Ahh if only you could see these in person. Pictures under a tent do nothing to show the reflection sparkle and polished of these geode Pyrite pyramids wands and obelisks.
Two years ago we came across a Pangolin carving. It was the first time we had ever seen or really even heard of this sweet animal. The carving sold right away and we tried to find more but none were being carved. In the meantime we sadly learned that these animals are the most illegally trafficked animals in the world! To learn more and donate please visit: http://savepangolins.org/
Much to our surprise this year we found four adorable carvings! Quite fitting with our theme of "It's All Happening at the Zoo" or in our case Rock Show. Make sure to see these guys.
Vanadinite is another of my favorite minerals. We were in desperate need of some nice specimens this year. Thankfully our wish was answered in the form of pure beauty! I could not get a close up picture without the crystals getting blurry but one of the reasons I love these so much is because of the unique formations the individual crystals make. When we are back in CO I'll take a close up of a crystal and put it in a blog so you can all see what I am talking about. Most of these grow on Barite.
This interesting specimen is Siderite with Chalcopyrite.
Celestite does not often come in such a nice dark blue coloring. This one also has nice luster!
Another piece that you will want to see in person because the picture does nothing for it. The deep royal blue Azurite crystals spill sparkles all over the place!
Every year one of the shows hosts a Mariachi Band with Mexican food and beer! It is one of our favorite days. At lunch we sit in the hot Arizona sun drinking a Corona and stuffing our faces with guacamole! We have horrible jobs don't we?
After lunch we ran into a friend of ours who owns a claim where the original Red Beryl specimens were found in the 1800's 70 years before the find at Wah Wah Mountain was discovered. Specimens of Red Beryl are rare pretty small and very special. The piece on the left has sold already but the other 5 will be coming back with us. They range in price from $112 to $49 if you are interested in one.
I stumbled upon these hand carved little gems today. We are bringing home 5 of the Quan Yin Carvings. The Tiger Carving was a special order but if you are interested in a Tiger or different types of birds or dragons please message me ASAP. There were some incredibly elegant and intricately carved pieces available.
Time for more owl jokes! Hoo's excited?? Haha get it? I just made that up while writing this you can tell I'm getting quirky.
"What do you call an owl who's been caught in the act? A spotted owl..."
Ok yeah that was bad but I can promise these three Labradorite owls are very nice and have great flash.
Our last stop of the day was to pick out probably one of my top three favorite stones of all times. Sphalerite. This is a mineral that has been mined out for many years and most of the material available today comes from old collections. Above is a flat of rough we are bringing back. Often this rough is purchased by cutters to facet gemstones from.
The piece above is coming back with us. For the first time they have cut the Sphalerite into thin slices and polished them. The piece above is polished on the front but has a rough back (the half moon spot is just a tag) They look like stained glass. We will be bringing home some thicker redish orange orange and yellowish orange polished free forms as well. I'll have more pictures for you in a future blog.
The top left has sold if you want one of these slices please let me know quickly as the other two are not coming back with us unless we hear from you.
Karen was thinking of getting into weight lifting.
I don't like to be disloyal to Colorado but I will say that Arizona could give it a run for its money with regards to sunsets. Cameras can never do justice to what the eyes see in person but it was a truly breathtaking painting to behold. You can see Bruce and Luke capturing it on their phones as well.
Well folks that wraps up days 4 5 and 6. As usually our time is flying by and we are halfway through our trip. Thank you to the many people who have contacted us for special goodies and thank you for trusting us to find you your items. Your trust means a great deal to us and we love assisting you with crystals jewelry carvings that help support your goals and intentions.
Signing off till next time
Mirabai
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