I went to the Dallas Gem and Mineral show this weekend and got TONS of cool bases for trees.  This particular tree is on a drusy quartz (most of the drusy is in the middle but you can see some of it in this picture).  This one is a raffle prize for the cat show I'm going to this weekend.

These two pictures really illustrate why I have to ask a lot of questions before I make trees - these are both 'green and blue trees on a simple base with gold wire'

This first one is malachite and lapis - it is what I would call a solid stone tree . . .

The second one is prehenite, chalcedony, yellow jade, kyanite, and peridot - it is what I would call a crystal tree - meaning that most of the stones are clear

Here are gem trees in their larval and adult form.  This color combination works for some reason - I was unsure of it when I came up with the idea but I really like the contrasting colors.

Close up of the big tree . . .

Here is an abalone tree pendant I made as a special order.  I cheated a little - I told the lady that ordered it I would cut the stone, but then I found out that abalone produces toxic dust, so I just bought one . . . the piece still came out pretty though.

We have a great sign now!  I'm amazed the artist was able to make the tiger so detailed - I literally sent him the picture and said 'I want something like this - I know it is a lot of detail for a fairly small sign' but it literally looks like a photograph.  The artist is martypants on etsy or www.facebook.com/martypantsmerchants

Today I'm going to tell you all about opals.  Opals are my favorite stone and I sometimes find a piece of rough that is so nice (and generally shaped in a way that would mean I'd lose A LOT of it when I cut it) that I just free form wrap it.  I recently got three different types of opal that I did that with so I thought I'd tell you guys about them.  I finally decided video was the only way to really show you what these stones look like.  In fact, if you are going to buy a special and/or very expensive opal ask for video.  With the right angle someone could light up an opal with very little fire and you'd be disappointed when you got it.

Admit it, when you think opal you think this:

Not a bad few stones at all but sort of milky white and with a little flash

Here is one that I particularly like that is the same kind - these come from Australia and are the most common and therefore the cheapest.  I just think this guy looks neat in rough form so that is the way he's gonna stay . . .

You can see, white with some pretty flashes - but look at this one.  This is also from Australia but it is only mined in one area - it is called boulder opal and is actually my favorite kind of opal . . . I've heard they are going to stop exporting it so I've bought a ton of rough recently.

Then this last one is just stunning - I can't imagine wasting one cut on it - it amazes me every time I look at it.  This is a good sized hunk of welo opal from Ethiopia.  I can't remember exactly what I paid for this guy but I know it was a hunk.  They have actually stopped exporting the rough welos now because they have figured out that they can make more money for their country selling only to authorized dealers and even then almost always cut stones.

So you can see there is quite a bit more to this stone than just the little white ones you see in commercial stores.  I haven't even included black opal or fairy opal or Mexican opal!

Since all my claws are antiques I tend to buy them in lots - and in lots you get varying quality.  These lion's claws are not of a quality I feel like I can sell but I went ahead and made them up for raffle prizes for the cat club I'm part of.  I bet someone will really like them.

Here are more alligator teeth.  I was trying to figure out something to do with the half ones and I think having the stones to the side looks pretty neat . . .

Boulder opal is my favorite stone - bar none.  I have some others that I like a lot but none as much as boulder opal.  Boulder opal is only mined in one area of Australia and is basically opal that has grown into cracks and crevices of larger rocks, often iron or just plain stone.

A gem buyer friend of mine said it is going to get harder and harder to get so I had to buy some extra.  I find that it is really hard to photograph, so I gave it its best chance of showing you how pretty it is by getting it wet and putting it in the direct sun (which we have had very little of for the last few days).  When it is wet and in the sun it looks a whole lot like it will when it is finished.

Here are all my pieces:

Here are the best ones - can't you just see little universes and worlds in each of those little rivers of opal?

This little bird and I have a complex relationship.  He was brought to me after he was killed by a friend's cat (cats get me a lot of the birds I work with).  But this little guy was different - he had this LOOK on his face.  I tell people he looked like he was lecturing the cat about karma when he died.  I took a picture of the look for myself, but I'm not going to post it here since some people get upset by that sort of thing.  However, I want to show you all the finished piece.  I thought this brave little bird deserved to have brightly colored wings (made of parrot feathers), a rose quartz heart, blue diamond chips on his beak, and welo opal beads on his head.  I honestly don't plan to sell this little guy but I'm super proud of him . . .

Here he is from every angle possible:

And a few detail shots for people who work with bones - I was able to preserve his little trachea:

And then his little rose quartz heart:

This weekend went really well - I sold one of my most expensive bear claws to a lady with a bear totem.  The money is always nice but it is even better to put a totem piece in the hands of someone who will appreciate it.

Becky also talked me into doing a new kind of tree - the pictures are not great because it sold pretty much immediately after I made it - these pictures are on the cat show benching space of the person who bought it.  I plan to do a weeping willow in the same style soon.

I was hoping to get some sun today to take pictures - but no luck.  Since I plan to sell these pieces this weekend I wanted to get pictures taken and posted even if they aren't the best.

Here are some lion's claws:

Different sizes of bear claws:

Alligator teeth (we think):

Wolf teeth:

A racoon scapula pendant:

My dermestid beetles got a long overdue home upgrade today!  They also got a whole pack of hot
dogs since I don't have anything dead to feed them right now - so I assume they are about as happy as a bunch of flesh eating beetles can be!

This tree is a new thing for me - I've never used abalone shell before.  I tried to choose a base and other stones that would set off colors in the abalone - I think it came out pretty good!

Here are some more parrot feather pendants - in addition to having no sun we also have a lot of wind today so these had to be taken in the shade . . . parrot feathers have quite a bit more color than this picture shows . . .

For some reason, when I work with bones from time to time pieces will stay articulated (meaning the bones stay connected like they would have in a live animal) - they go through a lot in the cleaning process so when that happens I try to leave them together - this is the upper part of that same raccoon's paw . . .

I decided to do a few tooth an claw pieces to sell at the cat show - the first one is a wolf claw with a chicken feather and the second one is a bear claw with turquoise . . . I love how the angle of the feather goes with the angle of the wolf claw -  I actually wasn't going to add a feather to that piece until I saw it laying on my work area and realized they had the same angle

Well, I was busy last night - here are some buffalo teeth I did - I really like the way they came out . . . I wish there was sun for pictures but you can't have everything  . ..

I don't have a cool story for this one - it is just a little tree I'll be selling at the Houston cat show . . .

I'm pretty sure both of these pendants are sold, but they have a great story behind them.  A friend of mine was visiting her grandmother's grave (she and her grandmother were extremely close - more like mother and child) and looked over at a bench and saw that this butterfly had died.  Its body was pretty well gone but the wings were still beautiful.  So she wrapped it up in bubble wrap and brought it to me.  I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to bugs and bones and feathers and stuff because I never know when someone will ask me for something and I'll need one.  Well day before yesterday I had a lady message me on etsy and say 'I love those butterfly pendants but do you have any monarch wings?' and I said 'You will never guess what my friend found . . .' - I love it when things work out that way . . .

I'll let you guys know if she wants both of them or just one - one may be up for sale later.