• About

Wishcraft Studio

~ Sharing a love of science through art

Wishcraft Studio

Monthly Archives: July 2012

Gemstone of the Week: Ammolite

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by ebmagpie in Gemstone of the Week

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ammolite, ammonite, ancient, cephalopod, gemstone

As implied by the title, each week I will briefly cover a different gemstone to increase my knowledge of the field and hopefully share something interesting with you.  Each gemstone has its own neat story to tell, and I have a soft spot for a good story.  Posts will usually be on Tuesdays, and the first and third Tuesdays of each month I will talk about that month’s common and less common birthstones.  The remaining weeks are my pick (yay!)

Without further ado, this week’s gemstone is ammolite!

Images adapted from http://www.redgallery.de

Ammonites were prehistoric cephalopods that appeared 240 million years ago and became extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.  During their global, aquatic reign they were jet-propelled predators that used sharp beaks and tentacles to catch prey and could be over three feet across.  Ammonites were named for the ancient Libyan/Egyptian/Grecian deity Ammon (interesting story there), who was usually depicted with rams’ horns, similar to the shape of their shells.  The shell’s chambers follow the Fibonacci sequence (the sum of the two preceding chambers equaling the next), and was originally made of aragonite.  Over millions of years in the earth, the shells took on other minerals, including calcite, silica, and pyrite, and trace elements such as copper and iron, becoming ammolite.

The iridescent rainbow of ammolite comes from the microstructure of the aragonite, which makes light bounce around in many tiny layers.  Thicker layers produce more reds and greens, while thinner layers produce more blues and violets.  Ammolite is graded by the number of colors present in a specimen, and the predominantly blue and violet pieces tend to be more valuable than the reds and greens.

Canada is the main source of ammolite and there are strict laws regarding its mining, including that intact fossils are not eligible for gemcutting. Ammolite tends to be a softer stone (around 4 on the Mohs scale) and so it is normally given a protective layer of quartz or spinel when used in jewelry.   As the availability of ammolite is limited, their value is expected to increase with time.

What’s in a name?

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by ebmagpie in Information

≈ Leave a comment

When I was designing my shop’s logo, I remembered an image I had already created in high school of a rabbit playing a mandolin.  Rabbits are my favorite animals for their wit and fun dispositions, and this one is my current rabbit, an English Spot named Hanna.  She will probably get her own blog posts and is the mascot of Wishcraft Studio.

Though I do not play the mandolin, I have always loved musical instruments because the way they are crafted makes them functional and beautiful.  When I was a little kid I made numerous tiny violins from cereal boxes and thread because my answer to life was to build things I didn’t have or that piqued my interest.  My goal for the shop is to sell things that are similarly beautiful and functional.

The stars represent making wishes, and the moon is one of the ancient alchemical symbols for silver (another is hidden in the constellation).  My current focus is working with silver clay, which becomes pure silver when heated.

All of these things together make the name and logo for Wishcraft Studio.

Welcome!

Beginnings and introductions

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by ebmagpie in Information

≈ Leave a comment

Greetings to all who enter here.  My name is Elizabeth Bradshaw and I started this journal to pass along things I find amazing about the universe and share my projects and life experiences.

I am a veterinarian and have spent most of my existence involved in the sciences and research, but for that same amount of time I have been a student of the fine arts.  I don’t intend to sound pompous with this statement, and only put it here since I love both art and science, because ultimately I love learning.  The world is full of too many amazing things to not take time to smell the violets (which their ionone compound then temporarily removes your ability to smell :-)).

I also have a newly-hatched shop, Wishcraft Studio, which someday I hope will reach fledgling stage and ultimately take flight.  I’m new to proprietorship and selling my artwork, but my hope is to give others well-crafted pieces that carry stories with them, or come to earn stories in time.

Thank you for stopping by.

Social

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 178 other followers

Follow Wishcraft Studio on WordPress.com

Categories

  • Costumes
  • Gemstone of the Week
  • Information
  • Jewelry
  • Miniatures
  • Project Updates
  • Silk painting

Recent Posts

  • Getting back into the swing of things
  • Traveling by orange dot
  • Matcha and Maple
  • Miniature quilt tutorial
  • Trees from Tokushima

Archives

  • April 2019
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy