What is a Lapidary

What is a lapidary

 I am a lapidary which means I hand cut my own gemstones.  Having enjoyed cutting gemstones for many years, I have crystal and cabochons to sell.  Also rough stone - which is the rocks before they are cut into cabochons. do you know any  friends whom are jewelry designers or jewelry store owner?  I work with rock lovers al over the world. 

definition  Lapidary

 

Here is a Unakite boulder in the quarry where I have collected some rough in NY state.  The travel mug in this pic is about 10" tall to show perspective. The boulders are over 3 feet tall.  The blue rocks on the left side are mostly calcite.
 

 7 Steps to make a cabochon

1. select a rock
2. cut a slab form the rock
3. decide  the shape of the cabochon & draw it
4. trim the slice around the lines
5.  dop the trimmed piece
6. start cutting the cab
7. polish the cab

Michigan Kona dolomite slab.  This is a piece of the selected rock cut into a slice.  This is a slab or a slice from the rock.(step 2)   Imagine the rock as a home made loaf of bread cut into slices.  They can be cut whatever thickness I desire.

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.   FB page  Free the People ROC

 

Join me:stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind #blacklivesmatter  

#stopasianhate #standup

#listen

Being involved is more that attending a march, make phone calls, VOTE, talk about these rights we have,  help friends VOTE! 

Cabochon (step 7)

On the right, a piece of the Unakite I collected as a finished cabochon.  I went through all 7 steps  to create this cabochon..

My cabochons are free form which meas they are not round, or oval like most of the ones I see for sale.  This makes them unique and OOAK.
OOAK means One of a Kind. Cabochons are also called cabs.

What to do with all these cot gemstones? I sell them to other jewelry designers & collectors.  My focus is on my gemstones and showcasing the beauty in them with my wire designs. 

  Buy Local from the Artist

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.  

 

MLK Day 2022

 Martin Luther King Day

Today Martin Luther King day 2022 I feel hope and optimism about our future.  This past year has shown us the change the new administration, Joe Biden & Kamala Harris have made in this country.  The wrongs that happened in the 2016-2020 time frame can not be fixed in one day or one week.   We all need to take time every day to move our country forward as Mr. King would help us do if he was here.

             MLK famous I Have a Dream

 I suggest you read this today and remember what we have accomplished and how much more we need to do.   

Please visit this site to see what we need to do today.    The King Center

 

Black Lives Matter

 

The quotes here resonate with me and I hope resonate with you.  

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and be ready to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#listen

 

"NO PERSON has the right to rain on your dreams." Martin Luther King, Jr. 

 

Buy local from the Maker

  

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community!

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY DANCE FOR BILLS FANS

BILLS FAN

Happy Dance for all of us Bills fans everywhere. 

AFC East Champs 2 years in a row.  I believe 

this is the years for them to go all the way!    

Looking forward to the game tonight to watch the rest of the success.  

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.   FB page  Free the People ROC

Join me:stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind #blacklivesmatter  

#stopasianhate #standup

#listen

Being involved is more that attending a march, make phone calls, VOTE, talk about these rights we have,  help friends VOTE! 

Shop Local

Support small business.  our goods are not stuck on cargo ships.  

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

Goodbye 2021

Artist Life

We have all been though a rocky year.  Some more so than others because of how much loss in their lives.  It hit me hard several times.  Here is a place I try to share how I create and what inspires me.  when it is too hard I shut down and get quiet.  Parts of 2021 were like that.  Looking forward to an amazing 2022.  We can only go up from here.  

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and be ready to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#listen

Shop Local

Genny from Charlotte 

 Support small business.  Our goods are not

 stuck on cargo ships.  

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

As a woman in business, I ask you to support small business when you need something.  It helps all of us to survive this pandemic.  

Hello FALL

 

Though this Month has been exceptional warm at times, FALL has arrived.  The trees are turning colors and there is a crisp in the air in the early morning. Happy to have this image from last fall in Letchworth park to remind me to enjoy the season while it is here. We must enjoy the moments we have with those we love.  

 The end of season for the veggies is a bittersweet time of year for me.  Hard to say goodbye to the warm crops like tomatoes, cilantro, and peppers.  Grateful for the fall crops like broccoli, kale, collards, lettuce, mustard, parsnips, etc. what I do not grow I buy from the local farmers market in Rochester.  the market is over 100 years old.

Busy  October so far. I am still standing up for what I believe in.  We had a successful Bans Off Our Bodies March & rally 10.2.21 these two brought their own banner for the March.  We must Keep Abortion Legal because it is

 MY BODY, MY CHOICE

 Our event was cosponsored by: Planned Parenthood of Western & Central NY, Indivisible Rochester, Rochester NOW,  Metro Justice, Senator Samra G. Brouk's Office and Webster Democratic Committee.

 BIG thank you to all who helped make this event a success.  

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.   FB page  Free the People ROC

Join me:

stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind #blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate #standup

#listen

 

Being involved is more that attending a march, make phone calls, VOTE, talk about these rights we have,  help friends VOTE!

Shop Local

Support small business.  our goods are not stuck on cargo ships. 

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

Summer Harvest and Activism

 Summer Harvest

 

Happy to have a successful tomato harvest this years.  the wild temperature swings this summer made the growing more difficult.  We ahve had three tomato preservation days and now have Salsa and Red Sauce (tomato sauce)  there is nothing quite like opening a fresh jar of this homegrown sauce on a cold winter day.  It brings a it of the summer back into the house.  

this year we are thankful for the friends & family we have.  spending quality time with them has been fantastic. 

  

 

 

Black Lives Matter

As for the Activism in the title, I was a speaker at the Planned Parenthood day of action 9/1/21. It was humbling ot be part of the speakers at such an important event. It is about women's health care. My body, my choice!   We will have a march her in my city Rochester, NY 10/2.  

Click here to join us in ROC.  Womens March 

  

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY. 

 FB page  Free the People ROC

Join me: stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind #blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate #standup

#listen

 

Being involved is more that attending a march, make phone calls, VOTE, talk about these rights we have,  help friends VOTE!

 

Buy Local from the Maker

 

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

 

Women's Equality Day - why it resonates

 

 Women's Equality Day - why it resonates with me.

 

this is a part of a group I traveled to DC with January 2017 for the Womens March on Washington.   It was incredibly powerful to be there.  As a board member on my local NOW(National Organization for Women) we have been working towards ratification of the ERA for years. 

EQUAL MEANS EQUAL

ERA Ratification Removing the Timeline for ERA Ratification 

 

stand with us to demand this be done NOW!  

 

Buy Local from the Maker

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

Welcome August

Waiting for the slicing tomatoes & bell peppers to ripen.  There are so many green tomatoes.  Something ate several pepper plants this summer., something = garden visitor.  I planted more so we have a good harvest.  Peppers are great fresh and freeze well for cooking with later.  

Found this Black Swallowtail while visiting Brookside Garden in Maryland last month.  Happy to be back in the area dog sitting this week.  Should have pics of the puppy next week.    

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and be ready to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#listen

j

Buy local from the Maker

  

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community!

Summer Fruits and Mother Nature

 

It has been a hard summer here so far in the garden.  The alternating heat & extreme wet is stressing the plants.  We are doing our best to care for them in this dichotomy of conditions.  We had several bouts of 90's by the end of June.  When you add to that the 9+ inches of rain from 7/09 - 7/23( two weeks time) in my yard, it has been hard on the plants  We have lost peppers & beans to pests, kale and lettuce to rotting, and the berries stopped fruiting in the wet spell. 

 These are the 1st 2021 TOMATOES! These are along side today's harvest of fennel, wax beans and cucumber on the bottom. 

 

 I am reminded to enjoy the moment often this year.  Mother Nature had this so show us a few nights ago.   

Last week I had the privilege of seeing a one women show on RIT campus that was invitation only. It was incredible.  As we left the theater and headed to our cars, another attendee pointed to the moon. When I arrived home it was still peaking through the clouds.  This is phone pic without filters.  Wishing I had a long lens on campus for the great shot there. 
      

 

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to Join me: 

stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#listen

 

 

Buy Local from the Maker

 My shop:  Panda Wear Website

Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

 

June is ending, summer is here

 Lapidary and the garden

Happy Monday all. heat wave and summer is here in ROC  As a lapidary it is almost impossible to slice or slab any rocks because of this heat.  On the other hand, good part is I can cut cabochons because that equipment is inside in my basement. 

 

This is a snowflake obsidian cabs.  Obsidian is a volcanic natural glass  there are several varieties of it that I have as rough and cabochons.   

 

The heat might be stressing the plants though we are keeping them well watered.   We use recycled rubber soaker hoses to water the vegetables and most of the pants in our gardens.  They conserve moisture by placing the water where it is needed at the roots of the plants,  none is wasted as with sprinklers.  As in the past years of drought, the soaker hoses allow us a harvest and not having to remove dead plants. Fingers crossed this short term heat wave and dry does not turn into an all season event for the summer. 

 

This is yellow turquoise that I cut and set in sterling silver. I love the play of colors on the stone and the final design to show off the shape of the cabochon.   

 

 

Black Lives Still Matter

 

 

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and to support our sisters and brothers.  

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#listen

 

 

 

 

 

  

Buy Local from the Maker

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

 

 

This is a natural Aquamarine from a mine in New Hampshire.  I did not cut this beauty but the fact is is a USA gem made me purchase several cabs in a few different gemstones from the mine owner.  

http://bit.ly/Panda_aqua