Back in the Scheme of Things

by John Rasmussen on July 14, 2012

A couple years ago my wife and I went to a fee mine in Pigion Forge, Tennessee and we “mined” several very nice pieces of various gemstones. One particularly large ruby crystal I sliced about a month ago and got two slabs to make into cabochons. I kept the hexagonal shape of the crystal and domed over that shape. The resulting cabochon is 25 mm across and weighs about 80 carats. Typical of the rubies being found in the Western North Carolina area the rough was not of facet quality. However, The stone has been laying on my bench for the time since, and I finally got some inspiration to make a pendant with it. So, I reverted to my beginning in jewelry making and did a wire wrap.

a.Ruby Pendant

{ 0 comments }

John Rasmussen
66 year old retired educator (geology and emergency medical care) and practicing paramedic. I came back to my passion, rocks and minerals, then making gemstones and jewelry with them.
John Rasmussen
John Rasmussen

Latest posts by John Rasmussen (see all)

New Shop URL

by John Rasmussen on April 13, 2012

Several items have recently been addressed.  The name of my shop at Handmade Artists has been changed from my email address to “rasmussengems.”  The URL is:

http://handmadeartists.com/shop/rasmussengems

Several items have been recently added to the shop:

{ 0 comments }

John Rasmussen
66 year old retired educator (geology and emergency medical care) and practicing paramedic. I came back to my passion, rocks and minerals, then making gemstones and jewelry with them.
John Rasmussen
John Rasmussen

Latest posts by John Rasmussen (see all)

European Chain Bracelet

February 1, 2012

I thought and thought and thought and just could not devise an unique chain pattern of my own, so I sat down and made a European Box chain with 6 mm ID rings (hand cut from 18 gauge round copper wire).  The result is a 7 inch bracelet here displayed on a flocked hand. The […]

Read the full article →

Another year older

January 15, 2012

Another year of life has gone by and now I am officially 66. I continue to expand my thoughts and styles. I have been twisting several strands of wire to make a single wire for making metal pieces. This process lends itself to make unique curved designs with the wire. Using square wire produces very […]

Read the full article →

Shop Creativity

November 20, 2011

As with many places, Debora and I tend to work in spurts of creativity.  She will look at her beads and wire over and over.  Then she will see a way to put together a piece.  In the past week, she has made several beautiful pieces of wearable art.  Here are two of her creations […]

Read the full article →

November Items

November 2, 2011

Actually the end of October for the making of these two necklaces.  The first was a small piece of opal and matrix rough.  As can be seen the opal is the bottom edge and is a gray-blue color.  The gray matrix is obvious in this free form cabochon.  I cut the cabochon two weeks ago, […]

Read the full article →

Celebrate the Equinox

September 29, 2011

The Autumnal Equinox has just occurred and the fall season has officially begun.  With the advent of this season my creative muse has taken on a new vigor. Starting with the original form of silver smithing — wire wrapping, I made a pendant with a cobalt colored druzy agate in the center of the wire […]

Read the full article →

Artwork for September

September 8, 2011

As the first day of autumn approaches, we realize that September has come and in the Upstate of South Carolina it is by definition no longer hot.  August is hot, September is cooler.  We will notice Autumn about mid October when the leaves change to their fall beauty.  During this time, we continue to work […]

Read the full article →

Cabochons and Ring

August 22, 2011

On a visit last week at my local little rock shop, I was given an offer that I could not refuse.  They would give me a slab of Larimar and I could keep the rest after I cut them 3 oval cabochons.  I cut five cabochons, two of which fell into multiple pieces.  I salvaged […]

Read the full article →

As we near the Dog Days

August 21, 2011

As the end of August approaches, I have been doing yard work in the very early morning (0600) before the heat that causes the dogs to just lie in the dust comes to fruition. That does leave time during the day to create and fabricate. Debora has been very productive and has been making necklaces. […]

Read the full article →

WordPress Admin