Spiral Ring Tutorial

Thought you might like a new tutorial. This is also published in the Rock-A-Teer for August.

How to Make a Spiral Wire Bead Ring
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Spiral-Wire-Bead-Ring

Wire rings are very much in style this season. They can come in different shapes and colored beads to wear with different outfits. Twisting the wire is not difficult with the correct tools. All you have to do is make sure that the beads have holes in the center, so you can easily pull the wire through.

Supplies you will need:
• 1 foot (30 cm) 18g wire, soft. Hobby stores will usually have several suitable types (copper, sterling silver, etc.)
• 1 handmade bead with hole large enough to fit 2 pieces of 18g wire. (Rondell shape works best)
• Wirecutter
• Chain-nose (or needle-nose) pliers
• Ring mandrel or dowel in desired ring size - mandrels can be purchased through jewelry supply outlets and dowels can be found at your local hardware store. You may also be able to find something around the house of the right size and shape... a candle, broom handle, toilet paper holder, etc.

Directions:

1. Place center of wire against your form (a ring mandrel or dowel) and wrap twice around leaving the tails long.

2. Bend the tails up sharply.

3. Place the bead onto both wires and slide down to the base of the ring.

4. Bend the wires to a right angle directly on the top of the bead.

5. Spiral the wires on top of the bead. This can be a bit tricky. Start by making a small circle with one of the wires where it emerges from the bead, then push the other wire behind and against it, being careful not to overlap the wires. If you see the spiral start to puff up, use a small block of wood and press gently but firmly on the spiral to push it against the bead as you turn the wires. Continue spiraling until the desired size is achieved. Be sure to leave a tail of at least 2" (5 cm) on each wire to complete.

6. Bring the tail wires down to the ring shank on opposite sides of the bead and wrap around the base of the ring to secure. Trim and tuck the wire ends down and you are done!

Warnings:
These are very dangerous if done just slightly improperly. Be careful - make sure to tuck the exposed sharp ends into one of the knots on either side to prevent being hurt. Imagine giving this as a gift and they start to bleed, not a good sight. Suffice to say just put it on and tough up to check for problems. You may want to use a small jewelry file to file any sharp points.

Leather Fringe/Gemstone Necklace Tutorial

So many people were commenting on this necklace at the last club meeting and when I wore it at the Billings show, that I decided a tutorial was in order. I have posted the supply list and the steps on my personal blog HERE, so check it out.

If you would like this offered as a hands on this Fall, please let me know and I'll get it on the schedule.

Don't forget that the club library has a copy of my new book "Gem Tree Sculptures".

See you at the next meeting which will be August 14th at the Fruitland Grange at 7:30 pm. Dana

News from the NFMS/AFMS show

Well, here it is the last day in Billings, MT and we are ready to come back home. It has been a very busy few days here. The show started on Thursday, but all the vendors and exhibitors were setting up on Wednesday. We have seen a few Puyallup Club members here at the show, besides LaVon and Mike, Larry Hoffman and his wife along with Chuck Raup and his wife were here. Saw some old friends and made a few new ones.

I was able to teach 3 workshops and sell a few books, so that helped offset some of the expenses. If you are reading this and are wondering what book and what workshop, you'll have to ready my personal blog or my gem tree blog.

Obviously, if you have followed some of my posts on my gem tree blog and on the PVGMC newsletter, then you know that Paul and I came so that I could compete for my "Masters" in Gem Tree Design. I did get what I came for which was Masters at the Regional and National level, so two blue ribbons. I did not however achieve enough points to bring home the trophy...oh well, maybe another time.

I do have something new to share and that is the Rock-A-Teer was nominated for an award and received 2nd in the Federation for Large Newsletter and an Honorable Mention at the National level. The surprise this morning at the Editor's Breakfast was that I was voted into the American Federation Hall of Fame for Newsletter Editors. It was a great honor to be accepted and our ne

wsletter recognized at such a National level.

Here are a few pictures from the show. Hope everyone is well and surviving the heat back there in Washington and we will see you at the next meeting. Cheers, Dana James

Summer is Here

Well we had a winner of our May photo contest and that was Khara Gunness. Here are her entries.

Our current contest is for you to write an article on your favorite rock/gemstone. This contest will run through August and a wonderful mineral specimen will be the prize.

On another note, the Puyallup show was a great success and the club made enough money to pay all the bills and add to the scholarship fund. We are now looking for volunteers for the Puyallup Fair and the sign up sheet is being circulated now. If you would like to sign up and are a member of the Puyallup club or another local Washington club, please contact John Gottschalk at wsrogue (at) hotmail (dot) com.

July's field trip will be to Red Top on the 18th. Please attend the July 10th meeting for more specifics on where to meet and the time.

If you are looking for the July newsletter, I'm working on it today and it should be out on the web site tomorrow evening.

Cheers, Dana

Club Members Rock Photos

The contest for May for our club members is a photo of their favorite rock or mineral specimen. We received these entries today from Glenn Ripper. Can you top them?

Electric Blue

Electric Blue

Electric Blue Cab

Mexican Rainbow

Fire Obsidian

Tiger Iron Butterfly

I think the Tiger Iron is my favorite....what's your?

Puyallup Gem and Mineral Club 2009 Annual Gem Show

http://www.puyallupgemclub.org/new_pvgmc/PDFs/2009%20Show%20Flyer.pdf

The club hosts an annual gem and mineral show each year the first weekend in June. This year the show will be held from June 5th - June 7th. I have attached a link to the flyer, which is in a .pdf format.

Hours are Friday, June 5th, Noon to 6 pm - Saturday, June 6th, 10 am - 6 pm - Sunday, June 7th, 11 am - 4 pm.

Location is the Fruitland Grange Hall in Puyallup, WA

We will have a host of activities that include vendors, exhibits, demonstrators, raffle prizes, silent auction, and several activities for the kids.

Vendors will be selling everything from rough rock and mineral specimens to finished jewelry and rock/mineral display pieces.

Demonstrators will be showing all the lastest lapidary techniques in Opal cutting and polishing, Cabbing, Intarsia, Gem Tree design, Faceting, Precious Metal Clay, Beading and Fossil prep.

A club member will be on hand to answer questions about where to go to dig for your own rocks and minerals in the state of Washington and the various field trips our club offers.

A snack bar will be on location for those wishing to spend the day with us. Food is great and reasonably priced.

Raffle prizes in the past have ranged from a tumbler to finished jewelry items and mineral specimens. Most all items have been donated by the club members or vendors at the show.

All proceeds from the show benefit the club and it's scholarship fund.

Riffe Lake Part 2

Well Jim Sawaya and I decided to head back down to Riffe Lake again. This time we took our fishing gear. The weather wasn't too bad, the sky was clear but there was a pretty good wind blowing out of the east. After about a hour and a half to two hours I had caught my limit of Konakee, a.k.a. silver trout. They were between 12 and 15 inches each. Unfortunately Jim wasn't so lucky. We wandered back up to his van to put the fish on ice and gather up our rockhounding gear.
I told Jim that I wanted to walk in a ways before we started hunting as most people stopped to hunt fairly close. We hiked along the shoreline which is at a fairly steep angle up from the water and strewn with boulders and talus. There is water running down the hillside which sometimes under and though some of the talus areas which makes for some interresting footing.
Since Jim was exploring down closer to the water I decided to take the high road. I started to find small agate nodules and pieces of albite. As I moved further along I came across a few clusters of quartz crystals. Most of the agate I was finding was small and clear with no color. I then found a basketball sized rock that had some very nice blue agates that had amazing crystals inside. I trimmed alot of the basalt off and ended up with some very nice display pieces, I largest being softball size.
By this time Jim was hunting on the upper slope so I took the low road and found a very nice fortified blue agate and a gray one. Neither were very large but I should be able to get a couple nice sized cabs out of each. I also found a nice nodule about the size of large baking potatoe. At this point I had about 50 lbs. of rock and Jim had a fair amount so we decided to head back to the parking lot hunting as we went.
I got way ahead of Jim a couldn't see him behind me because of a rise in the terrain so I decided to rest my pack and wait for him to catch up. So I waited and I waited and I waited and no Jim. I figured he must of found something good and he'd be along in a few moments. So I waited and waited and waited some more. By this time I was starting to get a little concerned so I shrugged off my pack and went to look for him. I crested the rise and didn't see him so are started to think that maybe he had fallen. After more searching and I still hadn't spotted him I started to wonder if he had fallen into the lake with his pack on. I decided to head back to the van when I see a figure off in the distance waving at me, it was Jim. He had walked up to the top of the cliff and walked back to the van that way.
After cussing him out in my head and then feeling relief that I didn't have to explain to his daughter that I lost her Dad, I headed back to the van. When I caught up with Jim he told me that he had yelled that he was heading up but with the wind I didn't hear him. We compared our finds while having an ice cold liquid refreshment. Jim had found a nice cluster of light amethyst crystals and it was decided that even though Jim didn't catch any fish it was a great day anyway!