Gem Stone Information - The Dictionary

As a girlie girl who likes gem stones and semi-precious stones simply because they are sparkly and pretty, I have found in the past that it’s surprisingly difficult to find girlie girl level info on a certain gem, all in the one place.

So, as no one else seems to have put birth stone, zodiac stone, anniversary stone, symbols and meanings, energies, planets, and other "proper" info like where they come from, hardness, chemical make up and so on altogther, I thought I would do it. I must stress that my Gem Info Pages are definitely not what you need if you are writing a thesis on a gem, or are some kind of gem type boffin. They contain the info that I always want when buying a gem as a gift. It is girlie gem info…with some science stuff thrown in at the end.

But first, for those of us who do not have a degree in Gem terminology, here is a quick dictionary type thing explaining some of the weirder words you might come across in my Gem Info Pages.

CRYSTAL SYSTEM
This is the structural shape of the gem – the way the crystal forms. There are 7 different forms, each with a fancy name:
Isometric
Tetragonal
Hexagonal
Trigonal
Orthorhombic
Monoclinic
Triclinic
The explanations of each name are all to do with maths, angles and "planes" and mean nothing without complicated drawings, so I am not including these. Generally speaking, these are not things you need to know when being girlie about gems.

HARDNESS
This is measured using the Mohs Scale, invented by German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. He placed 10 minerals in a scale so that each could only be scratched by those above it and in turn could scratch all those below it:
1......talc......................... powered by fingernail
2......gypsum................. scratched by fingernail
3......calcite.................... scratched by copper coin
4......fluorspar............... scratched by pen knife
5......apatite................... only just scratched by pen knife
6......orthoclase............. scratched by steel file
7......quartz.................... scratches glass
8......topaz...................... scratches quartz
9......corundum............. scratches topaz
10....diamond............... cannot be scratched

CLEAVAGE
This is the term for whether or not a gem will break smoothly and evenly along one surface or "plane" – some do, some don’t and some are in the middle.

FRACTURE
Some Gems break very distinctively when hit or smashed and these patterns have names:
conchoidal................... shell like
subconchoidal............. indistinct shell like
even............................. flat surface but slightly rough to the touch
uneven........................ rough and irregular
hacky........................... with sharp points
earthy......................... dull and crumbly

LUSTRE
This describes the way light bounces of the surface of the gem. The different ways have different names:
Metallic................................. like polished metal
Adamantine......................... brilliant, like diamond
Vitreous................................ like broken glass
Resinous............................... like resin or wax
Pearly/silky/splendent.......... brilliantly reflective
Shining.................................. reflective but not mirror
Glistening............................. reflects light not images
Glimmering.......................... imperfect reflections from points

SPECIFIC GRAVITY
This is the weight of the gem compared with an equal volume of water. This is used as similar sized but different gems can vary in weight enormously.

Craft Fairs PART 3 - Getting Into Craft Fairs and Shows

If you've read Finding Craft Fairs.... and Choosing Crafts Fairs.....by now you’ve put together a massive great list of events, shows and fairs, and you’ve worked out how you’re going to choose which ones you want to be at. Now, you’ve got to persuade the organisers that they want you there – a job that can sometimes be slightly harder than it needs to be. Most organisers are lovely and are pleased by the compliment your enquiry pays them, after all, you wouldn’t be calling if their event wasn’t good. But there are always one or two who have gone a little bit power crazy. If you can cope with working with those ones, here are some hints and tips on convincing them they need you at their event.

PART 3 - Getting Into Craft Fairs and Shows

1. Apply early. This is hugley important if you are a jeweller.
2. Make your stand and product different from all the rest, so even if you are going to be the third papier mache fish modeller at the fair, there is still room for you because yours is nothing like the rest.
3. If possible, offer to do demonstrations of your craft whilst at the Fair. Organisers find this hugely attractive, as it brings extra punters in, and can be used as a pull in their advertising.
4. If you can’t get in this time round, be nice and ask for your details to be held for next year.
5. Be prepared to provide samples, as some organisers of big events like to see your work before extending an invitation. Sometimes photos will do – having a website can be very handy for this, as you can direct people there and save the postage.
6. Many Shows are only interested in stands that sell only items Hand Made by the person selling them, i.e. no re-sellers. If you can truthfully say that everything you sell is all your own work, you will find yourself able to get into many more events (and often a better class of events too).
7. If you can, be flexible with your stock. Offering not to sell certain lines that might duplicate other traders items can be a useful way of getting into otherwise fully booked shows.
8. Once you are on an organisers mailing list, you will hopefully receive an invite to attend anything relevant. But if the date is getting near and you have had not heard anything, phone them. It shows you are really keen to be there and professional enough to be aware of the forth coming event. More often than not, they haven’t got round to doing the mailing yet, so all is well. But your letter might have been lost in the post….

Make sure you have also read

Part 1, Finding Craft Fairs and Shows,

Part 2, Choosing Craft Fairs and Shows

Craft Fairs PART 2 - Choosing Craft Fairs and Shows

So if you read Finding Craft Fairs.... you’ve made yourself a nice big list of Craft Fairs and Shows, but how do you know which ones are good? Well you don’t. No one can tell you either, as each trader has a different opinion of which shows work for them. What makes a show good depends a lot on luck and whether or not YOUR customers turned up that day. But there are a few hints and tips that can be generally applied when trying to choose what to go to and what to avoid.

PART 2 - Choosing Craft Fairs and Shows

1. Set yourself a budget and don't go over it unless experience tells you it’s worth the risk. Work out how much you can afford to pay for your pitch per day and stick to it. Some events don’t charge a flat fee for a pitch, preferring to ask for a set percentage of your days takings instead. This can be a good way of doing things as you can be sure that what you pay relates to what how much you took, but you need to be sure your prices allow for this. Also, watch out for the shows that charge a flat booking fee and take a percentage of your sales – this can work out very expensive!
2. Know your market – it’s no good going to a farmers show just because it’s local and cheap, when you only sell girlie stuff and the only people there will be farmers with mud and wellies up to their arm pits.
3. Ask the organiser questions: Has this Fair been run before? Was is successful? Are the previous year’s traders rebooking? How many other traders selling your area of craft will there be? (this one is particularly important if you are a jeweller) How is the event being advertised? What is the average foot fall through the door? Are the punters being charged to get in? And if so, how much? (think hard on this one – if the admission charge is hefty, or anything at all in the wrong venue, punters will not come)
4. Know the area the event is in. Seaside towns are notoriously rubbish for the Craft Market, as punters are looking to spend no more than 20p. Affluent rural settings can be good, but only if the local community supports local events. Inner city shows seem to be dependant on the venue being right.
5. Know your venue. If the venue is well known in its own right, well known for the kind of event you are taking part in and easy to get to, chances are the Show will be a good one. At the same time, if your venue is in a great area, surrounded by locals who can’t wait to spend their money, but impossible to find, to event will not go well.
6. How big is the venue and how many traders will there be? A huge venue with five traders in it will see nobody selling anything even if the place is overrun with punters due to lack of choice. Likewise a tiny venue with traders squeezed in up to the roof will see the same result, as customers cannot see anything for there being too much look at.
7. What do other traders think of the Fair you are looking at? Remember to get opinions of traders who sell things on a par with you. If you sell girlie or luxury things, don’t talk to the guy selling hand carved tractors.
8. Think about the time of year. "Craft Fairs" don’t seem to do so well in the summer, but they are more than worth it in the run up to Christmas. In the Spring and Summer, look into village days, agricultural shows, garden fetes and craft exhibtions. These sort of events seem to attract impulse buyers with money far better at this time of year – the craft fairs only seem to attract "lookers and pokers".
9. How long is it ‘til the event? This one is especially relevant in the run up to Christmas. If you find a fair or are approached by an organiser who has space at an event that is less than 2 weeks away, think carefully. It could just be that they have had a cancellation and are trying to fill the space. But more often than not, it is a indication that the event is badly organised and being pulled together at the last minute. Good fairs are always booked up months in advance.

Make sure you have also read

Part 1, Finding Craft Fairs and Shows,

Part 3, Getting Into Craft Fairs and Shows

Craft Fairs PART 1 - Finding Craft Fairs and Shows

I’ve been attending Craft Fairs as a trader for some years now and, like all the other traders out there, I have made some truly horrendous mistakes in choosing some of the shows I have attended. The majority of the nightmares occurred when I was new to the Craft Fair Circuit, and had no idea how to work out what shows were good and worth attending, and what ones to avoid. Having gained experience through time and disasters, I now know what questions to ask and where to look to find the right kind of Craft Fairs and Shows for me. That doesn’t mean I never pick a dud one though – I just don’t do it so often!

So, for those of you who are just starting out in the Craft Fair scene, here are some hints and tips to help you find the right kind of shows to attend – things I wish I had known when I started!!

PART 1 - Finding Craft Fairs and Shows

1. The easy stuff first. Ask everyone you know if they know of any Craft Fairs. If you’re lucky, you may know someone who already does Craft Fairs – the vast majority of us are more than happy to pass our contacts on.
2. Start local and small. Contact places near you that are likely to hold such events – schools, churches, clubs. Ask for your details to be held on file for the next thing they organise, even if it is months away. The crucial thing is to get into just ONE, because once you are there, you will meet other traders.
3. Meet other traders. Once you have muscled your way into a Craft Fair, be nice and friendly to the traders positioned near you. Be honest and say you are just starting out. Be frank and ask "How do you find your fairs?" You will get the same answer every time – talk to other traders and swap contact lists, and trawl the internet.
4. Contact lists. Most traders will be happy to give you details of Fairs and Shows that they have found to be good (particularly if you are not in direct competition with them!) The crucial thing is to swap lists. If you are just starting out then obviously you will not have a list to offer, but you will eventually. So make sure you swap email addresses or phone numbers, and return the favour. By doing so, you will find that those early friends you make will keep on giving you new contacts as and when they find them themselves.
5. The Internet. You need time for this one – quite a lot of it. You just have to sit down and search for Craft Show organisers by using whatever search terms you can think of. There are some big listings sites that have masses of organisers on them, and others that just list events. Search Local Council sites, Tourist Information, Stately Homes and anything else you can think of, note all the Fairs that interest you, contact each one and see where it gets you.
6. After a while (about 2 years), provided you have been out and about a bit, people should start coming to you, so you don’t have to spend quite so much time on the hunt. But never stop looking and keep you ears open – there’s always a new Show out there that someone is talking about that you have somehow managed to miss.
   

Now check out

Part 2, Choosing Craft Fairs and Shows,

Part 3, Getting Into Craft Fairs and Shows

Birth Stone Charts

Birth Stone or Zodiac Stone? It's such a nice thought to give jewellery or sparkly things as a birthday pressie, and have the right stones in it. But it's surprisingly difficult to find out exactly which stones ARE the birth stones or zodiac stones that you are looking for, when every place you look suggests a completely different stone to the place you looked before.

I've spent many hours of my life trying to find out which stones go with which birthdays (and many more hours trying to get the table below onto this page!). I have found books and websites that have Birth Stone Charts that bare no relation to each other, and I've found other places that advertise Birth Stone Charts but have them so well buried, you've missed the birthday whilst you've been looking.

Having done all that research, I now think I've managed to put together a definitive list, so here you are. Zodiac Stones and Birth Stones.

But be warned!! Where Zodiac signs overlap calendar months, there may be more than one stone that fits!

Zodiac Sign	Birthstone	Color
Capricorn	Ruby	Red
Aquarius	Garnet	Dark Red
Pisces	Amethyst	Purple
Aries	Bloodstone	Multicolor
Taurus	Sapphire	Deep Blue
Gemini	Agate	Multicolor
Cancer	Emerald	Deep Green
Leo	Onyx	Black
Virgo	Carnelian	Reddish
Libra	Peridot	Light Green
Scorpio	Beryl	Multicolor
Sagittarius	Topaz	Blue
Month	Birthstone	Color
January	Garnet	Dark Red
February	Amethyst	Purple
March	Aquamarine	Pale Blue Green
April	Diamond	Clear
May	Emerald	Deep Green
June	Moonstone or Alexandrite	Multicolor
July	Ruby	Red
August	Peridot	Light Green
September	Sapphire	Deep Blue
October	Opal or Tourmaline	Multicolor
November	Topaz or Citrine	Yellow
December	Turquoise, Blue Topaz or Tanzanite	Blue

The Best Place for a Good Idea

Why do all your best ideas come to you in the middle of the night? Or on the toilet? You're just sitting (or lying) there, happily minding your own business, dreaming away, when BAM!! You suddenly get a picture in your mind of a really lovely piece of jewellery, something new and fresh that has your signature stamped all over it and that people will want.

And you are no where near a piece of paper.

These images that pop into your mind do exactly that. Pop. Then they're gone. So by the time you have exited the bathroom, or extracted yourself from your nice warm duvet at 3 in the morning, found some paper and a pencil, the idea has faded, fizzled out and popped off.

Last night, at something past 3am, I had a REALLY good idea. It flashed in to my head just after someone small came into the room asking if they could play. I lay there for a few moments, knowing in my heart of hearts that I needed to get up and commit this flash of inspiration to paper as fast as possible. But it was very dark, and very cold, and there was quite honestly no way I was getting out of my nice warm cozy bed. So why not turn the light on and find something to scribble on in the bedside draw? Because this would cause no end of disgruntled noises from the lump in the other half of the bed and endless complaints of being tired due to being woken pointlessly in the middle of the night the following day. So I lay there and concentrated really hard on the picture that had popped unbidden into my sleep fuddled brain. I could see it perfectly, could even see myself drawing into my ideas book. It was brilliant.

And so, after what seemed like a decade or two, I drifted off back to sleep.

At lunch time, I remembered that at 3 in the morning, I had had an idea. About half and hour later I remembered that it was a really good idea. It's now 5 in the afternoon, and I now know it was a necklace. I suspect that at some highly unpleasant hour of the morning, I shall once again be gifted with that flash image of the finished item. And so this time, will I get out of bed? Will I turn the light on to find some paper? No. I will lie there under my lovely warm duvet and convince myself that THIS time I will remember. THIS time this award winning design will pop back into my mind in during day light hours.

Which it will. When I'm on the toilet.