Gem Show "Lighting" Nightmare!!!

ARG!!

I've got a show in about 3 weeks and THIS is the state of most of my lights!!!

I think it's safer if I just run away laughing hysterically...

Mystery of the Stone "solved".

We've been having a bit of a discussion over the past months about this stone (you can see the photo over to the left).

It's been a bit of a mystery as no-one could give us the exact "name" that this particular stone was called. A few days ago we started our tumblers again and a batch of this pretty earth toned goodies were put inside - and in just those few days? They were done their first grit run! We were STUNNED!! Which lead us to start searching more on what type of stone this was as it was obviously too soft compared to what we had read. First? We thought perhaps this was Sardonyx due to its banding but it's been an argument as there is just not enough black in the colours.

Onyx came to mind, but traditionally the colour of Onyx is black.. I was hunting around the internet tonight looking at Mexican Onyx and found out what this is!!

It's called Travertine - and gosh does it look fabulous when it's tumbled!!

In a month or so we'll have some of these unique pieces up for sale on the site (Wicked Stones) but it has to go through the next stages of polishing first.

Gosh the pieces are just amazing though.. I hope that my favorite takes the polishing well - the stone looks like a woman standing with a shawl around her shoulders.. maybe I'll just sneak that one away before the next polish and post a photo of it later in the week.

Winnie Wednesday is Back!!! Adventures in Sault St. Marie Algoma

Winnie Wednesday is back!!!

Okay I AM a few days early but I know the rest of this week is going to be kind of crazy... without further wait? Let's begin our Winnie Wednesday Adventure!!!

(for those of you "new to tune in?" Winnie Wednesday is a day that I share photos taken of a Winnie the Pooh bear that I've had for about 40 years now. He comes with us when we travel and go on adventures.. you may even get lucky and see him at one of our shows as he's always making cameo appearances.

So this week starts Winnie off on his ADVENTURES in ALGOMA!! We took Winnie with us last summer on a 2 day trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior or the elusive Agate hunt! We got POURED on!! Blown all over!! And sunburnt but enjoyed every minute. Follow us along the next dozen or so Wednesdays as I share our adventures!!!

Oh yes.. that's Winnie taking over driving our mini van when I popped out to grab a newspaper (in the first picture)..

... he's too short to steer and push the peddles you know.. You can see him in this picture sitting between Rob and I in the front seat after we pried his little furry hands off the steering wheel....

Stay tuned next week for "more adventures with Winnie in Algoma!"

Self Portrait Tuesday - okay so I'm a day early

It's been a while since I've done the Self Portait Tuesday.

Um.. in case you are wondering? THAT'S a roll of VERY cheap toilet paper.... and that's me looking at it going ??? because toilet paper (especially CHEAP paper) does NOT work when you are trying to make paper machae!!!

I had the most interesting time creating a huge pinyata sun this winter.. and my words of wisdom are "AVOID TOILET PAPER!" :-)

New Pewter!

WOW! I just picked up the mail/post and my shipment of pewter arrived!!

AMAZING!! I'll be trying to take some pictures tonight and get the new goodies up on line in the next day or so. These pieces are simply stunning!!

There are amazing celtic knots, amulets and more!!!

YOWSERS!
I'm off to play in the goodies!

The TUMBLERS are running again!!

After a LONG time of waiting... our tumblers are running again!!

No sorry,, I didn't take a preview picture of what was going in... but I'll be taking a "Peek" shot into the barrels in about a week and a halfs time. Rob is going back to work up North in just less than 2 weeks and at that time? We're going to crack the lids and have a look.

What I can tell you is that there is a good mix of agates and pretty stones from the North shore of Lake Superior and another batch full of Jade and some Serpentine.

I'll share the view with you.....

Keep checking!!
Vikki

Gemstone Photo Cat

I just had to pop on line and add this image to the Blog.

Indy was an un-impressed cat with me!

I was working on new ideas for taking photos of the gemstones and she came in to inspect.

I dont think she expected to be included in the set up...

I'm such a bad toad.

New Year - New Start

Gosh where has the time gone?

Far too much time has slipped past since I've last posted to our Blog. Now that we are on dial up internet service I have found that I spend a lot less time on line doing the things I used to.

Things around the Wicked Shop have certainly been moving along like crazy this past fall and early of this year. We've got super plans in the mix right now for new products and new ideas that we've been brewing up all fall. The entire site ( Wicked Stones ) is in the process of an overhaul to change things to a more Metaphysical spin. You wont see any changes for a little while as most work is being done in the background - along with dealing with an old camera that getting tired and refuses to do what it's supposed to do!! I might be looking for a new camera pretty soon as I'm getting pretty tired of re-doing the same pictures over and over again!

So what's one of our new ideas? That picture (to the left) is something that Rob and I have decided to work with. We're in the process of locating enough Sterling Silver cutlery to create some really cool re-cycled Art. Some of the pieces will be decorated with gemstones and Sterling Silver wire work.. it's REALLY exciting around here with all the hammering and bending (we've been going through a LOT of tools!). I'm just going to put in this one picture as I dont want to spoil the surprise of the new items on the horizon. So far the ones we've been test wearing have been a huge hit. Okay so it looks a bit scary with Rob his bracelet WHILE he is wearing it! We promice that you dont have to have the jewelry fitted QUITE like that!!

We're getting ready for one of the largest spring shows that we take part in - I can't wait to post them to our pages so you can see what we've dreampt up! I dont know if she'll ever read this Blog, but I have to thank Jamie for inspiring one of our new product lines!! She's one of my returning customers who's simply a joy to work with and with her requests we've created a new Celtic line that is a mix of really stunning Celtic beads and Gemstones. Thanks Jamie!! We're also waiting for a huge order of Celtic Pewter to arrive to our shop so we can start working with them.

So if you are located in Sudbury Ontario or coming to town on the 10th of March 2007? Feel free to come to the Navy League Hall located at 19 Regent Street South in Sudbury - We'll be taking part in the Annual Celtic Fair and they will be open until 12 to 5 that Saturday. If you would like more info about the fair? Feel free to call 705 855-3564 and ask away. Every year the show is a blast!

Here's a picture of our show from last year! So you can see that we'll be prety easy to spot when you pop in.

Well that's it for now.. I've got to get back to working on those metaphysical pages!! Welcome back everyone!!