Found a cave on our property.. neat rocks

Oh shoot! I forgot to mention this yesterday when I was writing.

When Rob and I were clearing some of the yard? We found something really neat nestled in the side of a small hill on the eastern corner of the property. It was buried until a pile of busted wood, branches and piles and piles of old leaves.... but... after some careful removal? We found the opening of something really interesting!

A cave! Or at least something "like" a cave! There was snow in the hole around the opening just before Rob left to go back to work out of town, so I promised that I would not go poking around there without him home. We're not sure if there is a hole in front of the cave/hole opening or not since it's still all covered with "stuff".

But I did manage to get a few pictures! There are some really neat pink rocks that are filled with Garnets and Mica just outside of the hole that were buried under the grass. The rock in the photograph shows how weathered it is, but the pink is shining through. When I peeked inside of the tiny opening that is not covered with fallen stuff? I could see more pink rock with sparkling quartz and mica. It looks as if the hole might have been blocked off and it might not go any deeper into the side of the hill, but I wont know for another week (oh the waiting is awful!)..

I'll keep you posted with pictures once I get to investigate more.

Wicked Stones on Twitter - Something free maybe?

Good morning all!

I thought I'd post this link to our Wicked Stones Twitter Page. Recently I've started using Twitter and it's kind of fun to post quick updates on what's going on in our workshop, studio and even the occasional ramblings of a caffeine deprived woman (LOL!).

I think I might be posting something kind of cool there by the end of the week (May 1)... something... interesting... something that's simply MAD and crazy involving free things from our website...

Check it out if you'd like.

Inukshuk tuturial gone missing

For anyone who has been bouncing back to our Blog to view the free tutorial on how to make your own gemstone Inukshuk? I do apologize..

Rob (my partner) had a chat with me on his last trip home and asked me to remove the link to the page. He has some new ideas he wants to try out and wanted to use some of the stones that he'd previously used for the Inukshuks. It's been interesting, watching him boil the gemstones in a vat in the Rock Lab and turn these little statues into something else. (Yes, you read that right, he's boiling stones and not for "stone soup". :-)

E600 is a very strong glue and even with the boiling? It's still going to take some serious grinding to get some of the residue off the gemstones before he can move forward.

He's bought himself a grinder and he's been learning how to make some really pretty cabs and sculpted gemstone pieces.

So what's next?

I'm trying to twist his arm to let me pick out a rock saw and a few other tools.

I'm such a bad influence :-)

Sunshine! At last

Finally! We have sunshine and the snow around the studio is starting to melt away! I can hardly believe that it's almost the end of April and there are still soft blankets of white snow behind our sheds and in the forest out back. 

We started last week to muck the back of the yard out - for anyone wondering? The term "yard" is used loosely! *I'm laughing away here*.. A rake just does not do the trick and heavy equipment should be used in this case. 

There is an area several hundred feet square that we're cleaning right now and it's full of old branches, leaves, grass clippings and other "mysterious" items we keep finding in the pile. Our neighbor came over and told us about a huge fire that the second previous owner had in the pile.. so really, I'm not looking forward to what's at the bottom! 

But it's something we need to do as this area is simply beautiful! It's gorgeous sweeping rocks covered in green soft moss surrounded by pines, birches and cedars. It amazes me that no one (until now) has seen the potential beauty hiding just behind the sheds. 

Beyond that? Is a massive gravel pit that has been long since dug out and all that is left is huge massive boulders rising out of the trees.. We've been trying to get this done quickly as the black flies and mosquitoes are soon to be out.. plus all those other stinging bugs! 

I've been working hard to get things ready for this years outdoor festival that I just LOVE LOVE LOVE doing! Haweater is coming up in just a few short months and with that? Means a lot of new goodies. Down to business for a bit, I've added a link to one of the pages on our website that has some beautiful Celtic and Pagan gemstone and sterling silver jewelry. 

 I've finally found a pretty good source for the Sterling and am able to get some of the goodies done that I've been dreaming of making. Well, I guess I'm going to publish this and get back to work. It has simply been ages that I've been writing here and I miss doing it. Here's hoping that the new found sunshine and miles of forest don't keep me away for too long.