Thought I would share that I am currently going for classes to get my GIA certification and working towards getting a Graduated Gemologist diploma. I just finished up a class called Colored Stone Essentials and passed the course with flying colors (strangely of colors like Ruby, Sapphire and Emeralds!) I am now enrolled in Diamond Essentials and look forward to getting into that course as well. These courses are giving me some distraction as well to keep me entertained and busy while I count down to the time when my husband will return from Iraq, plus I get to learn a lot about the materials I am currently using in many of our newer designs that are using more precious stones and 14K gold.
Well - we have been thinking about it and talked about getting an engraving machine, but I wanted to get one of those fancy kind that uses the computer and doesn’t require templates etc. So we just happened to come across a deal that I could not resist! So now VAEL can do custom engraving, however we need to figure out exactly what we are going to engrave. We will be adding lockets to our selection that can be custom engraved. If you have something you would like engraved…give us a call! We can do everything from trophy plates, name plates, rings, medical alert tags and bracelets, lockets and even pet tags. I am still getting used to the machine but from the looks of it I should even be able to do logos. As we get more information on what we are adding to our selection - I will be updating the blog.
We are starting to bridge out into different types of gems to use in our creations and have branched out into using fine gemstones and even got our hands on some diamond nuggets! Recently I created a black diamond pebble necklace with a dark druzy focal pendant . No matter how I took the picture, I could not capture the brillance of these black diamonds. Being that they are black, I wasn’t expecting to see any sparkle or fire, but the light seems to dance off these pebbles and it is definitely an eye catching piece!
I also created a beautiful pair of earrings with grey diamond nuggets and tourmalated quartz. The quartz is a fine gem quality and is crystal clear with gorgeous black tourmaline hairs running through the quartz. I personally have found a few pieces of tourmalated quartz on the beaches of Cape May, however none are even close to being as clear as the tourmalated quartz used in these earrings. The grey diamonds are another site to be seen. Although they are nuggets, they glimmer and shine and show fire in each of the nooks in the nugget.
Look for more exquisite pieces coming soon as I get my creative juices flowing in the next few weeks!
We are pleased to say we are making progress towards our goal of raising $2K to donate towards the fight against cancer and cancer research. To date for 2008, we have raised about 27% towards our goal for the 2008 year and we are excited to continue to raise more funds. Cancer awareness is near and dear to our hearts as we have had family and close friends affected by cancer either directly by fighting the battle themselves or indirectly by supporting another fight the battle. Some have declared victory over the disease however others have lost thier battle and we want to do our part to help raise funds to one day find the cure so no one needs to lose any more battles.
Please visit our awareness line of jewelry to help us reach our goal. We have a variety of cancer awareness bracelets and we will custom make a bracelet for you if the type of cancer awareness you are looking for is not currently listed. Or take a look at our cancer awareness bracelet that has a bead to represent each of the types of cancer awareness we have listed on our site.
Please remember that $5 of each bracelet sold, which is 20% of the total price, is getting donated towards the fight against cancer and cancer research. Please help us raise cancer awareness bead by bead!
We got some new gems in and excited to use the - but really trying to think of some good designs first. We got some gorgeous green amethyst in faceted cubes, twists and faceted rounds that are just stunning. We also just got in some tourmaline faceted emerald cut beads that are absolutely gorgeous with great color and clarity. However, our favorite new gems we just got in were the rutilated quartz beads that are perfectly clear with beautiful rutilations throughout. Look for a new necklace with black spinel and these rutliated quartz beads coming soon!
We are also looking to wire wrap a few more Cape May Point stones, especially some Cape May Diamonds, to add to our collection, but the stones are not easily found and only a few came out big enough to wire wrap out of the tumbler. Look for a few pairs of Cape May Diamond earrings coming out in the next few days.
We have added a new bracelet to help support our troops serving in the US military. Using Swarovski Crystal in red, clear and blue colors, this bracelet sparkles and will show off your support for our troops!
$5 of every bracelet sold will be donated to
Cell Phones For Soldiers which use the money raised to purchase and send phone cards to troops overseas to stay in touch with their family back home.
We just received a bunch of new cabochons that we are looking to include them in some designs over the next few weeks. We recently created a new wire wrapped bracelet using a gorgeous reddish brown stone we found in Cape May. The bracelet came out a little bigger than expected, but is still very beautiful. The pictures do not do it justice but you can view the new bracelet here: Cape May Stone Wire Wrapped Bracelet.
Will will also be wire wrapping some additional Cape May Diamond stones now that things are starting to settle down in the household. These we quite a big seller over the Holiday Season so thank you all for taking a look at the Cape May Jewelry!
We decided that since we were successful this year in meeting our goal of raising $1000 towards the fight against cancer and cancer research, we would challenge ourselves again by setting an even higher goal. For 2008, Vael Designs will try to raise $2000 for Cancer Awareness by continuing to donate $5 of each cancer awareness bracelet sold to charitable organizations for cancer research.
Vael Designs has also started a new line of awareness bracelets that will be near and dear to my heart. As some of you may or may not know, my husband is being deployed to Iraq for all of 2008. I want to do something to help him and his fellow soldiers who are away from their loved ones to continue to be able to speak with their families. I have created several “support the troops” bracelets and will be taking $5 of each bracelet sold and donating it to the Cell Phones for Soldiers project which is very near and dear to my husband’s heart. The Cell Phones for Soldiers is a program that collects used cell phones and sends them in to a company called Recelluar who pays the organization enough money per cell phone to purchase 1 hour of call time on a calling card for a soldier to call home.
Please help us reach our 2008 goal by visiting our awareness lines located here:
Support Our Troops
Raising Cancer Awareness Bead by Bead
Thank you!
We are pleased to announce that we met our goal for 2007 for raising $1000 for the fight against cancer and cancer research. To celebrate reaching our goal, we are offering a 20% coupon code off your entire order through New Years Day. Just use coupon code GOALMET2007 during checkout to get 20% off your order!
Check back here soon as we announce our goals for 2008 and help us ring in the new year!
I received my commerical tumbler a few weeks back and decided to finish up some of the barrels I had running on the old Chicago Electric tumblers that were moving at a snails pace. I broke down and bought a commerical tumbler because it was not worth all the time and agrevation of replacing the belts constantly on the Chicago Electric tumblers. Not to mention, the parts that actually turn the rods in the tumbler keep breaking to the point I needed to buy a new tumbler. So I purchased this commerical tumbler and I was impressed. I combined a bunch of stones that needed the final polish as my Cape May Diamonds came out with a frosty coating on them and were not clear. It was only a weeks time and the stones came out shiner than I expected. There are stones that I have never seen take a polish that have shined up and are absolutely stunning. I combined some bigger rocks and there was some damage to a bunch of rocks, but all in all the batch has to be one of the nicest that I have done. The rocks that are damaged will just go back into the tumbler and go the full cycle with the other rocks. I think the reason for the damage is that I combined 3 of the Chicago Electric barrels into this one gallon barrel and these rocks never were tumbled together before.
In this batch I have a handful of gorgeous Cape May Diamonds that will be made into pendants in the weeks to come…hoping in time for Christmas!
