New Custom Lapidary Work for Spring from DVHdesigns

Hey Folks!  Happy Spring!  It's been a long time since I posted in these forums and thought I would share some of my new lapidary work that I've been doing here at the DVHdesigns studio.   After 13 years of selling almost exclusively on eBay I've done nearly a year with all my inventory in BOTH eBay and Etsy to compare marketplaces for my work.  ETSY is the clear WINNER with twice the sales and half the costs!   I'm only keeping a marginal presence on eBay because I DO still pick up some good international customers there, and I've been there so long I don't want to completely abandon it. 

As the first weekend of Spring begins and I continue with a 15% OFF SALE on everything in my Etsy store with coupon code "SPRING2013".

Here's some new work I've done in Sonora Sunrise, which is an ALL NATURAL, untreated, unstabilized stone found in Mexico and it's a mixture of Chrysocolla (the blue green), Tenorite (the black vein) and Cuprite (the bright orange)...
Bumble Bee Jasper is a poupular new stone that is already in short supply!  It's NOT a jasper, but a travertine that was found in a fumarol at the base of a volcano in Java.   The mine is reportedly closed and I have pictures of the mine and have talked with the guy here in Oregon who imported most of the rough into this country.   There are some tons of it, but that's not a lot when you think about it spread out around cutters and jewelers around the world.   Because of the high sulfur content these stones will increase the rate at which your silver jewelry will oxidize.   The orange color comes from orpiment, which is an arsenic sulfide, so I wouldn't suck on these stones...

I've also been working in some metal minerals like this dendritic silver cobalt ore from Ontario, Canada....
I gave a lecture on the history of ivory and my work with fossil walrus and mammoth ivory to the Portland Bead Society back in January and I will be giving the lecture to the Northern California Bead Society in May.  Here are  some Woolly Mammoth focal beads I did.  On the left you see some of the natural "bark" and exterior of the tusk and the colors from mineralization, and the other sides show the silky ivory look.  Some show great crosshatching....
Another organic gemstone I'm known for but haven't done tooooo much work in recently is jet, like this mourning heart with a circle to show the circle of life....
and I continue to work in fabulous FAUX gemstones like "Fordite" with this material locally sourced here in Portlandia!
AND finally I've done some work in glass.   I did a bunch of hearts for a Valentine's themed trunk show and these hearts are in recycled traffic light lens, fiestaware, and ashtray! 
That's it for now!   Thanks for letting me share and I hope you'll check out my DVHdesigns Etsy Store and remember that I'm having a sale for the next week with coupon code "SPRING2013".   if you're on Facebook feel free to LIKE my DVHdesigns page there as well! 
Time for me to get back to the grind here in my lapidary studio!  Have a great weekend! 
regards,
David at DVHdesigns