Aquamarine Gemstones for March Birthdays

Aquamarine brooch worn by
President Johnson's wife
during his presidency.

       Aquamarine like the emerald is beryl, the distinguishing difference between the two gems being one of color alone, although some gem experts claim that ancient specimens of aquamarine show a more perfectly preserved surface polish than emeralds of the same periods. 

       The oldest source from whence aquamarine was obtained was India. It is possible, however, that the early supply was augmented in a limited measure by the Siberian mines. At one time, the best gems came from Siberia and Brazil, the latter country supplying clear, transparent stones of fine color in the utmost profusion. Very fine aquamarines are also found in the United States in Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina and California, and even more of these gems are found in France and Ireland.

       While aquamarine is rated as a semi-precious stone, its value varies widely according to the quality of the individual gem. Pale stones may be had at small cost, but the deep sea-green or blue-green gems often command very substantial prices. Aquamarines are to be had in a great variety of cuttings, but as a rule the best specimens are brilliant-cut in front, with the obverse side step-cut. 

       Aquamarine was highly prized by the Egyptians who believed that this gem exercised a powerful influence when worn as an amulet. It was generally engraved or worked into the shapes of birds or animals, and there are extant many fine and interesting specimens of such carvings by this people, some of them dating back to a period as early as 2000 B. C. 

       This gem was also well known in Ancient Rome, and was the only stone which the Roman jewelers cut with facets. Pliny (the Roman naturalist), suspected that the aquamarine and the emerald were the same or of a similar nature, a fact which was not definitely established until eighteen centuries later. Writing about 60 A. D., referring to the aquamarine, Pliny states: “There is not a color more pleasing to the eye than that shown by these gems which imitate the greenness of the clear sea.’’ Later, because of Pliny’s happy description of this stone, it received its present name. (It seems not amiss to call attention to the fact that in spite of Pliny’s enthusiastic appreciation of the aquamarine, he could have been familiar only with the comparatively inferior stones from Egypt.)

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Moonstones for June Birthdays

Moonstone  Cabochon

       The name moonstone derives from the stone's characteristic visual effect, called adularescence (or schiller), which produces a milky, bluish interior light. This effect is caused by light diffraction through alternating layers of orthoclase and albite within the stone. The diffracted light varies from white to blue, depending on the thinness of the albite layers. More technically, this micro-structure consists of regular exsolution layers (lamellae) of different alkali feldspars (orthoclase and sodium-rich plagioclase). 

        The moonstone in legends, is reputed to be potent in providing its possessor with good fortune. It was believed that if it were held in the mouth it would refresh the recollection of the holder. Ancient apothecaries used it for the cure of epilepsy. The Romanticists believed that during the waxing of the moon it was an efficacious love charm, and during its waning it would enable the wearer to foretell the future. 

        Gemologists classify moonstone into several distinct varieties. Blue moonstone represents the finest variety of labradorite moonstone, with high transparency and strong blue adularescence. Blue moonstone can be found in Myanmar (formerly Burma), India, Madagascar, Malawi, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Labradorite moonstone belongs to the plagioclase feldspar group and forms within the triclinic crystal system, appearing in colorless, white, slight orange, or green varieties with a blue sheen. Orthoclase moonstone belongs to the monoclinic crystal system and displays a mystical white glow in colorless to white, orange, yellow, or brown hues. Gem enthusiasts often refer to adularescent labradorite with a multi-colored glow as "rainbow moonstone," which is colorless and highly transparent. Adularia, named after the Adular Mountains of Switzerland, forms in hydrothermal veins in mountainous regions as colorless to white, cream, pale yellow to pink, or reddish-brown, glassy, prismatic, twinned crystals that frequently display a white to blue sheen.

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Legends and Facts Associated With Diamonds

The Crown Cameo worn by 
Crown Princess Victoria of
Sweden on her wedding day.
It is made of cameos, pearls
and diamonds.

       The diamond fields of Asia were discovered so long ago that its date is lost in antiquity. For thousands of years few people knew the location and it was shrouded in mysterious and dreaded legends. The stone was known by various names in different countries. One name was adamas from the Greek Adamant - the Unconquerable and the Latin adamare -to love, and adamas-hard. The Hebrews called it "the Samur" and in ancient times they believed it was a worm capable of boring through the hardest objects. With this worm, Moses was supposed to have engraved on the 12 stones of the High Priest's Breastplate the tribes of Israel. It was known as "the stone cutting all other stones." 

• People still mining for diamonds in Panna?
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• How scientists have learned to make diamonds in the lab!

       There is a legend to the effect that King Solomon desired the aid of the Samur in building his Temple. The only creature who knew how to find the Samur was the eagle. The Wise King ordered his servants to climb to the eagle's aerie and when the mother bird was absent, to place her eggs in a glass bottle, and leave them in the nest. When the eagle returned she could not warm her eggs, nor could she break the bottle with her beak. Thereupon the eagle flew to the GEMS Samur Mountains to obtain the "stone which cuts all stones." Solomon's servants, the supernatural jinn, followed the bird, and brought enough samurs from the mountains to cut the blocks for the temple. 

       In the early part of the sixth century, before Christ, Prince Kie of Shu (China) visited the Emperor Wu, a descendant of the Emperor Wen. The courtiers asked him questions about the mysterious lands to the west from which so many curious substances came. Prince Kie replied, "In the Western Sea, the Mediterranean, there is a great island on which there is a forest of trees laden with precious stones. The place is inhabited by over 10,000 families-those of the artists who cut and engrave the gems. The country is called FU-LIN and in a direction northwest of the island is a ravine, hollowed out like a bowl hundreds of fathoms deep. Men throw meat into this valley and great birds take it up in their beaks. In the meat are found precious stones which have stuck to the flesh."

       Alexander the Great was supposed to have penetrated to a valley inhabited by terrifying serpents, the sight of which would cause a man's death. Alexander used mirrors as weapons and the monsters perished on observing their own awesome death-dealing reflections. In the 9th century, during the reign of Haroun-al-Rashid, Caliph of Bagdad, these tales became part of The Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. As Sinbad relates, a giant roc carried him to the Valley of the Diamonds where he found serpents so tremendous they were capable of devouring elephants. 

       Diamond is said to typify Purity and Constancy and to have the powers of preserving peace. It also was said to have the powers of averting insanity and rendering poison harmless. The Constellation Taurus-the Bull-is the second sign of the Zodiac and exerts its influence from April 20th to May 19th. 

       Persons born under this sign are stubborn, rebellious to advice, proud and difficult to approach. The subject will be straightforward, just, inquisitive and shrewd. Such an individual has a superior brain, fit to command, to govern. These subjects are conservative of ideas. In love, fickle and jealous. The Taurus subject is long-lived; his friends, while many, may contain a large number of undesirables.

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Legends and Facts Surrounding The Peridot

silicate minerals

       Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color: an olive-green. The intensity and tint of the green, however, depends on the percentage of iron in the crystal structure, so the color of individual peridot gems can vary from yellow, to olive, to brownish-green. In rare cases, peridot may have a medium-dark toned, pure green with no secondary yellow hue or brown mask. Lighter-colored gems are due to lower iron concentrations.

• What makes Peridot special?

       The peridot was the original topaz and was supposed to come from the "Serpent Isle" in the Red Sea. The legend was that the Island was guarded by jealous watchers who had orders to put to death any unauthorized persons who approached the Island. Even those with the right to seek the gem could not see the chrysolite in daylight. 

       Only after nightfall was it revealed by its radiance. The seekers then marked the spot and recovered the stones in daylight. The chrysolite, to exert its full power, was required to be set in gold. Worn in this way it dispelled the terrors of the night. If, however, it were to be used as a protection from the wiles of evil spirits, the stone had to be pierced and strung on the hair of an ass, and then attached to the left arm. 

       The island where peridots are found is now known as Zebirget or St. John and was the main source for this stone. Burma, Queensland, Brazil and New Mexico are other sources. The Constellation of Virgo-the sixth of the signs of the Zodiac-exerts its influence from August 23rd to September 21st. 

       This sign bestows cool reason, a spirit of equity, a merciful disposition and a taste for everything that is honest and straightforward. His will power, though firm, will be influenced through sentimental motives. He will be intelligent, ingenious and emotional. This person will have an inclination toward the liberal arts and a gift of persuasive eloquence.

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Legends and Facts Surrounding The Sardonyx

cabochons of red onyx or sardonyx

       Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. Sardonyx is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. The name "onyx" is also frequently used for level-banded (parallel-banded) agates, but in proper usage it refers to color pattern not band structure. Onyx, as a descriptive term, has also been incorrectly applied to parallel-banded varieties of alabaster, marble, calcite, obsidian, and opal, and misleadingly to materials with contorted banding, such as "cave onyx" and "Mexican onyx".

• The gemstones of Emperors, Soldiers and Romans...
• Striking gemstones with colored bands - legends from Rome

       The history of this stone extends back many thousands of years. The sardonyx was said to lend courage to orators and bashful lovers. Consequently, it is a stone of incalculable aid to a romantic lady. The Egyptians had many fine scarabs cut from this gem, and some of them are to be found in museums all over the world. The Romans were the first to choose it as the birthstone for August. 

"She, loving once and always, wears, if wise, 

Sardonyx and her home is paradise." 

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Legends and Facts Associated With Garnets

Garnet Andradite

       Garnet gems are found in every color, with reddish shades most common. Blue garnets are the rarest and were first reported in the 1990s. 

       Garnet species' light transmission properties can range from the gemstone-quality transparent specimens to the opaque varieties used for industrial purposes as abrasives. The mineral's lustre is categorized as vitreous (glass-like) or resinous (amber-like).

• Cosmic Geology talks about the garnet group
• The gemstones that stole Martha Washington's heart...
• Garnets 101 by Paul Deasy Gemstones

Legends:

       In Persia, the garnet was considered a talisman against injurious forces of nature, such as lightning and storm. 

      In the Middle Ages it was believed that the garnet was its own protection against poison and plague. The garnet was worn to attract health and cheerfulness. Like the ruby, it warned its owner of approaching danger by changing color. 

      According to the seers and astrologists of the past, the Constellation Aquarius-the eleventh sign of the Zodiac-exerted its influence from January 20th to February 18th. It endows the person born under it with a special aptitude for the fine arts. It gives him long life and lofty position, and makes of him an orator or author. An individual under this sign will have a graceful, gentle nature. 

"The gleaming garnet holds within its sway 

Faith, Constancy and Truth to one always."

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DIY a Skull Treat Tray for Dolls!

    If your dolls love to entertain as much as our own during the holidays, then they may be in need of a new 'spooky' treat tray . . . 

       Bone themed dishes are very popular now, the one I made this year has plenty of room for candies, donuts, chocolates and pretzels. But you can fill your own tray like this one with any food you think will please your dolls. 

       I've also included a bone chilling song and dance below for added ambiance during the craft project. Have fun!

Supply List: 

• recycled cereal box cardboard
• graph paper
• black magic marker
• white school glue
• Styrofoam beads
• Sculpey clay (white)
• Hot glue and hot glue gun (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. 

   Tray and candy in progress.

   First, you will need to draw a skull with crossbones to make the bottom of the tray. You can copy the one seen on this post if you like, or draw your own version.
2. Cut out the finished drawing, choose the half of it you prefer and once you fold the image in half. 
3. Now trace around the better half of your drawing on top of a heavy piece of cardboard that is folded in half. Make sure the drawings folded edge lines up with the cardboard's folded edge. Trace around the template.
4. Cut out the cardboard bottom. It should be a symmetrical image once you are done. 
5. Now reposition the template on top of the cardboard cut-out and draw the holes where the eyes and nose are on the skull face. These 'holes' will be where the darker chocolate treats are glued and painted on within your skull tray.
6. Cut a narrow long piece of cardboard to attach with tape and glue around the outside of the skull forming a the shallow walls of the tray. Let dry.
7. Now decoupage all of the surfaces of your Halloween skull serving tray with white or black paper. I chose white so that any color painted on would be brilliant. 
8. Fill in the skull with all sorts of candy, cookie, or sweet treat shapes. Glue all of these in place permanently in order to make the treat tray a durable lasting prop.
9. Paint the elements as you like, but, make sure to paint the eyes and nose with the darkest coloration so that the skull will be self-evident when the tray is on display.
10. Seal with Mod Podge.

Left, draw a skull and crossbones. Give it a symmetrical design by folding the drawing in half
and recutting it so that both sides are the same. Center, trace around the paper template on top 
of cardboard to make the bottom of the tray. Right, reposition the paper template over the 
bottom of the tray and mark where the eye sockets and nose hole will be positioned within
the spooky skull tray.

Left, pool glue around the inside walls of the tray and let it all dry to make the construction 
durable for play. Center, I highlighted the openings in my design with a permanent black 
ink marker to remind me where the chocolate candies should be painted in place. Right,
Now the tray is ready for three dimensional candies, cookies and yogurt covered pretzels
to be glued in place.

• Learn how to shape cute lolly-pops for Halloween - or Dolloween if your prefer!
• Here are some printable candy bars for your trick-or-treaters too...

Walt Disney's first "Silly Skeleton Dance" video

"The Little Mice Brought Her"

It was the mice that brought the doll.

       In the morning, when the child awoke, she rubbed her eyes and stared, for there on the chair by her bedside sat the little wooden doll, watching her. 

       "Why, look what the fairies have brought me!" she cried. Her mother set the kettle back on the hearth, and came to look. When she saw the little wooden doll her eyes grew very wise, and she smiled and nodded. 

       "Yes, it may have been the fairies," she said, "but I think, myself, it was the mice, for I heard they were very busy last night." 

       "Do you know how she came here?" asked the child. "Do you think the little mice really brought her?" 

When the child awoke . . .

       "Yes, I think I know how she came," said her mother. And sitting down by the bedside, she told her the story of the little wooden doll, just as I have told it to you. 

       "But how is it that her clothes are real?" asked the child, for the little doll's dress was of lace, and there was a brown velvet cloak on her shoulders, and real little shoes were on her feet. 

       "I have always heard that the spiders sew well," said her mother, "and when one does a good action, there are those who see to it that it isn't wasted. And now," she said, "you will have a companion always when I am away at work, and what are you going to call her, for she must have a really nice name?" 

       The child held the little wooden doll tight in her arms and kissed her. "I shall call her Rose,” she said, "for that is the most beautiful name in the world." 

       When she heard that, the little wooden doll stared straight before her with her wide blue eyes, and smiled, and any one could see that at last she was quite happy.

Rose sitting very happily.

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The Child Who Lived in the Wood

The child who lived in the wood.

       “And now what shall we do with her?" they asked each other. "It is not fitting that she should live in the attic any longer." 

       "Certainly the children don't deserve to have her," said one of the mice. 

       "Listen!" said a swallow who had flown down among "In the cottage where my sister lives, at the edge of the wood, there is a little girl. She is alone all day, for her mother goes out to work. She is a kind child, for she saves crumbs for the birds, and when she gathers nuts in autumn she always leaves the squirrels their share. Let us take the little doll to her, and then they will both be happy." 

       So they took the little doll up, very carefully, and carried her down the path to the meadow, and across the wood, while the fireflies flew ahead with their torches to light the way; and at last they came to the cottage. There were no stairs to go up, for the cottage was of one room only. Through the open window the moonlight shone in on the bare floor; on a bed in the corner the little girl lay asleep. She had only a tiny, cotton shirt on, for the night was warm; her small face was brown and freckled with the sun, and her hair lay tossed on the pillow. They set the little doll on a chair by the bedside, and so carefully had they carried her that not one thread of her dress was spoiled. 

       Only the yellow thing round her neck, being heavy, had slipped off from the grass chain. Right into the long grass it rolled, and there a beggar found it next morning. He picked it up and bit it, and slipped it in his pocket. "Here is luck for the whole week!" he said, as he went on his way. 

       "Good-by, little doll!" said the mice. "Here you will be happy, and in winter, when the long, dark nights return, we shall come and visit you." 

       And the swallow and the spiders and the tiny moths cried, "Good-by, little doll! When the dusk falls and the stars shine out, think of us, for we shall always love you!" 

       "I shall never forget you," said the little doll, and she stretched out her arms. 

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The Mice Hold a Council

The mice call a council meeting.

       They all whispered together. The spiders whispered, too, for they were just as troubled about the little doll as anyone else, only they didn't talk so much. So, while the mice were still chattering, they scrambled very fast on their eight legs to their cousins, the field spiders. 

       Now it happened that the field spiders had a splendid lot of linen just laid out to bleach, for the Queen's daughter was going to be married next day, and all the meadow was spread with gossamer for her bridal clothes. The field spiders were tired, for they had been spinning day and night to get everything ready, but when they heard about the little doll they felt so sorry for her that they set to work at once and wove her a beautiful frock of the very finest gossamer they could make that which is called SSS and never sold in the shops - and they brought the frock and slipped it over her shoulders, and it fitted perfectly. 

       When she saw that dress the little doll left off crying at once. It resembled the most delicate lace, pure white, and it had stick-out skirts, just as a doll's frock should. 

The doll was given yellow hair.

       "Now she must have yellow hair," cried the little mice; and they fetched the softest corn silk they could find from the barnyard stack, and made two plaits of golden hair, to hang down her back. And they woke up the flowers, who were sleeping, to borrow their paints, and they painted the little doll's cheeks, and made her eyes forget-me-not blue, for the mouse who knew about dolls said that was the right color. It was quite exciting, and now every one wanted to help. The moths lent some velvet off their wings to make her a cloak, and the foxglove and the lady-slipper sent her gloves and shoes. Even the big rats came to look on. 

       "We know a house," the rats said, "where an old man lives all alone. He has a box full of round, yellow things that shine. He hides them away so that no one else shall find them, but we know where they are hidden. One of those yellow things would look nice round her neck." 

       And they fetched one, very round and yellow and shiny it was; and they bit a hole through it with their strong teeth, and hung it on a grass chain round the little doll's neck. 

       "Now she looks splendid!" they said. 

  And indeed the little doll looked beautiful! 

There had never been a doll so wonderfully dressed. There was nothing more that could possibly be thought of, and they all stood round to admire her.

       "Now there can be no one more beautiful than you are," they said. The little doll smiled on them, sitting up very straight so as not to crush the fine clothes they had made her, and in her eyes two tears sparkled, but they were tears of joy because all the little friends had been so kind to her. 

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In the Violet Bed

The nodding rose.

       So there the little doll lay. Outside the rain had ceased, and through the open window came the good smell of wet earth and of the fresh green leaves, and the twitter of birds going here and there to search for food. Down in the long, green grass the grasshoppers were tuning their fiddles for the last time before laying them by for the night. The sun shone through the clouds, and a climbing rose near the window swayed in the breeze and nodded to the little doll as she lay there. 

       But the little doll was so unhappy that none of these beautiful things could comfort her. Was it really true that she was so old and ugly that children could never like her again? Perhaps the whole world had changed during all those years that she lived in the attic, and dolls were no longer as they used to be when she was first made. Perhaps children no longer played with dolls at all. That was a dreadful thought, for what is there left for a doll if the children cease to love her? As all these thoughts passed in her mind the tears began to roll down her wooden cheeks and trickle on the window ledge. And whether the boy had thrown her down carelessly,  or whether she moved, no one can say, but suddenly the little doll toppled over the edge of the window sill and fell straight down into the garden below. 

       Now the little mice and the spiders had heard all that passed, and they felt very bad about it, for they all loved the little doll very much. When they saw her tumble out of the window it gave them a terrible shock. They all ran to peer over, but there lay the little doll in the violet bed, quite unhurt, with her painted eyes staring up at the sky. 

We love you, just as you are.

       "Something must be done," said the mice. "This is too dreadful!" They held a consultation, and that evening, while the house was still, they all crept out and gathered round the little doll to comfort her. 

       "Never mind about the children," they said. "Come back and live in the attic with us again, for we think you are beautiful!" 

       "I don't mind about being beautiful," said the little doll, "if only the children would like me." 

       "Children are horrid things," said one mouse. "They are not at all as you said. One of them threw a stick at me today on the staircase. You had much better stay with us." 

       But the little doll was still troubled. "They said I had no clothes. Perhaps I should have had clothes. Do you think if I had clothes they would like me better?" "You don't need clothes," cried the little mice in chorus. "You are beautiful as you are. We don't have clothes!" 

       But one of the mice, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. He had traveled, and so knew more of the world than his companions. 

       "She is right," he said. "Dolls do have clothes. I have seen them. They have white, stick-out dresses and shiny things round their necks. And they have yellow hair." 

        "Oh, dear!" said the little doll, and she began to cry again, harder than ever.

        "We must get her some clothes," said the other mice. "You ought to have told us before. Something will have to be done about it."

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When the Children Came

       Οne day the mice came to her in great excitement. Some children were coming to the house to stay; they had heard all about it from behind the sitting-room wainscot. The old nursery was being prepared, fresh curtains had been hung at the windows, and the house wife had baked apple pie and a whole lot of ginger cookies the mice could smell them in the oven. 

       Now the little wooden doll was filled with joy. "At last," she said, "someone is coming to play with me." She did her best to rub off the dust that had settled down on her in all these years, for she wanted to look nice and tidy when the children came. Most of it she could manage herself, but where she could not quite reach she asked the mice to help her, and they gladly brushed it off with their paws. The mice were nearly as excited as she was, for they had never seen any real children; they only knew what they were like from the stories the little wooden doll had told them. 

       Every few minutes they came running with news. "They have yellow hair, just as you said!" 

       "One of them is always jumping about!" 

       "They make a big noise with their mouths!" 

       And the little doll nodded her head with excitement, and cried, "Yes, yes! Those are surely children!" 

       Only the big spider in the corner said, "What is all this fuss about? I can't stand children. They are hateful things!" 

       The little doll knew better. 

       All that day she waited, tidied up in her corner, and the next day, and the next. It almost seemed as if the children would never find their way to the attic. Then one afternoon it rained; a shower fell and the big drops beat on the shingles. "Now they will surely come," thought the little doll, for she remembered that children love to play in the attic on wet afternoons. 

       And presently, up the old attic stairs, she heard them . . . creak . . .  creak . . . 

       The little doll was so excited that she wanted to call out and tell them she was there. She sat very still in her corner and waited, while all the little mice ran to their holes and peeped out. It was a terrible moment; perhaps they wouldn't find her at all. She heard whispers, footsteps here and there on the attic floor, stirring the dust. At last they came to the corner where she was sitting. A hand was stretched out, one of the children seized her firmly, and she was held up to the light.

       A voice cried, "Why, look at this funny old thing! It must be some sort of a doll!" And the little sister exclaimed, "Oh, look at it! Fancy any one playing with that!"

       They turned the little doll about in their hands. 

       "All the paint's rubbed off. Isn't it an ugly old thing!" 

       The little sister cried out, "Why, it hasn't even got any clothes!" And they both began to laugh. 

       The poor little doll felt terribly ashamed. She had never thought about clothes. A great lump came in her throat, and she felt that she was going to burst into tears. 

       She had been so happy, and now everything was turning out wrong. 

"Let's play shipwreck with the doll and drown her like a sailor!"

       The little boy held her up between his thumb and finger. "I know what let's do," he said. "Let's have a shipwreck on the pond, and the doll can be the drowned sailor!"

       But the little sister said, "No, that isn't any fun. I don't want to play that. Let's play something nice." 

       "But shipwreck is nice!" 

       "No, I don't want to," said the little sister. 

       "And I don't want to play with that old thing, anyway!" 

       While they were still quarreling, the supper bell rang downstairs. The boy, who had been standing near the attic window, dropped the doll on the window ledge, and they both ran away.

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