So my first real blog post is a bit of a cheat, it is the same as the write up in the about us but with pictures!
About Us
Hi! My name is Ardith and this is my blog ….. but I guess you already figured that out lol
My husband Greg and I create Cabochons out of amazing rocks from all over the world. I also create one of a kind jewelry from these cabs (short for cabochons) by setting them in Argentium Sterling Silver. That is the short version, now for the long 🙂
I have been an artist all my life, I started creating jewelry when my children were little, how long ago was that? Well lets just say I have amazing grandchildren now lol. At first it was beads and purchased pendants but I was searching for a medium to work in that I could express myself and the beauty of wearable art. Throughout the years I have worked with fused glass, lamp work, copper, silver clay, Kumihimo …… anything I could get my hands on. I loved working with copper to create my own one of a kind pieces, the versatility of the metal allowed me to create something that was uniquely me. As my customer base grew so did the requests for silver and once I started there was no turning back, now most of my work is with Argentium Sterling Silver.

Mother Nature creates the greatest art work. We see it everyday all around us in the trees, flowers, landscapes, the detail in a soft snow flake that touches down and is gone forever. Even the earth under our feet holds wonders we can hardly imagine. Remember picking up a rock as a child and being so fascinated at the pattern and feel that you just had to carry it with you like a precious gift? Until, of course, it went through the washing machine and the adult in your life banned them from entering the house lol. It was when I found the world of lapidary that I knew this was what I had been searching for, this is what I had to have in my jewelry.
There are so many amazing lapidary artists and I loved setting their interpretations of mother earths creations but every time I looked at a stone I could see a design that would only appear to me, unless I could shape what I saw. I had a small machine that I used for creating my jewelry that could be used to shape stones so I took a pretty rock I found at the river and gave it a try……and BAM! I was an amazing lapidary artist!! LOL ok it was terrible but it was the beginning. Nope not going to show you a picture of it lol
My husband Greg has been part of my journey for 19 years, he has been integral to my progression with a helping hand, encouragement, and even dabbling in some of the art endeavors like glass fusing and lampwork. A self proclaimed “pancake flipper” ( background in restaurants) he would insist he didn’t have any artistic inclination in the least. He started to discover different during our lampwork period, of course who doesn’t love to play with fire and melt glass! That changed as he stood over my shoulder and we both watched in amazement as the pretty pebble became a piece of art. I suppose my mistake was saying, you want to try? New machines had to be bought so I could have my polishing tool back! Lol
Now we have a full fledged lapidary/jewelry studio in our home complete with his and hers lapidary machines, polishers, saws….so many saws lol. We purchase natural rough (chunks of rock) that come from around the world. Greg cuts that rough into slabs and we both take those slabs and create cabochons. Some of those Cabs go into my jewelry line and many are sold to people to collect or to other artists to include in their creations.
Although our knowledge of the rocks we use increases constantly we are far, far from being experts, or even well informed. Hey I still call them pretty rocks! Much to the irritation of one of my favorite mineral seller lol The idea behind my blog is to share with you and continue to learn myself, a little bit about natures most amazing art work and the world of lapidary and jewelry art.
So, if you are still here after that introduction then hopefully you will join me on my journey and we can make discoveries together!
RD’s Jewelry and Crossroads Lapidary Blog 