ephemerala
January 1-14, 2007
Happy New Year!
How very tidy to start our year out with a newsletter and new sales!
This year, one of my business resolutions is to return to the "Ephemeral" part
of "Ephemerala." Originally, this business was meant to be ever-changing,
always with something new and different. As I continuously add new items
to the store, I have found that I am still hanging on to the older items that
have little purpose in sticking around any more. This is going to
change. In coming months we'll have various closeout sales to ring out the
old and ring in the new, and when a slow seller finally sells out, I will be
less likely to replace it, preferring to keep the selection moving and
interesting. Hopefully this will help me to clean out some of the dusty
stuff and keep the business vibrant!
New Items
New Closeout Items
Through the months I've been saving up odd broken items and
whatnot, and I finally got around to listing a bunch of them in the Closeouts
section. Here's where you'll find the not-perfect beads, eggs, marbles,
carvings, etc. etc. etc.
New Chip Beads!
All those chips I've been sitting on for weeks, here they finally
are!
Herkimer Diamond--High Quality
Herkimer Diamonds are little double-terminated quartz crystals.
Drilling a hole through them doesn't exactly make them "chip" beads, but we're
gonna stick them on that page anyway! These are really wonderful;
water-clear, well-formed beads.
Herkimer Diamond--Low Quality
Along with the good ones were some not-so-great ones. These have
something wrong with them, whether it be occlusions, a funny shape,
whatever. Still pretty cool, but just not AS cool.
Chrome Diopside
This is apparently a very rare and expensive precious gemstone that rivals
Emerald in terms of color and availability. These are not clear like a
really fine Chrome Diopside bead would be. Looks like they took all the
little bits that couldn't be made into precious gems and tumbled them into chip
beads, which is fine by me! The picture on this listing sows some brown in
the beads, which is really strange because they have absolutely NO brown in
them. They are a really gorgeous green.
Imperial Topaz
Also known as Golden Topaz, this is the official birthstone for
November. These are semi-transparent beads, often holding their original
crystalline shape. Color ranges from medium yellow to a peachy pink.
Chrysocolla
I've been sold several different beads that have been called Chrysocolla,
but they've always turned out to be something else. I FINALLY have the
real deal. A pretty bright blue-green color.
Gem Silica
These are big faceted nuggets of the prettiest light blue color. Sold
in pairs.
Larvikite
Whatakite? Have you ever heard of this gem? Maybe you haven't
because it's NOT a gem; it's a type of granite that buildings are made of!
Don't let that turn you off, however. These shimmering blue-gray beads are
way too pretty to be relegated to floors.
Yellow Crazy Lace Agate
A very cheerful stone, bright colors, and the swirls and circles that make
Crazy Lace Agate so fun. Just a different color, is all. These are
pretty nice.
African Green Jasper
A striking olive green stone with a lighter olive design that makes me feel
that the stone is "cracking." I think you have to see it to
understand.
Black Water Jasper
Move over Zebra Jasper! You have nothing on this stone! You
want black and white stripes? These are not for the timid--fabulous strong
stripes of black on a light gray background. You'll get looks.
Fossil Coral
Different from Turitella in that these are fossils of various corals
instead of crinoids. A light yellow-gray that looks pretty dull at first,
until you see the tiny fossil designs that look like sunbursts. This is
one of my favorite stones.
Green Prase
Where am I GETTING these stones? I honestly don't even know what this
is. It is a nice solid sea-green color. Sorta rough, sorta dull, but
some people are going to really love it.
Brown Zebra Jasper
Similar to Owyhee Jasper but without the grays and blues, this is basically
a Scenic Jasper that sticks to stripes. It's cute!
Rough Pyrite
People have been fooled into thinking Pyrite was gold for ages. Here
you can see why. These are rough Pyrite crystals with holes drilled
through them. All the shimmer you'd expect from Fool's Gold. Use
these sparingly, because they are very distinctive and stand well on their
own.
White Crystal Quartz
Do you think White Quartz is too white, but prefer a little more oomph than
Clear Quartz can give you? Maybe this is your stone. It's a
milky-white Quartz that is right in between. My personal favorite of the
Quartzes.
Tiny Charoite
We have Charoite beads already, but these are so small and cute and purple
that we decided to sell them on their own. Sold 100 to a bag, these are
tiny but with a very strong color.
Spurrite (small)
We obtained exactly ONE strand of Spurrite, and most of them were small
pebbly sized. Here they are! A very lovely natural purple.
Spurrite (larger)
The few larger stones we stuck in their own listing!
Gold Leaf Jasper
This stone is kind of boring, but some people might dig it. It's a
good gold color with very faint striping.
Coming Soon
New Chip/Nugget Beads:
Purple Shell, Sky Quartz, Seraphinite, Bronzite, Bauxite, Clay, Tektite,
Primavera Stone, Blue Zircon, Chinese Picture Jasper, White Marble, Chinese
Rhyolite, Multicolor Quartz
Bone Perfume Bottles
Assorted Beaded Bracelets & Necklaces
Stone "Egg" Rings
Mood Rings
Agate Rings
Bamboo Wind Chimes
Fossil Shark's Teeth
Solitaire Boards for Marbles
New Eggs in many stones
Lacquer Mirrored Boxes
Carved Wood Boxes
Henna Kits
Sandalwood Soap
Stone Fun Facts
Dumortierite
** Dumortierite is a very pretty stone, usually
found in denim-blue but occasionally found in black and red as well, that is
used for carvings and decorative items.
** Dumortierite was named for the
paleontologist M. E. Dumortiere.
** Dumortierite is said to be a calming
stone that helps the wearer collect his or her thoughts. It prevents the wearer
from being scatterbrained; it resorts order and organization in one's life. It
promotes metal clarity to reduce excitability and stubbornness.
**
Dumortierite is often confused with Sodalite and other dark blue stones.
Sodalite has more white, and is much lighter.
** While Dumortierite is
usually found in its massive state (meaning that large, solid hunks are often
found), it does have a much rarer crystalline form. The crystals are pleochroic,
which means they change color depending on the angle from which you view them.
The color changes from red to blue to violet. (Unfortunately, my chip beads are
all of the opaque type.)
** Dumortierite is the main colorant in Blue Quartz
. Tiny Dumortierite crystals grow in the Quartz, giving it its blue hue.
**
Dumortierite is found in several places around the world, but one special fact
for me is that it is often found in Yuma, Arizona, which is at the very
southwestern corner of the state. I lived in Yuma for a year, and would often
find Amethyst and Citrine chunks out in my back yard of desert wilderness. Had I
known back then, I might have been able to secure a specimen or two of
Dumortierite!
Please see our Stone Fun Facts
here:
News & Stuff
Secret Santa Update
Most of our Secret Santa recipients have reported getting their gifts, but
a few are still waiting. I've checked around with the givers, and have
found that all gifts are on their way, so very soon each recipient should be
getting her gift. Our Secret Santa program was a great success this year,
and several givers asked me to send their recipient's gifts straight to her on
their behalf, which I was happy to do. So if you get a gift from
Ephemerala with someone else's name on it, you'll understand why!
Fortnightly Sale
Free Garnets!
Since Garnet is the official birthstone for January, I decided to keep this
fortnight's sale simple by giving away a free Garnet wotzit with each purchase
of $10 or more. The freebie will be random, but it will probably consist
of some type of beads.
This Fortnight's Sale is good through January 14,
2007
Penny Sale
Every two weeks, I hide a new special offer somewhere on my online
site. This listing will offer a certain product for ONE CENT, with any
purchase of $10.00 or more. The item and its location will change every
two weeks, so be sure to look often. Simply go to my online store
site:
and browse until you find the hidden listing. Add it to your cart,
along with the rest of your $10.00+ order, and it will be included for just a
penny. Happy Hunting!
(Recent keen-eyed customers got a BUNCH OF ASSORTED THINGS THAT
I'VE FORGOTTEN TO REMOVE FROM THE SITE for a penny! What will you be
able to get this week?)
Insider's Special
Quarter Jewelry!
This fortnight we are making available all sorts of random jewelry items to
our extra-special customers, for just a quarter. Each selection will
be randomly chosen by us, and might include rings, pendants, earrings,
bracelets, etc. Limit of tem per order.
This Fortnight's Insider's Sale is good through January 14,
2007
Last Fortnight's Top Sellers
(You know you want to be just like everyone
else!)
1. Chip Strands
2. Gemstone Marbles
3. Loose Faceted Gemstone Collections
4. Moonstone Oval Beads
5. Geodes
6. Bookmarks
7. Emerald Chip Beads
8. Sunstone Chip Beads
9. Opal Chip Beads
10. Tanzanite Chip Beads
That's it for this issue. Talk to you
again in two weeks.
--Suzanne Dallapè
eBay user ID: ephemerala
Visit my online store:
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interested.
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