The Beauty of Druzy

by Judy Larson

Druzies add a touch of sparkle and glam to any design.

There are some beautiful druzy stone sets available on the WireJewelry website.

The stones come in a variety of shapes round, oval, teardrop, square, and even more organic forms.

Some sets feature a single colorway, while others include a mix of vibrant hues.

Every time I browse through them, new design ideas start flowing!

Hint: When searching, type "druzy set" (singular), not "druzy sets."

Judy Larson's The Beauty of Druzy - , Stones, , the beauty of druzies

My first purchase was a set of six pink druzies the ones on the left because I wanted the stone on the top right of the card to make a pendant.

They were all so pretty and perfectly sized for small pendants that I ended up turning every stone into a pendant and gifting them to friends.

I also bought the set of six on the right for the center stone in the bottom row it looked just like a slice of watermelon! That one became a charm on a bracelet for my granddaughter.

The hint of sparkle in each druzy makes them so much fun to work with!

I usually buy a druzy set for one, two, or three specific stones. The price is so reasonable that if a few aren't great, I can experiment on them without worry.

I liked most of the stones on the two cards on the right, but the ones in the bottom row of the center card were real duds. They had almost no color and looked a bit "dirty" because they lacked sparkle.
But they won't be duds for long!

Now, take a look at the stones on the card on the left. I initially thought the green, the two deep gold, and the two turquoise stones were also duds-their colors looked so washed out.

Enter alcohol inks. I flooded the crystalline surface of each stone, waited about a minute for the ink to set, then dabbed away the excess with a tissue. I repeated this process until I was happy with the color.

Next, I baked the stones at 225°F for 30 minutes. After cooling naturally, I soaked them in denatured alcohol for a few minutes, which removed only a slight amount of color.

Finally, I washed them gently with soap and water, rinsed, and dried them.

Now I can't wait to start turning these revived stones into bracelet links!

Materials

20x19mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8649

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $18.00
Gold Club Price: $13.50

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24x20mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8636

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.00
Gold Club Price: $18.00

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25x23mm Polished Druzy

DRY-8439

Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
Price: $24.00
Gold Club Price: $18.00

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Tools

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Category: Stones
Technique(s): General Education

Reviews

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Judy Larson

My philosophy has always been "I will never live long enough to learn everything I want to learn, go everywhere I want to go and see everything I want to see!" So, what I make and how I create it is always changing and evolving. I was born shortly after WWII to parents who grew up during the Depression. They always had a "we can do it, we can make it" attitude which rubbed off on my two younger brothers and me. My brothers are amazing and can make and do ANYTHING! When I was a little girl, my mother gave me an old carved cigar box, which I cherish, filled with pop beads, wooden beads and yarn for stringing. That was the beginning of my jewelry making journey.

On a visit to the Grand Canyon when I was a young woman, I was fortunate enough to help a Native American silversmith sand cast my first silver bracelet and bezel set a large turquoise nugget on top. I was in love, hook, line and sinker! While working full time and having a family here in northern Minnesota, my artistic endeavors slowed down but never stopped. I am an artist, scrapbooker, seamstress, woodworker and jewelry artisan. Now that I am retired, I am able to indulge in all my hobbies. However, there just never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all, but I try!

I have been teaching community education beginner and intermediate jewelry making classes since my retirement. Many of my students have been bitten so hard by the jewelry making bug that they say I have turned them into monsters-they just can't get enough. Making jewelry, seeing something take shape from small bits and pieces, is so rewarding that I hope it brings out the "monster" in you, too!