Happy 2014!!

 Happy New Year All! I hope 2014 is a healthy, happy and prosperous year for us all! I just updated my website- hope you'll have time to check it out. I am in the midst of re-programming it so that it will be more 'readable' by search engines, but it's a slow process....

You can find it here:

http://www.DanaEvansStudio.com

I also managed to get a cache of medium/large Ethiopian opals cut before the kids were home for Winter Break- half of these I recently bought, and half I've had for a while. Prices for rough were down 1/3, and even cut stones have come down in price. Not sure why.... Due to my main supplier having sold out of his opal stock, I've had to rely on other suppliers and myself! I did manage to get a few nice faceted opals at the last International Gem & Jewelry Show, and these will do nicely for those customers who prefer cabochons. Some had a lot of sand in them, but I think once the bezels are on, they'll look great. It's always a struggle figuring out how much stone to cut off, and how much sand is acceptable to leave on, in order to give the stone more weight. Myself, I don't mind much sand, for it reminds me where it came from and that it's a natural object. 

Once the kids are in school next week, I have gobs of projects to finish up- look for more good stuff here soon!!