Sunday, June 06, 2010

I've been searching for two years for rainbow moonstone beads like this, and I finally found some - YAY! This is exactly the tree that I have been dreaming about for two years. It feels magical to behold.


This is why moonstone is called moonstone!

The beautiful patina that you see in the tree above is from oxidizing with black salt and hand polishing. This is the first tree pedant that I have oxidized, and I'm loving it! Here is what this tree looked like before being oxidized:


Normally I craft my moon trees with mother of pearl, which is generally not safe to oxidize, but now that I have this wonderful moonstone I do believe I will be using a lot more black salt in the future.

How to Oxidize Silver Using Black Salt:

1. fill an old coffee mug 3/4 with water,
2. microwave until boiling,
3. dump about a tablespoon of black salt into the hot water and stir,
4. dip your clean silver piece/s into the hot solution,
5. keep dipping and soaking until the desired color is achieved,
6. clean and polish your piece.

* Use in a well ventilated and use gloves.

Sweet Dreams,
Ethora