One of the reasons I’m in Quartzsite, AZ again this year is to buy raw materials for the gemstone jewelry I make. I’ve been shopping for stones at the rock vendor booths at Tyson Wells and Desert Gardens. Here’s a small sample of the 70 or stones I bought the other day.

Some of the gemstone cabochons I purchased on Sunday. I’ve bought over 100 stones so far in this trip and expect to buy at least another 20 more before I leave.

I choose cabochons — polished but unfaceted gemstones — that meet certain criteria:

• Sized just right. Neither too small to work with nor too large to make into jewelry.
• Popular stone. I get requests for malachite, lapis, amethyst, Larimar, turquoise, quartz, moonstone, labradorite, etc. I try to stock up on popular stones so I can make the jewelry people want to buy.
• Beautiful stone. Sometimes I just buy a stone because I think it’s beautiful. Those are the ones I like to see lingering in my collection. Sometimes I just like to look at them. And I admit I’m thrilled when a customer picks out one of these stones for jewelry even though they’ve never heard of the stone. K2 Granite, Crazy Lace Agate, ruby in zoisite, azurite in chrysocolla, Montana moss agate, bumble bee jasper — these are all examples.

I get a lot of joy out of collecting and working with the stones. I’m looking forward to making new jewelry this coming week. Follow me on Twitter to see photos of each piece as it’s finished.

And if you’d like a pendant made out of one of these stones, get in touch. I can ship to addresses in the US.