November 30th, 2009

We will be be at Tucson this weekend. Check our 'Shows' page for times and directions. We are still doing the Thursday shows at View Point in Mesa, AZ. It is from 9am to noon. Still working on the pictures for the 'silver tray' that should be coming soon on line. Please keep posted as they are great and affordable for gifts.

 

November 17th, 2009

Wow, another month later. We are suppose to be updating this more currently, but have been busy. Guess that is good, right? Lets see, we have been going to Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and we have attended a new show with Dixie Green in Cave Creek. She was a joy to meet and really liked working with her. We hope to work with Dixie again in the future.

We have been receiving several special custom orders. That is a blessing to do custom work for people who trust our judgement and style.

We have started up our Thursday shows that are for 3 hours at View Point's Country Market in Mesa, AZ. We have two shows so far down and several to go.

Michael has created a 'tray' of various stones wrapped in sterling silver that are real bargins for Christmas gifts. Please take a look when you get a chance or if not up yet on this site, just come to a show that we are attending. The listing of the shows will be kept current.

 

October 13, 2009

Well, here we are a month later. We have attended several shows. The Red Rose Inspiration For Animals we attended twice. Both times they were great shows. Tina, for being a new promoter, knows how to get the people there. She is a good promoter and Sedona is always good to visit. This is a different part of town than the other shows we have attended.

We also just this past weekend just finished a show in Prescott. The promoters again were excellent, but we were not as successful. People though, validate our work. Sometimes that is as good as a sell. Attached is a picture from Prescott. It was another beautiful place to be. As you can see, our campsite is at the local athletic field.

This coming weekend we will be in Sedona at the Factory Outlet Mall. It is really Oakcreek, but is referred to as Sedona. This show is a three day show. From Friday to Sunday. You can always keep track of us by clicking the 'show dates' button above. Come visit us and let us know you are finding us from the website. It would be good to know. Well, back to making more toe rings and bracelets and a few special pendants. Take care!!

 

 

Sept 12, 2009

The 'Bell Rock' show in Sedona was a good show as usual and we always enjoy working with Donna Campbell. The weather was a bit on the warm side and we got a bit of wind Saturday late afternoon but Sunday was a beautiful day with more of a larger turn out.

We got some good feedback from customers and the discussions with other vendors gave us some good ideas. I even picked up a few new jewelry designs to work on. We had a few custom orders and special requests as well. We will be back up there next week at a new location for us and should be in Sedona about twice a month over the winter months.

The Red Rocks of Sedona outside our booth at Bell Rock Plaza

Our newest design with our booth set up in Sedona

Sept 5, 2009

The second show in Pine was a disaster. Booth placement was out of the way and we had a handful of visitors. The one individual who actually made a purchased gave us a credit card that was 'denied', which we only discovered after returning home. Live and learn. Thanks for your support!

July 6, 2009

The show in Pine Arizona was an enjoyable event.

We were in the Community Center and the air conditioning was on (WoooHooo!). The outside temperature was probably mid 90's. The folks who stopped by were refreshed by coming indoors and we received a lot of compliments on our jewelry. The promoters (Gail and Betty) were very friendly and shared a bit about the town of Pine and some of the struggles they are having with water shortages, high taxes, and the poor economy. It seems the same every where we go when it comes to the economy. The town is quiet with enough stores to get what you need and a very special roadside 'Honey Stand' that enough people at home knew about, so they sent me up there with requests of their favorite flavor, which we were only happy to fulfil. There was a promise of rain on the 4th (which was said to happen every 4th for the last 15 years) but none arrived, only a bit of cloud cover bringing relief from the heat. We are planning to go back up in September and this time we will be outdoors in the beauty of 'Pine'.

 

 

 

 

The folks in the photo had a booth next to us and He did some beautiful woodworking. He had cutting boards, boxes, music boxes, bowls and other things that he constructed. Such quality! This is a table set-up that we were forced to use because of the allotted space we had, and we did not care for the layout, but so-it-goes. It looked as good as most of the others, so we had no complaints.

$12.00 for 14k Gold $8.00 for Sterling Silver

Gold and Silver toe rings on the bottom of 'Jewelry- Page 2'

June 19, 2009

We have been trying to plan for the July 4th show in Pine Arizona, get cabochons posted to the web site and get them all categorized and labeled. Speaking of...you might have noticed that we have added a 'Cabochons' tab to the menu on the left. This is the first of many pages we hope to post as we have close to 300 cabs to allow you to browse through. If there is an interest in any stone that you do not see, please ask as we are not 'web masters' and it takes us a bit of time to photograph and measure them all to post on successive pages.

We have completed 2 more shows at the "Bell Rock Plaza' in Sedona last month and we learn more each time we go and get to talk with other vendors as well. It is a growing experience each trip.

The piece below is one that I was able to wrap while it was slow at out last show.

This is Mahogany Obsidian and can be found in our Pendants pages (#2).

We have about 3 more new pendants that have replaced the items 'sold' at Sedona, so take a look and refresh your pages.

Thanks for looking .

May 21, 2009

We are approaching Memorial Day. Bless all the dear ones who have fought and are fighting for us all.

We have a show coming up in Sedona. It is once again at the Bell Rock Plaza with Donna Campbell being the promoter. This will be a 3 day adventure. Now we can accept Visa/MasterCard.....YIPPIE!!

Michael has been working on Pietersite, Blue Tiger Eye and Koroit Opal. We put the newer pieces on the site already tonight and have yet to wrap the Blue Tiger Eye. Watch for that one as it's a deep blue that you don't want to miss.

Well school is out and we'll be seeing more of the Grand kids and a new one entering into this world in July. His name is Caleb. We'll make a 'rock hound' out of one of these kids yet!! There is got to be someone to carry on.

Here is a Pietersite piece fresh off the desk of Banjo Creek (Michael). It is not on the jewelry pages yet. This one, as all do, when moved the swirls just dance. Currently there are only two known sources of Pietersite...Africa and China. The China Pietersite exhibits slightly different colors than the African. Chinese Pietersite has striking combinations of gold, red and blue color. The Tiger Eye type fibers are more of swirls than strands as in the Tiger Eye. Enjoy!!

 

May 13, 2009

Things have been fast pace lately. We have had special orders to fill, web site to update, pictures to take and rocks to pack up and ship off to others for orders. We sure like it that way!!

We just attended a 'first year' show at an assisted living place in Youngtown, AZ. It was Jamie's first and she did very well pulling it all together. We all were surprised by the early heat and that limited people to come out in the later afternoon. But all in all we did pretty good for a one day show and not many people there.

This weekend coming up...May 15th thru 17th, we have another show in Sedona. It is at the Outlet Stores on the main drag. This one is for three days.

Today's piece...

Koroit Opal

A seam Opal from Australia with incredible lines and patterns and just a hint of a flash of blue when it hits the light.

More information inside on page 2 of Pendants.

 

 

April 23, 2009

Hello all!! We just got back this week from a show in Sedona, AZ. It was a beautiful place to have a show. It was the Bell Rock Art Show ran by Donna Campbell. She did a great job and we would like to attend again. We met lots of good people that were our fellow vendors and lots of nice tourists. We were blessed with finding things we forgot, lent things we didn't know we needed and had wonderful friends and family show up to support us. Some friends also provided us a place to stay that we wouldn't have had!! God bless them all!

Oh and before I forget (again), one of our fellow rock hounds and good friend (he is like a son, only too old I hope!) is in a band called 'We are Searchers'. They played at Lost Dutchman Days and are playing all around town. Here is their site you can take a look. We had the privilege to see and hear them as our booth was close to the stage!

www.myspace.com/wearesearchers

We are now making more jewelry new and ones to replace what was sold. We also have a few special orders that we have to get done. There is another Sedona show in the middle of May we are applying for. If we get it we can give more details later. We also posted some flat rate boxes for our fellow rock hounds on Rock Tumbling Hobby for $20 including postage. Feel free to check out the rocks deals on that site. We are still learning with each show. We thank God for each show, all we learn and Him watching over us with each one.

Here are a couple of pictures from the Sedona show we like to share.

Above are 3 or 4 lines of fellow vendors for the show. The Kettle corn was good! But the art and craftsmanship was fantastic. Lots of talented people there.

Above and below was the scenery within a few feet of our booth. It was great weather. It got a bit windy on Saturday night after closing and a bit on Sunday. We held together, others did not and had to go home.

 

Mar 30, 2009

A long time since our last update. We have been busy getting ready and going to shows. It seems that juried indoor shows suit us just fine and we have been accepted to a few. Some of these are just too expensive to be a vendor in. Upwards of $400 for a 10x10 booth! We have yet to make that much in one show. We have come close and hopefully going to Sedona Arizona in a few weeks will put us over the $500 mark for a 2 day show. We were fortunate at our last show of the year at "view Point Resort' to make a good enough amount to come back next year.

I am back to putting out 1-3 new pieces per day, but still spend too much time grinding and polishing cabochons (cause it's fun!), and am trying to stick to building up our inventory. There are a few pieces that need to move of of the web pages, as they are sold, and I will add that to my 'To Do' list for today, at least this week, for sure!

We also need to get pictures of the new stuff and the only new photo we have is of our stock of rocks to choose from when it comes to making your jewelry of sending out stock for others to work with. Would you like to see our 'rough'? That is the term for unworked rock. They then get cut into 'slabs', and from 'slabs', 'pre forms' are cut close to the size of the finished cabochon (that is the term for the finished piece that has yet to be set). Then they get ground down to size and polished to perfection before wrapping in wire or set in silver.

Here is our back yard 'rock pile'.

Since most cabochons ar only about 1 or 2 inched in size, I guess we have enough rock to keep us busy for some time. Of course there is always more rock to order for customers who would like a 'special' stone to be set.

And we are happy to oblige.

Thanks!

 

Mar 8, 2009

ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort was from 9am to 3pm on Friday. Set up went great and we thought everything looked good. We paid extra for electricity for the display lights. They really made the jewelry and cabochons sparkle. We were very busy and we like that. We love the faces on the customers as they walk by and just stop in awe of the stones and wrapping. Their words were such encouragement. We were also told about more venue's to sell our jewelry. God has been blessing us non stop with all of this. Though Thursday night was a very late one sewing and preparing, and Friday came way to soon, we enjoyed our day at View Point. Here is a picture of the booth. (The Pictures of the new pieces of jewelry will come soon.)

Mar 4, 2009

Lost Dutchman Days is over now. We are still eating dust...lol. There were lots of people and horses. Jewelry sales was less than we expected. But we DID meet lots of wonderful other vendors. We were blessed with their knowledge of new places to try and a lot of compliments from them saying that we should stick to the Fine Arts venue's. So we will give that a go. In fact, one vendor-Sharon, told us about a show at ViewPoint RV and Golf Resort in Mesa. So we applied and were accepted. But the catch is....it's this Friday. We have never done an inside show and are not equipped for that yet. So we bought material for table skirts, table cloths, and we bought some table lamps, and pray all can be done before the show. We also made neck displays for this show. We will post a picture of the booth when we are done. Maybe at that point too, we will have pictures of the new pieces that Michael has made. Stay tuned...=-)

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Feb. 24, 2009

Here is where you can find us Feb. 27th, 28th, and March 1st

Apache Junction Arizona!

http://www.lostdutchmandays.org/

Thanks Ed!

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Feb. 21, 2009

Well, Valentine's Day is over, and one week before our next show. Here are a couple of cabs that have recently been done. We have been cabbing, wrapping and making earrings for the show. Thank you for visiting. Keep coming back, and please, feel free to send us an email with comments. Also look at the new pendants that have been posted on the 'Pendants' link. Hopefully soon we will have a page 3 for the earrings. Take care and have a great weekend!!

 

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Feb. 10, 2009

We've been a bit busy with Valentines day and thought you might like to see a piece that we are adding to our inventory. This particular one is spoken for, but I will be designing a few more to put up on one of the 'jewelry ' pages soon.

 

If anyone is looking for just plain 'tumbling rough', get a hold of us through e-mail because we are saving a lot of end cuts, chips and saw spoils for that purpose. Right now a huge 'Flate Rate' box holds over 20 pounds and we are selling them for One Dollar a pound, plus you pay the shipping for the box, which has gone up to $10.30, now, I think.

Take Care!

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Feb. 04, 2009

Two New Pendants posted!

These two are finished and have their description inside.

The Blue Goldstone will be found under 'Simply Sterling' and the plume Agate will be found on page 3 under the heading 'Pendants'. We have dimensions and more information about them listed, with enlarged photos for you to look at.

We have another show at the end of the month so we are trying to complete at least one new additional piece of jewelry per day. That show will be held in Apache Junction, AZ and is hailed as 'Lost Dutchman Days', after the 'Lost Dutchman' who wandered around the Superstition Mountains and supposedly came upon a huge cachet of gold, and to this day it remains a secret as to it's location.

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Feb. 02, 2009

We have two tumblers going now. One, is just the Apache Tears from the batch you see below. Michael has been designing new images to create with his silver smithing abilities. We had a special order from a friend at church for a blue pendant. We brought several 'blue' cabs for her to choose from. After her pick and asking for silver, Michael made it. It was simple as she requested and very beautiful. I added in a pair of earrings to match. We are looking to go rock hounding this week to find purple agate. We'll get back to you on our findings.

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Jan 19, 2009

Yesterday, Sunday, we took two of our grand daughters looking for Apache Tears. They wanted to earn money, so we thought this would be a win-win adventure. We also told them, there would be a bonus for the largest Tear and the most pounds. Boy, talk about motivation!! Part way, they decided they were tired, had enough and needed showers. GIRLS!! So, we came home and this was our total finds for the day. A great days work with a total of 35 pounds collected. Annabelle won the largest one weighing in at 3.4 oz.

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Jan 15, 2009

Well, we are done with our very first show. Wow, besides it being a lot of work setting up and tearing down every night, it was actually pretty warm by mid-day! We met lots of very nice visitors from other states, and from here in Arizona. We also met lots of nice fellow vendors that we have exchanged numbers with to keep in contact. We found that at a "Rock and Mineral Show", you will sell more rocks than jewelry. We did sell some, and got some special orders, but didn't sell as much as our rough and slabs. It was a great experience and one that we would love to repeat. We had family and church family come visit and show their support. Our brother and sister-in-law brought us a great lunch on Sunday. Much needed and appreciated.

Our next event we are trying to get into is the "Lost Dutchman Days" in Apache Junction. It will not be rocks this time, only jewelry. So this will be interesting to see how this turns out. It will be February 27th, 28th and March 1st, 2009. So if you are in town, please stop by and say 'hi'. In the meantime, we will be beefing up the inventory and tending to special orders. Come back and visit for an update on how it is going between now and the next show.

Until next time...take care and God Bless.

banjocreek@hotmail.com

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Jan 3, 2009

We have our first gem and mineral show the week of the 8th thru the 10th at a local Community College here in Mesa.

I have been told that I need to make more rings and bracelets for the show, since my daughters have received theirs, they have been getting nothing but compliments.

We have been trying to make enough stuff to bring to the show and Jolyn has been making about 7 to 10 pairs of earrings a day.

Wish us luck at this new venture!

Banjocreek@hotmail.com

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Jan 2, 2009

We are trying to get a banner made for us that we can put up at the rock show. We wish we would have signed up to attend the Quartzite show, but maybe next year. We are going to go to Quartzite after our show and see what great finds we come home with. Later today we are having 3 of the 4 grand kids over night, so we won't be making any jewelry. Michael did get a wrap done and it is stunning. I got about 7 pairs of earrings done. I have been making them more simple, but fit for a princess with crystals.

Banjocreek@hotmail.com