{"product_id":"the-marshmallows-and-yams-bracelet-joins-the-holiday-collection-lineup-it-s-perfect-for-autumn-and-thanksgiving-and-christmas-dinners","title":"The “Marshmallows and Yams” bracelet joins the Holiday Collection lineup! It’s perfect for autumn and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners!","description":"\u003cp\u003eNOTE: The earrings pictured are to demonstrate how a matched set will look but are NOT included with this bracelet. Your can purchase them as a separate item in this listing if you like the look of the set!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNOTICE: These are GENUINE gemstones! In addition to using genuine gemstones, I also use durable components that will last years longer than every elastic bracelet sold on Etsy, as elastic bracelets wear out quickly and break. So don’t think my lower prices mean lower quality - quite the opposite! They simply mean I don’t overvalue what I make, and that I offer my pieces at fair prices so that you can build up a genuine gemstone jewelry collection for yourself or for those you love!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoining my Holiday Collection lineup, the “Marshmallows and Yams” bracelet is perfect for autumn and all the dinner parties of the holiday season! Featuring vibrant oranges, earthy browns and mixing with marshmallow white, the colors evoke memories of Grandma’s marshmallow-topped brown sugar yams! I’m excited to share this bracelet with you because it turned out exactly as I imagined it when I ordered these agate and onyx beads!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 10mm stones are called “Desert Eye” agates, which begin as natural orange agates with some matrix left on them as the beads are made (matrix is the rock inside which the agate formed). The matrix is then bleached and “spattered” with brownish-red lacquer to make the spots, or “eyes” on the beads. A fixing agent is then applied so that the spots stay put (meaning you can get these beads wet without worrying that the color will be affected), and as the final step holes are drilled to make the 10mm spheres into beads. Featuring as station beads are 6mm white onyxes!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI don’t typically use gemstones that aren’t 100% natural, but I made an exception with these agates because they’re so visually striking and unusual! As always, all of the metal components are stainless steel and you have your choice of golden or silvery bracelet hardware!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e“If it’s not good enough for me, then it’s not good enough for my customers. If I wouldn’t wear it, it doesn’t belong in my shop.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e - Heather Constable \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhy I Love It:\u003c\/span\u003e The “origin story” of silver sheen obsidian is what first drew me to it! Rather than a rock, silver obsidian is a type of volcanic glass but is nevertheless considered a gemSTONE that is frequently used in jewelry making (as are other types of obsidian like gold sheen, rainbow and black obsidian)! These obsidians display a glowing or shimmering characteristic that is attributable to gas bubbles trapped within the gemstones. Obsidian is formed when lava cools so quickly that crystals don’t have an opportunity to form, and the lava instead forms into shiny glasslike layers with tiny bubbles of volcanic gas squashed in almost flat lines between the layers. When light enters the stone it is stopped by and reflected off the trapped gas bubbles, giving this gemstone its silvery glow -  an optical property that mineralogists define as “aventurescence” or “chatoyance”. I am addicted to gemstones that produce an “essence” - labradorescence (labradorite), adularescence (moonstone), phosphorescence (phosphorite AKA blue apatite) and dozens more! But silver sheen obsidian is unique because it doesn’t have a crystalline structure whereas as most other “essence” gemstones do!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI love quartzes in general, but clear quartz is rare because most quartzes pick up other minerals as they form. Clear quartz is an exception, but still hides feldspars within it! Feldspars are the building blocks of the rock creation process and range from clear and translucent to colorful and opaque. “Clearly” (😏), the feldspars in clear quartz are transparent and can’t be seen with the naked eye, but they’re there - like tiny secrets hidden inside this otherwise beautifully transparent gemstone!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInformation About These Gemstones:\u003c\/span\u003e Obsidian is mined all over the world in volcanic geological regions that have the factors necessary to produce quickly-cooled lava layers, and ONLY volcanic regions can produce this shiny gemstone! Obsidian can be found right here in the United States in places like Oregon, Washington State and Hawaii (among others), and Yellowstone National Park contains an entire mountainside of obsidian! Globally, obsidian is widely occuring and can be found in places including Iceland, Italy, Argentina and Mexico.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eObsidian is a hard, heavy gemstone that ranks at 5.5 out of 10 on the Mohs Mineral Hardness Scale, which is the approximate hardness of a glass dinner plate. It is not nearly as hard as (and can be scratched by) a diamond (ranked at 10), but is harder than (and can scratch) a copper penny. It is a brittle stone but is nonetheless durable and suitable for daily wear as long as you avoid impacts with harder objects. It cleaves, or breaks, in sheets with very hard, sharp edges. Due to its hardness and sharpness, obsidian has been used for centuries in everything from ancient Mesoamerican weapons (like spears, arrow tips and swords) to piercing tools to animal-skinning blades and meat cutters. Modern  medicine has even experimented with surgical scalpels made from obsidian!         \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuartz is the most abundant mineral on earth and is composed of the elements silicon and oxygen (specifically silicon dioxide, represented chemically as SiO2 -  that is, 1 silicon atom and 2 oxygen atoms). The quartz in this bracelet is called  “clear quartz” or “rock crystal” and is optically transparent, making it a more valuable and sought-after gemstone! This is because most quartz specimens, such as rutilated quartz and pink quartz, have other minerals included within them as they form, such as sliver-like inclusions of other minerals called “rutiles” and mineral inclusions like iron that make the quartz appear to be colored (but the quartz itself isn’t colored! It’s only the color of the mineral inclusions that make them appear to be colored stones!).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you can imagine, as the most abundant mineral on earth quartz can be found just about anywhere - in Lake Michigan beach sand, in Malibu Beach sand and even in a handful of dirt from your own front yard! Because of its abundance quartz is mined all over the globe, but finer quality quartzes occur on the Island of Madagascar (where beautiful purplish-pink rose quartz is mined) and in Brazil (which produces the most variety of valuable, high-quality rutilated quartzes). An extremely rare, highly-prized and expensive variety of quartz called “Super Seven” is mined in several locations, including Australia, India and Brazil… and even right here in the USA in Arkansas! Super Seven (also known by its mineral name “cacoxenite amethyst“) is thus named because it’s comprised of seven different mineral crystals - amethyst (the primary mineral in Super Seven), cacoxenite, clear quartz, goethite, lepidocrocite, rutilated quartz and smoky quartz! Super Seven is essentially six mineral crystals encapsulated, or included, in one (amethyst)!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuartz is among the hardest and heartiest minerals and ranks 7 out of 10 on the Mohs scale, making it harder than a steel nail (6.5) but not as hard as a drill bit used in masonry (8.5). Due to the way light interacts with quartz, it was used to make the first eyeglass lenses around 700 BC in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia! Just as objects viewed through water appear to be magnified, objects viewed through clear quartz seem to be magnified because it bends light. Light is slowed down when it enters quartz and its wavelength is shortened, which causes light to bend when it enters quartz at an angle. The way light interacts with a gemstone is called its “refractive index”. So clear quartz doesn’t truly magnify an object, but appears to do so because of its refractive optical properties! Another  property of clear quartz is that it’s ”birefringent”, or DOUBLY refractive! This means that when ONE ray of light passes through a quartz crystal it is split into TWO rays! This optical property is called birefringence. By comparison, diamond is only singly refractive, so a clear quartz crystal cut and faceted like a round diamond will be twice as sparkly as a round-cut diamond!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFun Facts:\u003c\/span\u003e Obsidian shards were used in prehistory to make weapons such as spears, arrows and even swords (obsidian swords would have been impractical, however, because it’s VERY heavy!)! It was also used for more practical everyday uses such as cutting and piercing tools and even dinnerware (knives)! Because obsidian formed in flat layers it breaks in flat layers, and with its durable sharp edges was a natural choice for cutting tools and weapons prior to the Copper and Bronze Ages, during which mankind learned to shape and\/or smelt metals and form them into every-day items and weapons of war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuartz is not only the most abundant mineral earth, but it’s highly probable that it’s within 10 feet of you at all times! Some well-known and popular gemstones are actually a variety of quartz, including amethyst, citrine, prasiolite and carnelian! Quartz has a wide application of practical daily uses, from timekeeping (in quartz watches and clocks, which rely upon quartz’s stabilizable and “programmable” vibration frequencies to precisely and unerringly measure time!) to filtering fine wines to conducting an electrical current to controlling voltage frequencies in radio transmitters and computers! This is why quartz is one of the most economically important minerals\/gemstones in the world and  likely surrounds you! A strange but fascinating characteristic of some clear quartz is that it’s ”triboluminescent”, meaning that when it’s rubbed together it creates a spark! The spark has no heat signature (which means you can’t see it if you’re wearing night-vision glasses!) and is therefore called “cold light”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hand Knotted Jewelry","offers":[{"title":"5.5”","offer_id":54039769809080,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"6”","offer_id":54039769841848,"sku":null,"price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"6.5”","offer_id":54039769874616,"sku":null,"price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"7”","offer_id":54039769907384,"sku":null,"price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"7.5”","offer_id":54039769940152,"sku":null,"price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"8”","offer_id":54039769972920,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gold plated stainless steel hardware","offer_id":54039770005688,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Silvery stainless steel hardware","offer_id":54039770038456,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Earrings - golden","offer_id":54039770071224,"sku":null,"price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Earrings - silvery","offer_id":54039770103992,"sku":null,"price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Earrings - 2 agates (golden)","offer_id":54041453166776,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Earrings - 2 agates (silvery)","offer_id":54041453199544,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/1527\/4424\/files\/3584EA59-6B15-4074-B7E3-E8B0171DFF45.jpg?v=1788493336","url":"https:\/\/handknottedjewelry.com\/products\/the-marshmallows-and-yams-bracelet-joins-the-holiday-collection-lineup-it-s-perfect-for-autumn-and-thanksgiving-and-christmas-dinners","provider":"Hand Knotted Jewelry","version":"1.0","type":"link"}