I love making stone hearts! Its another way of showing my love for rocks.

Here are a few I recently did, both from ThunderEggs. Hope you enjoy them, and thanks for looking!

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Them's purty!!

Thanks Jim. Here is the reverse side to the first heart. With this side, you can tell more that its from a ThunderEgg. I will probably give this one to the person who buys its matching heart pendant.

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Here is one made from a piece of tube Agate I found near Del Norte a few years back, and just got to working it now.
It was well worth the wait I think! Here are pics of both sides. I love the way the light reflects off the tubes inside!!!

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very nice! Valentines day comes to mind!

Everyday is a good day to think of the heart! Even if it is a heart of stone.

very good point!

Tis' a good point isn't it Russ She's such a smart lady.
Denise has been doing alot of these hearts the past few years and they are fantastic, let me tell ya'
I can't do the dang things and get em' to turn out like she does. Here is another one she completed recently that I thought was really nice.
A chrysocolla chalcedony that is about the size of nickel. Nice work honey! This thread is gonna' have some pretty ones coming up too.......I know. That tube agate one turned out killer too!

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Im still not sure what to do with the Chrysocolla one yet. Looks pretty as is.

Here is one posted above, but after Dan wrapped it to go with a specimen set. Turned out great I think!

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Here is a Coprolite heart that I made and Dan wrapped.
I love how the wrap almost looks like an arrow with the feathers at the end! Good work Dan!!
Its hard to see in this picture, but there are metalic looking strips running through it, especially around the rose looking formation on the right of the heart.

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Here is a recently made one that goes with both halves of an Oregon ThunderEgg.
It has a 14 k. gold filled custom setting.

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This one is by far my favorite so far!! The pictures doent do it justice though. Its made from a piece of Gunnison Crater Tektite.........The stories this stone could tell If it could talk. WOW!

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Remember to have a heart today!

Here are a few more of my favorites.
This one is from an Oregon Thunderegg. Just started to hit a druzy pocket in the center.

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Here are a few that I did for the kids at one of our past outings. I kept one for myself.
Can you tell what one I kept?

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I'd say you kept the pink one. Being a lady and all. It seems like I have seen that stone before....

Actually Jim no it wasn't the pink one. A young girl instantly fell in love with that pink one when she saw it so that's the one she went home with.

Nice work Denise!

Thanks for the compliments Dan!

I kept the Thunderegg one pictured in the bottom left Jim. I love giving hearts out. Here are a few more (Jade) that were passed out to the kids.

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Here is the first heart I ever made. Petrified wood.

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Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Nice work honey, hearts are really difficult to complete. Or atleast that's what I'm told, I'm not gonna' try to do one free handed like that. I'd probably get all my knuckles no problem.

Here is a pair of hearts from an Oregon thunderegg she finished up. The one on the left began this thread and it's matching piece is a bit thicker and set with a silver necklace hoop. right one is about 35mm x 35mm x 11mm thick and the left one is 32mm x 32mm x 4mm thick.
This pair is also being added to the CP treasure chest this afternoon, I'm sure someone will love this as their treasure choice soon too.

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Here is a broken nodule we found that I wanted to make a heart from.

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Looking at the broken section, it appears to be two layers of crystals.

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Here is the problem im having. Im not sure if I want to work the faces down smooth or not.
I really like the natural faces it has.

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What do you all think? Should I grind it smooth or leave its natural faces?

Thanks for the imput!

Denise

I say leave it rough. It shows what love is really like. Rough and full of potholes. But at the same time it is surrounded by love(the heart shape) and has a solid center.

Well said Jim. It does look cool as is, but granted it is still in the rough stage.

Well here is the heart finished. Turned out pretty good I think. Great twinkles in the natural faces cleaned up!
The sides polished out great showing how the two layers of crystas meet.
Here is a picture of the front.

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A picture of the backside. Not sure what the dark lines or the green inclusions are, but they sure add character to the piece.

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Thanks for looking!

Here are a few more hearts I recently made. Not sure what Im going to do with them yet though. Backstep If I decide they need to be drilled for a setting. I cant help myself, I love seeing the finished polished heart without it wrapped or drilled.

This first one is dinosaur bone one I made in memory of the Grateful Dead Its a little over 20x20 mm.

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This second one is also dinosaur bone. It was a whopper to make with its larger size of 38x38 mm.
The red and white spots shown are translucent when help up to the light. Almost looks like the milky way with stars in a dark sky.
Pictures showing front and back side.

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This third one is really special to me. Its a beautiful piece of Colorado Thunderegg Timmy found. There is a little triangle druzy spot with orange circles around it. The dark spots are actually dendritic pattern, but only shown when the stone is turned sideways a bit. Several beautiful pieces were made for the "guys in the family". Im not going to do anything with this heart but keep it just the way it is and love it forever!

Im just one of the guys and worthy right?


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Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

Yup! You sure are worth it babe! Those are all some spectacular hearts, WOWSER!

I'm sure I'd spike a scrape down the middle if I tried to do that shape. gggggaaaasssssiiiiiikkkkkkk! Oh rats!

Here's a one of A kind heart in boulder opal she just finished. Very sparkly veins through nearly all the ironstone matrix with some great green, blues, purples and even a couple red sparkles. Even though there are a couple fractures, she said no way she can grind it down any more.

In hand this flashes brightly in different colors at just about every angle from different points. Impossible to see that in just two pics but here's and idea how colorful this one turned out. The size is a chunky 32 x 32 at just over 14 grams and was carved from an end cut of rough material. One side rough and one flat, that was a toughie to even out.
This is the front side.....
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the backside, you can see the electric green/blue swirl but in hand it's much more flashy.
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Very cool honey, KACHOW!

Thanks Dan. Each one I make is different and unique in its own way I think.

This is one I made for a club member who recently had heart surgery unexpectedly.
We understand what a difficult time this can be recovering from, so this was our little way of letting him and his wife know that were always here for them.

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Excuse my little green friend, he wanted to see the heart as well.

Very pretty heart Denise! Cute little bug too.

Hopefully they will like it also! Here are a few more I have been working on.

20x20 lace agate heart
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20x20 Amazonite heart
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Not sure what Im doing with these yet, but I will think of something.

This is the smallest heart I have made yet. I free formed this one. Its 9 mm. wide and 3.7 mm thick. Would make a beautiful ring I think. Its made from a sweet colorful piece of gem grade dino bone, so when held to the light there are translucent round pockets.

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Even the smallest of hearts can make a big impression.

Well I thought of a good use for the crazy lace one above. Dan drilled a hole and put a loop in it and I gave it to this really nice elderly lady that always smiles and waves when she sees me.

She loved it, took her necklace off and added the heart with the beautiful cross she was already wearing and thanked me.
What a fantastic feeling making someone smile.

Here is a cool piece of Microcline and Smokey Quartz Dan found in Park County. Made for some really cool sheeny patterns when he cut a few slices off of it. I decided today to make this heart (25x25 mm) from one of the slices. The little red spot sure gives it a nice touch. I think it turned out pretty well!! What do you think?

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Im going to give this one to Archers wife, who also attended the members outing over fathers day weekend.
Maybe he wont see this thread and it will be a total surprise when she gets it.................

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super nice work!!!

Denise

We received the Microcline and Smoky Quartz heart yesterday. The wife loves it and I thought it was pretty neat too. You do excellent work Denise and we thank you for your gift and kindness.

Steve aka Archer and Charee

Thanks Russ and Archer! Im really glad Charee likes it also.

Hi Mrs CP:

Have you done anything with the blue heart in post 21?

I'm thinking of giving it to my wife as a gift and would like it to have a gold hoop that it can be hung on a gold chain.

What is the possibility of that being done. I think it needs to be kept uncovered by a wire wrap to allow the detail of the stone to show.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks a lot.

dickb

http://www.coloradoprospector.com/forums/i...ost&id=4183

Hi dickb, and welcome to the CP forums. Make yourself right at home here, its a great community.

It is a stunning Australian Boulder Opal heart, and all I have done with it since that picture was posted is admire it.

I would love for your wife to have it! Dan can definately drill and set it in gold the way you described also. I will send you a pm soon with more details. I'm sure we can work something out.

This is the stone that Dick was refering too now with his setting design. The chain is just to show how it looks with one on it, but I think it turned out fantastic!! The little loop attaching to the jump ring (not soldered together) almost looks like a little heart to me.

What do you think Dick? Hopefully its exactly what you imagined it would look like.
Dan and I wish you both a very happy 43 anniversary with many more wonderful memories together to come!
Hopefully she loves it just as much as I do!!


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Yes, I think it turned out extremely nice.

The jump ring works real well, because it gives the heart enough clearance from the chain that it looks like the heart is just placed there all by itself. When you look at it, the chain doesn't pull your eye away from the heart and distract from it's beauty.

I am really looking forward to seeing it in person, because I'm sure that the picture doesn't have the ability to show it's true beauty.

I have not seen a piece that stands out the way that heart does. I was looking for something that was unique and I sure think I found what I was looking for. You both did a masterful job making this heart, and I know that my wife will love it and cherish it as a special gift.

Thanks more than words can say.

Dickb

Thank you very much for the kind compliments Dick! It was our pleasure working with you.
It sure is an amazing stone! The colors roll through it like clouds in the sky.

WoW!
You guys outdid yourselves on this one.

Hi Mrs CP & CP:

Well it arrived late today and was very pleased when I looked at it. I'm sure that it will make a very memorable gift.
I'm like you, I can't decide which side I like best. It will be interesting to see what Ma picks when she wears it.
The picture really doesn't give a true image of the depth of the color or many different looks from different angles.

All in all it really turned out great and I thank you for your efforts. I guess that it was worth the wait. HAHA By the way how many million years did it take?
DickB

Dan and I both wish you both a very Happy Anniversary today Dick. We hope the day has been the best!

Hi Mrs CP and CP:

Thank you for your kind words. We had a very nice day and Ma loved the heart. It's around her neck as I type this note and she wore it to work today. She was very suprised and was as impressed with the heart as I was.

I found a nice chain for it, rectangular box pattern, and had the jeweler solder the jump ring. All done with time to spare. If I can get her to take it off, I'll post a picture of the finished gift. I'm thankful for all of you help putting this together.



This isn't the chain I bought. When Ma came home after work she told me that the chain cut into the back of her neck due to the weight of the heart. We changed it to another one that she had for a different pendant and that helped out a lot. I was worried that the heart would be heavy, thats why I had the loop made so large. We will need to find a larger link chain or braided chain to carry the heart.

I thought I'd pass that along to you so you will be aware of the situation.

Other that that, I thought you'd like to know it was a hit at work and got a lot of OHHH's and AHHH's. Even the jeweler thought it was a very nice piece. You don't see anything like it around Iowa.


Dickb

Im very happy she likes it! I understand about the weight of the stone. I have several heavy heart pendants I wear, but I usually use suede leather cord choker style on them so they sit higher tward my neck. I have placed them on a braded style chain as well when im looking for a classier look though, and it holds up well. I would love to hear what style chain you end up going with that feels best for her.

Denise

Here is a cute one I made, but I cant remember what the stone is.
Anyone have any ideas of what it is? Very soft to work on the diamond wheels.

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Guess no one had a guess at that last one, color is popular though, it's already spoken for and will be getting a drill through hole today with a jump ring in sterling silver.

Here's another one of Denise's hearts in stone she did this summer and will be listed for sale in the Miners Market soon too. A sweet dino bone with red and white colors through out, set with a sterling silver custom "turn key" style hoop.
You can see a clear looking crack where clear agate filled a split in the bone during petrification process in backlighting.
Nice work on this one too honey, love the hearts in stone. Tough shape to do, and she polishes these all both sides and the edges.

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A side angle pic of the "turn key" style hoop setting.
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This one will be listed as a necklace with sterling silver chain included.

CP

Nice looking heart and I like the key loop eye. Somebodies gonna get a nice Christmas present!!!!

Dan did you drill the heart and epoxy the eye?

You can turn the heart for two different looks and that just helps make it more useful.

Dickb

Thanks for the compliments Dick. Yes actually that setting has been epoxied in to that single position so it would be impossible to "turn" the setting at this point, but the pendant is double sided and can be worn either side out.
It does look as if it could be turned though doesn't it? Kind of like a wind up turn key........let her rip!

Here's another recent completion from Denise hearts in stone collection, a sweet gem grade dinosaur bone heart with multiple colors through out.
This one was set for a custom order request with a 14k gold filled setting. I like the dino bones colors alot.
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This one is also pictured previously in this thread but since then has had a custom made sterling silver wire wrap added to it as well for a special request. Hearts are tough shapes to wrap up but we thought this style turns out nicely with the heart shape.
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CP

You do a fantastic job wrapping the hearts Dan!!! They look fantastic!

I agree that the wrap is really attractive on that heart. You can still see all the pattern in the stone and by putting the wrap along the sides of the heart it makes it look bigger.

I almost got a cabbber on ebay today but was out bid. Keep the stones rolling!

Dickb

Opal from Lightning Ridge.
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Boy thats a KEEPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job grinding and really nice fire.

Dickb

Thanks Denise and Dick, sometimes the heart shape can really be hard to create a wrap for.

Nice opal heart Voltaire, thanks for sharing. That one has a nice green flash.

Here's another one Denise recently finished from Austrailia too, a Boulder opal in matrix.
I'm suppose to attempt a wrap on this one too but one side is really bulky so I'm still wonderin' just how that's going to work.
32 x 32 mm and 14.3 grams, should not be worn while jogging I'm thinking.
front side
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back side - bulky
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I'll post up what the finished wrap looks like when I get one on it.

Good luck finding a cabber Dick, you'll really like cutting stones.

CP

Ok I'm butting in here, but this is just a suggestion from me.


http://cgi.ebay.com/SLIDE-STYLE-BAIL-14KT-...=item1e44f0c297

You could make this from wire instead of buying it, if you wanted too, like your wrapped bails.

Way too much interest in the stone to hide it.

Now lets see what you decide.

Dickb