Well, I've decided to try some "sculpture" . Combined with a wonderful seller at
Ebay I managed to make this crystal ball. It is the second one I've tried and
I think it came out nicely.

I am a rockhound and the old urges are returning, now that I have some time.
So luckily for me, this one seller on Ebay has just what I needed!

What do you think? This is the same ball from two different views. The sharp crystals are only on the top 1/4 of the ball, the rest are tumbled smooth
quartz.

Ooooooo MrsD this is sooooooooo pretty.

DO you take orders

Some day maybe... but these are not "cheap" to make.

Here is the first ball...I did this just before Xmas. It is rose quartz, fire agate and jade/aventurine mixed on a larger ball. It took 2 weeks to make. The crystal quartz one only took 3 days. It is like putting a puzzle together with no picture or plan. And the pieces fall off etc. I have a grabby thing to help get them back...but after about the 50th drop language gets a bit colorful here @@#$%^&*.

I am hoping to do an amethyst one soon, but I have to get more stones for that.(they cost more too)

Wow that would look great in my living room

You are very taleneted!

THese are sooooo great. You should sell em at the AA Art Fair!

I love that! Let us know when you are ready to sell some!

I love natural elements; I'm a leaf freak myself.

Don't know why but I find leaves to be the most amazing things and so varied in their beauty. I just gravitate toward things with leaves on them.

Tootsie

Absolutely Gorgeous!
What do you use for a 'base' to affix the stones to?

I'm a 'rock' lover, too. spendy hobby are rocks, sometimes, but well worth admiring a budding collection!

Keep on creating!

I have been doing projects for a few years now.
I often cover plain wood (boxes, napkin holders, CD box, I did a shelf once)
with slabs. (there is a lapidarist who sells me slabs up North). This is a puddingstone CD holder I did one year (jasper conglomerate slabs). This guy makes chess sets, and sells his scrap as left overs).

These balls are on styrofoam base.
I got the idea from a ball of rocks I bought in a mineral store once. I think it came from China. I have a collection of crystals/minerals on the shelf above my monitor. They are fun to look at while typing/thinking/crashing on the net

wow mrsD...your crystal ball is great!!


ps as you are a rockhound you would LOVE my collection....I have geodes and other crystalized rocks from the SW African Namib desert and other places I have traveled to.

I bet you have some nice stuff. Can you take a few pictures?

I just bought some Botswana agates for a song..on Ebay. I have found that if you look long enough and are patient, some deals do come along. These are small bits with lovely lines in them. I got 3lbs for 2.75 and combined shipping with 6 lbs of rose quartz. These little agates might do very well on an unfinished birdhouse I found a JoAnn's fabric/hobby store. I discovered that JoAnn's is much nicer for unpainted stock than Michaels (which is getting too expensive too).

I am very amazed that Ebay has so many sellers for minerals and crystals.
Some are very inexpensive from China, but I have resisted them so far. 2 months shipping makes me uneasy. But each afternoon, I scope out new sellers. I have a trick== I click on who is bidding against me, to see how determined they are, and then find what that person bought recently...this opens up the selling market quickly for me, instead of endless searching.

The best deals so far are from people reselling stuff from old estate sales. These folks don't really know the value of stones, so I can pick them up that way affordably. But sometimes I have to sit on my hands and not buy too much! LOL I put them in "watch this item" and by the next day or so the massive urge to bid has passed

I am also hand polishing rough Petoskey stones, that I am finding on Ebay. One seller sent me a note in email... he used to be our mailman! Many years ago and remembered our name and house...how funny was that? So we met again!

I love rocks too. Don't know what it is about them, but they are so varied and so pretty.

Where I live we have quartz rocks in the soil. So I have a few here and there.

Could you suggest the best glue for attaching the rocks or gems to something?

Tootsie