Jet of the Day - JuneO

My shop name is JuneO PaintedEyes.  It comes from my father’s family name: Occhipinti.  Which means “Eyes Painted” in his native language.  My logo now follows me in everything I do.  It is one of my fondest creations.

As with most artists on Etsy, my craft started out as a hobby.  I grew into jewelry designer when people started asking if they could purchase the necklace or earrings  I was wearing.  Currently my inspirations come from what I see in high-end jewelry stores and museum shops.

My favorite part of jewelry design is using natural semiprecious stones.  I love the mixture of colors and nature’s sense of design.  Following is some research I’ve done on some of the beads I use most:

Agate:  "Banded beauty"

No gemstone is more creatively striped by Nature than agate, chalcedony quartz that forms in concentric layers in a wide variety of colors and textures. Each individual agate forms by filling a cavity in host rock. As a result, agate is often found as a round nodule, with concentric bands like the rings of a tree trunk. The bands sometimes look like eyes, fanciful scallops, or even a landscape with trees.

In my jewelry, I have used crazy lace agate, moss agate, tree agate, "natural" agate. But my all time favorite is blue lace agate.

Golden Leaves Necklace

Freshwater Pearls: Made by Mollusk & Man

Unlike other gems, the pearl is born of water and living creatures

Pearls begin as a foreign body embedded within a mollusk's shell. The animal's defense against the foreign body is to form a protective layer of nacre around the intruder. The culturing process simply entails planting a "seed" within the mollusk, normally either a plastic bead or a small piece of shell, nature takes its course and another pearl is born.

Our cultured freshwater pearls come in an ever growing variety of shapes, sizes and colors, so whatever your fashion preference you are sure to find the pearl to suit your needs.

Ancient beliefs about the origin of the pearl include: moonlight filled dewdrops and Aphrodite's tears of joy. Although not technically a stone, pearl is one of June's birthstones.

Shape & Color

Natural freshwater pearls are seldom perfectly round or even nearly round, more often than not they are baroque, slugs, or wings. Many pearls, both natural and cultured, have beautiful color and luster. Freshwater pearls are noted for their wide range of color, they can be found in white, silvery white, pink, salmon, red, copper, bronze, brown, lavender, purple, green, blue, cream, and yellow. Although white is the most common color, the most desirable are the pastel pinks, roses, lavenders, and purples. The different colors are a function of the mussel species, genetics, water quality, and the position of the pearl in the shell. Generally, pearls assume the color of the shell in which they form.

Necklace of Pearls

Mookaite: The Healing Stone

This semi-precious stone is a type of jasper that is principally mined from Australia. The "Mookaite" is named after Mooka Station the name of the 700k acre sheep farm in Western Australia where Mookaite was first discovered. Here is more information about the the mine:

It is believed to promote good health by stimulating the immune system. It is considered a healing stone that bestows strength. It is said to shield the wearer from difficult situations.

You'll find it in just about any color from pink and brown, red and yellow and a mixture.

Tantalizing Taupe

Thank you for reading!
June

My etsy shop is:  www.juneo.etsy.com

Facebook is www.facebook.com/juneopaintedeyes