Rings of Fire -- the genesis of a collection

There's a woman who works with copper whose work is simply spectacular. I see copper work and then I see hers, and there's often no comparison. I'm in love with her headpins, earring wires and especially her copper rings. They have this fire in them -- a variation of colors from red to burgundy to a golden yellow to almost eggplant purple. They inspire me to fill them with complimentary gems, and to also start a new line called Rings of Fire using her copper rings. Actually, all of the metal in these earrings but the fine copper wire was smith'd by her. It's all her fault, and she is to blame, for your being assaulted with more photos in this entry than in any other entry.

Given the new line, and the name of said line, it seems appropriate to start off with the volcano cherry quartz earrings. It's all cherry quartz, really (the focal stones in the mermaid earrings, below), but the "volcano" variety have what looks like fire in them. Stunning stones, they are, particularly when you can find the ones with lots of fire, and what actually looks like flames, as you can see. The stones with the refraction and visible flames are the most rare, and these stones flame on.

Look at how the colors in the copper so perfectly echo the colors in the volcano quartz. They were made for each other.

When you look at these earrings, you see depth. There is clear Quartz, there's cherry quartz, there's little specs of whatever accumulated through the ages, and then there is fire -- fire that comes from the inside and glows and refracts in the light, and then what almost seems to be (but is not) painted-on fire, on the outside. These earrings would look great on anyone, but someone with short hair, so the light can bring out the fire, would really wear the heck out of these earrings. There will be more in this line, but these particular stones are just perfect in their firey beauty. They are 1 1/2 inches long, from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the ring, and they sell for a remarkably affordable $18.50.