We are back from our rock trip, and back to the daily grind..so to speak :) We went up a day early and went to the Franklin Rock and Gem show. I got a few cab to use in silver class and we ended up with some fantastic opals... not sure if we will be sharing those on the website or not, hard to let them go! This is actually several shows together, the Annual Macon County Gemboree, G & LW Wholesale Gem Show at Watauga Festival Center, another show that I am not even sure has a name, and then there is a little one across the street from the Gemboree. You do need a wholesale license to get into the G& LW show, so bring your papers with you if you go to that one next year.
William Holland was fantastic as always. This was our 3rd time there and it gets better each time we go. We meet so many new rock friends and see familiar faces, it's like home away from home. Dev took faceting and learned some new techniques and tips. I took Silver 1 and had a fantastic teacher, Will Smith. He has some of the most beautiful Tennessee Agate on his website: http://www.tnagate.com/ He also teaches faceting in Nashville for those of you lucky enough to live near there. I started the week sure I would set something on fire with the torch, but by the end of the week, I was using it like an old pro. Which is saying something for someone who doesn't even like to light candles. We made several projects, and I got to use some of the opal I cut in the opal class last time. (See top image)
On the way home, we stopped by the Grassy Creek show in Spruce Pine. It was a hot and steamy day, but we still rummaged our way through an entire bucket of Mexican fire opal looking for facetable pieces. There are two shows at Spruce Pine, the indoor North Carolina Mineral & Gem Festival and the outdoor Grassy Creek Gem and Mineral Show (sponsored by the Volunteer Fire Department, which I think it pretty cool.) We just had time for the outdoor one this year, but both are great shows.
