Saturday, January 12, 2013

My Husband Begins Work on The Hobbit's Arkenstone of Thrain




The Dwarves worked the stone into a multifaceted jewel. It shone by its own pale light, but when light fell upon it, the stone "...changed it into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the rainbow". It was a heavy gem but small enough for Bilbo Baggins to hold in one hand, yet not so small that he could close his own small hand around it. [from Tolkien Gateway]


Designing the Arkenstone using Gemcad


Pre-forming the Arkenstone in his shop



To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme 
post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken
 then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at At Home With Books.


What is the Sunday SalonImagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go.
Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....

That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

14 comments:

  1. Will we get to see the finished stone? I do hope so.

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  2. He's had a lot of trouble finding a piece of rough that is big enough and clear enough to facet. He finally found the piece in the second photo. He told me this morning that he should be ready for another photo later today.

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  3. Looks like a painstaking process.

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  4. It looks very time consuming. I'm curious to see the finished stone. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/BIJkg

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  5. How fun! Was this inspired by your recent read? Or is your husband a Tolkien fan swept up in Hobbit hysteria? And what are you going to do with the Arkenstone when it is done?

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  6. This looks like an exciting project. Good luck on his crafting!

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  7. My idea. It was inspired by my recent reread of The Hobbit. How could he pass up the opportunity to create his version of this classic gemstone?

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  8. Wow, that's impressive! Looks like a lot of work - I hope we get to see it when it's done.

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  9. That's some pretty intense stonework. I can't wait to see the finished product.

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  10. You have to show us the finished stone! Now, he just needs to cast The Ring. There'll be no stopping you.

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  11. I love that his passion for the story has inspired him to recreate the Arkenstone ... are you sure there's not a bit of dwarf in the ancestry ?!?

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