Thanks you, @fernwood and @CyanideRose18! I wore it all day yesterday ![]()
Nice! This kind of thick tufa cast is one of my favorite crafts.
Thanks! Clearly Tufa cast is a favorite of mine also.
Congrats @Ziacat! It was meant to be yours. I remember you sharing this before when you decided on the other cuff; I’m so glad it was still there for you. As you know, slightly edgy is just my style so you know I think this one is killer. And you broke your rule about not buying online! (I know it’s not quite the same since you got to try it on before.)
I’ve never been to Twin Rocks, it’s just always been too far from the places I’ve visited when I traveled out west, but I hope to some day.
I’m gonna be jealous to miss it if you guys do this! I was originally thinking of trying to make it to the Eiteljorg this summer since I won’t get to the Heard or Santa Fe this year. But we got tickets to a World Cup game that weekend, so alas, this won’t be my year for the Eiteljorg. Hopefully another time.
Thank you! I couldn’t decide between the 2 cuffs last spring, and it was the Blue Gem stone in the other that finally swayed me to bring it home first. But now I love them equally. And I did break my unofficial “rule” to buy in person, but I bought a ring online last year from Garland’s and a little cuff for Christmas this year from Medicine Man Gallery. Rules were made to be sometimes broken, right?
This cuff would look great with quite a few of your pieces, especially your spikey silver necklace
I don’t generally worry about matching my jewelry too much (I think it all goes well together), but I went to a concert a couple nights ago and decided my Zia ring looked concert appropriate with the cuff. A little rock and roll edge to both of them.
It would be so fun to meet up at the market, but I understand; maybe in '27!
I like this new corner you’re turning, Zia! Breaking rules (apparently not just once), buying edgy jewelry! And I agree, your cuff would go great with a lot of my jewelry, including the spike necklace.
You will be pleased to know I wore them together again this AM with a black leather moto jacket to complete the edginess factor ![]()
I am pleased! A pic for the style thread?
We were in Bluff, UT a year ago, so I have been reminiscing about it this week. Back in the thread that @Ravenscry started regarding our perspectives in collecting, he mentioned that it’s not just the visual that draws him, but also what is “felt.” I completely agree, and I strongly feel a connection between many of my purchases and where I bought them. Bluff is not necessarily the type of tourist town that people seek out, but to me that is part of it’s charm. It’s not right smack dab next to travel hot spots, but is centered nicely near many smaller National Monuments, not far from Monument Valley, and right on the border of the northernmost part of the Navajo Rez. And there are rock art and ruins everywhere!
I am posting some pics of the area to encourage any of you that might be out that way someday to spend some time there. These first 2 are from Hovenweep National Monument. I was so happy we made the effort to visit. It’s a small canyon with the ruins all perched on the rim. As you walk along you can see off towards Sleeping Ute Mountain in CO. We were just about the only ones there, and the park had that high desert-y lonely feel that I love.
This next one is from a pull out on the road from Bluff heading to Natural Bridges NM, and is an amazing drive bordering parts of Bears Ears National Monument. About half way there the road cuts though Comb Ridge (in the pic). Gosh, I love these places where you feel like you can see forever.
And one pic taken on a hike (which ended up being shortened due to snow
) in Natural Bridges NM - no bridges in this pic. This is a highly underrated park IMO.
And finally one (which I have posted in another thread) of Twin Rocks Trading Post; the shop is on the left, and the restaurant is on the right of the building.
So whenever I wear this cuff and the other pieces I purchased there these images often come to mind. When we were hiking in Hovenweep I remember looking down and thinking how the blue of the stone on my cuff looked just like the sky above me.
Anyway, if any of you made it through this, you certainly deserve a high five from me!
You’re killing me, @Ziacat. ![]()
You can tell I’m thinking ahead to traveling again ![]()
And you get a high five!
@TAH beat me to it as I was busy getting lost in your photos
but I’m in the same boat, Zia: you’re officially killing two birds with one stone of a post! ![]()
This was a most enjoyable read and your photos put me right there! Thank you for sharing, this was great!
Thank you, and you’re welcome! You know, I would have always appreciated southwestern Native American art, but I am positive I would not have developed the love for it without having spent much time in the southwest; that’s just how my brain works. The 2 are inseparable for me.
I really considered going back there this year, but it may be my friend’s last year in Phoenix so that won out. Plus we loved it in the spring. I really hope you can get out there someday! And high five to you also ![]()
Hubby went to Hovenweep back in the 70s with his dad on one of his onyx-selling tips around the southwest, and has very strong and fond memories of the whole trip. I hope to see it some day.
I can remember the feelings I had when we were in the area last spring, 2025. The Twin Rocks pic brings back the memories of the food we had Twin Rocks Cafe as well as browsing the Ray Lovato necklaces in Twin Rocks TP.
Then going across the street to Cow Canyon to buy our wooden sand art painting.
Our stay at Goosenecks SP is always magical.
Navajo Blanket formation
Double rainbow
I will never forget finding this David Lister beauty in Blue Mountain RV and Trading in Blanding.
Thank you @Ziacat for letting me reminisce a bit.
You rock the Harrison Jim bracelet so well.
Thank you for adding your beautiful photos, @here4turquoise. It’s always good to remember the joy we felt when we visited these beautiful places. I forgot that you stopped at Twin Rocks last year. Were you there in the spring? Did we almost cross paths? We didn’t make it quite down to Goosenecks last year, because we came down from Moab; Bluff was as far south as we went.
I loved Cow Canyon; the coffee was so good, and the young Navajo gal that worked there was adorable.
Your ring is breathtaking!
I had always gotten Hovenweep mixed up with Canyon of the Ancients National Monument in western CO which is much harder to get to (all spread out, and you need a 4 wheel drive). Last year I finally figured out which was which, and realized how close we were (about an hour from Bluff) so we made the trek. 100% worth it.
We were in Bluff on May 18 & 19, last year.
Your photos are absolutely stunning!! Dang, that breakfast looks pretty yummy, too. Now I’m hungry, lol. It almost goes without saying that your D. Lister turquoise ring is a beauty.














