While I'm playing with combining beads and gemstones by color, I thought I'd share what I'm finding out about them.

Amazonite, a form of feldspar, is a relatively soft stone. At one time, it was cut mainly for cabochons. Today, it is  available in a range of shapes and sizes, everything from little 4mm round tubes to chunky 20mm tumbled pebbles.

B-grade Amazonite, is mined in the US, South America, Africa, and Australia, is pale green with white to light-brown inclusions that give the stone a mottled look. The A-grade variety that comes from Russia almost looks like a different gemstone altogether with its deep blue-green color and white striations.

Depending on who you ask, this "stone of courage" was named after the legendary Amazon women warriors. Or, amazonite was named after the Amazon river, where similar green stones were found. Take our pick.

If you're looking for other stones in the pale-green to aqua family of colors, try aventurine, aquamarine, larimar, bolder opal, and tourmaline.