Gail Langer Karwoski is an award-winning children’s book writer. In addition to picture books Julie the Rockhound and Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean (Mom’s Choice Best Children’s Picture Book Author for 2005 and the 2007 Teacher’s Choice Children’s Book Award) published by Sylvan Dell, Gail has written six other books for young readers including: Tsunami: The True Story of an April Fool’s Day Disaster and Quake! Disaster in San Francisco, 1906. Gail married a rockhound. On their honeymoon, they hiked through lush western forests and stark “forests” of petrified wood. They dove into foamy aquamarine waves in the Pacific Ocean and dug into crumbly turquoise deposits in the Southwestern desert. Since then, they’ve gone “treasure hunting” for geodes, fossils, and crystals. Before becoming a full time author, Gail taught in Georgia public schools and her classroom was famous because of the “rock box.” She wrote Julie the Rockhound to share this delight in our earth’s treasures with children and their parents. Gail and her husband live near the University of Georgia and have two bossy cats and two grown daughtersLisa Downey is a freelance artist and graphic designer. A former art teacher, Lisa also attended FIT in New York, where she studied advertising and packaging design and later taught introductory packaging design classes. “Illustration has always been just under the surface in my career as a designer. I gained valuable skills working in packaging design firms; but the six year old inside was just itching to jump out and run all over the drawing board,” says Lisa, who has always been interested in illustrating children’s books. Lisa's style ranges from cartoonish to very representational. Her favorite medium is pastels. In addition to illustrating Julie the Rockhound, Lisa illustrated Happy Birthday to Whooo? for Sylvan Dell. She lives in the SC Lowcountry, with her very supportive husband, Len, and their cats; Pom Pom and Ophelia.
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You can click the rotating cube to freeze and expand the pictures. These photos show me at work & play , digging for fun & profit. Recently the Travel Channel came out to film one of my digs . aired on February 20 & 24^th & will repeat sometime in September , on the “ Cash and Treasures " amethyst episode .IF YOU WANT TO COME DIG AT ONE OF MY MINES THEN JUST EMAIL ME also , be sure to check out my ebay "about me" page for digging information . I dig in Georgia , South Carolina , & Arkansas , most of the crystals I sell & often list items from them here on eBay as well as in my rock shop in Georgia . I am constantly buying and selling all types of mineral specimens , facet rough , e.t.c. as well as always buying and selling crystal mines . Yep , that’s right , I do have crystal mines for sale ! . Please do check out my other items in my eBay stores as I have a variety & often start them out at only $1. To be sure of not missing a hot deal , please add me as a favorite seller. No matter if it is a five dollar specimen or a five hundred dollar specimen , the recipients have always left glowing feedback……………….you should check my feedback and see for yourself what people are saying. All facet rough is indeed facetable , to the best of my knowledge after a quick cursory inspection . Flawless generally means that I do not see any flaws with my unaided naked eye , except for perhaps minor veils at the outer edges of stone ( central or main portion of the stone facetable , or, which ever percentage that is stated is facetable ) . All crystals are natural , unpolished , and have natural color . All amethyst crystals are natural with natural color ( untreated ) Most facet rough is shown backlit and wet , at least in the majority of the batch of photos. Some facet rough has been heat treated or irradiated. When I buy facet rough at the wholesale dealers , I don’t even bother asking as lots of times they don’t even know or wont be truthful. All the regular amethyst facet rough & ametrine facet rough is natural color. Citrine , green amethyst , cognac ,lemon , shadow, quartz is usually the result of some type of treatment such as irradiation or heat treating or BOTH. Questions ?Don’t hesitate to ask ! Color photography provided with a Kodak dx6490 which has excellent natural color rendering and representation . I never alter the color or photoshop to sweeten the color to make the stone look better than it does in real life., especially in light or pastel colors , the specimen looks much better in person & with more color than the photo suggests ! if I charge $4 for a U.S. Shipment then I can ship the same item any where in the world for $6 via airmail . EVEN AUSTRALIA …….. Just $6 ! Check each individual add for exact shipping as it varies . Paypal usually gets your item sent out same day or next ( unless I am on a digging trip ) . Tracking number always provided and you will usually receive an email notifying you of the pending shipment & with tracking number. Insurance optional as I  can’t be responsible of loss , theft or damage after the package is in the postal services hands and subsequently , delivered to your doorstep or mailbox. ,  We love to combine shipping , usually first item is $4 then each additional item is only $1 more . You’ll never pay over $9 because I put things in a flat rate box once a certain postage total is reached. To get the combined rate on shipping you MUST make one payment for all your mulitple items. Most every item is gauranteed with a money back satisfaction gaurantee , except where expressly excluded , or in the case of dirt bags ( once you crack an egg you can hardly put it back together ~ huh ? ) Overseas shipments ? Sure , I routinely ship out to points all over the globe. Check each ad as shipping costs vary from item to item .