Another month, another chance to wish you happy birthday, this time to my July-born readers!  This summer has been crazy, but I promise I’m not officially on hiatus (yet) — so up first, check out the adorable Ruby the Dragon by American professional crafter Alicia1018, who created her own pattern for these crochet dragons — and you can purchase the digital pattern at her Etsy shop!  Check out more great work in her gallery.

From the International Gem Society:

July’s traditional and modern birthstone is ruby. This gem’s many symbolic associations include love, passion, wealth, and peace. In ancient times, people wore it as protection against evil and harm. An exceptionally hard stone, medium to medium-dark red rubies with little to no purple or orange generally demand the highest prices. Rubies belong to the corundum family. They are the red variety of this mineral. All other colors, including pinks, are considered sapphire.

Then we have Ruby and Cliff by American (living in Thailand) deviantartist KenyaJoy.  This is fanart from the Wings of Fire book series by Tui T. Sutherand, who was one of the authors collaborating under the pen name Erin Hunter on the Warriors cat book series that I love.  I haven’t read these books yet, but maybe I can gift them to my neices and nephews someday?  See more of KenyaJoy’s amazing WoF fanart in her gallery.

Moving right along, this is Ruby Red Dragon by American professional artist and crafter Becca Golins of Dragons and Beasties — since I featured an artist inspired by her work last post, I thought it was only right to include the lady herself this week!  This is the 2010 version (which I do love), but if you want to see her updated 2017 version, you’ll have to check out this collage poster of all her updated gem dragons.  Check out her gallery, official website, Instagram, Facebook and Patreon for much, much more, and check out this pep talk from the collage poster — Becca writes:

I went and remade all the original 2010 Gem Dragons with my current style and skillset, and absolutely love seeing all the differences and improvements. Just goes to show what you can accomplish over 7+ years of study and practice. So to anyone out there doubting their current abilities, just know that everyone started somewhere, and nothing great is gained without hard work. You put in the time and it pays off, so don’t give up!

And finally, here is one final Ruby Dragon by American professional artist Chris Malidore for Fantasy Flight Game‘s Talisman: The Dragon board game.  You can still see his gallery for great artwork, but Chris notes that he’s more active on Facebook and Patreon lately.  He also got into an interesting conversation in the comments of this piece about why this dragon is red, and why everyone likes red dragons:

… [because] the dragon is made of rubies. … [also] red is a bold color, it’s a dangerous and symbolically emotional color that we automatically perceive as important.

As far as dragons go, it was a color they picked way back in the beginning of the ol pen & paper rpg’s and I think a lot of that has to do with not only the dangerous implications but because of printing simplicity.  If you want to use an archetype – go with a basic color. If you want a simple print cost – go with a basic color.

Okay, so full disclosure — I’ve gotten just as addicted to the new mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite as I was to Pokemon Go (so add me as a friend 5959 7215 8336), but I’ve also just been busy with my own personal drama, plus summer fun time, finishing the final book of the amazing HP fanfic The Sacrifices Arc by Lightning on the Wave (again; read my earlier write up about it here), and I just moved to a whole new department at my law firm, so that’s been stressful as well!

But despite all of that, I promise that if I actually decide to take any longer time off as the year draws to a close, I’ll make a post about it.

For now, expect at least a birthstones dragons post every month, and more if I get the time, energy, inspriation, and opportunity!

As alwasy, thank you so much for reading, take care, and stay creative, everyone!

Image credits:
+ Ruby the Dragon by Alicia1018
+ Ruby image from the International Gem Society article What is my Birthstone?
+ Ruby and Cliff by KenyaJoy
+ Ruby Red Dragon by Becca Golins of Dragons and Beasties
+ Ruby Dragon by Chris Malidore, posting as cmalidore