"Mixed gemstone" butterflies: what stones are they?
 

I ordered "mixed gemstone" butterflies. I figured I'd know what they are when they arrived. That strategy worked fine for the mixed gemstone donuts.

Well, these little critters are more challenging to ID than I'd expected. One broke, and it was grainy (sandy, even) and microcrystalline on the inside (not conchoid like glass or clear quartz fractures).

Here are some images. Can anyone help figure out what they are?

In particular, has anyone seen what sandstone or jasper looks like when it fractures?

All I know right off the bat is the top row two on the right are either Lapis Lazuli or Lapis. Look closely at them and see if you see any smale fragments of Pyrite in them. If you do they are Lapis Lazuli and if not they are Lapis. I am sure you know what Pyrite but just incase you don't it will look very similar to Gold!

I am not ruling out the possibility that the multi-colored ones have been dyed, btw. The yellow one that broke was yellow all through, and its texture was grainy or sandy. That's why I was wondering if anyone here has seen broken sandstone. Or broken jade or jasper.

It can be hard to light photos to get the color right. None of the butterflies are blue. They are red, yellow, slate grey, and greenish black (or blackish green) with yellow.

Those last ones remind me of Tree Agate, but darker and with yellow mixed in. The Tree Agate I've seen in the past is a brighter green with white, not yellow.

Edit to add: the last two pics are close ups of the same butterflies in the first image.

The ones in the first picture top row, the two on the right. They look to be white and blue to me which would be either Lapis Lazuli or Lapis. Depends if it has Pyrite in it. No clue about the other ones. You might be right and they have been dyed.

AHA! Got 'em!

I just worked with the remaining butterflies, adding a bail to them. Again, I had a package of ten butterflies, but one fractured while I was working with it, leaving me with nine intact pendants, plus two damaged pendants that allow me to see the fracture pattern of the stone. It looks grainy and rough, and glitters a little as though it's got sand grains in it.

Again, I noticed that as I work with them and handle them extensively, they leave a feeling on my fingers as though I've been handling powder or soap. All the butterflies feel like this.

And then it hit me. SOAPSTONE, a form of talc that's also known as steatite. That's been a medium for carving for eons, and its talc content makes it have that soapy or powdery feel to the touch, when it's handled. It's a metamorphic rock, which explains the granulated look of its fractures. It also explains why I had to deal with fractured items in the first place, even though I'm extremely careful with my materials -- its talc composition makes it a very soft stone indeed (undoubtedly why it's so popular for sculpture).

One other property of these stones is that I had to be very careful to prevent the metal plier tips from pressing or scratching the stone, lest I create a scratch. So they have a low Mohs hardness, a property which definitely describes talc, the main component of soapstone.

So instead of being "mixed" in terms of being ten different stones, the butterflies are actually "mixed" in terms of being multicolored versions of one stone.

Thanks for helping me brainstorm! :)