Everything's Coming Up Roses

Seattle gray skies are getting me down lately and I yearn to see flowers bloom. Until then, I've made a few of my own with these new items. A ring and a pair of earrings with rosettes, chalcedony and lavender cz's. They match the brooch I made last week. Someday the rains will stop, the sun will appear and flowers will bloom again... at least I can dream.

Rose Ring - size 5 1/2

Lilac and Roses Earrings

A Day Filled With Etsy Treasuries

Today, two of my necklaces were included in etsy treasuries! First, my "Spring Break" chalcedony pendant is in a cute treasury called "My Perfect Dreaming in Color Tea Party Day". Curated by PrettyDuzz, this treasury includes everything you'll need to have the perfect afternoon tea. Take a peek at the wonderful artists featured here.

My new "Serenity" Variscite pendant was included in a treasury titled "Seafoam Frothing in the Spring". This treasury is curated by darlicioushouse and includes gorgeous seafoam colored items! Click on the photos or the links to enjoy all the pretty things!

Spring Break! - Year of Jewelry 2011 - Week 11

The theme for this week's Year of Jewelry Project is "Think Spring". For most of the US, it's been a very long winter and everyone is eager for spring to arrive. Officially, it's right around the corner - Sunday, March 20th! I won't be able to take a spring break this year, but I long for beautiful, tropical ocean views. My favorite beaches are in SW Florida. Where are your favorite beaches?

In honor of the arrival of Spring, I've created the pendant pictured on the left. It's titled "Spring Break". The luscious color of these chalcedony stones remind me of a tropical beach. They are set in fine silver and backed with sterling silver. All of the silver is polishes to a high shine. The pendant measures 1-7/8" long and hangs on a 16" sterling silver box chain. You can view the necklace in my etsy shop here.

Now let's all ban our black sweaters and break out the colorful pastels! Happy Spring!

Playing Catch-Up with Week 5

You probably already know I'm participating in the Year of Jewelry Project 2011. It's been quite inspiring for me and I'm really pleased with the pieces I've created using the YOJ weekly themes. But a month ago, I missed a week - week 5. I was out of town and didn't get a chance to make up the week until now.

The theme I missed was "Down and Dirty". I was actually a little glad that I wouldn't be able to make the deadline for this one because the theme just had me stumped. Down and Dirty? Huh?

Last week, as I was going through my stash of stones, I found this red plume agate that I'd purchased over a year ago. Whenever I'm working with a new stone, I do a little research on it, mainly to make sure that the stone is labeled properly and how hard or soft the stone is so that I set it properly. When researching red plume agates, I found a picture of it in its natural uncut state. It looks like a ball of hardened dirt. All the color is buried inside the rock and not revealed until the rock is broken open. The website advised rock hounds to be observant in their search for it because the dirt-like appearance makes it easy to overlook. Down and Dirty! My quest for a link to week 5's theme was fulfilled.

The stone is primarily a rusty red color with plumes of gray/blue and tan. I paired it with a holly lavender chalcedony accent stone, trying to pick up on some of the blue/gray in the focal stone. I also purchased a new texturing hammer and did a little experimenting with that to create some definition in the sterling silver back plate. I added some sterling twigs in keeping with the earthy, dirt theme and a little sunburst behind the lavender accent stone. I've added a light patina to bring out the detail in the texture.

I've listed it in my etsy shop here.

I Love Stones!

Oh, I've grown to love and appreciate stones. I love everything about them. I love looking at them, touching them, and making pretty jewelry with them. They make me feel grounded and centered. A piece of the earth for me to honor, appreciate and take with me. With different colors for my every mood, they bring me joy in many ways! I have a deep respect (and a little envy) for lapidary artists. With a keen eye, they can cut, carve, shape and polish stones to bring out their individual beauty.

Recently, my sister-in-law was visiting me here in WA. I showed her some of my newer stones so she could pick out one for me to make a pendant with for her. It was so fun to watch her peruse them. She got a little giddy as she opened the packages, running the stones through her hands, holding them up to the light so she could see and appreciate the beauty of each one. She couldn't put them down!

I find that same delight whenever I'm shopping for stones. Today's photos show some of the stones I purchased recently from Out of Our Mines Lapidary and Beadworks. They were guest presenters at a local bead shop in Bellevue recently. I purchased some stones from them last year and I'm so happy they returned to WA again this year. You can click on each photo for an enlarged view.

While unfortunately you can't touch them through your computer screen, if any strike your fancy and you would like something made just for you with any of them, you can contact me through my etsy site or leave a comment on this blog and we can talk about a custom order item for you.

I still have many more stones that I purchased last fall but haven't used yet. You can see photos of some of them in 2 of my past blogs here and here. Again, if something strikes you as a must have, let me know and I'll reserve it for you!