Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday although this year our gathering will be a small one. Still, it is the one holiday where one eats, drinks, visits, and generally feels absolutely justified in doing nothing except feeling thankful that one can eat, drink and visit.

I am not one of those who will show up at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning to get all the "good" sales. Ugh! The very thought of it strikes terror in my heart. I have become increasingly an online shopper since it is so simple and I can shop when I'm in the mood, not when the store happens to be open. With so many stores having liberal return policies and free shipping, some of the last barriers to easy online shopping are disappearing.

For those of you who follow this blog and are thinking of Christmas jewelry, be warned that I am leaving Dec. 17th to go to Africa for Christmas, so get in the jewelry order early! I'm still doing custom orders, too, but do arrange with me soon to have your piece made.

Today, some of the latest pieces: above, a chrysoprase bracelet with artist's lampwork and two strands of sterling silver and chrysoprase. Below, an agate bracelet with pretty speckled agate. The next gemstone bracelet is made with some of my favorite prehnite; it's chunky and sharply faceted.  The artist's lampwork with the prehnite is some of our prettiest from Enchanted Dreams.

I

I am very fond of bracelets with more than one strand; that is only one reason I like the blue lace agate bracelet below. The flower theme is present in the prettiest artist's lampwork bead of dark blue with light blue flowers, stamped flower charms and a pretty sterling silver flower-themed clasp. The bracelet is all blue lace agate with the exception of the focal gemstone which is made of darker blue chalcedony.

Above is the first prayer box necklace I've made in gold.  The prayer box itself is a bit different than one usually expects.  It is a filigree style round shape (and it does open) topped with a pretty cabochon garnet. The prayer box itself is made of vermeil (gold over sterling silver) and the very long chain is 14 karat goldfill.

The earrings below are, in order: briolette earrings;  aquamarine earrings created from lovely faceted aquamarine briolettes of an intense blue;  ruby earrings handcrafted of ruby briolettes, vermeil, and goldfill.

   The last piece is unusual for me; it is a watch and not just an ordinary watch.  The face of the watch is encrusted with Swarovski crystals; the band is made of Swarovski crystals and faceted black onyx and, of course, sterling silver.  It would be great to wear to a Christmas or New Year's party.

   I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you get to spend it with people you love!

FREE SHIPPING IN THE USA WITH ANY PURCHASE OVER 50.00; JUST 1.95 UNDER 50.00.

Jewelry and Computer Cats

I've still been working with garnets to some extent since it is the birthstone for this month. I've been exploring garnet mixtures and came up with a couple that I'm satisfied with. The first is the bracelet above, made possible by the large, square, beautiful lampwork bead with a sprinkling of sterling silver across the middle and two different shades of pink: on the left is pink opal, to the right is a graduated pink. Two roughly faceted garnet nuggets are offset by two gorgeous Peruvian pink opals - best quality, with a strong deep pink and some translucence. I love these glorious opals! The bracelet below is another mixture that I accidentally discovered when my bench was covered with all kinds of gemstones. These beautiful rounded rectangles of pietersite happened to be lying next to the lampwork beads that you see in the bracelet. I tried amethyst, but it clashed, the way that some gemstones do unexpectedly sometimes, when you'd swear that they would be perfect together. However, the dark garnet was perfect. Garnet, pietersite and very pretty lampwork beads - not a combination I see everyday, but one that I do like. Both bracelets are on the Garnet Bracelets page of the site.
I've been lucky lately with getting some beautiful borosilicate lampwork beads with unusual colours and great blends of colours. The peach - pink - orangey ones in the rhodochrosite bracelet below are an example. They are so lovely, in fact, that I don't put them in the little drawers that I have for different colours; I leave them out on my desk so that I can look at them. The gemstone bracelet below has the addition of two pinkish genuine rubies on its second strand, and a generous helping of some of my most intricate sterling silver.
Finally, I would like to introduce you to two of the greatest joys in my life - and my helpers whenever I do work on the computer. In front is Cuervo Sebastian, winking at the camera. Behind in his usual place snuggled up next to the computer (it's very warm there) is Cluny Camillo. Cluny and Cuervo are kind enough to let me live here with them, and they even let me sit here on the bed while I work on the computer and watch tv. By the way, they don't wear jewelry!




jewellery accessories jewelry fashion shopping braceletsbeads handmade beaded jewelry beading helmi gioielli smykker takı juvelen lampwork beads The Jewelry Blog jewelry trends accessories cats Swarovski crystal cloisonne jewelry
unique jewelry
unusual jewelry
beaded jewelry
bead jewelry
garnet bracelet

Are We There Yet?

Have you ever had the feeling that you will never get "caught up"(whatever that means)? I'm having one of those episodes now, as I go to the office each day and try to finish what I was trying to finish yesterday! I haven't really had time to post a lot of new Fall jewelry since getting "caught up" means getting orders out, doing paperwork, and organizing new gemstones and components as they are coming in. So today, I don't have many pictures to put on the blog. I'll be glad to get some more help for the paperwork and organizing as soon as I can find someone. I love to travel and have a short Hilton Head trip coming up, but lately getting away hasn't meant getting away at all, but rather working furiously before I go, taking work with me, and being met with a deluge of things to do on coming home. Of course, it doesn't help that I have to work hard to mollify kitties Cluny and Cuervo who feel that forgiveness for my travel is a lengthy process that requires a lot of treats and petting and brushing on my part (although I do have two different people come over every day while I am gone to make sure that they are fed, and one who stays to play with them for an hour or more!)
The jewelry today is (above) a labradorite bracelet featuring sterling silver and pretty borosilicalte lampwork beads, (below) an opal bracelet made with blue Peruvian opals, smoky quartz, and sterling silver. The second strand is a chain of sterling with charms hanging at intervals. The last bracelet today is made with yellow turquoise - a stone I don't use that often. A customer wanted a bracelet and some other pieces made from yellow turquoise and I started getting interested in the patterns and shades of colour in these oval stones especially. With Suzette Celestin's lampwork beads and Karen Hill Tribes chain, this is one of my favorites although I'd never been very keen on yellow turquoise before. It's not on the turquoise page, but on a new page on the website that features gemstone bracelets that contain gemstones that we don't really have a category for otherwise, such as charoite, sodalite, rhodochrosite, unakite, and yes, yellow turquoise!

jewellery accessories jewelry fashion shopping braceletsbeads handmade beaded jewelry beading helmi gioielli smykker takı juvelen lampwork beads The Jewelry Blog jewelry trends accessories jewelry handmade bracelet gemstone bracelets
labradorite jewelry