Another one

I had complete fun making this necklace, with all of its contrasting textures, shapes, and neutral shades. I also like how the circles form a mini-link that looks like they are a found vintage necklace from someone's grandmother's trinket box. And then, while thinking up of a good name, I realized I've never named a piece after Princess Leah. How remiss of me! So here is the Leah necklace.

New necklace

I just posted a brand new item at the shop, the Bethany necklace. Turquoise nugget, smoky quartz, and one of my hand-forged sterling silver circles. I think this is a great piece for summer, especially with the earthy color combination. Also, something exciting. My mother-in-law was out and about this weekend wearing her Astrid necklace, and a stranger complimented her on it. My MIL then promptly gave her one of my cards (actually the old version that Alissa happened to have on her). How's that for marketing!

Vintage necklace

I finally tried my hand at oxidizing metal, and here is the result: the Priscilla necklace. I used the brass skeleton key charm I got a while back as the focal point. The circle pendant that the charms are hanging from was hand-forged using 16g sterling silver wire, but oxidation came out a little unexpectedly. Instead of a gunmetal color, the liver of sulfur gave the pendant a bluish/greenish patina. After a while I decided it actually sort of matches the verdigris on the key, so even if the results were a little unexpected, I kept it as is. I'm not sure if the blue/green color was a reaction to the soldering process or to the copper tongs I used (does anybody know if copper reacts with liver of sulfur?) but, it worked out in this case.

Spring?

The weather is playing with my mind. Today was sunny and in the 60s, definitely more like early April than the beginning of February. My spring fever is even worse now that I've had a taste of April (damn you, weather!). We're supposed to get another kind of winter storm next week, too.

Well, here you are - the Rosemary earrings. Pink and sparkly, and very girly.

The sun will come out...

Not this weekend, that's for sure! The weather didn't cooperate with me at all the past two days (except for that one hour we were out running errands), so I didn't get to photograph my new stuff. Luckily enough, I took this picture last weekend so I was able to list a new item at the shop today - the matching Bronwen bracelet. Buy her now and be my instant BFF!

And finally, the one surefire way to tell that you are old: when you get so excited by the idea of buying a new vacuum cleaner, and get even more excited about bringing it home, putting it together, and trying it out.

Wow. I need to get out more.

Earrings for the new year

My first new product for 2009, the Bronwen earrings! I first heard of this name when a good friend of mine from writing camp way back in the day told me that her roommate in college was named thus. She was Welsh. Except now I can't remember if it's spelled Bronwen or Bronwyn. Hmm...either way, check out the Bronwen earrings at the shop!

More tradeshows

I just listed the matching Margery necklace in the shop.

Earlier today I braved another tradeshow. I only went because I needed to re-stock some supplies, so I was happy to see that the vendor I usually get my aqua chalcedony brios from was back. I bought a few strands from him, which means I can again offer my bestseller, the Leslie earrings.

I also bought some liver of sulfur, so expect some antique-y looking pieces to appear in the shop soon, as well as Batterns flux and more pickling solution for my metalsmithing. I find that the paste flux I'm using now isn't as good as the Batterns, so hopefully this will make soldering go a little easier. Other than those and just a few more beads (apatite, more chrysoprase, turquoise, and quartz), there wasn't really that much new or exciting in the way of beads and gemstones, so I didn't leave with my usual haul.

And of course, this being the weekend before Christmas (still hard to believe!) all the other places I visited today were total madhouses.

Busy, busy

Last night I babysat my two most favorite little people in the world, and after they were happily snoozing away in dreamland, I had enough time to finish my custom project (that I can't reveal yet - I promise to post pictures after the holidays). Who knows, maybe you are the intended recipient!

And today, I braved the mall. Yes, I did. I figured I've put it off long enough. And was reminded again how much I loathe - absolutely loathe - malls and big box stores during the holidays. But, brave them I did, and crossed off a whole bunch of names on my Christmas/Hanukkah shopping list.

Amidst all of that, I managed to take some time to list a new pair of earrings in my Etsy shop. Quartz and pearls, and named Margery after medieval writer Margery Kempe, who I confess I've never heard of until now. I just really like her name!

Pearl and quartz necklace

New in the shop, the Renee necklace (haven't used up all the female names from Twilight yet). This is a cluster necklace made of a clear quartz faceted briolette and rice pearls, dropping fairly long at 26".

When I first posted this necklace on Etsy I wasn't liking how it looked, so I made slight adjustments to the cluster. I hate it when that happens, but hopefully this is an improvement.

I am also procrastinating on doing my business taxes (what's new?). I keep bribing myself that if I finish my taxes early then I can go on to more fun stuff, such as getting back to my book, listening to some new downloaded music, and making new rings for the shop out of these awesome stones that I bought.

New in the shop

The Nicole earrings, named after one of my style icons, Nicole Richie. You know it! She is similar to the Audrey earrings but adorned with very pretty green quartz brios. Now available!

Works in progress

Working on designs for my friend Camille's custom order for her bridesmaids. Her colors are in the gold and brown families, since her wedding is going to be an autumn one.


A prototype of the bridesmaid earring. The one for the maid-of-honor will be more intricate. These are made of smoky quartz brios and vermeil chain.

Matching bi-color quartz necklace

Here is the matching "Eugenie" necklace.

I had the hardest time with these photographs. I couldn't capture the sparkle of the quartz adequately - it kept coming in very dark.

Hopefully these are better.

Check out the Eugenie necklace at the shop!

Aqua earrings

Faceted aqua quartz rondelles with hammered vermeil squares and earwires. This one is "Carrie," named after Carrie Bradshaw and in honor of the new SATC movie!

Carrie is now up at the shop!

Important public service announcement: whatever you do, refrain from seeing the new Indiana Jones. Unfortunately, that was two and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back.

Bi-color quartz drops

These bi-color quartz step cut drops are gorgeous - the step cuts reflect the light beautifully and make the stones very sparkly. It's hard to capture in photographs - this was my best attempt, but even this doesn't do the stones justice. I just hope it sort of comes through when looking at the rest of the pictures in the shop.

These stones are so regal and gorgeous that I couldn't help but name them after royalty - specifically, Empress Eugenie of France, Napoleon III's wife. "Eugenie" is paired with white rice pearls and decorative vermeil circles, hanging from handmade and hammered gold-filled earwires.

Eugenie is now available - check out her other pictures!

Also, I am offering another Astrid necklace!

And check out the matching Leslie necklace that I finished. This was a custom order. The circle link really dressed up the piece and gave it a jazzier look.

Fresh stock

Yesterday I was at the gem and jewelry show and came home with a slew of new beads and supplies. I have aquamarine, aventurine, amazonite, quartz, chalcedony, serpentine, green amethyst, smoky quartz, pearls, tourmaline, and a lot more. There were some really gorgeous AAA quality green amethyst gemstones imported from India that I was salivating over. I kept going back again and again to the vendor to look at them and agonize over whether I should get them (they were very expensive). In the end, I couldn't justify the expense since using them in my designs would mean going to a way higher price point than what I'm currently selling my jewelry for. Maybe someday...

Quartz earrings

Pink quartz faceted briolettes and white potato pearls on sterling silver earwires, named "Tess" after my old nanny, who I miss terribly! Tess is now available at the shop.

I made two more sales - Colleen and Polly, my newest offerings, have both sold! Thanks Lisa!

I saw this guy on Colbert Report last night - Nathan Gunn, a really hot opera singer. Usually you don't associate opera singers with hotness, but not only was this guy hot, he was really charming, articulate, and really built as well. Apparently the opera world is trying to shed its snobby reputation by bringing its art to the masses, most notably into movie theaters, and I am guessing that Nathan Gunn is part of their PR blitz.

Trot out the hottie, bring in the ladies.

Aqua charm bracelet

It's hard to get back in gear after vacation, but my friend Lisa told me I had to produce this weekend. I managed to get just one piece finished (another one I was working on didn't come out like I had envisioned, so it's back to the drawing board for that one).

As I have also finally ran out of friends and family names for my pieces (I hope I didn't forget anyone), I am now turning to both literature and celebrities for inspiration. Like peas in a pod, right?

Hence, this new bracelet is called "Eloise," after the little girl who lives in the Plaza Hotel. She is made up of aqua chalcedony and aqua quartz in a charm bracelet style, and can be extended from 7" to 9" in length.

The colors remind me of the Caribbean Sea. And I'm not just saying that because I still have the post-vacation blues!

Eloise is now available at the shop!

Smoky quartz earrings

So I really wanted to name something after my cousin Ryan, who is Highmaintenancemom's little bro, but I couldn't come up with a good girl's derivative of his name. I decided to call this piece "Camryn" after his girlfriend instead. This one's for you, too, Ryan!

She is made of these gorgeous smoky quartz faceted briolettes, hand wrapped in gold-filled wire. I then added gold-filled jump rings to dress her up and put the whole lot on vermeil earwires.

More pictures and details of Camryn are available at the shop! (Also notice the debut of the French poetry book from Mr Hazel in these pictures.)

And in the good news front, Margaret, Bella and another pair of Ahila have all sold! Thanks, Lisa!

Yesterday also saw the arrival of the dress form that I had ordered. I've been looking for one of these for a while now for displaying and photographing my necklaces because I realized it's hard to gauge the length and the overall look just by using those busts. But with the dress forms, they are in proportion to a real person so you can see where the necklaces will hang in relation to the neck and bust. My sister also was the one to tell me that they are called "dress forms" and not mannequins (which are different things), so I knew what to search for.

The one I bought is gorgeous, has a wooden base and neck, and can be extended up to 6'. It also has a really huge pair of boobs. The one I originally wanted to get didn't have nearly as big a pair, but Mr Hazel thought this one was better because it has, according to him, "more of a form." Yes, we all know what he meant by that!

Also, I think this makes for nice decoration. Gives a room that chic, "Paris atelier" sort of a look.


I've retaken shots of some of the necklaces and will continue doing so until all of the existing necklaces have this picture. Here are some I've put up already:



I kind of feel like I ought to put some clothes on her.

New shop item: pink briolette earrings

Today's new shop addition is the "Lourdes" earrings, named after my grandmother and my aunt (not the same person!). She features three sparkly, luminous pink briolettes each, wire wrapped and dangling from sterling earwires.

More details and pictures of Lourdes are available at the shop!

In very exciting news, I sold five items today!!! A buyer bought three items, the Pamela bracelet, the Claire necklace, and the Ahila earrings. The Ahila earrings seem a popular item (I've sold two now) so it looks like I'll be stocking the shop with more of this item.

Also, my friend Mandy bought the Meridith earrings and matching necklace as a birthday gift for her mom. I feel so touched and privileged at having one of my designs picked for this special occasion.

Thank you so much to both customers!

New shop item: sky blue earrings

Ooh, I love how these turned out. It's very rare that I work in gold, but these stones definitely called for some fancy gold components. And blue and gold remind me of Versailles.

These earrings are the "Stephanie," named after another good friend of mine. She is made of sky blue quartz briolettes, gold-filled wire, and gold vermeil earwires.

More details and pictures of Stephanie are available at the shop!

My sister also requested "Sophie" with a chain instead of the blue ribbon, so I'm happy to say the revamped Sophie is now available on reserve.

Mr Hazel took me to a fancy new steakhouse downtown for dinner last night. I ordered raw oysters for my appetizer (I love me some oysters) and requested some vinegar to go with it. I expected them to bring out a bottle of plain old vinegar like they do at Red Lobster (yes, I admit, in addition to the high brow, we also do low), but instead they brought out this fancy aged vinegar dressed in chopped garlic. It was to die for. Oh, and the steak wasn't too bad, either. For dessert, I had the crepe souffle, and a grapefruit martini for my cocktail.

Yum.