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.

New shop item: a bracelet!

I had planned on posting the matching "Kathleen" necklace today, but then decided to wait a couple of days instead so as to space out the pictures for visual variety on Etsy.

In the meanwhile, a couple of people have asked about bracelets, so I am happy to say that I've been busy working on them. Here is the first one - "Alissa," named after my sister-in-law. She is made of green chinese chrysoprase and alternating silver links, with a decorative toggle clasp.

More details and pictures of Alissa are now available at the shop!

New shop item: serpentine earrings

As you can probably tell, I am in love with these Hill Tribe leaf charms. I found them at the gem show and bought a bunch, so you'll probably see them in a lot of the new designs.

These earrings are "Kathleen," named after the bravest, smartest, kindest, and most wonderful woman ever. She also comes with a matching necklace, which I will post tomorrow. Made of these pretty pale green serpentine beads (another gem show find that is a new stone I've never worked with before), they dangle together with the leaf charms and chains to form a pretty cluster.

Kathleen is now available at the shop!

So today I got my 27th heart, but this one was from a "secret admirer." Oooh, who could it be?

I made two more sales! The "Alexandra" set and the "Elizabeth" necklace were both snatched up. And today I hand delivered my friend Michele's jewelry purchases when we met up for lunch, and I got all anxious, hoping they live up to her expectations. Selling stuff you made is nerve-wracking sometimes.

Thanks again, Michele!

New shop item: pink glass necklace

This pretty piece is the matching necklace to the "Elizabeth" earrings. She is made of the same opaque pink glass briolette wrapped in sterling silver wire, and I've added a Hill Tribe silver leaf charm and a Swarovski crystal.

The "Elizabeth" necklace is now available at the shop!

Brrr...it was an insanely cold day today. All I wanted to do when I got home was get into my pajamas and fuzzy slippers.

Although, I'm cautiously optimistic because this morning I noticed that my neighbor's tulips are starting to come out of the ground. Every year, this is one of the earliest (and most welcome) signs I have that spring is just around the corner. Soon our cherry blossom tree will burst into bloom, and then spring will truly be here. I'm waiting with bated breath...but 'till then...brrrr!

The owls are here! The owls are here!

Can you tell I'm super excited about these earrings? They are so adorable I can't contain myself. I named them "Joy," after my cousin Joy (and another cousin's middle name), because how could these not bring a smile to your face? Seriously - they just scream joy to me!

I am going to make myself a pair, too.

Oh yes, to the description: the owls are vintage plastic, accompanied by a pair of Hill Tribe silver leaf pendants and white carved beads, all on French hook earwires.

Heart count to date: I'm up to 24 now! Yippee!

Wow, "Sarah Connor Chroincles" was so good last night. We saw the future! It was great!

New shop item: coral necklace and earrings

This new necklace is "Alexandra" and she comes with matching earrings. Made of coral beads, she has one filigree charm on a pretty sterling silver chain. The earrings are made of matching coral with a smaller filigree charm on sterling silver earwires.

Alexandra's namesake is actually Alexander (or Alex) in real life, but I'm not going to tell Alex that not only does he have a necklace named after him, there are also earrings involved. Alex is a fan of Star Wars and Transformers, so the news that he is namesake to girly girl items might not sit well.

This afternoon I went to the bookstore to look for a French novel to use for my photo backgrounds. This was actually Mr Hazel's idea, but the two French novels I owned have gone missing, no doubt from multiple packing and unpacking from various moves over the years. Unfortunately the bookstore didn't have anything I could use, so I turned to some children's literature and poetry instead, but didn't have much luck there, either. So it looks like I'm going on a treasure hunt...

On free bread, gem shows, and publicity

Whew! What a day! In the morning I had a hair appointment (apparently I haven't gone in 3 months, which accounts for my highlights turning a bit on the brassy side and my gray hairs popping up like weeds), but I managed to publicize Hazel Designs to my hairstylist by giving her one of my cards. I'm trying to spread the word as hard and as fast as I can.

After leaving the salon (feeling, of course, like a new woman), I headed to the gem and jewelry show. It was a huge space filled to the brim with all manner of rings, diamonds, gemstones, beads, and even one booth selling purses (I almost bought one until I remembered I shouldn't really be buying purses at a bead show). I was able to access the wholesalers' section, open only to people "in the trade," and I felt so privileged. The best part was there was NO TAX whatsoever! I could get used to this no tax thing.

I was there for hours and my feet were ready to fall off by the end, but I managed to score a bounty of goodies - including chalcedony in blue, pink, and green, which I have been looking for for months now without any success. I also found a lot of gorgeous sterling silver chains and findings.

(And, as a bonus, they cleaned my wedding rings for free).

So expect the shop to be stocked with new designs in the coming weeks. I truly felt like the proverbial kid in the candy shop today.

I also managed to score a free loaf of bread. Not at the bead show, but at my favorite bakery - I discovered this place by accident a few months ago, and found out that they serve THE BEST challah ever. The. Best. So I made a special trip today to get some, but to my dismay, they had run out. The baker guy must have been able to see the tears of disappointment forming at the corners of my ducts because he very gently suggested trying their white bread instead, which he claimed to be just as good as the challah. At my skeptical look he said I could have it for free to try out. Yay, free bread! It's not as good as the challah, but it's pretty decent. Especially because it's free.

And lastly, on publicity: please check out the official Etsy CREST team blog, of which "Astrid" from my shop is pictured (yay!), and also this list of CREST team shops, of which my shop is also included.