Coral and turquoise earrings

Red coral branches topped off with blue turquoise nuggets, named "Nora" after my very funny and cool Aunt Nora. These earrings are very bold and colorful, dangling approximately 1 1/2 inches from handmade earwires.

Nora is now available at the shop!

SUMMER OF JEWELRY

This summer I'm taking a silver jewelry metalsmithing class for five weeks. Each class is five hours long and it's apparently a pretty intense experience. I'm so ready to get started - I haven't been able to contain my excitement! I'm looking forward to learning a whole new set of technical skills. As a bonus, the art school is right by the river in a very charming part of town so getting to hang out for part of the summer there will be a real treat.

AMERICARES CHALLENGE

So putting my money where my mouth is, I've just posted a new announcement at my shop. From now until the end of June, $3 of every sale will be donated to AmeriCares' disaster assistance funds for Myanmar and China, the total amount split between the two funds. My shop will also match 100% of the total amount raised.

Thanks in advance for your generosity!

From AmeriCares

Today I received a wonderful surprise - Lisa from AmeriCares sent me a very kind email in response to yesterday's post.

She writes:

Dear Hazel,

This morning I noticed a mention of AmeriCares on your website, so I checked it out. I usually don’t email folks that mention us in blogs, etc., but I was so impressed with your beautiful jewelry that I’m going to keep your site on my favorites list for when I need to purchase a gift for someone!

We so appreciate that you are encouraging people to give to our fund for Myanmar – the situation is unspeakably awful there and much needs to be done. We will likely soon have a dedicated fund for China too so please keep checking our website for updates.

Best regards

Thank you for your very kind words, and for all the work that you guys do!

Amethyst earrings

Amethyst nugget earrings with handmade gold-filled earwires, named "Emilia" after both my cousin and characters from Winter's Tale and Othello. I didn't realize it was such a popular name!

Emilia is now available at the shop.

I apologize for ending this post on a down note, but I have not been able to forget the searing images of the victims of both the Myanmar cyclone and the China earthquake. As if that wasn't enough, today I read a news article about the pandas in the Wolong research facility in Chengdu province, the same place where my zoo's giant pandas both came from. Apparently the pandas living in the research facility survived, but officials are unsure where they would be able to get their food and water. It is very sad.

I was researching options for donations and the best one seems to be this organization called AmeriCares. Their VP was featured today on the Washington Post, so this organization has been vetted by a respected news organization.

If you would like to help, their donation page for Myanmar is here, but as they don't have a dedicated page for China yet, they are directing people to their international disaster relief fund. This organization seems to be a good one because 98% of donations go toward their relief programs. Also there is the International Committe of the Red Cross, which is a remarkable organization in that they always seem to be the first ones on the ground once a disaster strikes.

I can't help but think, when I look at the pictures of the victims, that there but for the grace of God...it's very scary and very humbling.

Briolettes

I scored these pretty, pretty clear glass briolettes in the same style as the Elizabeth and Bella. The brios are really clear and pure. This pair is "Portia" after a character from Merchant of Venice, and she also dangles from gold-filled earwires that I made by hand.

Portia is now up at the shop!

At last count, it has now been raining for more than 24 hours. And every Sunday and Monday for the last five weeks (except, ironically enough, the week we were away on the cruise), it has poured. And it has been chilly.

Granted, my front yard looks very lush and the azalea bushes I nearly killed from neglect are now thriving again, but I am heartily sick of this rain. I've barely even had a chance to break out my new linen dresses because it's been too cold.

I had a major craving for a red velvet cupcake today. As all the bakeries that had them would have been closed by the time I got there, we settled for Cinnabons instead. But I'm still dreaming of that red velvet cake I had at Doughboys in L.A. a couple of years ago.

Happy Mother's Day

Here are flowers for the mothers out there.

These are "Olivia," named after a character from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She is made of vintage white glass flowers, glass leaves, and Swarovski crystals. I am also debuting my new signature earwires, handmade by me! They are hand formed from 22 gauge sterling silver wire.

Olivia is now available at the shop!

I hope everyone has a wonderful mother's day.

Goodies in the mail

I received the poppy bobby pins from Foundling, and her packaging was so adorable that I had to take a picture.

Soldering and metalsmithing

I had an exciting day - I took a five hour soldering class today, and it was amazing.

I finally know how to solder!

I also learned how to make my own jump rings as well as a nifty new clasp design. I learned what kind of torch, flux, and other equipment to use. Apparently I was using the wrong type of soldering tool before, which was why I couldn't get it working.

Below is the bracelet I made in class. It's made of sterling silver and I formed all the links by hand. After it was put through the tumbler it came out in a highly shiny, beautiful silver finish, but I ended up giving it an antiqued finish because I wanted to learn how to oxidize sterling.




A close up of the clasp I made.



It looks very vintage.

My teacher was extremely talented and the next class I want to take with him is ring making (not the wire rings, but the actual handforged rings). I have so many new ideas bouncing around in my head now! First I need to collect my tools and supplies, then set up a space where I can safely use a butane torch, and then start creating new designs for the shop!

I am excited.