Autumnal Equinox Carnelian and copper necklace with real copper-dipped Maple Leaf

I like to sit back and admire this necklace. Three strands of carnelian and copper alternate and join at a glorious copper-dipped Maple leaf. Handmade wire clasp is hidden under Maple leaf. The detail and color of this leaf is mesmerizing. Delicate and bold at the same time, a rainbow of irridescence glistens. When you look at it really close, you can see the fibrous detail of the veins and structures in the leaf. Breathtaking! Expect many compliments when you show off this beautiful fall ornament.

The necklace measures 16 inches (40.64 cm); I'm making earrings to match. I'll use a copper leaf charm on each, and more of these lovely carnelian beads.These are available for purchase in quantities, as I can acquire more of these gorgeous leaves. Chunkier beads would produce an equally glorious but different look.

****UPDATE!! Mary, on her blog "Living with Walls: Flourishing behind the Walls of Multiple Sclerosis" has featured my Maple leaf necklace as the illustration for a beautiful poem "What is it About Leaves?" I was moved by her poem, and by the recognition. If you're a fan of autumn, like I am, you might want to go take a look, and contemplate her poem. She has incredible talent!!

New treasury!

Another Treasury! Marine Blue! How pretty! Check it out!! Thanks for noticing my earrings!.

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<---------They're right here...

Caribbean Blue Larimar will capture you!

Look out, Larimar is on the loose. I was captivated by this stone the first time I saw it, but was not aware of how special it was, so I didn't purchase the set I saw. My mistake. Even though I make jewelry, I'd scoop this stuff up any time the design is right!

From Wikipedia: Larimar (also lorimar) is a rare blue variety of pectolite found only in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean. Its coloration varies from white, light-blue, green-blue to deep blue. The deep blue variant is known as volcanic blue.

I've only recently become aware of Larimar, but have developed an intense liking for this gorgeous stone. The higher quality stones are incredibly expensive, so when I saw this strand I knew I had to have it. Baby blue with areas of more intense blue, these stones remind me of the sky and water in Key Wesy, Florida. The have a rustic, almost tumbled character, but have a nice gloss at the same time. Very organic look. I've never been to the Dominican Republic, but I know that if I do I'll be bringing back as much as I can carry.

This 18 1/2" (47cm) necklace features rectangular Larinar beads, silver (I don't think Larmiar looks good at all with yellow gold) and heather grey czech glass heishi beads. The earrings are 2.25" (5.72cm) from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the end bead. The overall efect is a classy, elegant look that brings out the blue in these beautiful beads. I'll be buying more Larimar as my budget permits, but for now, I'm content!

Ta-Da!! Wedding jewelry with a garden theme!

I'm so excited to finish this beautiful Bridal set with a Thai Silver dragonfly, Lilac Stone, Amethyst, Czech glass, florite, and fine silver. It funny to think about how a set comes together on the worktable, and where all the materials come from. Almost like a symphony, every element works together to create a finished piece. They're a fusion of different materials, techniques, and color combinations. Plain, pale lilac stone takes on a new look when paired with amethyst and grape-colored czech glass .

In this set, the lilac stone pendant came from an etsy seller in North Carolina, and the 8mm lilac stone beads came from Glen Allen, California. The 10mm lilac stone beads came from Oakland, California, and the Dragonfly cam from Thailand via my favorite bead store here in Jacksonville! The czech glass flowers on the pendant are from a cute little bead store I found in Tallahassee, Florida, last summer when we went to my husband's family reunion. The fine silver wire came from an Etsy seller Texas, was torched by a great find at Lowe's, and hammered by an antique hammer passed down from my husband's grandfather, who is also my son's namesake, Emanuel. The Precious Metal Clay used for the leaf tag, inscribed with her wedding date and hanging on the pendant, is only made in Japan. My rawhide mallet, used in the hand-forged ear wires, belonged to my grandfather, who was a jeweler.

And the set goes to a lovely lady in Tennessee, getting married outside in a Japanese garden. She'll be wearing a hemp silk dress, and silver flip-flops. She's a beautiful lady who teaches music lessons, and was so great to work with I'd like to consider her as my friend. On July 5th, we'll toast her wedding day from Jacksonville, and pray for a long life of love and laughter for her and her husband.

Sometimes it's fun to stop for a minute and think about the design process from concept to design to finish. So much goes into the creation of a One-of-a-kind set that it's hard to take credit for any of it. I'm pleased to have had one page in the story.

My Magnum Opus...to date

It's finished! I finished my first wedding set and the mailman whisked it away over the weekend. I never would have put these materials together myself, but I must say they turned out very nice.

They're constructed on a base of lightest grey tulle, with a hint of a metallic sheen. The wedding colors are grey and canary, and the bride wanted rhinestones, and a vintage look. Each necklace has a set of vintage earrings as anchors to each side of the front swag, and on the fronts of each are strung rows of glass and freshwater pearls, mother of pearl beads, crystal, rhinestone, Swarovski wheel rondelles, silver spacers, and sparkly glass beads. The junior bridesmaid's necklace, the lowest on the right, has a central vintage brooch instead of the earring anchors. The people at my local antique mall (2 miles from my house!) were extremely accommodating to me as I combed all of the displays for materials that would work for my project. I get so many ideas when I look at vintage jewelry that I just have to write them down! You can also find wonderful materials to recycle, especially beads and pearls to re-string. I found a Mother of pearl necklace, hand knotted, with beads shaped like the Eclipse mints you get in the grocery store. They're barrel shaped rounded end cylinders, and they're not made any more. They wanted only $45 for about a 22" double strand necklace! I might have to go back and get that one!

The earrings were also a challenge, but I ran across the hardware online after I saw another pair like it in an antique mall, and it clicked. I'll have to do more of those. Even my 17 year old daughter likes them! They are constructed on perforated steel disks that snap into pads that are premade with posts. You can also get them with clips. Basically you wire your beads onto the disks, then attach the disks to the backs. A seamless, flawless finish makes these earrings a super finish for these necklaces, and complements the vintage look perfectly. I'm so happy I found them. The hardware is inexpensive, and though the earrings are time consuming to assemble, the look is well worth it.

Also worth it was the bride for whom I completed the project. She was incredibly easy to work with, and it was a joy bringing these necklace sets to life. Blessings and wishes for a happy wedding day, and a long life of love together!!

Busy Busy Busy!!

I must say, I've been pretty slack about posting on my blog. I've been haunting Etsy's Custom request forum for a while, bidding on and picking up custom work, and I've had little time for anything else! I did pick up some beautiful beads just for fun, recently, and here's the new creation I just listed. This is Red picture Jasper, bottom drilled briolettes drilled so that they overlap the adjacent stones. I found some lava rock lentils that have the same overlapping quality, and they're devastatingly beautiful. Take a look! I have another batch in a different color that came at the same time as these, so I'm working on putting something together with those.

On my beading table this week:

I found some AWESOME magnesite chips (well, they're bigger than chips, more like heishi-type nuggets, with soft edges; they look like toasted marshmellows all squished together on a skewer) at my favorite bead store, River City Beads here in Jacksonville, FL. I've been taking classes there to learn new skills and brush up on old ones, and while I'm there I get whiplash from looking at all of the lovely things hanging there for me to buy! This time was no exception. I also picked up a Hot Pot for firing PMC, solder pickle, thongs, and a bunch of pairs of beads to make some cute earrings. These magnesite yummies will be paired with copper, a large carnelian donut, maybe some fire agate, and I'm going to try some spiny oyster heishi...the colors are out of this WORLD! I might make one long one, about 24-30" and one shorter one, about 18". We'll see what happens.

I have some gorgeous blue faceted agate from Mintdestash.etsy.com and I'm going to pair it with some golden tumbled agate nuggets. Maybe I'll throw in some gold spacers, and maybe a large glass pearl, maybe not. I also bought some leopardskin jasper hexagon brios from her that will be absolutely gorgeous with black onyx and maybe some coral or carnelian.

I have abouty 4 pieces already gathered and waiting to be strung -- a fossilized coral pendant with attending carnelian, and smaller coral beads; Paintbrush Jasper with beauty the likes that I've NEVER seen, paired with Raspberry Rhodelite Garnet Faceted Rondelles; some chinese unakite donuts and red picture jasper that I'll pair with some other stones I haven't found yet, and I think I'll take some cute little millifiori and make a simple but sweet wire-segmented necklace, the kind my daughter loves.

But those are just my playdates with beads...I have four other custom orders on my table that have to be done before I can start to play. TWO Precious Metal Clay projects, and TWO wedding ensembles that have to be shipped out by the end of the week. The photo to the right is a dreamy pearl and crystal and vintage element trio, the first of six bridesmaids' sets for this week, and the other will be a lilac stone pendant combo with a Thai silver dragonfly as an accent/focal. Can't wait to post that one! I have another that is due in September. I absolutely LOVE to do custom work!!

So stay tuned. More to come! "I've been making custom or-ders, ALL the live-long day!...I've been making perty jewl-ry, just to pass the time a-way....Can't you hear the mailman comin', box 'em up and get 'em out the door! ....Can't you hear the people shoutin', please come make some more!! (to the tune of "I've been working on the railroad")

LOVE IT, Love it, LOVE IT!!

New Listing, just in time for Mother's Day!

Large and beautiful Cross of Christ beads, these Andalusian Chiastolite beads come from the Andalusian mountains in Spain. It is the only place it is found and has to be cut very carefully to ensure a complete cross shows. The Cross is formed by carbon inclusions in the stone.

I haven't seen much of this stone at bead shows recently, so when I saw these beautiful beads, I knew I had to have them! The necklace is a succulent combination of sterling silver Bali beads, onyx, silver spacers, and Andelusian Chaistolite. Wavy Onyx beads are the exclamation point. Together these beautiful elements create a stunning and elegant 20" (50.8 cm) necklace set that can be a silent but eloquent testimony and conversation starter. The earrings are just as unique, with 3" (7.62 cm) dangle featuring sterling wire, onyx, coordinating Chaistolite and handmade 1" sterling silver ear wires (21G). With a total length of 4" (10.16 cm) these earrings are long and dramatic. I can design smaller less flashy earrings to match, if desired.

What better realization of Luke 19:40 ... “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

New Treasury! Check it out!

One of my earring collections has made it into a Treasury! THis time, on Treasury West. "Lemonade Stand" is bursting with that puckery-sweet lemon-y goodness that we have to look forward to this summer! Go check it out! Give it some love! Comment!

The curator of this Treasury is MossRoseDesigns.etsy.com, a fellow North Florida Craft Revolution Street Team member Street Teams on Etsy are a great way to combine forces to market your products, and share tips and techniques. The NFCR is a great bunch of ladies who are awesomely talented. If you search "teamNFCR" from Etsy's main page, you'll find hundreds of products by these great Etsy Artisans. Just in Time for Mother's Day, too!

Here's one of MossRoseDesigns' creations. My daughters and I love handbags, and this is one of my favorites in her shop. You'll love them, too, if you take a look:

For a limited time, purchase any handbag and receive a sunglasses case for free. At checkout, simply enter which case you would like in message to seller ( I re-printed this from her chop announcement).

So if you're stumped for Mother's Day and you need some inspiration, head on over to the Treasury West, check out the Treasury, and MossRoseDesigns' beautiful handbags. And if you need some jewelry...

New listings today! Plus, I love custom work!! See my newest creations!!

Here's another 3-in-1 combo set hot off my beading table. Recently I'm giving more emphasis to everyday pieces that can be worn to the office, the grocery store, and the ballpark. I love love love to create statement pieces, and have a few custom orders for them right now, but creating items with beauty AND utility has been my main emphasis in my shop for a while. In this set, czech glass apples in peachy pink and green are accented by leafy green droplets and spacers, then hand wired together to create a delicate jumble of smooth pendants and eye-pleasing color. Antiqued brass chain doubles the bracelet and adds a rustic, vintage-like flourish that you'll wear over and over again. This set would be perfect for a lady who avoids ostentatious jewelry, but likes a feminine, flirty touch to wear every day. The front section detaches at twin toggle clasps to form a bracelet, and the 15.5" necklace extender can also double as an additional bracelet. The earrings closely match the design of the bracelet, and can also be worn alone. Czech glass apples anchor the earrings, and they're surrounded by droplets of green and crowned with cherry quartz and antiqued brass.

My other new listing is a cute little pair of earrings featuring carved onyx beads, and mother of pearl. These will please just about any girl who likes floral, feminine fashions, and likes a little dangle to swing when she turns her head. I'm that kind of girl, maybe that's why I make earrings like these!

I know I've said before that I love custom work, but did I mention that I LOVE custom work? Maybe I did. I really love doing custom work. I've had a few jobs lately that have been extremely fun, and stretching at the same time. Here are a few...


Here they are, from left to right: The first one is a sea-themed bracelet, with TierraCast charms, from Lytha Studios. They are not only a TierraCast distributor, but also designers of beautiful jewelry. Kits are available on their site, or you can ask people like me to assemble them for you ;) I also did these earrings for the same customer, but the pictures didn't come out very well. The second is a Fine Silver charm in a line I'm working on for my Etsy shop. The top one was oxidized, and the identical bottom charm is a photo taken before oxidation. Stay tuned for more information, coming soon! I'll offer customized bracelets and necklaces based on themes like Mother's Day, New Baby, Wedding, Graduation, Engagement, and other life's milestones. The last photo on the top is a pair of wire-wrapped "statement" earrings. They're as flashy and swinging as a miniskirt at a club in Miami's South Beach. Imagine the attention you'd get wearing those babies! The bottom charms are all Fine Silver charms, and the one on the right, f.r.o.g. stands for "fully rely on God," from a line of missions fund-raiser jewelry I'm working on at the moment.
I've been a busy girl. For a while the discouraging economy really got me down, but I've found that when I am able to create things that people like, I don't have time to worry about anything else.

Mother's Day GIVEAWAY!! Etsy Jewelry Design and Supply Shops

One Etsy Street Team of incredibly talented Artsians, Etsy Jewelry Design & Supply Shops, is holding a Mother's Day Giveaway to promote their member's shops for you Mother's Day shopping fun. A handful of winners will win multiple prizes each. I'm giving away a white turquoise and carnelian earring set...like in this photo...

Check out the details of the promotion, under "how to enter" here.

In short, all you have to do is visit the team blog, click on 10 different shops listed, (including mine, of course!) and look in the featured items (i.e. the top 3 photos in each shop). Our mom's first names are placed inside one of the photos. Write down the name of the shop and the mom's name, then email the promotion leader at the email address provided on the team blog page in the "how to enter" section. While you're browsing, make sure you take a look at the awesome talent represented by the EJDSS street team. That's it! Hope you win!

Blockhead Radio Artisan's Challenge --VOTE for ME, Please!

Blockhead Radio Live is holding their Artisan's Challenge, and this week one of my necklaces was selected to compete! Please VOTE HERE! Every week 60 different artisans face off in 12 different categories to see who has the best handmade item. The weekly challenge is the previous weeks winners in each category. The winner of the weekly challenge will receive an audio commercial with banner the following week on BHR. "Indian Summer" features leopardskin and poppy jasper alternating between hand-made copper wire spirals. It is listed for sale in my Etsy shop, here. I wish they'd picked another photo to represent the necklace, but maybe it was me who uploaded the wrong one. Here are a couple of other photos so you can take a good look...

Coming soon...how are YOU keeping your business going during this slower period in sales? Want to sound off on how you're making a difference in your bottom line? I'll have interviews and more information coming soon. The great benefit of featuring someone in my blog is that their success and experience can add to my own. When we share our ideas, together we have two. Let's put our heads together and see if we can figure out how to sail these often frustrating waters until the economy picks up again!

I've been featured!

Kayla, at The Eclectic Element, offered to do a feature and critique on my shop. She's a fellow jewelry designer, and you can visit her shop, TheEclecticElement, here.

Now, I have a pretty thick skin, but even so an artist is so connected with their work that it can be pretty scary asking for a critique, at least for me. But Kayla was thrilled! (I was thrilled that she was thrilled, too! Read her review on her blog.

Here a photo of a beautiful bracelet from her shop. She's a Lyme disease survivor, and jewelry is one place where she finds strength and purpose. I'm posting a few of her Lyme disease-themed pieces, because they are for a good cause, and because they are beautiful. Her pieces have a simple beauty that is both gorgeous and calming. Her pieces exude a feeling of peace and tranquility, in the midst of her storm.

Thanks for the feature, Kayla! I'm glad you liked my work! I hope that your pay-it-forward was a great investment for you, and that it will come back to you multiplied.