Where Do You Find Inspiration?

 Last spring my husband and I spent a month in La Quinta, near Palm Springs and I took advantage of all the beautiful window shopping available in the area.  One of my favorite  pieces of eye candy was a stunning bracelet in the design studio of Denise Roberge.  Her workshop is on the premises of her showroon and as I understand it , she personally picks all the gemstone and all her designs are hand forged and cast in pure 22k gold.  She's an incredible artist and her jewelry is a work of art.  My mother has collected some of her work over the years and the pieces are timeless classics.  The bracelet I fell in love with had three humongous barrel shaped tourmalines set in rich heavy yellow gold--a piece worthy of an Etruscan princess, with a price tag to match.   I wish I had a picture of that gorgeous bracelet to share, so you could drool over it with me, but alas I don't. (at the bottom of the page I will post one of her stunning designs so you can see what I mean by stunning art)

I've thought about that piece ever since, so when I came across a strand of large carved flourite beads I knew I wanted to try them in a bracelet.  These might be the prettiest colors of flourite beads I've ever seen--one is aquamarine, another a teal blue (almost the color of blue tourmaline) and the third bead is the same rich aquamarine color with amethyst color in one corner.  I don't think I would have thought that size of bead was suitable for a bracelet without my 'inspiration piece'.  Of course what I did  has nothing in common with the original inspiration except perhaps that I used three large stones.  I have to say thank you though for putting the seed of inspiration in my head and giving me the courage to plunge ahead with a new idea.

I combined the stones with hammered gold vermeil toggle clasp and a single hammered vermeil bead and linked them together with goldfilled chain.  The bracelet is easy to wear and flexible and I really love the way it looks on the wrist. To give you an idea of the size of the stones--they weigh over 42 carats per gemstone,  and each stone is almost an inch long, and the yummy colors, oh my!  Now I'm off to try another idea--there's inspiration everywhere.


This is not the piece that inspired me, but the same designer--this piece would inspire anyone.  Gorgeous to the max!

Talkin' to Myself

Yep, that's pretty much it--just talking to myself.  Isn't that how it should be, after disappearing for so long? I seem to have these little interludes of motivation and then fall by the wayside again.  You know once it's on the web, it never dies, so let me share some fun stuff!  I'm going to be a grandma again--this will make our second grandchild.  One almost three year old gorgeous, exhuberant boy and another baby boy-in-waiting to be arriving in mid-September.  We are all so excited. One family in Texas, the other in California--that will be the hard part on the grandparents---how to be both places often enough to enjoy both families.  I guess that is always the way...Since one set of grandparents live in Brazil, I won't complain about not being close enough!

Mitch and I have a peaceful respite here at the beach while he pursues some of his business dreams, still in California, in spite of my best efforts, lol.  Texas had my vote--our son's family, warm friendly people, and a vibrant, optimistic mind-set that won my heart...I think it was a whole summer full of nothing but 100 degree plus weather that nixxed the deal, and sent us scurrying back to California to regroup. 

Enough of the family stuff, here are a couple of new designs inspired by my walks on the beach...