Luscious Lampwork

It's time to take a look at some of the dazzling lampwork I have in my stash and see what I can do with some of my beauties...so out came my box of Manuela Wutschke's beads that I've been hoarding and here's my latest effort....if you think I like bold colors, you might be right!

Something Old....Something New

Back from the dead?  No, just awakening from a loooooong sleep.  Life is always full of twists and turns, and it's been awhile since I've been in a place where I could do much but just take care of life.  No guarantees I'll be around alot, just sayin' I'm here today and maybe tomorrow too!  I'm still enjoying the relaxing pace of knotting gemstones on silk cord, but I've also gone back to my early love of artisan lampwork, dug thru my stash and added that back to the mix. 

Hence, something old--a gorgeous focal pendant by artist Catherine Ondrey that I've held on to for several years, knowing that she doesn't intend to do anymore work in this style and something new---a double strand necklace with faceted turquoise stones to feature her beautiful focal.

There's a few more tricks in my bag...maybe...

Working hard....or hardly working.....

In spite of the fact that I continue to be a mostly 'absentee landlord' of this blog space...and contrary to the popular opinion that I have fallen off the face of the earth...I'm back for another hit and miss update. After 7 weeks tending to my mother as she recovered from her pelvic fractures, I continued my 'time out' while I joined my husband in the Palm Springs area where he has been working on a project for the past several weeks.
I brought along a smattering of my jewelry supplies, in case the mood struck me, but without a good camera and some motivation they stayed packed away in their suitcase--until I heard from Judy Carlson of Jujee beads with an invitation to participate again this spring in her Scuba Show at Long Beach. Intrigued, I agreed to try my hand after an all too long layoff...wondering if I still remembered what to do and how to do it.
Thanks to a pandora's box full of inspiring lampwork, I've been crazily creating for the last 10 days or so and having so much fun, I'm really sorry to be finished and ready to ship the finished designs back to her.
I'd almost forgotten how much I love playing with my little treasures. As you can see, I still don't have my best camera or editing program to show off my little designs to their best advantage...
but I still wanted to share with you a sample of my handiwork and say, I'm not finished forever. Although at the price of sterling silver these days, I'm mighty glad to have a sizable stash to draw from...and wondering how to ever restock when I run out! Everything here is off in the mail tomorrow.
and that's a good thing. We are leaving the desert the end of the week, so it's time to clean up, pack up and leave for the next adventure.
Here's hoping it doesn't take me so long to dig out my suitcase full of goodies again...but no promises, just taking it one day at a time.....

All that glitters...

A couple of weeks ago I was at an Intergem show and I always love to stop by the India vendors booths to admire their beautiful and intricate gold jewelry and findings. I absolutely fell in love with a necklace I saw with turquoise and angel skin coral set in gorgeous 18k gold. Alas, it was beyond my budget. There was nothing to do but make my own little treasure with that fabulous color combination. So here's my simple interpretation in a charm bracelet with the coral and turquoise on a nice sized gold chain with 12mm links. I wish I was a good hand model and you'd see how very delightful this little treasure is on the wrist--light and ary, elegant but casual. It pleases me...

Endless Summer

Well, with warm sunshiny days and beautiful sunsets like this, it did seem like summer was endless last week at our cozy little beach cottage! We woke up to a drizzly rain and foamy surf this morning, so maybe we will have a little autumn after all.

Inspired by my 'window to the sea' I just had to put together a little homage to the beach with one of my delightful lampwork beads by Vickie Miller, some turquoise stones and a little bit of silver. More coming sooon...my workbench is calling.....