Moonstone Melody

 A few weeks ago my daughter and I went to a bead show in Pasadena.  We had a fun afternoon together--we always do!  While there she saw some bezel set moonstone connectors that she loved.  So I picked thru a selection, brought them home and strung them on a gold filled chain for her birthday last week.  I think she loved them as much as I enjoyed putting them together for her.

Simple and the perfect length to wear doubled or single strand. 

My baby turned 30 last week and she is soon to be mother herself for the first time.  She is a constant source of joy in our lives--sweet, thoughtful, loving and good to the core--always off on another adventure--I think being a mother may be her greatest (and most rewarding) adventure yet!

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!

Raku, Enamel and Me

 Last week I splurged with some cash I had sitting in my paypal account and purchase a few enamel beads from Kristen (theBeadSwede) on etsy.  I love every thing enameled. and when I saw her shop I had to have a couple of pieces to play with.  When they arrived I was delighted--they were very well done, quick to ship, and a perfect size for using in jewelry. 

 At the same time I was digging thru my bodacious, but slowly dwindling lampwork stash and ran across some gorgeous raku  discs and orphan urchin beads by Dawn Scannell (Art Insomnia)  that I was toying with for bracelet design...I just happened to lay one of my new enameled beads next to the bracelet I was working on, and a new idea to pair them together made me think it was meant to be.

 I like asymetric, saturated color and mixing metals...so all together they went in a frenzy of organization  before I lost my excitement about these components...or decided to hoard them in my stash, because I couldn't part with them...Copper and 22k gold vermeil, an amethyst gemstone charm, an enameled copper flower charm, a whole wrist full of the most gorgeous saturated, detailed lampwork treasures and it's a bracelet!

I had so much fun with this...now I can enjoy a whole strand of favorite things together--it's like they were meant for one another.  They're off to my etsy store one day soon, but today, I think I'll just enjoy!  Thank you Dawn and Kristen for making such beauties to brighten my day!

Falling In Love Again

 It's no secret that I'm crazy about silverglass.  That's why there are several pieces hidden away in my stash that I pull out to admire now and then.  Working with a couple of my special pieces this week just made me fall in love all over again.

 The glass isn't all that easy to work with, just take a survey of lampwork artists and many were frustrated with how finicky the glass was to coax the colors to sing.  These pieces definitely were coaxed into all their glory by lampwork artist, Tiffany McCoy.  She's one of the best with silver glass and I do love these beauties. 

I've combined some boro beads from my stash with th three stunning silver glass beads and used 22k gold vermeil beads and toggle clasp to make the colors pop even more.  Dangling from the toggle is a silverglass seashell and a pacific opal Swarovski and pearl charm for a perfect finishing touch.  Love those beads!

Life's a Beach

Well, yes, I live at the beach and although I really don't like getting in the water, I love walking along the beach, picking up shells, sanddollars and smooth stones and enjoying the peaceful lifestyle.  It's a whole different pace of life and every day is beautiful whether it is sunny with blue skys or foggy with gray skys (and fog horn).  We live just across the harbor from a Navy base and every morning I get to hear the national anthem exactly at 8 am waifting across the water into my upstairs bedroom window. Now that's a stirring wake-up call!

Here are some the the designs inspired by my beach house all jumbled together--I like to wear them like that.

Slabs are Fab....

Have you seen any slabs that you you think are fab??? Here's what I did with mine!

I seem to have developed a love affair with slabs...not sure what sent me off in this direction, but I'm guessing it was a shopping trip where I casually looked at the jewelry cases. Several designers are using agate slabs this fall and so I had to try my hand at a couple of designs of my own. Love the size, love the shapes and love the variety--of color, veining and the edges of some of the stones....so at the Intergem show I had to try some....on etsy I had to buy some more. I'm not really into the dyed pieces I've seen in fuschia's and purples and turquoise, but I do love the natural colors and this set was just irresistable. Deep brown translucent slabs that look like really rich brown smokey quartz with gorgeous veining and even more wonderful edges---copper colored green crystals, iron combined with other minerals--diopside crystals that make these simply gorgeous.

Here's the stone I chose for the centerpiece of my necklace, wirewrapped together with nicely sized 12mm 18k electroplated gold on copper chain for an elegant compliment.

Since I wanted the length to be a bit adjustable and wanted to preserve the symmetry of the design, I used goldfilled lobster claw clasps on two sides of the last slab, so that depending on how you connect them the necklace goes from 21" to 23" for your perfect length.

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...

GOLDEN SUNSET

Last night we had another glorious sunset. The clouds were building up for a rainstorm, but it cleared up just enough to give us a spectacular showstopping sunset over the pacific ocean. As the evening progressed we snuggled in front of our cozy fireplace to watch and listen as the rain came down in buckets. There's a chill in the air this morning, but a song in my heart.

This lovely agate and quartz slab necklace is my homage to the glorious golden sunsets that have been setting my heart a flutter recently. Held together with goldfilled wirewrapped gold plated chain and a simple vermeil clasp, it makes quite a statement . I love the golden edges on the stones--just like the sunsets drench the clouds in golden lining.

Here's the flip side of my lovely agate slabs with even more of the golden 'lining' showing thru--wear it either way--it's a beauty however you look at it!

Romancing the Stones

In a departure from my artisan lampwork designs, I just worked with gemstones and pearls in this newest bracelet. I love the way this piece is constructed. I used a fine goldfilled chain and wirewrapped what seemed like endless fresh water pearls, prasiolite (green amethyst) and lemon citrine gemstones with vermeil ball pins. Three large fancy cut prasiolite gemstones are also featured as endcaps and a charm with the 22k gold vermeil toggle clasp. I used various hues of greens in the various shaped freshwater pearls--coin, keishi and round pearls from almost seed-pearl size of 3mm to the larger 8mm pearls to give interest and variety. I really enjoy working with these materials--I'm hoping to give a feminine elegance to my gemstone designs that will give you a timeless treasure. 'Romancing the Stones' $144.00 can be easily sized just right for you, from 7 1/2" to 8", or with additional tweeking, I can do a little more or less with the length for your perfect fit!

Look for more gemstone designs in the near future--I'm thinking elegance and romance!