Loving Onyx

I purchased some stunning black onyx stones while on vacation in Sarasota a few weeks ago and have been busy making jewelry with the stones. The shape and size of these beauties inspired me enough to use almost all of them up in the three one-of-a-kind designs you see in this post. I rarely use all of my stones up like this, preferring to save them for a rainy day, but these stones were begging to be used. My only regret is that I didn't buy more.

If You are in Sarasota - part 2

If you are visiting Sarasota, Florida don't miss the fabulous museum ,grounds and home of John and Mable Ringling. My last post gives a little information about the Ringlings and their lives. I showed you some photos of the grounds and the exterior of the magnificent Ca d'Zan. (house of John) If those impressed you, the interior of this home is truly incredible. John and Mable had traveled extensively and modeled their home after the beautiful palaces and grand hotels of Venice. I took photos of their bedrooms, living room ,bathrooms and especially the ceilings which are breathtaking. The artist who painted the ceiling depicted the dance styles of the era in the corners. Stained glass windows of different colors were used for some of the windows so that the different colors would reflect on the floors of the mansion. The bathrooms were amazingly modern for their time. You will be happy you spent a day at the Ringling museum to admire these beautiful treasures of our history.

If you Visit Sarasota...

Don't miss the Ringling Museum and the Ca D'Zan , the 36,000 square foot home of John and Mable Ringling. The mansion of John Ringling, the circus Baron, was built in 1924 for 1.5 million dollars and boasts 41 rooms and 15 bathrooms. It was built for John Ringling and his wife by architect Dwight Baum and builder Owen Burns in Venetian Gothic style. In their travels around the world, the Ringlings greatly admired the palaces and hotels of Venice and used photos and postcards to help the architect design this amazing home. The art museum carries john Ringling's amazing art collection including paintings by Rubens, van Dyke, Titian and El Greco.

The grounds of the museum and home are spectacular and feature Mable's rose garden, the secret garden and the circus museums.

The photos I took, can't possibly do justice to this amazing place but will perhaps tempt you to make a trip to visit this wonderful 20 acre waterfront property. Her are some photos of the grounds and exterior. Stay tuned for part 2 to see some of the spectacular rooms in the Ringling mansion.

Before and After Part 3

These photos represent the after part of this 3 part post. After spending quite a bit of time polishing my bracelet with #0000 steel wool, I put it in my tumbler along with some rings I wanted to polish and voila the finished piece is ready. This one was a custom order and went right out in the mail . I was pleased with the results and would love some feedback.

Before and After -part 2

This is part 2 of my post about working with liver of sulphur- the ugly part. My first post demonstrated how my finished bracelet would look without antiquing it in liver of sulphur. This photo show the very same piece after a quick dip in the smelly sulphur solution. Kind of scary I think. It almost looks like the entire piece has been destroyed. Stay tuned for part 3 when I will unveil my now antiqued bracelet.

Before and After

I have previously blogged about the amazing results you can get with a piece of jewelry using liver of sulphur. I thought it would be interesting to show my latest piece of jewelry before during and after antiquing the piece with liver of sulphur. For all of you out there who are a bit anxious about working with liver of sulphur, it can literally transform your artisan jewelry. Although this particular bracelet is lovely as is, it becomes even more beautiful after treating it to a bath of liver of sulphur and then giving it a whirl in the tumbler. I would love to hear what you think! Step 2 or the ugly part of this process will be posted in the next few days.

Happy Holidays

I am offering 40% off on the first three items shown here in my etsy shop. Please contact me through etsy if you are interested. The sale ends on Jan. 5th.

I have been very lax about my posts trying to catch up with holiday orders and frantically knitting a scarf for my husband which I did manage to finish before Christmas. I finally made time to go through my inventory and decide which items I will discount heavily before the end of the year. I am thrilled with my new earrings, seen above, made from Wirebliss' excellent tutorial. I have been wearing them frequently because they seem to compliment so many outfits. I am even keeping a pair for myself ,something I rarely do as a jewelry designer. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I wish you a great 2009!