Flora and Fauna of St. John,Virgin Islands- Part 1

I am taking a little diversion from my usual posts. I love traveling as much as designing jewelry and was lucky enough to have traveled to St. John, US Virgin Islands this past week. My husband and I spent 4 unforgettable days on Caneel Bay and I had to share some wonderful photos of the exquisite tropical flora with you.
Besides the beautiful flowers and crystal clear aquamarine waters, donkey, deer, birds and mongoose are inhabitants of this gorgeous 170 acre resort property. I tried to capture the mongoose on film but they were just too fast . Stay tuned for more photos and Turtle Bay Point which is an incredible wedding spot.

Better than your Mother's Pearls - Part 2

June's birthstone is pearl . See this post to learn more about how this beautiful gem is created. This coming month I will be featuring some classical and also unusual one-of-a kind pearl jewelry pieces in my etsy shop. Here is a preview.

Better Than your Mother's Pearls - Part I

June is pearl month. The pearl is one of the most fascinating and mysterious of all of nature's gemstones. This video is fascinating and gives a great perspective on the difficult and tenuous job of pearl farmers. It gives a greater appreciation of the value of these beautiful gems . If you are a June baby consider yourself fortunate to have the pearl as your birthstone. In the next few days I will be posting some lovely pearl jewelry.

New Earring Designs for Spring and Summer!

Here are some of my latest earring designs. They are all one-of-a-kind pieces made with genuine A to AAA+ quality gemstones. All of the findings are made with 14k gold filled wire and gold vermeil (18K gold layered over sterling silver) and some have matching necklaces. Any of these earrings would make a lovely gift for Mom or birthdays, graduations, etc. I can also do a custom design if you prefer. You can find these items and others on my website.

Crocheting A Necklace

I recently learned to knit and have been knitting up a storm all winter long. I have found the knitting videos very helpful when I get stuck on a specific type of stitch or need to review what I have already learned. I have wanted to try crocheting with wire so I bought myself some fine gauge artistic wire in silver, gold and brass and added some stunning swarovski beads . I was very happy with the results and plan to make some beautiful pieces with pearls and perhaps silver beads . Now that I can crochet, hopefully I can add some trim to the next sweater that I knit.

An Interesting Proposal

I was recently commissioned to make a necklace for a customer who lost a loved one and would like to carry the ashes around her neck in a sealed vessel. She informed me that she had seen the above necklace on flickr.com and would like to hang the urn type pendant on the handmade necklace instead of the spiral that is usually the focal piece of this design. I didn't think this would be possible since I do not not solder, but apparently she has someone who will seal the ends of the tube that I will hang from the necklace. I came up with the above piece to hold the ashes and hope that this is what my customer had in mind. We all need a little challenge to get the creative juices flowing. To be continued...

Afghan Jade Necklace

Well thanks to the help of some kind people on Etsy.com, I was able to get some information on the stones I purchased in Tucson.(see this post) Apparently both the dealers were correct when they told me that it was Afghan Jade, which is a type of serpentine. I was very pleased with the way the first piece of jewelry made with these interesting stones turned out. The smoothness of the stones and earth toned colors seems to be further enhanced by the carnelian center bead and the two kinds of brass findings I used to finish the piece.

I gave this necklace to one of my closest friends for her birthday and she was very pleased. There is nothing like a handmade gift for a special occasion. I look forward to making another piece of jewelry with the remaining stones and will share them here when I do.