It is truly the Christmas season! Every year, it creeps up on me, it seems, earlier and earlier. NO, I don't have my Christmas shopping done; the tree is not yet up (it should arrive by Fedex on Thursday, a nice fresh Fraser fir) and I am as busy as I can be! And it's only the 7th of December - I can remember when that date would have meant ages and ages until Christmas, but not any more.
I do really love the Christmas season. Here in Arlington, we've already had our first snowfall, big, fluffy flakes that looked like feathers falling from a goosedown pillow. Lovely.
Today, just a small sampling of some of the new pieces going on the website. I can't seem to get them all on there and priced fast enough!
First, above is a labradorite bracelet that is a bit different from most of those I make. It's a smaller scale, and it has apatite in it to match the flash of the labradorite stones. Below, a sunstone bracelet features lots of sterling silver charms, a sterling Thai Karen Hill Tribes chain, a special lampwork bead, and pretty, flashing sunstone nuggets, rondelles, and triangles. Adding to the sparkle is a special marcasite toggle clasp. Sunstone looks great with many colours since its sparkle perks up black and other neutrals and it's a great complement to blue and green. If yo
u like to wear coral jewelry in the summer, sunstone is the fall and winter equivalent.
The freshwater pearl bracelet also features chain from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes and charms and beads (sterling of course) in an ocean them. The lampwo
rk bead that is the focal is one of master lampworker Robin Weber's special beads.
And in keeping with the idea of the ocean, next is an abalone necklace with an unusual pendant. The abalone shimmers and shines; the pendant is reminiscent of seaweed waving in the ocean currents. The middle branch holds a large oval of abalone; one side has a faceted oval smoky quartz and a faceted marquise rhodonite garnet, the other, a round faceted peridot and an oval faceted blue topaz.
The bottom unique bracelet bracelet (2 views) features a large focal emerald nugget, faceted rondelle sapphires. faceted rondelle emeralds, large faceted ruby rondelles and faceted rectangle rubies. The sterling silver bracelet has a pendant with a cabochon ruby in a bezel setting.
If you are still Christmas shopping, we are starting to send everything by Priority mail (no charge to the customer) to make sure that it reaches you by Christmas. Give a unique gift to someone special! If we don't have something you like, please see our blog list for other "indie" jewelry dealers!
According to Vogue and other important fashion magazines, gold is back in fashion. Of course, I don't think that it was ever out! I love the gleam of gold, and while I will concede that there are certain gemstones that are best served by sterling silver or white gold, (think rose quartz) I generally prefer my own jewelry to be gold or a mixture of silver and gold.
One of my favorite combinations is lapis, carnelian, and turquoise; all of these gemstones look great with silver (although lapis always looks better with gold), but put them all together and you've just got to have yellow gold to match the richness of the colours! Above, a unique bracelet with lapis, carnelian, and turquoise accented with 14 karat goldfilled elements (with the exception of the toggle which is vermeil), and below, the matching necklace and
dangling earrings.
Above is a charm bracelet using vintage lucite flower beads and Swarovski crystals. I used to make different versions of these quite often, but they can take an extraordinary amount of time to make. They catch the light wonderfully.
Below is the shimmer of labradorite - a favorite stone. This bracelet has very good flash that is accentuated by, believe it or not, tanzanite Swarovski crystals. Although the mixture may sound unlikely, it is one that works.
And because it is November, below are two more citrine pieces: a citrine bracelet with the addition of apatite, and a pair of citrine earrings that hang from sterling earrings with citrine cabochons.
If you have a custom order, please start thinking about it now; things get very busy the closer Christmas gets!
The following jewelry pieces feature gemstones in colours that are based on Pantone's colour guide (Pantone produces the dyes that are used by the fashion world, so that they are the true forecaster of the hottest colours). Above, the double strand bracelet has three of the season's hottest colours: olivine (in Swarovski crystals); majolica (kyanite); grey (rutilated quartz). The second strand is a type of bangle accented only by the Swarovski crystals.Below, more rutilated quartz celebrates another big trend for Fall: the chunky necklace. The large, flat faceted nuggets (over an inch long) are primarily grey with touches of tan/brown. Each nugget is over an inch in length.
Citrine is always a favorite stone, and one of Fall's newest colours is honey yellow. With its range of colours from pale yellow to a deep golden colour, citrine can add a touch of this year's colour to an older outfit or blend with a new one.
Below, this unique bracelet has quartz (creme brulee), chalcedony (majolica), and carnelian (American Beauty) for a blend of colours exceedingly versatile. The next bracelet has chalcedony and yellow opal (majolica and honey yellow), and the bottom bracelet of African opal and vermeil will go equally well with both the off-white creme brulee and a neutral colour called nougat that is a pale taupe.
More tomorrow!
u like to wear coral jewelry in the summer, sunstone is the fall and winter equivalent.
rk bead that is the focal is one of master lampworker Robin Weber's special beads.
If you are still Christmas shopping, we are starting to send everything by Priority mail (no charge to the customer) to make sure that it reaches you by Christmas. Give a unique gift to someone special! If we don't have something you like, please see our blog list for other "indie" jewelry dealers!
