Emeralds and Rubies

 It's already May, one of my favorite months, for reasons other than my own May birthday.  I love this time of year when the weather changes, my wardrobe changes, and my outlook changes.  I feel the urge to walk, an inclination to dress up, and an overall sense of well-being. Does anyone else feel this May mood? It could still be because for many years that I taught, May signaled the coming of summer vacation.  The emerald is the May birthstone (I am so lucky!) and of course, emerald jewelry is classic and luxurious even when it is made with the roughly faceted nuggets that you see in the bracelets here. Above, the emerald nuggets reign supreme, with sterling silver their only companion.  The second strand of the emerald bracelet is a sterling silver chain with charms.  A pretty toggle clasp decorated with tulips is the closure (all sterling silver, of course).

Below, the large emerald nuggets are joined by smooth emeralds, a pebble emerald, little dark green faceted emerald rondelles, and sterling silver.  The second strand of the emerald bracelet is made of tiny Thai Karen Hill Tribes hand decorated tube beads; the emeralds are both in the strand and dangling from it.

 I adore gold, thus the emerald bracelet with goldfilled beads, toggle, charms, and chain.  A large roughly faceted emerald nugget is the focal; other emeralds include faceted rondelles, soft green smooth rounds, faceted round, and dark green pebbles mottled with black.

 The emerald necklace above is simple.  A single briolette teardrop hangs in the center; faceted emerald rondelles are on either side. the sterling silver of the necklace is made from delicate little tube beads from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.
  Below, a bangle bracelet with rubies.  I rarely work with emeralds or sapphires that I also want to work with rubies. The ruby bangle below has some pretty cherry red plump ovals as well as faceted ruby rondelles and goldfilled bangles and toggles.

 Below, a ruby bracelet with goldfilled beads and ruby gemstones of different sizes and shapes. The large oval faceted rubies are some of my favorites with their dark red colour and high polish.

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The Colors of Spring in Chalcedony and Aquamarine!

I love Spring colours! Color blocking is a really big trend in fashion this Spring and I've "color-blocked" as well in some of my bracelets.  I am especially fond of the deep pastel colors found in chalcedony and so I've used it in this group.  Above and below, deep aqua chalcedony and pink chalcedony feature in this handmade bracelet with color-blocking. It's lacy and feminine with the sterling silver filigree toggle and charm.  The aqua chalcedony is faceted and sparkly while the pink is smooth and polished.

Above and below, the look of shining sterling mingles with aqua chalecedony in another handmade bracelet. This bracelet definitely has a modern twist with its large hammered circle, bean bead, and little circle with cut-outs. I love the tulip (so perfect for Spring) toggle clasp.

Below, I haven't done one of these bracelets before, but I see so many braided bracelets and bracelets with suede that I decided I had to try one! The suede is in Spring colours of lilac, green, and aqua, and an aqua chalcedony faceted oval is next to the heart-shaped toggle clasp. Little Thai Karen Hill Tribes spiral charms hang around the bracelet. I really like this! To me, the charms lift it up from a bracelet to be worn only with jeans to a dressier look.

Above and below, I love mixing unexpected colors! While aquamarine and amethyst seem to go naturally together, I like to put a punch of color in by adding carnelian, in this case, faceted carnelian squares cut on the diagonal.  One of my favorite rope chains makes the second strand and dangles little flowers from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.

A remake, below, of one of my favorite styles: An aquamarine bracelet with a single faceted nugget of amethyst. The beaded heart toggle of sterling silver is gorgeous. 

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Happy Easter!

I've been using Swarovski crystals lately.  For some reason, I will go for a long period and hardly use Swarovski crystals at all; then, suddenly, I want them for every bracelet.  You can see my obsession with them especially expressing itself in the Swarovski bracelet above.  It is a charm bracelet made only with Swarvoski charms of rounds and bicones in fairly bright colours with a few pastels thrown in.  It is gratifyingly full and sparkles like the dickens!  I attached the crystals in groups of three so that the bracelet would be especially lush - and it is!

  Appropriate for Easter Sunday are the two Salvation Bracelets that you see below.  Again, both are made with Swarovski crystals.  The first salvation bracelet is made with larger bicones, rounds, helix and cosmic crystals.  It has flat beads with a cross in relief on each side, and a little prayer box charm near the toggle clasp.  And yes, this tiny prayer box charm opens!

 The second salvation bracelet is a bit more conventional and has round Swarovski crystals, sterling silver and a pretty cross by the toggle clasp.  It has two extra Swarovski crystals on the sides to represent purity.

The handmade bracelet below is a favorite combination: artist's lampwork beads, carnelian, and lapis with plenty of golden pyrite in it. Little lapis and carnelian charms hang from two places on the bracelet.  All sterling silver.

Below are some charm necklaces that I have been working on. Charm necklaces are very, very much in style now and can be seen on everyone from celebrities to teenagers.  I like these charm necklaces because they are simple, and unlike many of the charm necklaces that one sees, these are made with real gemstones, Swarovski crystals and sterling silver and goldfill.

The first charm necklace has a gorgeous faceted flat garnet nugget surrounded by two charms: one filigree, and one textured ring.  Two little bezel-set garnet charms hang from the chain just above the larger garnet.

This charm necklace is my favorite.  A sterling silver flat hammered wire forms an odd teardrop shape and has a pretty aqua faceted chalcedony teardrop hanging inside it.  A sterling silver horseshoe charm hangs just above (and the horseshoe is upside down so the good luck won't spill out!).

  The next charm necklace features a filigree cross in sterling with a small angel (or putto) hangs beside it.  Just up from the charms is a dangle in the salvation colours made from Swarovski crystals.

The last charm necklace is in 14 karat goldfill. It features a unique harmony ball.  The sterling silver filigree harmony ball holds a brass ball that can be removed so that the sterling silver filigree "cage" can be worn alone. The top of the harmony ball features a black agate cabochon.  A Swarovski crystal in crystal copper hangs on either side of the harmony ball. The harmony ball makes a very faint gentle chiming sound.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter this beautiful day!

Bracelets for Spring: Part I

It is now officially Spring, and I am loving it! Thank goodness I live in a place with four seasons, since the change into each one seems to rejuvenate me.  Spring here in Washington is beautiful; the cherry blossoms are everywhere and they are truly beautiful (I'll have some cherry blossom bracelets up soon).  Our daffodils started blooming about three weeks ago.  I don't know about you, but I'm sleeping with the windows cracked so the cool night air can come in (forget the pollen count!) and I've been cleaning everything in the house. I have found some time to make some new jewelry, including the bracelets that you see on the page today.

   Above, a handmade bracelet that is truly unique combines emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and amethysts for a different looks.  Tiny little flower charms from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes are at intervals around the bracelet.

I recently found these gorgeous blue lace agate faceted nuggets at a favorite source; they have a high polish and beige and brown "skin" at one end.  The artist's lampwork glass beads are some of my favorites. Karen Hill Tribes sterling swirl and arrow charms are at three places on the bracelet.

The rest of the bracelets today are made of moonstones.When many people think of moonstones, they only think of the rainbow moonstone with its "flash", but moonstone comes in many colours.  The first bracelet, below, is made entirely of moonstones with sterling silver and artist's lampwork beads.  The dark greenish-grey faceted nuggets are moonstones as are the white faceted nuggets.  I love the dragonfly toggle clasp.

The next three moonstone bracelets are made from dusky peachy-pink faceted moonstones of different sizes. First, large faceted nuggets are complemented by a single special moonstone artist's lampwork bead.

If you look carefully at the pictures,you can see that these moonstones have a gleam to them, so while they may not exhibit the "flash" of rainbow moonstone, they have a pretty sheen to them and a flash that is the same colour as the stones themselves. 

Below, this moonstone bracelet has gorgeous silver studded artist's lampwork beads with a frostiness that goes perfectly with the moonstones. 

 The last moonstone bracelet features smaller faceted rectangles with a gorgeous sheen and plenty of sterling silver.

I hope you are enjoying these Spring days as much as I am!

The Gleam of Abalone

My first post on my new computer! It always takes a while to get things right on a new computer, and finally, I have figured out enough to get pictures and my first post on my new laptop. All of the old programs from the old computer have to be tranferred, usually reset in some way (all my pictures are getting filed under Documents for some reason)and I have to figure out the new keyboard.

I've been working with abalone;I love its iridescence, its wonderful gleam, and the way that it works with so many gemstones. Above, the abalone bracelet with two strands features only abalone and sterling silver; below, the abalone gets a special kick from faceted peridot rondelles.

Below the bracelet is a pair of abalone earrings.

Above, wonderful, small faceted apatite rondelles and sterling silver tubes make a great bangle bracelet. Below, aquamarine earrings feature spiral accents in sterling.

Above, a favorite combination of mine: abalone with aquamarine. Below, a salvation bracelet with Swarovski crystals.

Hope you have a great week!

Aquamarines, Emeralds, and Labradorite

March is the month for aquamarines although anytime is a good time for aquamarines!  Who doesn't love them?  From pale green to turquoise to strong blue, aquamarines are just luscious - and they go so well with so many other gemstones.  Above is a simple aquamarine bracelet with cultured freshwater pearls.  The smaller aquamarine nuggets are a gorgeous shade of blue with great faceting.

Below, aquamarine nuggets and rondelles are paired with a pretty deeper green peridot for a striking result.  The intricate braided-look sterling silver chain adds to the bracelet's complexity, and a single pendant-like charms has a faceted, bezel-set peridot in a pretty star or flower-like shape. 

I always love emeralds (I'm a May baby so I'm fortunate to have the emerald as my birthstone). Two views of the same emerald bracelet, below show how wonderful emeralds look with sterling silver.  There are two strands of emeralds, large and small, and little Thai Karen Hill Tribes sterling flower charms hang at intervals along the bracelet.

Labradorite with its blue and blue-green flash is amazing.  The photos here really don't show the great flsh of the main focal nugget, but it is great! The other labradorite stones all have flash as well.  And the toggle clasp is a sterling silver dragonfly!

Finally, a simple citrine necklace has a pretty dangle with carved, nugget, and gem-quality citrines hanging from the main strand.

Amethysts for February

I do love amethysts of all sorts: dark, light, dogtooth (white inclusions running throughout), Cape amethysts (very pale). Did you know that the word "amethyst" comes from the Greek language meaning "not drunken"? According to legend, the god of wine, Dionysus became angered at a young girl named Amethyst. She cried out for protection to Artemis (Diana) who turned her into a stone of pure quartz. When Dionysus saw her thus, he cried tears into his glass of red wine which then overturned onto the stone, colouring it a wonderful purple, creating the amethyst gemstone. So intertwined with Dionysus the amethyst became known for its ability to keep a drinker sober. Many believed that drinking from an amethyst goblet would render the alcohol incapable of causing intoxication in the drinker. Amethyst rings became popular for those who wished to keep a clear head during a night of revelry. 

   Above, a single stranded amethyst bracelet is accented by 14K goldfilled beads.  The cushion cut rectangles are especially pretty.  Three briolettes form a petal like design on one side of the bracelet.

Below, an amethyst bracelet has darker amethysts on one side, and three strands of lighter amethysts on the other.  On the single-stranded side, three nicely-sized amethyst nuggets lead to a lampwork bead by Robin Weber. Near the middle sterling silver rings dangle various charms including three small bezel-set amethyst ovals, a pendant charms with another faceted, bezel-set amethyst, and a sterling silver charm from the Thai Karen Hill Tribes.  The three strands of faceted oval amethysts provide a different look and texture to the other side of the bracelet.

Above, amethyst earrings feature nice chunky faceted nuggets of a medium colour, topped with spiral sterling beads and gem quality rondelles.  The earrings hang from sterling wires with spiral designs on the front. 

  It's not too late to order for Valentine's Day!

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Back from Africa!

Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa - it's been a real treat to go there again - and to wonderful Swaziland with its friendly people and beautiful land for the first time. I will have some pictures later.
But now it's time to get back to work!  I'm slow getting back to things - it must be the change of climate, going from 90 something degrees to snow (hurrah!) which is on the ground now. Just two garnet bracelets to celebrate the month of January.

Lovely large flat, faceted garnets are in both these sterling silver and garnet bracelets. The top garnet bracelet  with its beaded heart toggle would be a great Valentine's Day gift!
Below, a garnet bracelet with two strands of marquise, rondelles, nuggets and a charm and lampwork beads. Note the swirling flowered sterling toggle clasp.

And here's hoping for more beautiful snow!